Helen and Tim: Helen's 24 hour trip to the mountains!

Well since Tim had disappeared to the South Island for 4 days of winter mountaineering with Max, I decided to make the most of my normal 2 day weekend and took up the offer from a Kiwi friend, Rob, to do a bit of a reccie in the Turoa area of Mt Ruapehu (central North Island). The weather up there on Saturday was wet, snowy and windy so we decided to have a rather leisurely start finally departing Wellington at 3pm!! Since the weather in Wellington on Saturday was beautiful I took the opportunity to have a nice stroll around the neighbourhood and pack up my kit on the decking. It took between 4 and 5 hours to drive up there so we watched the sunset as we drove and the weather change to grey cloud as we reached the mountains. We must have timed it perfectly as the rain and snow had just passed and we began the 1.5hr walk in to the Blythe Hut with the near full moon poking through the clouds, reflecting on the snow and guiding our way. Initially the path was well formed but after reaching a waterfall we were left to our our devices to cross the stream -taking care not to rely on the thin ice! -and continue with the occassional trail marker. Fortunately for us there were vague footprints leading the way and after a couple more stream crossings (I'm getting more used to the Kiwi ethics of just trudging across although I still prefer to try balancing on stones keeping my feet dry!) we reached the hut. We had hoped that there would be a few people there with a fire blazing already but it was empty and cold. Still there was an ample supply of dry firewood and it wasn't long before we had a fire blazing and the temperature had risen from 0 deg to 12+deg! By the time we dragged mats into the main room and got in our sleeping bags it was positively roasting -Darrell would be proud!

We were a bit dubious that the weather forecasters were going to be right and the weather clear over night so didn't plan a particularly early departure but when we finally emerged it was a beautifully clear, crisp morning in the shadow of the mountain. Soon we were trudging up the gradual rise above the bushline with a sharp southerly wind blasting across our path. We negotiated another stream and tried to follow vague shoulders towards the Southwest Ridge. After a couple of hours we reached a bit of a plateau and suddenly the wind dropped. We made the most of the calm and had a quick snack expecting the wind to pick up over the next rise. It didn't, the rest of the day was almost completely still. By now the sun had risen in the sky and we were warmed by it's rays as the slope began to steepen. We had cautiously crossed the lee slopes watching hairline fractures in the snow crust and hearing some mighty cracks but fortunately it seemed stable. Soon we were on the ridge itself once again in the shadow of the mountain. It was really cold. The snow conditions were hard going with brittle ice formations and crust covered powder. At a rocky bluff we roped up and Rob took the first lead up some brittle ice with a particularly steep section with only a narrow vertical strip of relatively solid ice. I was relieved to join him at the belay. Fortunately for me the next pitch was less steep and I lead through kicking steps into the icy snow. Several similar pitches later we gratefully emerged into the sun higher on the ridge. With a difficult bluff above I traversed across onto the south face and Rob followed and then continued up towards the summit. As the rope came tight on me he hammered in a snow stake and I followed up in his footsteps. A few metres above his belay I was pleasantly surprised to find myself on the summit and basking in sunshine once again.

After the obligatory summit shots and a quick munch on some homemade flapjack whilst enjoying the view across to Taranaki on the west coast and Lake Taupo to the north we began the descent down the western face and across the Mangaehuehu glacier to the Turoa ski field. Turoa doesn't officially open for another couple of weeks but they were hard at work making snow and grooming the slopes. We trudged our way down to the carpark checking out a couple of waterfalls as we went. They're looking a bit thin on ice at the moment but hopefully they'll improve as the season gets underway. As we passed the last chairlift the sun was setting and gave the peaks a picture perfect red glow. The icing on the cake of a perfect day in the mountains.

About a kilometre down the road in the moonlight we managed to hitch a ride the remaining 3km to where we had parked the car and about 24hrs after we arrived we were back in the car en route to Wellington with a well earned stop for a huge 'Chelsea' burger on the way!