A tale of two peaks

A tale of two peaks

A climb of two peaks, Travers and Cupola in Nelson Lakes National park, wa last chance for winter tramping in 2001. The classic Fit trip wou.ld o1

" ; , , .

\

Above Summit Creek enroute to the summit of Mt Travers (Grant Newton)

he shelter at St Arnaud was abuzz as twentyr-five WT&MC punters awoke on the Saturday morning. The shelter was also full of Alpine Club members and others, but it was the magnificent bird song that aroused us from our sleep. The work done in the St Arnaud area by DOC to eradicate pests had certainly worked.

The grey moming was yet another grey Safurday moming that I had experienced herc - in fact, the third grey Saturday morning this year. I was not perturbed, as on the other two weekends, I had only to escape the valley floor and the conditions had cleared. This weekend's forecast suggested we might have to wait tillthe finalday for the fine weather.

Plodding our way up the Travers Valley, the light rain came and went, the skies remaining grey, but as our fummies started to rumble, signalling it was time for a break, a few rays of sunlight broke through the cloud cover. It was a pleasant lunch stop beside the Travers River and shortly after lunch we paused again as we met up with the Easy group also heading to John Tait Hut.

Now, the value of exp erience in this national park was soon to come in handy. As we reached an eroded stretch of the riverbank, I started to follow the rockv bank when I

Grant Ne geat workout on the last long weekend of the looked up to see the Easy group following DOC's new r The conservative approach by DOC had led to a marked route that climbed steadily up and over the I My experience suggested the old route wasn't too ba and we crept along the riverbank and lay in the sun awe the arrival of our colleagues. Needless to say, they w little peeved!

Continuing our stroll we arrived at the large John Hut for the night. Even though this may have been a r day for a Fit group, the weather forecast suggestedtl warm dry hut was possibly a better option than cam slightly further up. We then settled into the relaxed sociable atmosphere with our colleagues, playing card spinning yarns.

As morning arrived, it now seemed a more deman trip as we awoke in the dark and departed in the c although later than desired. We left the hut at 6am plodded up the valley looking for Summit Creek. Stop by Cupola Stream, we off-loaded some gear, as much wouldn't be needed today. Stuart and Craig even cho share a pack for the journey. This was a cunning pla Stuart, as Craig had already proven on other trips tha is far too fit and fast, so he would be eager to carry

Tramping and Mountai neering 2001 /2

)wton

)s the ffer a year.

,-,'3'

' t ' . ,

, ' , " ,

'oute.

new bluff.

d yet ilting ere a load for the greater part of the journey. Stuart, though probably feeling smug with his good planning, only began to worry when the camera shutter clicked open and shut, as the evidence could be used against him at some later stage. It is noted that Stuart wasn't present for the slide show later in the year!

r Tait short hat a rping

Bush-bashing our way up Summit Creek we made exceflent progress, but racing at a far greater speed were the forecast clouds that started to clag the valley. As we broke from the bush we noticed a tent belonging to two Nelson girls who were also attempting the peak. They had just set off as we started up the rocky and tussocky slopes. The warm conditions leading up to Labour Weekend had taken its toll on the snow level. We broke away from the ugly scree at the first available opportunity and fitted the crampons. The altitude was 1940 metres, an unusually high altitude to be meeting the snow at this time of the year.

and ; and rding lark, and rping rofit se to n b y rt he r the

The surrounding area was well and truly clagged in as we plugged steps in the heavy snow, deviating slightly away

Tramping and Mountaineering 2001 /2002

€ z

{

*="=- f, a *

CD ll

-q

\ h r-\ from our intended route. The steep drop-off from the ridge gave us a good clue of our location and we quickly deviated back onto the correct route. Though steep, the conditions weren't too difficult as we made our way to the summit. The views spread in 360 degrees, offering a remarkably similar view in every direction - of the inside of a cloud! Oh well, at least we had the satisfaction of a summit bagged as we sat down and ate lunch.

It was a long descent back to Cupola Stream to pick up our gear. Shortly after loading the packs we set forth with the intention of reaching Cupola Hut {or the night, stopping almost straight after beginning our walk, as once again, we met up with the Easy group who had been up to the hut for a day walk. Cupola Hut is wellworth the walk, not only are the views from the hut great, but the gorgy nature of the stream is spectacular in places with roaring waterfalls plunging through cool dark chasms.

The final ascent to the hut was hard, and after such a long day, the pack felt heavy, the legs weary, the feet sore, and then down came the rain. In fact it poured for the final few minutes, but the sheltered haven of Cupola Basin Hut was a welcome relief. A brew lifted our spirits and as the rain continued to fall we set about devouring dinner and discussing the fuip with a couple of alpine club members. They had already recognised Andrew and I from last labour Weekend; well in fact all they could remember was Garry De Rose attempting a fast route off Mt Franklin!

The rain cleared shortly after dinner and we headed outside as the clouds cleared. This offered us the first look at the route up Cupola - we had been warned that the usual route up the snow chutes was a no-go due to lack of snow. It was to be up the rocky zigzagwe would head, a route that looked ominous from below!

The final day was also set to be demanding for a peak was to be climbed plus the long haul out down the Travers Valley. The alarms rang at 5.30am and as we crept out of the sleeping bags, our sleepy bodies headed for the window and our eyes peered skywards. It was a great sight, a starlit sky and nobreeze- conditions couldn't have been better. The early part of the climb was difficult travel as the overnight fre ezehad left yesterday's rain-covered rocks icy and very slippery. It was with some relief that we reached the first tongue of snow and promptly fitted our crampons.

I couldn't help but keep turning around; the view of Mt Hopeless behind us was truly stunning - oh, and it gave a good excuse for a breather - the pace, once again, was quick! The zigzag ahead continued to look ominous and while the first 'zig' was easily negotiated, it got progressively hickier. We looked across knowing there were normally easy snow chutes to walk up, but the lack of snow made these somewhat different today as a rock step in the middle blocked access, hence our route. We were soon into the upper basin, the flatter terrain offering some respite from q)z f F l s

Q E

.U o

'"t*fuar$:;

the constant uphill. There was another rocky scramble th required more care; thankfully the handholds and foothok were again good and before we knew it, the summit r Cupola lay in front of us.

The views were memorable stretching in a 360-degr panorama, with Mt Travers sitting smack in th foreground... "so that is what it looks like", we murmure Mt Franklin, the peak climbed by the club during th previous Labour Weekend, lay to our right. We looke beyond Nelson Lakes and the peaks of Tapuae-O-Uenu

(lnland Kaikouras) and Mt Owen (Kahurangi NP) stoc out amongst the many glistening snowcapped ranges. We headed back down after an array of photos, tt descent through the steep sections requiring some car Eventually the pace picked up again as the ice had thawe off the rocks lower down and soon we were back at tt hut. The sun beat down, the wind was non-existent, ar we lay relaxing in the sun eating lunch and enjoying a gre environment. In the porch of the hut an old pair of blue fronts was hanging up. . . it was a shame Andrew had pack away his polypropylene. The red top and red long johns t owned, coupled with the y-fronts (on the outside) wou have created the ideal mountaineer's superman suit! A chopper flew up the valley and our ears pricked u with nervousness. We were later to find out that it wi carrying Raymond Morgan out, his sprained ankle offeri a good excuse to be soft! We instead chose to walk, thoug evenhrally succumbed to softness; the water taxi back acro the lake was a welcome relief for the feet that had carrie us up two peaks in this beautiful region.

The crew: Gabriel Ossenkamp (leader), Andrew Chin Craig Jones, Stuart Palmer and Grant Newton.

Tramping and Mountaineering 2001 /201