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The Bulletin, September 2017

MEDAL FOR KATE

RSC veteran Kate Haswell won a bronze

medal (on age based handicap) at the New

Zealand indoor skiing championships held

at Snowplanet in July.

Racing was ever four slalom runs and

four GS runs.

Men: Jon Wardrop, Mike Unger, Paul

Wood. Fastest time: Jon Wardrop.

Women: Julie Gibbs, Sue Unger, Kate

Haswell. Fastest time: Maria Kan.

ERUPTIONS UPDATE

It is 10 years since the last eruption from

Crater Lake (Sept 2007) but Mt Ruapehu

remains one of our most active volcanoes

and eruptions can occur without warning

at any time.

If you hear the lahar (volcanic mudﬂow)

siren go off, make for higher ground and

in particular avoid narrow spots like the

Waterfall and the Gut. If you are in the

Lodge or Hut, stay there as you are well

out of range.

In mid-August the lake was relatively

cool at 19 °C. The temperature of the lake

typically ranges from over 38 °C to less

than 16 °C.

ANOTHER JENNY NOVEL

Wellington author Jenny Pattrick has

published a second historical novel based

on the early days of the Ruapehu district.

Her previous novels include the

acclaimed The Denniston Rose which

was set on the West Coast coalﬁelds, and

its sequel Heart of Coal.

Then came Landings, set on the

Whanganui River, and moving closer to

the mountains came Heartland, set on the

lower slopes of Mt Ruapehu.

Now we have Leap of Faith, based on a

working camp during construction of the

262 metre Makatote Viaduct in the shadows

of Ruapehu in 1907-08.

Marketed as a “vivid novel about

ingenuity and hard slog, crooks and

dreamers, bootleggers and love”, the story

follows Jenny’s usual hard-hitting style ﬁrst

seen on Denniston.

LODGE FOR SALE

The Auckland Tramping Club is looking

for new ownership of its Sports Lodge at

Whakapapa.

The 32-bunk lodge was built in 1948 and

has been maintained and managed by the

club ever since.

However, low usage and increasing

regulations mean the volunteer effort

required to operate the lodge is difﬁcult

to justify without converting it to a

commercial operation.

Of the club’s 360 members, only about

50 use the lodge each year.

SWISS COUPLE FOUND

The frozen bodies of a Swiss couple who

went missing 75 years ago in the Alps have

been found on a shrinking glacier.

Marcelin Dumoulin, 40, was a shoemaker,

while Francine, 37, was a teacher. They left

ﬁve sons and two daughters.

They had gone to milk their cows in a

meadow above Chandolin in the Valais

canton on August 15th 1942 and were never

seen again.

Their bodies were found perfectly

preserved and wearing WW11-era clothing

when they were discovered by a worker on

Tsanﬂeuron glacier near a ski lift above

Les Diablerets resort at an altitude of 2615

metres.

Police said they had probably fallen into

a crevasse.