Reflections on a Technical Mountaineering Course

I was fortunate enough to be able spend a month in New Zealand late last year and during this holiday enrolled in a technical mountaineer course (TMC) with Alpine Guides. So I thought I might write some reflections on how the course went for those considering doing one.
Firstly the good stuff. As I come from the flattest continent on earth going into the mountains is a very foreign experience and without a doubt it was amazing. Walking over enormous glaciers beside crevasses that disappear into blue ice is nerve racking as well as awe inspiring. Then to be able to look around at peaks towering above you or great walls of ice and snow was beyond anything I had experienced before. For this experience alone the course was worth it. There were four of us on the course and we had two guides, Bill, a kind of grizzly Adams guy who had an enormous amount of experience (16 Himalayan expeditions, 6 seasons in Antarctica, numerous first ascents in Mt Cook NP, ski patrol, avalanche rescue etc). When we walked into a hut I noticed that most of the guides wondered over to him to discuss the finer points of the snow pack or the weather. Bill also knew a lot of gruesome ways to die in the mountains. It seemed that each new skill was coupled with a story of how one or another of his friends had ended up splattered at the bottom of a mountain somewhere. Our other guide was Yannick who had just finished his guiding ticket in Switzerland and was getting a few hours up. Most of his friends were still alive. The technical rope work was obviously a big part of the course and you get taught heaps of useful tricks. Having done the abseiling instructor's course I had to learn to be to be a lot less anal about backing everything up and rigging for every possible scenario. Three belay points! you were lucky to have one. It was just throw a sling around something solid looking and keep going. Crevasse rescues and ice climbing where probably the highlights of the course. It's not everyday you deliberately walk into a bottomless crack in the ice relying solely on the weight of your novice partner eight or so metres behind you.
There were some down sides to the course though. Whilst it is a 10 day course it is only 7.5 days in the mountains and of those days, 6 were okay for going outside. We probably only had 2 really good climbing days (good weather, hard ice). This wasn't such a big deal as we weren't there to bag peaks and most days we could do some sort of training. However if you want to have lots of mountain top experiences then the consensus was to go to Europe. Mountaineering in New Zealand involves a lot of time waiting for good weather. We shared a hut with some guys who walked in, spent four days waiting for good weather and then flew out in a break in the weather. Not my idea of a good way to spend $500.
The course was not that physically demanding but there is something psychologically destroying about walking in soft snow. For a few steps you go in up to your thighs, then the next few maybe up to your knees but then maybe a few steps on hard ice. You never know what will happen next so you can never really get a rhythm. It sends you crazy after a while. The sun was insane as well. No matter how hard you try it seems impossible to escape getting burnt. I did pretty well but ended up with sunburn on the bottom of my nose for the first time ever.
So all up the course was well worth the effort and the expense and was in fact a lot of fun. Jumping a two metre wide crevasse when your buddy has only paid out one metre of rope ends up a good laugh as is practicing self-arrests and throwing snowballs at steep slopes to start avalanches. So if you get the chance to do a TMC then I would say to go for it.