As one would expect with a trip organised by Kevin, plans and logistics were impeccable; as usual with a climbing trip, things didn’t quite go according to plan. The aim was for three of us (Kevin, Kate, Rachael) to fly into Plateau Hut on the Friday with all our gear and heaps of food and for Craig and Saul to walk in up the Haast Ridge. We were hoping to climb Mt Dixon and perhaps a couple of other peaks in the area. The forecast looked good. As we drove from Christchurch the sky was completely clear and full of stars. We were feeling lucky. We spent the night at Unwin and woke on Friday morning to gray skies and low cloud. No flights that morning, and the S/E wind meant that the weather might hang around. Spent Friday bouncing off the walls and roof of Unwin doing transceiver practice, prussiking and trying not to look at the sky on the basis that a watched sky never clears. It didn’t anyway. If anything, the cloud had lowered a little on Saturday morning and we were beginning to get a little stir crazy, so around 10 we made the decision to walk in. We cut down our loads. After a couple of hours, we were fully appreciative of the joys of moraine bashing in plastic boots carrying a load and in no doubt about what was bashing whom. We headed up the Boyes Col, but realised that we had left it too late and weren’t moving fast enough to make it up safely so turned back before Cinerama Col. Discovered the joys of moraine bashing downhill in plastic boots carrying a load in the dark. Eventually arrived back to Ball Shelter in the dark and spent the night there, undoubtedly spoiling the plans of the couple who were already comfortably installed with a bottle of wine and a couple of candles. So next morning was time for a new plan. Rachael was exhausted and sore unsurprisingly only 5 months after a major accident (thanks Kate, you’re so kind and tactful!) so wisely decided her climbing was over for that weekend. The rest of us decided we would see what was on offer beyond Mueller Hut. Looked as if we would get good weather arriving in glorious sunshine to the extremely comfortable facilities of the new hut. There were plenty of folk already in residence, but still plenty of room. Craig cooked up a fantastic rice dish, and we retired hopeful of eventually getting some climbing in. Made an early-ish start, chivvied by Kevin and his soon-to-become infamous door closing wakeup call. Our objective was Mt Sealy. It was a beautiful day to be in the mountains and conditions were great, although it was obvious they were going to deteriorate in the heat of the day. Had an uneventful traverse across the Annette Plateau, arrived at Sladden Saddle and after some discussion over exactly which mountain Sealy was, arrived at the base around 11.30 am. The route looked fairly straight forward so we elected to leave our packs and ropes behind and climbed with just our tools. Initially went up a 35/40 degree snow slope for about 100 metres, then traversed over and around some rocks, slightly tricky in crampons, and I for one wished that we had a rope at this point as it was quite exposed. Then up another short slope to the summit. The route was rated 1+ but we estimated it was probably more like a 2. By the time we reached the summit, the clouds had come in and we could see almost nothing. Came down, bathed in that warm glow of self-congratulation one gets after summiting anything, and had a long lunch break. Perhaps over long as it turned out. By the time we set off for the Hut, conditions had deteriorated significantly. Those of us without anti-balling plates were vowing they would be our next purchase as we knocked off snow every few steps. As the day wore on, we could hear avalanches thundering down the faces opposite every 10 minutes or so, and the slopes we were on were becoming increasingly avalanche prone. As usual, rather than the trip home being the easy part, it was the hardest part of the whole day slogging our way through very soft snow and trying to keep to the safest part of the slope. Special thanks to Saul for improvising anti-balling plates for me. Tip for those no 8 wire enthusiasts out there – zinc oxide tape works better than duct tape! Arrived back at the hut, had a huge feed of pasta and tuna and went to bed. It snowed prettily heavily all night so our timing was just right. Headed back to the Village and the Old Mountaineer’s Café next day for lunch and well-earned beers. Bade farewell to Craig and Saul and back to Chch. Not quite the weekend we planned but great fun all the same. Trip participants: Kevin Patterson, Rachael Schmidt, Kate Smith, Saul Dixon, Craig Jones Kate Smith