Don French, James Wright, Steve Hart and Toby Johnston ventured into the Murchison Valley at the end of October, with Mt Hamilton being their primary objective. They had an excellent camp at the base of Hamilton’s East ridge. The lower section of the ridge was climbed the next day. 10 hours of very hard work in deep snow conditions with heavy packs. The lower section of the ridge is generally not that difficult, with one noticeable step at 1700ms, which is passed on the northern side. A camp was established on the Baker Glacier (2100ms). The party later decided to move the camp a couple of hundred meters to the south, a decision that proved to be very prudent. 30 to 40 cms of snow fell over the next few days. Short exploratory journeys were made over the next few days resulting in 3 ascents of Frind peak. There was a significant avalanche risk with 2 to 5 mtr crown walls being present. This necessitated a certain amount of prudence in route selection. Unfortunately the east ridge ascent could not be completed, and a retreat in poor weather over Frind Peak was required. The retreat to use was onto a puggy Cascade glacier before dropping to a very comfortable camp at point 1224. The following day saw a casual walk out to the Ball hut road, with the 200m Tasman Moraine wall being rather breathtaking. In summary, we are rather surprised that the Murchison is not that frequented. The two low level camp sites that we used are probably the best camp sites in the park. The 1800m East ridge of Hamilton is on a par with the East ridge of Mt Cook as far as a climb goes. It is also very neglected as a climbing objective with possibly only one successful ascent having been recorded. There is a lot of fine mountaineering to be had in this valley. And the weather is not as vile as that nearer to the divide. Don French