Through the GUNSIGHT
New Zealand mountain weather. Changeable, dramatic, unpredictable. How many hours do trampers devote to debating the weather?
We all hope for a good forecast. Plan-A, game on.
An atrocious forecast is almost as easy to deal with: stay at home or change to Plan-B.
But a marginal report always proves harder. What tricks will the mountain weather conjure?
Three of us – Peter Laurenson, Darryn Pegram and I – had abandoned our Plan-A for climbing at Arthur’s Pass, and with better weather forecast for Nelson Lakes, settled on Plan-B: head up the Travers Valley and climb Mt Travers if conditions allowed. If not, then we’d have the consolation of tramping the Travers-Sabine Circuit. It seemed a reasonable strategy.
The tramp to John Tait Hut crosses the easy terrain of a valley ploughed by past glaciers, but carrying a week’s worth of food and climbing gear, it took us five hours of trudging. Rope, harnesses, helmets and snow-stakes all added up to mean loads. Peter’s knee complained, and he suffered most of the way.
In winter, and with the New Zealand border closed to overseas hikers, John Tait Hut proved quiet so we
