New Zealand South Island great walks in May
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:26 am
I'm going to be on the South Island in mid-May with a few non-climbing buddies and am looking at doing one of the great walks. I'm looking at the Milford, Routeburn, and Kepler.
I'm leaning towards the Routeburn because I'm of course partial to alpine scenery and even though the Milford is the most popular, it seems more "forresty" and less alpine. The Kepler looks amazing, but I think I'm seeing the same scenes online over and over, and its hard to know what the entire circuit is like. The Kepler is the easiest as far as logistics though as no shuttle is required and we'll most likely have a rental car. Crowds and booking is less of a concern since it'll be out of season.
Can anyone make a reccomendations or provide any insight into May conditions? Looks like a strong possiblity of snow, but would it be enough to need crampons/ice axe? And would it be mellow enough for a few noobs to make it through safely? Looks like the Routeburn could be a little sketch with snow on it...
Thanks!
I'm leaning towards the Routeburn because I'm of course partial to alpine scenery and even though the Milford is the most popular, it seems more "forresty" and less alpine. The Kepler looks amazing, but I think I'm seeing the same scenes online over and over, and its hard to know what the entire circuit is like. The Kepler is the easiest as far as logistics though as no shuttle is required and we'll most likely have a rental car. Crowds and booking is less of a concern since it'll be out of season.
Can anyone make a reccomendations or provide any insight into May conditions? Looks like a strong possiblity of snow, but would it be enough to need crampons/ice axe? And would it be mellow enough for a few noobs to make it through safely? Looks like the Routeburn could be a little sketch with snow on it...
Thanks!