Author: Erik Bradshaw

  A purposeful annual meeting. Installing a toilet at Bracken Saddle on the Mahu Whenua Covenant Annual meeting Back in June, when we were all optimistic of an amazing winter, the club had its annual meeting. A group of about 25 walked up to Bracken Saddle and installed one of the 5 toilets the club built for the Mahu Whenu Covenants as part of our commitment to the conservation project. We then retired to the "Fork and Tap" to review the club finance over beer and pizza. It was a great day, with a sense of doing something of value, meeting new people and reviewing the state of the club.. A brief summary of the state of the club: We are in good health. The Turks are in good condition with no major maintenance issues. There is a steady and manageable growth in club membership. The bank account is healthy with $100k tucked away. The Turk usage fees ($20 per night) are covering the...

  Sam Davis leaving the Crown Basin Turk. This was before the most recent fall of snow.  Webcam: www.hyland.net.nz/crownturk/crownturk.php Snow and winter bookings There are still spaces available for the Mahu Whenua Traverse this winter: July:  25,28 August:  6,18 September:  7,9,15,17,19,21,23,25,27,29 October:  2,4,6,8,10,12,14 Bookings can be made here:  Turk Booking – Mountain Turk Club If you plan to book the traverse please make sure you are up to it and read the documents below. The month of July is the most dangerous with a greater snow instability because of colder temperatures. September is safer (the 24 hours after a storm rule usually works well at this time of year) and by October you have hard snow in the morning and spring corn in the afternoon. We will begin to remove some traverse dates and implement them for individual Turk booking. This allows groups to use the Turks for "destination skiing" where you get there with a few days food and hang about skiing the local basins. Winter operations - Anton Phone: 027 628 1038 ...

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* ...

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*   Deep Creek Turk is about 2 sneaky minutes from the recently opened Coronet Loop bike track (it's not marked from the track). Last week a few Turk Club families (5 adults and 6 children) stayed overnight - kids inside and parents in tents outside. Toilet building All go for this weekend (tomorrow). I have all the materials (with a few exceptions like flashings). The general plan is: Venue: 92 Centennial Ave, Arrowtown  Saturday 26th March. 10am - 12pm:  making the base frames and preparing the door jambs 12pm - 2pm:    making the structure / screwing it all together 2pm - 4pm:   Attaching the cladding, door, toilet seats etc 4pm onwards - fire up my pizza oven and have some dinner, drink beer etc! Tools to bring (if you have them and it is easy, we don't need too many): Battery drill/torque drive (and drive bits) Battery skill saw Trestles / sawhorses It is difficult to predict tasks because I don't know how many people will turn up! The "lighter skilled" tasks...

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*   On the ridge between Mount Siberia and Mt Hyde Turk.      Photo by Pedro Pimental Key dates (more details below) Regular Turk meetings: 7:30pm 1st March 2020 Fork and Tap, Arrowtown (1st Monday of each month) Build day: 1pm, Saturday 12th March 92 Centennial Ave, Arrowtown Also please note new email address admin@mountainturk.org.nz What are Turks like? Many people ask me what a Turk is like. Fortunately Pedro and his super star son Rio Pimental have put together this informative and entertaining video to answer that question (note: there is no guarantee there will be gas and toilet paper) Winter bookings I have set up the booking system with the following traverse availability over winter: 13 July - 31 August there is a departure every third day  (i.e. 13th, 16th, 19th etc.) 1 September - 31 October departure every second day. The direction of the traverse is from Treble Cone to Coronet Peak (which is best for skiing). The idea behind the dates is to have a "weather window" where you can choose the...

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Heading up towards Crown Basin Turk 4 days before the lock-down. The big snow fall is yet to arrive (which then melted during lock-down) What has been happening This newsletter has been a long time in the making. The recent lockdown has put me in procrastination mode where it is difficult to make plans and set direction when you don't know when you can adventure into the wild. Before lock down a couple of groups made it along the traverse starting at Treble Cone and exiting at Vanguard Peak. Both parties were absolutely fizzing and as I explain below in "adventurer or skier" the joy comes more from being in the mountains and pushing into the unknown than the perfect ski conditions. I also had a small adventure where I biked up the Arrow from home with skis on my back, unfortunately (or maybe stupidly) I left at 3pm so it got dark a bit past Macetown and I spent the next 5 hours...

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Crown Basin Turk #2 after installation almost a year ago to today - 19 July 2020. The first version was installed on 16 July 2017. Fork at Tap. 7pm Wednesday 28 July Come join me at the Fork and Tapp for a beer and talk about who is hiding the snow. I will have just returned from 2 nights at the Crown Basin Turk with the family so will have an update on conditions. The goals of the meeting are: Catch-up with good people and discuss conditions, Turk status etc. Get more organised with club communications (private Facebook group) Make progress on other issues such as internal Turk signage. On the topic of conditions, I tried to drive into Skippers today (Sunday 18th July) with the intention of visiting the Vanguard Turk but soon realised you need a serious 4wd such as a Hilux. Be aware that getting into Skippers is very variable in winter, if things are frozen and the ruts not too...

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Crown Basin Turk after a good storm. President's report The President's report for 2020-21 can be found here. It is a 10 minute read with many wonderful pictures so please take a look. Since it is the first complete report I have explained the club's history and where it is heading. Email president@mountainturk.nz if you wish to comment. Financial performance report Find the year ending 31 March 2021 financial reports here. Email treasurer@mountainturk.nz if you wish to comment. Meetings Notice of AGM here. Proxy vote form here. The meetings below are open to anybody interested in Turks. I will be at both of them from 6pm. Zane (Treasurer) and myself will give a 40 minute presentation about Turks and the state of the club. We will restrict question time to 15 minutes and try and keep things focused on general issues of interest to all people attending. The goal is to make these inspiring and social evenings so please attend, get inspired and meet some people. Wanaka – Tuesday...

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*   Mt Saint Just Turk with with Mt Hyde in the background Upcoming meetings Wanaka. b.social Tuesday 8th June, 7pm Queenstown: Cargo Brewery Thursday 10 June 7pm Note: the change of date and venue for the Queenstown meeting I'll be at each of the venues for 6pm so come early for a chat. Winter bookings Bookings have been coming in fast for the winter season (1 August - 18th September). Just to recap, during winter we've made 2 departures available per week for groups to move through the traverse - this is to allow some flexibility for weather. The Crown Basin turk is still available nightly during this period. We may release another departure per week depending on how things go. Here's a summary of where things are at as of today - still a few spots left, so get in quick if you want to be part of the action! 1st August - Fully booked (opening event with Antarctic Heritage Trust) 7th August - One departure fully booked,...