Hey everybody with a New Zealand interest -

I've just added a route page and a trip report for Ball Pass, along with a number of photos that I quite liked. I'll be adding a couple of new mountain pages as well in the near future. I'd appreciate any feedback or additions to the route page - let me know!

Thanks,
Howie

http://www.summitpost.org/route/187559/ball-pass.html
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/187596/ball-pass-crossing.html

Excellent. Looks like I'll be honeymooning there later this year. Excited to see more pages for the area.

Thanks Matt - when are you planning your trip? Any big plans? I've bben away for two weeks and I already want to go back.

-Howie

I think we're aiming for 3 weeks in November (wedding is 30 September). I only just got the Lonely Planet. I'm not allowed to make it into a trekking trip (curses!) but I'm pretty sure I can plan a few hikes, maybe even an overnight or two. 3 weeks is a lot of time, so I'm hopeful. If you have any winners, I'd love to hear about them.

Congratulations on your wedding -
As far as day hikes, some of my favorites are the Tutoko River track near Milford Sound, the Mueller Hut in Mt. Cook, and Mt. Stokes in Marlborough Sounds. There are tons of opportunities for overnight trips using the hut system - check out the South Island Weekend Tramps book by Nick Groves - it's a great resource.

Loved the Ball Pass page, very informantive, especially for the Hooker side. I'm now kicking myself for ignoring Mt Fox after seing your page. But not to worry, I'll be back next summer. Thanks for the info.

Another good hike/scramble is at Haast Pass. You can ascend to Brewster Hut and then either do Mt Armstrong straight above the hut or, if you want something more challenging, Mt Brewster is off to your left accross the cirque. (It's a damned choss-pile in summer though) I'm afraid I don't have pictures because I borrowed my mother's trip camera on the day to save the weight of my SLR as I intended to solo Mt Brewster- trouble was, I forgot to put film in the damned thing. Oh yeah, I flunked out on the choss pile and did Armstrong instead. Great views, highly recommended.

I had hoped for an opportunity to try Brewster and Armstrong myself - it looks gorgeous from the pictures I've seen! I guess it will have to wait for next time, which could be a while for me. You're lucky to be so close!

Cheers,
Howie

PS do you have any experience with Mt Adams (also on the West Coast)? That was another I wanted to get to but ran out of time. Next time!

None at all, Howie. I believe it's in the Siberia Wilderness north of Aspiring. Fairly difficult access (if I've got my bearings right in my minds eye). I guess you'd get in from Makarora on the road between Wanaka and Haast Pass. You can fly in from the Makarora Airstrip. I understand Mt Adams is rarely climbed. I recall seeing a display about one of NZ's WW2 fighter aces at the Wanaka Air Museum. It mentioned the fact that he had climbed Mt Adams and that it had been rarely climbed since then.

Hey, Howie. Back to your question about Mt Adams, I found this article from the Royal Society of NZ.

http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjgg/2005/049.php

And some stock photos of the area on this site:

http://www.naturespic.com/NewZealand/result_search.asp?search=Mt%20Adams,%20Westland

Thanks for those links Dadndave - the rock avalanche article is very interesting!

Cheers,
Howie