Things you'd like to tell trampers from overseas

pretty common attire year round on the crossing.... what doesnt get told is how many people come off the crossing freezing cold, hypothermic, or having had a near miss having had a slide, one incident that wasn't reported was when a group had to intervene to help a chap who was wearing jandals on the snow, slipped, lost his jandals and was walking down in bare feet and shirt sleeves, they had to stop him and lend him clothes and footwear, potentially saving his life in cold conditions, he at first refused to stop and wasn't easy to deal with and had to be told to stop and take help. he was probably hypothermic the way he was behaving, never made the news... could easily have been a statistic.. I've seen numerous people up there suffering from the cold when the weather was a lot worse than forecast.

"want a brew?"

That poor German who went for a 50m slide in his shorts. I hope everyone on this site knows about the option of Kovea 6 point crampons or even the 4 point crampons for this gentle angled terrain. I've got both models and use them occasionally. Even been known to use them with sandals...

I have found myself in a similar situation although I wasnt tramping at the time and the consequences were not a 50m plus fall but even just falling over on thin snow still hurts. Running shoes on a snow covered suburban street with a decent slope. Kicking steps still worked but much harder than in boots

Yea that german guy was almost exact repeat of an incident up there last year wasn't it?

What a moron that guy was. Ok, I'll be in trail shoes and a manskirt. But I'll have crampons. And an ice axe. And a pack full of shit to sort myself out with if I do fall over. Saw that news story, and thought "What an idiot". Not for falling over. Anyone can do that, even with all the right gear. But for not having any kind of way of fending off hypothermia whilst waiting for help. Dropkicks like this are what piss me off.

Know when to turn back, that is one of the most important messages to pass on. People will be stupid and do things which are stupid, that's just human nature. The thing is too realize when you are being stupid and change your behavior accordingly. Case in point our German buddy on Tongariro: he would have been slipping and sliding BEFORE he had the 50 meter fall. If he had turned around and gone down he would have been fine. Last year I went for a walk up Mt Isabel near Hanmer, it was fine except for the 30cm of snow on the top 200 meters of the track. I had no ice axe or crampons so I turned back. I was passed by a couple wearing jeans, sandshoes etc. with 2 children who were going up. I told them about the snow but it made no difference, they just kept going. You just cant combat that level of ignorance. As you track along you should be constantly thinking is this smart, is this going to kill me, can I look after myself? That is the only way to keep yourself safe.

Agreed. Constantly gotta check that you are making the best decision and not just ploughing on. Another thing is, if you are in areas with reasonable amounta of tracks, always be aware of tracks you can take to shorten your route if the going is far harder than anticipated. Also be aware of what routes you have to bail out of the area and back to carpark/civilisation/roads etc if need be.

As I get older I am constantly having to readjust to deciding when to turn back as FEAR starts to creep in earlier than it used to! Fortunately my partner knows when to stop pushing me by noting the change in my voice. Once that fear kicks in she knows to listen, and if my voice has changed, say "OK, lets go back". I'm glad she does keep pushing me as we still get to places I wouldn't go to if left to my own perceived competence level. Unfortunately age is something we all have to contend with. Fortunately my brain does seem to try to keep me safe even if it is bloody annoying at times! lol

Leave behind whats not essential, and come and experience some of the real world on our coasts in our bush and up our mountains.