Sawtooth Ridge

The weather forecast looked amazing. It was simply too good not to play in the snow. Anything less would have felt humdrum and I’d hate myself for not taking the opportunity.

I posted the trip with about 3 days notice and did my usual thing of getting carried away with the cover image! That said I knew it would be a hard weekend, I needed to persuade some of the less energetic souls not to sign up!

As turned out I think the harsh description and the short notice put everyone off 🤣

It was just myself with The Shit Weasel for company, which was fine with me!

Kashmir Road

The first challenge was getting there. The last 10km of Kashmir road remains unsealed and it’s always a worry when you drive a stupid little sports car with no ground clearance! This time however I was lucky. It was not rutted, but there are some steep sections where rear wheel drive comes in handy.

The good weather had not arrived yet and it was looking grim as I arrived. It just stopped raining as I got out the car but the clag remained.

I smashed it up the hill to make the most of the remaining daylight. The last 20 minutes were under torch light which made the final section interesting. There were couple of moments I had to pay attention to keep on track.

I made the hut in 1 hour and was greeted by a friendly bunch of locals who already had the fire roaring away.

Longview Hut

The next day I understood the hut name as I woke to a glorious sun rise and views that stretched out for miles.

I set off at 7:30 and despite a glorious sunrise the wind was still up. By the time I got to Otumore (1519m) I was in knee deep snow and back in the clag which was slowing my progress. So much for the clear day on the tops! I was only able to spot 1 waratah at a time.

But the sun was trying to poke through so there was still hope.

If I was not confident that the forecast would improve I’d be having doubts. I pushed on at a hard pace to stay warm, plus to keep any hopes of crossing the Sawtooth ridge alive.

Howletts Hut

By the time I arrived at Howletts hut the sun was out. It still looked grim back at Otumore, but the snow capped mountains ahead of me were certainly clearing up.

Howletts hut is a little gem and owned by Heretaunga tramping club

I had a quick break at the hut and put my intentions in the hut book. My name was the first to go into the hut book in 9 weeks!

Slip Slop Slap

Always a good idea to put sun block on before hitting the snow and blue zinc works well. Even if it does make me look like a twat!

Very deep snow up on Tiraha

There was more snow then I could ever dream of. It was deep, fluffy snow and I kept sinking into it which made progress slow.

It was waist deep in spots and reminded me of the conditions up on the Broken Axe Pinnacles. I’d crossed them with Peter the previous year.

To give you an idea how hard it is to make progress in deep snow check out this video which Peter shot of our crossing.

Sawtooth Ridge makes the Broken Axe Pinnacles look tame. I’m beguiled with the place. It’s breath taking, not only to gawp at, but to climb up to too!

As it got steeper I was kicking myself for not bringing my crampons. My micro-spikes felt insufficient as I was getting very little traction from my feet. The snow was too sloppy to kick any decent steps into and I also wished for a 2nd ice axe!

Just before Tirahu’s summit it gets stupidly steep. It here where I decided I was not well enough equipped to continue!

It’s always tough to make the call to turn back. For me it can be a fine line between being a princess and going kamikaze. I quit with the satisfaction of knowing I was pushing my comfort limits in this most remarkable location.

Once back in a safe spot I looked back up and thought, Mmmm, I could have picked a better line to get up there.

Perish the Thought

I quickly nipped the idea in the bud and accepted things. I still had half of the weekend left to enjoy and now the time pressure was off I could relax and take it all in.

So Many Photos!

Plan B

There always has to be a plan B as you never know what’s realistic. My plan B was to head back to Howletts Hut then down to Daphne Hut for the night.

I sat in the sun for about an hour at Howletts and didn’t want to leave. It’s just so nice up there, I even toyed with spending the night there but knew it would be much warmer in the valley. I finally set off on my trudge down the hill.

I say trudge but I was still feeling bouncy. I got to the hut for 5pm then noticed my sunglasses had fallen off my head. Bollocks! Oh well that’s a problem to deal with tomorrow. I had the hut to myself and got a solid 11 hours sleep in.

The next morning I left my pack at the river and ran back up the hill. Just a quick 700 meter climb before spotting them sitting in the middle of the path where I’d taken my hat off!

The irony that I have a bright red strap to keep them on my head was not lost on me. That over confidence that they would not fall off being my downfall. Still, it made them easy to spot and I had not left any litter!

Back to the River

The first 30 minutes of day 3 involves travelling down the Tukituki river.

It’s pretty much a gorge so would have been impassable when in flood. Even after minimal rain it was still balls deep in places.

If its a tough crossing at Dephne hut then I certainly recommend heading up the ridge to Otumore. But then that’s super exposed so I can easily see a situation where you could get stuck at the hut for days until things improve!

Love the Ruahines

So many fleeting glaces to tempt me back to the tops. Why do I have to work on Monday?

1.6km Gravel road to carpark

I had the option of heading back to Longview hut and down the way I came up, or keep in the shade and not get burnt. I took the shade option and the gravel road back as I could kick the rocks off the road to make the car journey easier.

I love the Ruahines and I’m smitten with the idea of going back for another attempt to cross the Sawtooth Ridge.

Failing has never been so sweet…