Trip participants: Colin Rolfe, Mark Hearfield, James Flannery, Dan Pringle. (On the SW ridge of Hopeless we took out our rope just to abseil one 11m vertical section instead of scrambling down to a ramping ledge traverse. Rock crux grade 12 (ish?) exiting chimney to get through steepest section at the base of the summit pyramid.) Needing a fitness trip, I drafted a list of people and places and sent out an all points bulletin a week before Wellington Anniversary Weekend, hoping someone would be keen on Kehu in Nelson Lakes. James was fresh back at work after a decent break down south and stoked to have someone at work to share his excitement about a walk-in climb of Aspiring with mountain running guru Colin Rolfe. Colin was keen for a Nelson Lakes trip, and had already lined up Mark who I knew from multi-sport circles. “So what size is your pack?” “I reckon I’ll get it down to my 35 litre day pack.” “Ye-yeah. Footwear?” “I need some time in boots, and there is some climbing, so I’m going for three season leather boots.” “Hmm. Um. Well, we’re not going ultra light. Suppose that’s okay.” The uncertainty of shooting for a light and fast approach to new terrain. The cautious apprehension of a trip with new people. Back in the dark ages before CamelBaks, one square meals and caffeinated gels, Colin was posting record times in the Tararuas fuelled by plastic bags of rice pudding in instant coffee. With truck driving exploits to match, what was I letting myself in for? Well, what we had was a cracker of a three-day jaunt in Nelson Lakes National Park taking in Cupola, Hopeless, Angelus and Robert Ridge. We romped around the lake and up the beautiful Travers Valley to Cupola Hut by mid afternoon Saturday. Three stars for great condition, the view of Hopeless, and a new box fire perfect for heating up pizza and drying out saturated rain gear. Handy if ‘light afternoon rain’ comes in a little heavy. We had turned back at about 2,000m on Cupola in deteriorating visibility and strengthening wind and rain. In beautiful weather the next day we traversed Mt Hopeless via the SW ridge and down the trampers’ route to Hopeless Hut. The undoubted climbing highlight was the steep section of the summit pyramid immediately above the ridge. A bit daunting from the ridge, the steep orange rock here was easily the best on the route. Climbers descending the snow slope below us turned out to be Lorraine Johns and Simon Bell returning from the summit via the Hopeless Creek Route, and we rolled back to Hopeless Hut together. Lorraine and Colin seemed equally pleased to find another Nelson Lakes aficionado and starting rattling off peaks, huts, tracks and nutting out the 21 peaks over 2,000m included in the 21 peaks in 21 days challenge. With the hut full, we were two in the wood shed and two under the stars. Enjoying light packs, an afterglow from the day before and the easy camaraderie of a wellmatched group, we went out via Sunset saddle, Mt Angelus, Robert Ridge and Bushline Hut. Three guys from the Swiss orienteering team left as we rolled into Angelus Hut. They’d just posted a time of 35 minutes hut to peak. Next time you’re in there, don’t be surprised to see a wide-eyed bushman in a truckie’s singlet trying to better it! Nelson Lakes really is a superb alpine area – not just a southern version of the Tararuas with Lakes, or a lower country cousin of the Kaikouras. If you haven’t been before – or lately – take a look at the tramping and climbing options for the next three-day weekend. Air New Zealand might even fly you to where your ticket says. High Alpine Skills Course Sharron Came On a blistering hot Canterbury afternoon I was dropped off at Matt’s place where I met up with the Christchurch contingent heading to the NZAC High Alpine Skills Course (HASC). Matt’s dad Rod had kindly lent us his van, by the look of his garage he could have outfitted us with all the kit we needed as well! The van turned out to be something of a Godsend, especially on the return journey when we managed to squeeze six people plus packs including all Jorin’s worldly possessions (he was jumping on a plane back to the Netherlands the next day) into the vehicle. I was the only North Islander on the course but my southern counterparts were very relaxed, friendly and helpful and I quickly felt right at home. The HASC is now a summer fixture thanks to Pat Deavoll who organised three of them along with some advanced courses. The courses are a fantastic, relatively low cost way for people with some alpine climbing experience to consolidate and grow their skills in the bigger mountains of the Mt Cook region. Each HASC is run over six days – typically you fly up to Barron Saddle and walk back over the Sealy range to Mueller and down to Mt Cook Village. Each course has a mix of eight students and two professional instructors/guides. Our guides were Gary Kuehn and Rob Dunn and they made a great team patiently teaching us a wide range of skills and imparting on us some of their vast knowledge and experience. After some rope work in Mt Cook village we flew up to Barron Saddle and spent the next five days going over mountaineering fundamentals ranging from the use of ice axe and crampons, self arresting and glacier travel through to pitched climbing on rock and snow and soft snow and rock anchors. We also managed to fit in plenty of route and weather assessment and alpine bivvying on the journey back to the village. Highlights for me included pitching up the snow slopes on Mt Darby, climbing most of the way up Montgomery before high winds saw us affect a strategic retreat and bivvying at the Annette Plateau wind scoop. Not sure I should admit it, but I also enjoyed watching the many kamikaze ice climbing attempts on the rotten ice near the wind scoop. Gary and Rob taught us loads of things but for me a few things stood out: • Be aware. When you are not on a rope you are soloing. Your feet are your anchors. Behave accordingly. Re-reading Dan’s rep
