SPORT Venture Group
MiC: Dr Tom Hawkins In Term 4 2023, the Venture Group entered its fourth season with a spirited bunch of adventurers keen to get some hikes in before the senior exams. We started with a straightforward jaunt up Mount Bradley. Well, it would have been straightforward without the 100km/h gusts of New Zealand’s finest nor’westerlies. Amusingly, we were notified of the wind by the local emergency messages arriving on everyone’s phones at once, in case we had not noticed the weather. This challenge set the group up well for trip No.2, with the ambitious objective of reaching the main ridge of the Craigieburns. We did not quite make it that high (partly because of delays rescuing a phone from among the shattered rocks of Leith Hill), but still topped out at 1850m behind Castle Hill. Term 1 promised more adventures, with the
reach a point from which they could scope out a challenging objective for later in the term. That objective was once again among the ‘big hills’ of the Craigieburns – Hamilton Peak. Thomas Saunders had spent the season struggling to contain his ‘summit fever’ and an irrepressible yearning to be up in the snow, so when a heavy southerly left the hills glistening icy white on the morning of our final day trip, there were no prizes for guessing who had the biggest smile. Boots and ice axes were tossed into the van, and we headed to Camp Saddle (bridging the Broken River and Craigieburn ski-fields). We would then decide whether to go for the high traverse towards Hamilton Peak, or the well- trodden goat track to Helicopter Hill. Conditions were perfect and the boys made the call to head higher.
Several sections of the upper ridge required some scrambling over and between rocks, and, at times, a good head for heights. It was not an easy walk. Reaching the base of Hamilton Peak, it looked as if we would once again miss out on a summit. However, Kieran Christey, Angus Whitteker, Ollie Du Toit, Eli Clarkson, and snowfinder-general Thomas Saunders found some inner strength and moved upwards. At 1922m, the summit was – by some margin – the highest altitude reached by a College group. It was a fitting climax to a great season, where everyone in the group – juniors and seniors alike – had pushed themselves and helped each other every step of the way. Dr Tom Hawkins MiC Venture Group
group welcoming Year 9 boys for the first time. Three juniors – Wilkin Nairn, Charlie Sara, and Seb Double – signed up for the challenge. After some warm-up hikes, including the obligatory womble up Trig M from Porters Pass, it was time to stretch the legs. Some slightly overzealous trip planning had the boys
set to tackle Mount Plenty en route to
Castle Hill Peak in early March. Suffice to say the steepness of the terrain was a surprise (it always looks easier on the map) but the team did well to
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