Snowcraft with the Rangers at Ruapehu

For the last few months I have been planning this weekend away to the snow with the rangers (older girl guides). Unfortunately for me this was the first time anything like this had been organised for a few years and there were no up to date safety guidelines... so it caused quite a few dramas with a lot of paper work and e-mails. Several times I wondered whether it was all worth it.

A work colleague of mine who teaches the snow craft course for the local tramping club offered to help teach and we borrowed the minibus and the crampons and ice axe from the club. Jenny and her partner Steve, were excellent - they were very patient with the girls and built up their confidence. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather - with sunny, clear skies the whole weekend.

Unfortunately skiing on the Sunday was not quite so successful - with one girl falling and twisting her knee on the first lift. So I spent the whole of the morning in the medical centre.... Oh well.

The girls spent the drive home talking about next year.... so I think they had fun - I might have just recovered by next year! Hopefully it won't be so much work if all the paper work can be reused from this year.

The group

Jenny teaching the girls how to walk in crampons

Learning how to ice axe arrest - stop yourself sliding down the snow