On 10th August, myself and Joan O'Donnell left the eastern shore of Lake Tekapo (NZ) and headed up the hill towards the Two Thumbs range. Sadly, a vigorous Nor'Wester a few days earlier had lifted the snow line, and we had a few hours' walk before we could don skis and skins. We reached the Rex Simpson hut at dusk. This is owned by a guiding company, but situated on conservation land, and so may be used by the public. Next morning dawned clear, and we skinned up Camp stream towards Stag Saddle, about 8km. away.
The Two Thumbs isn't glaciated, and it's possible to find easy-angled routes to most places. This was no small consideration following the NW storm, as there had been plenty of recent avalanche activity. We were on rain-crust to start with, but the snow improved to nothing short of sublime as we gained height. The run back down to the hut was most enjoyable.
We awoke to clag next day, and skinned to an old musterers' hut, Camp Stream hut. This was as rough as the Rex Simpson was posh, but much cheaper. Well, free. The clag cleared by lunchtime, and we headed 3km up a leading ridge towards Pyramid Peak. The run down was careful, rather than whooping, again on a rain crust. Most of the evening was fully occupied trying to split logs into pieces small enough to fit in the tiny firebox of the ancient stove, using ice-axe and knife. We headed down next day, having seen noone else in the four days.
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