Waimakariri Falls Hut Trip

In one of the guide books I looked through it mentioned that there was good skiing to be had near the Waimak Col (21 km in)… if skis were carried up there of course.   So when Joe landed in CHCH and we found out we had a bunch of good weather coming we didn’t hesitate.  The next morning following his landing we started walking up the Waimak loaded down with 5 days of food.  A great trip!  Decent snow.  And for everyone who was worried about it (Joe and myself) we managed to eat 6 meat pies on the drive/walk in.  Well worth the walk.  I’ll let the pictures show for themselves.

 

The Packs were a touch full at the start

Joe contemplating the hike+pack

Long hike with heavy pack

The Skis are touch out of place

scrambling with skis

The Hut at last!

Look up the Col

The hut was quite charming!

Small, but also mostly empty

Requisite photos of Kea.  Despite the coolness of alpine parrots I've decided that my favorite birds are fan tails (crazy movement) and whio a blue duck, whose niche is fast flowing alpine streams. 

And we did a touch of skiing

Beautiful alpine bowls!

Great snow and warm (note zip pants).

Crazy big terrain and perfect weather

Lunch break

From the top of Armstrong... you can just see the West Coast

And back down (if it looks like we left the hut while there was still daylight... we did.  Joe may have left his rain jacket in the Carrington hut and we were afraid of rain.

Joe is an expert fire maker... at this point we were employing the throw everything on it in desperation technique.  I have some lingering doubts about the ability of people to survive in NZ... so much wet wood.  At least there was a pie the next day.

More than any other trip I've been on the Waimak Col embodied the sentiment of my favorite quote

'On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude.'

- Lionel Terray