Mount Ruapehu

Christmas and Birthdays came early as on Friday; our touring skis, bindings and boots were ready for collection so despite a less than perfect weather forecast we left Wellington early on Saturday morning to head up to Ruapehu to try them out. A few weeks ago we had booked a night at the Alpine Club Ruapehu hut, near the Whakapapa ski field.


Just as we got to the Turoa ski field on the south western side of the mountain, it started raining/sleeting. After sitting inside for a bit it cleared up enough to head out onto the beginner slope, the only one open! Unfortunately all the snow that Helen saw up here last weekend has been obliterated by the warm northerly!

After lasting a couple hours with Tim struggling to get used to kick turns and ascending slopes with the touring skis and getting throroughly wet, we headed down to Ohakune where we managed to dry off a bit in the sun before driving round to Whakapapa on the north west side of the mountain for the 1.5 hour walk up to the hut.

We arrived just before dark in very low visibility. The next morning however the skies had cleared and we headed out with fading starry skies and the sun rising from behind the now visible Pinnacle Ridge.

Looking north from the hut.

Looking back south at The Ruapehu Hut, cloud still hanging around on the upper reaches of the hill.

Approaching the Pinnacles through the unopened ski field.

Heading up the lower reaches of Number 2 Gully. A bit further on there was a distinctive smell of sulphur, a reminder of climbing on a still active volcanco (that is due an erruption).

Looking across to the familiar conical Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom).

After topping out the gully, we started traversing the narrow ridge up towards First Pinnacle. Looking back across to Second Pinnacle.

As we descended the wind picked up, the rain started and we were pretty wet by the time we made it back down to the Cafe. First Pinnacle is the fourth pointy bit from the left. The rather bare-of-ice Pink Floyd Buttress on the far right.

We've so far managed more winter climbing than you'd expect to get done in North Wales in a whole season and the season here hasn't really kicked off yet! Hope a bit more snow arrives before the ski fields are due to open properly in a few weeks.

Back across the Strait

As Helen mentioned, I headed to the South Island for a long weekend with Max. The original plan was to try a new route on the South Face of Tappy (the highest mountain in NZ outside the Southern Alps) in the Inland Kiakouras but we failed to source a 4WD to borrow for the back roads to get up to the trail head. Instead we headed to Nelson Lakes to attempt a new route on the South Face of Travers.

We left Wellington at 3am but slept the whole journey to Picton where we picked up Rob's car (who went with Helen to Ruapehu) and drove an hour and a half to St Arnaud, the entrance to the Nelson Lakes NP. The sky glowed orange behind us as we drove up one of the biggest wine producing areas in NZ heading west from Blenhiem and we made it to the waterfront at St Arnaud by 9:00.

To save 3 hours of tramping Max had organised a water tax to the lake head. A great way to start off the trip.

That still however left 7.5 hours of walking along the scenic Travers valley fully loaded before arriving at the Upper Travers hut just before dark. A popular summer trampers route who head over the Travers Saddle and back to St Arnaud via the Sabine Valley.

Arriving at the hut and looking up at the East Face of Mount Travers. The next morning we went up to check out the obvious icefalls directly under the summit but they were out of condition.

Looking back down the Travers valley from the hut

Max under the South Face

We traversed round the mountain after checking out the icefalls and arrived under the massive South Face. Unfortunately the face wasn't holding enough ice or snow to justify an attempt so we headed up a couple of hundred metre long couloir (just out of view on the left) to create what we think may be a superiour winter alternative start to the South Ridge.

Alternative start to the South Ridge

With our main objective out of the question, we spent the afternoon at the hut deciding what else to do. In the end we decided on popping over Rainbow Pass into the next valley along and looking at the West and South faces of Kehu where there's reputably reliable ice.

We left the hut at 5:00 the next morning and headed up to the head of the Travers valley under a blanket of stars. Rather than follow the pole route up to the saddle we climbed the left hand of a series of couloirs leading to the wide plateau on the southern end of the saddle. The snow conditions were fantastic and we made good progress up what we dupped 'Table Couloir' (in reference to the similar route on the Aiguille du Tour) to avoid the rising sun deteriorating the north facing slopes. We topped out on the plateau just as the moon was setting to the west and snatched a bit of refreshment before heading over Rainbow Pass and down the slopes at the head of the Rainbow catchment, slowly traversing around to the West Face of Kehu.

Sun rising over Mount Iris.

We headed up a wide couloir and branched off a narrowing one heading up to the right. Snow conditions continued to give fantasic cramponing.

After a few short icy steps as the couloir narrowed we finally had to get the rope out for a short crux section.

Me on the summit as the cloud makes a brief appearance.

The couloir topped out, rather unexpectedly, but extremely aestheically, directly under the summit of the west peak of Kehu.

The west ridge leading up to the summit of Kehu itself. Tappy (our original objective for the weekend is just visible on the horizon).

View across to Travers while descending the NW slopes of Kehu on route back to the hut.


Looking down the Travers valley on the way back to the hut.

Leaving the hut for the walk back down Travers Valley. 'Table Couloir' is the leftward and narrowest heading up to the horizon.

We decided to walk all the way out to Lake Head Hut that night, reversing our 7.5 hour walk in the same day as our alpine route. It was of course dark by the time we got there.

The next morning we set off again at 5:00 to be sure to make it back to St Arnaud and onwards to Picton in order to get an earlier ferry back to Wellington (we didn't take the water taxi this time). It turned out that the earlier ferry wasn't till 13:00 so we had loads of time.

Back at the jetty at St Arnaud after a fantastic couple of days and a great way to start the winter! Soon to be continued up at the North Island Volcanoes.

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!

Sunrise at Blythe Hut

Early morning view of Girdlestone (pointy peak on the right) and Tahurangi

Rob on the Southwest Ridge

Looking back down where we had come up

Summit of Girdlestone 2658m

Ridge to Tahurangi -one for another day!

Sunsetting as we decended the ski slopes

Sunset on Ruapehu as the snow machines blow across the slopes of Turoa

Autumn in Wellington

Autumn in Wellington appears to be dragging on a bit. We've had three weeks of almost continuous unstettled weather (though a few sunny days mid week as always). We spent a few weekends ticking off some more mountain bike trails in the area and repeat visits to the bouldering areas of Bearing Head and Turakirae Head. Holiday weekend coming up and although the forecast doesn't look great, we're looking forward to heading off somewhere on the North Island. The good news is that the volcanoes have had lots of snow, much earlier in the season than normal, so we'll even get to go skiing soon (we've already brought our early bird season passes for Whakapapa and Turino on Mount Ruapehu!

Another bit of good news is that Tim's got a job! Working two days a week at an outdoor shop in town so still keeping going on the the paper rounds and delivering the catalogues on the other days. Three jobs at once!

Rimutaka Incline track following an old railway line through the hills from Upper Hutt to the Wairarapa

Remnants of the railway infront of the regenerating bush-clad hills. The bush wasn't extensively logged here but sparks from the railway caused many damaging fires.

Helen pushing (although it doesn't look it) a very, very steep bit.

After Tim nearly wipes out negotiating the ford, Helen goes for the stepping stone method.

The boulders Turakirae Head looking east across Palliser Bay to Cape Palliser, the most southerly point of the North Island.

Looking west past Bearing Head to Hawkins Hill (See Easter Weekend mountain bike trip) on the other side of the entrance to Wellington Harbour.

Helen sit starting at Turakirae Head

Look out from the top of Wainuiomata Hill over Wellington Harbour. Petone shoreline in the foreground, Sommes Island in the middle and our house right bang in the middle of the picture, half way up the hill on the other side (City Centre tucked behind Sommes Island).

Easter Weekend

With only a few days left till Helen starts work, we thought we'd get out to enjoy the lovely Easter weekend weather and explore a bit more of Wellington and its environs.

The Brooklyn Wind Turbine on the way up Hawkins Hills

View from the Wind Turbine over Wellington harbour

Helen on the first part of the Red Rock track descending from Hawkins Hill

Tim a bit further on down the track. The snow dusted tops of the Kiakoura mountain range of the South Island visible across the Cook Strait.

Heading back to Owrewa Bay along the coastal route

The next day we went to check out the climbing of Titahi Bay, 30 minutes up the west coast from us.

Helen reaching the top of 'Dysentry Groove', one of the better climbs of the area.

It was a bit windy and not sheltered as the guidebook suggests.

And after finally finding a desk (for $23.50 on Trade Me), we no longer have to share the dinner table with the computer!

On Easter Sunday we went for another bike ride to explore the Belmont Regional park, occupying the high land between the Hutt valley and the west coast.Look south over Wellington harbour

On Monday we headed out to the Wellington bouldering mecca of Bearing Head where it was nice and sunny but very very windy!

Tim on the classic 'The Crack'

Traversing Long Wall

The strong northerly whipping the tops of the waves.