The Mt Egmont Alpine Club Open Climb on the 4th February 2012 began early in the morning (6am) with people again encouraged to head up to the Manganui Skifield before diving into groups (around 7am). A reasonable amount of mist is often nicer to climb in than a blaring hot sun, and so this was a fairly uneventful climb. This time I took the Panasonic Lumix for less weight but I didn't really get any supa-dupa photos.

There was a break on the way down for me to catch this shot of Te Aroha, but then the mist closed in again

I was asked to see some injured climbers but there was nothing serious that better preparation couldn't have prevented.

However I did manage to identify and resolve some important mountaineering issues:-

• It is claimed that pickle juice is good for cramps, and as I usually get some near the summit I did some experiments and established that:
  1. Apple Cider was way too acidic and so didn't really work as it burns the gullet too much long before it can inhibit cramps.
  2. Pickle Onion Juice worked within 30 seconds (so, far better than the homeopathic mix which I tried on Fantham's peak without success - that predictably took the same time to work as just resting).
  3. Passive stretching (someone else lifting the leg) works within 20 seconds, but active stretching just cramps the opposing muscle).
• Walkie-talkie Radios can be blocked by massive rock cliffs.
• Smart phones work well on the mountain but one needs fingerless gloves to "swipe" (or remove the glove!).
• Training should involve downhill as much as uphill work as most injuries seem to occur when people are going down.