Thursday 2pm – Cowboy (on the phone): “OK, are they in a position to make me a job offer? I’ve got another on the table at the moment. I have to leave for my ferry by 4pm. Within the hour….Great!” 3.15pm – Cowboy (on the phone): “That’s a good offer but (blah, blah). Great we have a deal!”. Now for the train? And how do I get 40kg of gear 700m to the station? 4.40pm – Chitty (on the phone): “I’ve just got off the plane. I’m thinking the weather doesn’t look too good for this weekend?”. Cowboy (in the ferry car queue with Zinky): “Weather looks great! Trust me. It’ll cut up rough tomorrow, but fine up nicely after that” Chitty: “OK see you on the ferry” Zinky: “Hmmm…Cutting it fine” Cowboy: “Wouldn’t be a proper trip without last minute excitement” Friday 12.30am – Cowboy (as we pull into the CHCH backpackers): “No Rakaia Hilton for us tonight! I almost feel sad breaking an NZAC ‘hard man’ tradition” Friday 1pm – Arthurs Pass. It’s pouring with rain and we’ve put it off as long as we can as we start up the Waimakariri River. Zinky drops us (Chitty and Cowboy) off and then heads to Tekapo for MTB. Anti-Crow hut passes by at 3pm in ankle deep mud and then the real hard work starts. We scramble around the almost indecipherable high water route holding onto bits of #8 wire bolted in above 50m bluffs. 3 major side streams require linking up to cross. It’s now 5.30pm and almost dark as we roll up to where my GPS tells me Greenlaw Hut should be. Bugger, it’s gone! After briefly deciding that what remains of the toilet can’t be bivvied in we take off for Carrington Hut getting there by 7pm. Unfortunately the fire doesn’t work properly as the chimney’s partially blocked. Cowboy: “Garth was right, that HW route really sucks!” Chitty: “It’s getting quite smoky in here.” Saturday – It’s starting to snow. We trudge up White River to Barker Hut. What should take 3-5 hours takes 6 in 1-2’ of snow. It’s really cold, and we’re doing it in shorts! Suddenly it fines up and the objective, Mt Murchison, is laid out before us. Sunday – 6am start. It’s been snowing overnight and it’s a bit breezy with much spindrift as we leave the hut. Knee deep we head up to the White Icefall climbing at just 100m per hour. With 840m to the summit it’s going to be a long day. By 8am its stopped blowing and the sun has come up. It’s a blue sky day (BSD). Just 1m of waist/chest high powder to wade through. Each massive step you take only brings you 6” forward. At 11am we’re exhausted and call it a day at the top of the White Icefall – 350m short but with even deeper snow ahead plus a 70m tricky leeside powder filled couloir at the end. Cowboy: “I should have brought my ski’s.” Monday – 6am. We bail early, hoping to make the road-end to meet up with Zinky at 5pm. Fortunately the low water route is available but there’s 1’ of snow all the way. Chitty wrenched his knee and I’ve stubbed my toe. We limp in at 4.45pm. Cowboy: “Time for the pub.” Tuesday – 9am we’re (Zinky and Cowboy) trying for Phipps Peak (1900m, 1100m to climb), past Temple Basin ski field. Chitty’s flown back to WN. It’s another BSD. By 11am we’re flying along too and are at the base of the slope that leads to the Col. Just 600m to go. It’s a scree slope with 1’ of loose snow on it. The scree is loose too. Progress drags. As we near the Col scree turns to smooth rock too slippery to climb on. We’re stuck! As we start to backtrack rabbit tracks are spotted. Zinky: “Must be one hell of a randy rabbit to climb over this Col!”. At 2pm we slump exhausted on the Col. Still looks like 2-3 hours along a rocky ridge to the summit. We call it a day. Cowboy: “Bugger, that’s 0-2 to the home team. Let’s try Avalanche Peak tomorrow, at least it has a track to the summit.” Wednesday – 8am we rip up Avalanche Peak and are back down to the car park by 2pm. We pass a couple carrying a baby in a backpack on the way down. Cowboy: “Hmmm, I think the conditions are getting easier, Rolleston tomorrow!!” Thursday – 5am at the Otira River car park. There’s been a reasonable melt-freeze at last. Yet another BSD. We’re exhausted. Part of the plan was to get a rest day due to expected bad weather at this time of year. We promise ourselves the hot springs at Hanmer if we pull this one off. Memories of last October’s desperate retreat down Rome ridge as we were overtaken by a front fade away. Conditions this time are hard and fast up the Otira slide. We make the Low Peak by 10am! The rarely achieved High Peak is on. We cross the hidden crevasse field of the Crow past Middle Peak. 6 pitches up the High Peak ridge see us on top of the world at 1pm!! A leisurely lunch and we’re back at the car park by dark (6pm). A night-day-nighter. Friday – Hanmer, say no more… Trip participants: Cowboy (Kevin Patterson), Chitty (Dave Chittenden), and Zinky (Tom Zink). Kevin Patterson