Greetings from sunny Wanaka, with nearly a month of continuous cold clear weather we have been totally spoiled. With the snow to low levels the backcountry skiing has been great – not much powder mind you but nice frost dried boot top and the low avalanche hazard has meant that the steep lines have been on.

Ice Climbing – This has been the best season ever for our Black Peak Ice. The cold conditions have meant great climbing with easy access. People on courses have really been getting into the thwack and dangle since after four straight days of perfect weather some bold lines are getting attempted. Lots of photos of beautiful sunsets with cocktails in front of the hut are coming back each trip. Our scheduled Black Peak Ice trips are sold out for this year so get your name in for next year if you are kicking yourself for letting this year go by.

Ski Touring – Sometimes backcountry skiing is easy, sometimes it is hard. With the sunny stable conditions this has been the easy season so far. The South Face of Black Peak has been skied a few times and the traverse back to Treble Cone is in great shape. To check out the stunning ice views on the route take a look at our Facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1747206678&k=ZXA225Q4RVTF6BD1PA46WUSUQRIB4ZV133IQG&oid=1334379248669

Many of our ski tours are sold out for this season but there is still some space available:

Backcountry Awareness Course Sept 3-6
Learn how to backcountry ski safely and have a whole lot of fun doing it – moderate ski/board ability required.

Summit to Sea Sept 27 - Oct 1
Ski the wild West Coast Glaciers, a full of mountain experience – good fitness and strong intermediate ski/board ability required.

Pisa Range Tour Sept 22-24
A spring tour to a beautiful mountain hut, gentle terrain and outstanding views – all abilities of skiers/boarders.

Private trips – If you just got to go - we have trips available most dates. Call us.

Trekking – BIG News. Peru –trekking in the Huayhuash (pron. whywash). 
We left it to Aritza Monesterio to come up with the perfect Peru trek and we are proud to offer 18 days of Andean trekking that is second to none – May 31 to June 17 2010. The trip is a circuit which goes around Siula Grande (6344m), the peak made Famous in Touching the Void. If you ever wanted to see what the Joe Simpson experience was like, minus the suffering, this is the trip for you! Have a look at the itinerary Cordillera Huayhuash Trek 2011 and if you would like further details please contact us.

Climbing - Mount Aspiring Expedition Course - A trip unique to Aspiring Guides is our Mount Aspiring Expedition Course. The key to climbing is to get a regular partner. Often it is difficult to get a partnership started since without some experience it is hard to know where to begin. The Mount Aspiring Expedition Course is designed for friends who want to learn the basics under the watchful eye of a guide. Under the guide’s supervision you and your partner will develop trust and confidence that can take years to learn otherwise. The focus of the trip is to learn the skills that are needed on Mount Aspiring. If the guide is comfortable in your abilities, a summit attempt will be the culmination of your trip. If you really want to learn to climb, find someone who has the same goals and sign up on a Mount Aspiring Expedition Course.

Trekking - How to cross a river safely
The important safety question with river crossings is what will happen if you lose control and are swept down stream. You can happily float down a river for a very long way, if there are no serious rapids, rocks or snags that will pin you. If there are hazards downstream and you are not certain you can cross, don’t go across at that point. Search up and down the river the bank until you find a spot you are comfortable with. If you can’t find a place either make camp and wait for the water to go down or turn back. If the worst that can happen is you get wet, it really does not matter how you cross, but if death or injury are on the table, just don’t go.

How do you know if the river is crossable? As a rule, if the water is over your knees it needs to be slow moving to maintain your balance. Water is deeper on the outside of bends in the river so anticipate varying depths. If you can see the river bottom and it is less than knee deep all the way, you will be fine. If you can not see how deep the water is then you need to take a few precautions.

How to avoid getting wet? First of all, take your camera out of your pocket and put it where it will not get wet. Even shallow rivers have a way of getting just high enough to reach your new Pentax.  Your backpack will float so keep it on. If you are solo you can gain stability by using a strong support such as a stout branch. Make sure you can lean heavily on it without it breaking. Placing the support up stream you can use it as a crutch, alternate moving your feet and then the support. 

For a group of people stand side by side with the largest person on the upstream end. Stand close together and slide your arms between the pack and back of the person either side of you. Wiggle your arm though until you can grab the far side pack strap of your neighbor. You may need to loosen your pack since you will have the arm of the person on either side of you reaching around your back. This will form a very snug line and if any one person stumbles they will be supported by the people on either side. Talk to each other and shuffle slowly across. Be conservative, if the water becomes too deep or the line becomes unstable, slowly back up to the bank you started on.

What to do if you get swept away? Remember that the only reason you got into this predicament is because you determined that there were no rapids, dead trees, boulders, waterfalls or other dangerous hazards downriver. If you cannot reach bottom, float on your back with your head upstream. Pick which side of the river you want to go for and position yourself so that you are at a 45 degree angle to the current (halfway between straight into the current and straight across the current). Kick your legs as hard as you can and do a fast back stroke. Between your swimming action and the “ferry” action of the current pushing you, you will get to shore, slowly and safely.

Competition Winners - Congratulations to Mary Bowie from Sydney who won the Aspiring Guides puffa vest in our last newsletter competition. Mary got to try out her new vest on her ascent of Single Cone at the Remarkables mid July. The answer to the question What are the climbers in the hut doing?" was that they were playing Pass the Pigs and trying to determine if the two pigs were touching. Congratulations also to Conway Powell from Dunedin who won the Aspiring Guides puffa vest at the NZ Mountain Film Festival held in Wanaka earlier this month. We think the vest would be very handy on our Peru trip!!

That's all from me for now ... there's a world beyond the computer today!

Cheers

Whit Thurlow
Chief Guide/Director
IFMGA