Mt Arthur Tablelands and Mt Peel – 23-26 July 2011 I woke up in the night in Balloon Hut with a freezing arse, and stuffed my foam pad inside my sleeping bag to cover the cold spot. It did the trick! Well I did pick a weekend with the coldest weather forecast for 15 years….
Author: Brian Renwick
Pisa Range – Cromwell Faces
Ski Touring Cromwell Faces For some reason the Cromwell Faces are almost totally ignored as a ski touring destination. The upper reaches of the Tinwald Burn offers great ski touring terrain and some of the most consistent snow around. The eastern aspect holds snow really well and since it is off the main divide it…
Ben Nevis via School House Creek – Hector Mountains
A trip for the keen of isolated places that don’t mind a bit of walking with the skis on the back pack. Access: is from Bannockburn via the Nevis valley Road. Drive up Duffer Saddle and drop into Nevis crossing. Stop by the station to ask permission to cross their land as all the trip…
Two Thumb Range
Ski Touring in the Two Thumb Range There are plenty of ski touring options in the Two Thumb Range and you can base yourself out of Camp Stream Hut or Royal Hut at the top of Bush Stream on the Mesopotamia side, or, if you want to be comfortable you might be able to use…
Symphony on Skis
Symphony on This is a ski traverse of the Southern Alps from east to west via the following route: Lake Tekapo – Godley Valley – Liebig Range – Murchison Glacier – Tasman Saddle – Tasman Glacier – Rudolph Glacier – Graham Saddle (crossing the Main Divide) – Franz Josef Glacier – Fox Glacier. It takes…
Twin Stream – Kai Tarau – Ben Ohau Range
Twin Stream is well known for its rock climbing walls but in winter it has some good and steep lines to be skied. You can either walk in or fly in; about 4 hours walking vs 5 minutes flying: $0 vs $350 a load. Contact Heliline Glentanner at 0800 650 651 and make sure you…
McKerrow range – Makarora – Mt Shrimpton missing link (cental part)
I feel like I have to add this tour as missing link between another two in the McKerrow range. It fits in between Boundary Creek traverse and the Camerons Creek traverse. As per the other tours grab an helos lift from Harvey Hutton of Backcountry Helicopters 443 8351. We got dropped off on point 1977m…
Mt Clarke and Mt Clarke extended trip, Forbes Mountains
Mt Clarke is a beautiful peak in the Forbes Mtns just north of Mt Earnslaw and can be skied as an overnight mission from the Rees Valley. If one has a good 4WD and river crossing experience then it is possible to drive to where the valley narrows – about 45mins walk from the bottom…
1912 from Cass Saddle Hut, Cragieburn
With low snow cover access to Cass Saddle hut can be pretty quick and afford some nice tuns en-route.. Cass Saddle hut is a basic back country hut with a wood burner and bunks and water is close at hand. Low snow cover really is the key for this trip to be good value, I…
Routeburn Day Trip
Just a quick day trip up the Routeburn. Good day out, bit of effort getting up there but all good. Check out the video post for this trip!