Angelus Hut in the Snow

Laressa, Marty, The Shit Weasel and myself set off to Nelson Lakes for a 3 day weekend organised by the NZ Alpine Club.

All 15 of us had attended the Snowcraft level one course on Mount Ruapehu back in July. This weekend was all about practicing what we had learnt and putting it to good use.

The forecast for Friday was not great, but not bad enough to stop us going. The biggest issue we had was waist deep powdery snow. I got my foot stuck in the snow at one stage and needed some help in getting out. Thankfully Naomi was there to help dig it out with her ice axe!

It turned out to be very hard day slogging through the snow. We were putting in big efforts for small distance gains.

Then came the wind along the exposed spots on Roberts Ridge, it was a challenge to stay upright at times. We were all quietly relieved when got to the shelter of Angelus Hut under torch light!

I pulled out my old trick of sneaking a mattress from the the dorm room to sleep by the fire. It was a double win, not only was it warm, there was also the bonus of not suffering Marty’s snoring 😜

Day 2: Angelus Peak

Derek (the hyper energetic organiser) was the first one up. The sky was clear and we both decided it would be a good idea to climb back up the ridge to watch the sunrise whilst the other were still sleeping.

One goal I had for the weekend was to get a decent photo of Angelus hut. The previous week I discovered that our Meetup cover photo was not taken by anyone in our group. It had simply been taken from the internet so had to be updated.

We were back to the hut for breakfast before setting off on our mission to summit Angelus Peak.

After the previous day it was an absolute joy to have sun and hard snow. On went the crampons and off we set.

It’s a good climb up and quite steep in places. I was quite keen on taking the direct route by crossing the frozen lake, but the others were not sold on the idea! 🙄 I got out voted so went around and everyone was in their comfort zone.

We took the direct route to the top, it’s breath taking!

The view from the top was simply amaze-balls. It’s a magical feeling being on a mountain and the smile on The Shit Weasels face said it all.

Going up is all about cardio. Going down however can be about getting loose, especially if the terrain allows for some skids:

After all the fun it was back to the hut for lunch and more fun.

The Shit Weasel hit the Vodka early and proved that Tramping and Alcohol can be a great mix, despite what the WTMC thought police may try and tell you!

Day 3

There was a front due to come in on Sunday so we were keen to get an early start. I don’t think anyone wanted another day like Friday. The good news was the snow was still firm and the weather was great to start off with.

It’s amazing how much difference the conditions can play. We were back at the car park before 12pm. Our speed was about 3 times as fast as the trip in and felt effortless in comparison.

A frigging awesome trip. A huge thank you to Derek and Niomi for making it happen, along with a nod to everyone else for being great company and making it a special weekend.

If any of you are keen on Alpine trips I highly recommend the NZ alpine club. I’ll make sure a post gets put up about the Snowcraft course soon. Feel welcome to introduce yourself to me if you have any questions about getting involved in this type of trip.