August 2020 This route is on private land (Glenmore Station) and so access must be negotiated prior to visiting. The Falcon’s Nest hut is in Tin Hut Stream, and can be booked for ski touring parties. There are bunks for 8 people. It has a fireplace, gas cookers, clean mattresses, cooking utensils and even a…
Category: Tekapo
Lake Tekapo area
Symphony on Skis, West to East, Mt Cook N.P.
Symphony on Skis: A West to East crossing in 5 days The team and photo credits are: Ian McIvor, Karl Greasley, Liv Barron & Anna Brooke. This is one of the trips that should be on every ski-mountaineer’s list. It offers changing mountain and snow conditions, glacier travel, steepness, playful lines, and a smorgasbord of…
The Prelude and Ski Rhapsody, a multi-day ski traverse; Mt Cook NP & Two Thumb Range
THE PRELUDE: Starting from Bush Stream Bridge at Mesopotamia in the Rangitata Valley, to the eastern summit of the Brabazon Ridge. West along the Brabazon Ridge, sidling north of Mt Brabazon and south of Points 1785 and 1797, then following the ridge via Point 1852 along to Brabazon Saddle. A little care initially, descending to…
Ski area access guidelines
There are lots of great tours available on this site, which begin (or end) at a Ski area. A bit of courtesy and respect for the operations and hazards will go a long way to keeping relations with the areas positive, and the access as open as possible. This guideline was developed by the Federated…
Kings Mistake Couloir, Hall Range, Tekapo
King’s Mistake Couloir on Mistake Peak – Manu Nadler On July 30th, after a couple of really cold days with a lot of snowfall, Jamie Paterson and I wanted to ski one of the long east facing couloirs on Mistake Peak at Lake Tekapo. From the opposite side of the lake at Roundhill Ski Area…
The Cass Valley, Mt Hutton via Huxley Glacier, Liebig Range.
At the end of the Cass Valley looms Mt Hutton. There are 2 ski routes on the peak, both are accessible from Memorial Hut, and both are ski mountaineering routes as they require some mountaineering skills. Other routes listed here on the website that are accessible from Memorial Hut are: The Scorpion loop, Liebig Range…
The Cass Valley, Mt Hutton via Faraday Glacier, Liebig Range
When heading up the Cass River, one of the first sights that catches the skier’s eye, is the bold and obvious line on the Faraday Glacier, Mt Hutton. Elegant and exacting, the route beckons and entices. The crux of the route is steep (close on 50 degrees) with sustained fall line skiing and a long…
The Cass Valley, Memorial and Lady Emily Huts, “The Scorpion” ski tour loop, Gamack Range
“The ‘Scorpion” is a well traveled and rewarding backcountry ski tour, taking in some gorgeous valleys, a fine alpine pass, and lovely some bowls. A deservedly popular backcountry ski loop. Where: The Cass River Valley lies on the western side of Lake Tekapo. Access is solely through Glenmore Station and booking ahead is necessary as…
Mt Ross from the Macaulay River, Two Thumb Range
by Jordan Tiernan http://jordantiernan.com Both me and Holly managed to get a good look at the south face of Mt Ross from the Roundhill access road and both instantly knew that we wanted to ski it. After taking a quick walk up the Macaulay Valley, we saw that conditions were pretty good, with a snowline…
Diagonal Couloir, East face Mt Sibbald – Sibbald Range
By Manuel Nadler On Wednesday, August 2nd, my friend Jamie Paterson and I set off into the Macaulay Valley to stay in the Macaulay Hut for a couple of nights. The weather forecast looked very promising and so did the snowpack. Our goal was to ski/snowboard some interesting looking lines around Macaulay Hut. With some…