Mt Foweraker

Sunday, 9 August 2020

We started from the Cora Lynn railway bridge. Our navigation guru Doug took us the easy way across the flats to the cairn on the bank of Red Beech stream, a reminder from last year’s trip. In the bush, we picked up and followed a good pest control track goes up the spur to about 3/4 of the way to the bushline. Not far past the bushline, there was a short rock scramble, and here, Wang called it a day. Kerry decided to stay and keep him company.

The snow was confined to the top basin and south facing slopes of Mt Foweraker. Much of the recent snowfall had melted. We stopped for lunch in a relatively sheltered patch of tussock, below the snow basin.

The final climb was relatively straightforward. The snow was old and hard, which made good cramponing conditions. Raymond led the way, and we reached the top about 1.40pm in a clear sky and light breeze instead of the predicted 40km/hr winds.

We picked a good line down the spur from the bushline back to marked track. The descent from the summit took just under 3 hours, followed by leisurely walk back across the flats. We spotted the Tranz Alpine express coming round the Bealey corner while Gary, Merv and Jane were still crossing the bridge. After a few hullaballoos, the three of them picked up speed and made a hasty crossing before the train rumbled passed our cars.

We were: Kerry Moore, Shi Ping Wang, Gary Huish, Doug Forster, Merv Meredith, Jane Liddle, Raymond Ford, Peter Umbers (leader). (PU)