Kyle Malone Winter Tarn SK - 2020

Putara–West Peak - 5am–8:14am (3:14)

Woke up feeling pretty stiff from being curled up in the back seat of my car in the bivvy bag but nothing that wouldn’t come right after warming the legs up, knocked back an iced coffee and a couple of muesli bars for breakfast and got moving.

No bathroom at the road end meant I had some business to attend to at Herepai hut, but after that and filling in the intentions book I was on my way again, only to immediately find that since I'd last been up there in February someone had brought up a weed whacker and the beginning of the track from the hut to the tops was actually visible-disappointing.

At the summit of Ruapae there is a short section of ridgeline trail which I'd never noticed before-on previous visits I had sketchily sidled the slip below and clambered back up. Light was more than adequate by the time I hit East Peak to not make the same navigation error I had previously made there, and I found myself at the top of West Peak feeling about as strong as I ever have.

West Peak–Arete Biv8:14am–11:16am (3:02)

The most beautiful section of the day, went by way too quickly. I stopped on the summit of Logan for a couple of minutes to share the view with the BSR Facebook group, then headed into the section between there and Mid King which I’d previously not travelled before.

Arete came along pretty quickly and I got a first-hand look at the area in which Darren Myers was just 3 weeks ago–pretty scarily exposed place to be caught out in a Tararuas winter storm.

Arete–Tarn Ridge Hut - 11:16am–1:40pm (2:24)

The trip so far was going great–yeah I was back 15 minutes on the splits I had but I was still feeling fresh and would have a full 10 hours or so for the valleys. I stopped for a while again a few minutes from the biv just to take in the view over Park valley-absolutely stunning.

And then I got to the Waiohine Pinnacles. A little bit more ice than I was comfortable with not having brought microspikes but the sheets were thin and I could kick them through for footholds, and the still-exposed rock was grippy enough that I could get through that section safely. I reminded myself to thankthe guys I went on a recent trip to Mt Matthews with (Tim, Marta, Guy, Jean and Kevin) because thattrip was the only reason I had the cojones to get through there. The rest of the trip along the ridge was uneventful and soon I was at the hut, again reading the logbook entries from landsar 3 weeks prior as they battled through the elements–the sacrifices they make in service of those that need them are immense.

Tarn Ridge Hut–Broken Axe Pinnacles1:40pm–5:20pm (3:40)

After a top up of water I was off again.The climb to Girdlestone was fun and required a little scrambling through the tussock and leatherwood where the track was too icy, and then I hit the summit and couldn’t see a track south at all. I saw a section down to my right around the western side of the ridgewhere the tussock was thicker so backtracked and headed down that way. Grab some tussock, reach down with a foot and test the next footing, rinse and repeat. Slow going. I heard a shout while beginning my ascent of Adkin, and turned around to see two trampers atop the summit heading towards Tarn Ridge hut for the weekend. I’m glad I missed them, I wouldn’t have wanted to try to explain what I was attempting, nor did I want to hear anyone else’s thoughts that I shouldn’t be out there woefully underprepared (in the eyes of a tramper).

The descent of Adkin was similar but a lesser gradient so I was significantly more comfortable albeit in a pretty rough place mentally. A ping came through my phone and it was a message from my friend Paul:

“There’s space on the car for anther kayak if you wanna race in Mana on Sunday”

I replied with a photo of where I was and “I think I’ll be too wrecked sorry”

“It’s a hill”

I turned south to reply with the full extent of the range before me and toldhim there was a while to goyet

“Looks about 40 minutes to me”

North King was the worst–again got to the summit without effort and was greeted by a sheer wall of ice on the south face. I climbed down the western side a few metres, digging ice from around the tussock with my hands for holds. As soon as I was low enough I was able to go back to my previous method of post-holing through the icy tussock and was soon on the climb to Mid King.

Back in familiar territory, although it looked totally different to the last time I was there. The descent from mid king was much the same as North, there were a couple of sets of footprints on the ground but I couldn’t follow them on the steeper sections of trail. Sunset came while I was on the summit of South King so I took a moment to savour the view of the clag spilling over the main range and down into the Waiohine Valley.

Broken Axe Pinnacles–Holdsworth - 5:20pm–8:20pm (3:00)

More sidling–this S-K was starting to sound like one of Martini’s missions. Even the sidle track here was too icy being on the eastern face and in the shade of South King and the ridge all day, so I post-holed my way around beneath the track until I could clamber back up to it safely.

I made the same navigation error I’d made on a previous ascent of Macgregor, losing the trail and having to wade through the leatherwood to get back to it. A quick phone call put me back in a good headspace and there weren’t really any sketchy sections from there, the ridgeline isn’t as vicious and had had quite a bit of traffic that day (cheers Tim, Andy and Anthony). I was greeted by a sign and a packet of salt and vinegar chips from Martini and Caroline at the East Holdsworth intersection and instantly felt better.

Holdsworth–Cone Hut - 8:20pm–12:37am(4:17)

A phone call to Chris: “I’m not pulling the pin–I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” It was on. A quick stop at Mountain House shelter and I was emptying things I'd need from my belt into my pack and food I wouldn’t need into my belt, stashed it under the shelter and was off. The speed I need to get through the valleys I was sure I couldn’t do with the belt on as well. Straight past Totara Flats hut towards Cone Saddle without a break, and I hit the wall. Hard. I was delirious and talking to myself, but every time I tried to tell myself that I needed to switch back on the words wouldn’t come out. My legs were starting to struggle- I couldn’t feel anything pain wise but knew I was getting slower. I pushed on down to Cone hut for my only break of the valleys section.

Cone hut–Kaitoke - 12:37am–4:59am (3:22)

Just over 3 hours. Fresh, I was sure I could make it. But with almost 5k of climbing in my legs? I thought I was toast. A quick bottle and headtorch refill, and a caffeine pill and some panadol got me back on the trail. I ran some, but was more worried about tripping so power-hiked most of the Tauherenikau Valley.

Smith Creek swingbridge came with almost 75 minutes left and I threw caution into the wind and started what felt like a sprint, all the way up the Puffer Saddle track. 20 minutes to go and my phone started going mental and I knew I was close–I turned up the pace as high as I could, did some mental maths and figured I’d miss it by a couple of minutes, so made the decision there and then to drop mybag and running poles at the Marchant Ridge intersection, grabbed my backup spotlight and went hell for leather down the final 2.5km descent.

I have no idea how I managed it but I touched the sign and then immediately hit stop on my watch at 23:59:41 and collapsed in a heap on the floor. The Carpark of Glory is painful. Even more painful was the walk back up to grab my pack.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible or offered words of support and encouragement–especially Chris Fahey,the absolute legend who gave up his time to wait for me in the early hours ofSaturday morning-this would never have happened without his help

By Kyle Malone