Wharepapa / Mt Arthur | Kahurangi National Park | 26 June 2022 (Matariki Weekend)

 Atrocious conditions postponed our planned Mt Fell to Mt Richmond traverse. So our illustrious leaders decided on an alternative destination: the familiar summit of Mount Arthur which most of us had climbed in years past.

 By the time we negotiated the Graham Valley Road up to Flora Saddle, the rain had gone. The cold had not. Eight energetic alpinists assembled at the carpark shelter to pose for Ray's camera. We set off to the saddle proper, then used Max Polglaze's fantastic track along 'Dragonwood Ridge' with its dracophyllum trees silhouetted in the mist. Mount Arthur Hut was full of family day-trippers.

 Here, we dilly-dallied, hoping for the weather to clear. It did. Ray, Chris, Tony and David made a straight-forward climb of Winter Peak in their crampons. And in dodgy snow, where we sometimes sank up to our thighs. Low cloud prevented us seeing the true summit of Mt Arthur. We passed a number of families on the ridgelines below, some engaging in snowball fights, as we quickly returned to the hut. And to our four companions, Debbie, Jo, Kath and Christine who had their own adventure in the tussock and snowy ridges of Wharepapa.

 All in all, we delighted in the sound of our crampons crunching into fresh snowfall, and our ice-axes biting into the mountain. I can't think of a better way to spend a frigid winter's day.

 Scribe: Ray Salisbury