It was an honor to be invited on a 2 week hut mission base camping at the Lyall hut. We would have access to numerous options of potential mountains to snowboard. We had loosely set our eyes on climbing The Warrior which is a distinct peak in the Armoury Range. It’s one of the more isolated regions in a massive range that’s known for isolation. so it’s out there. Ryan and his friend Yossi took a helicopter to the hut while I decided to hike in the 20kms.
Hiking up the Rakia River
I parked my car in the back of a farm station and started hiking up the Rakia River. The Rakia river is one of the main river drainage’s of the Canterbury plains. It’s about 20 kilometers of river with 6’000 foot peaks all along the way.
The Rakia is one of the few braided rivers in the world caused by massive glacial advancement and retreat.
After 16 miles of hiking I had one final knoll to climb over than down climb 600 feet and I was at the hut. As I gained elevation following an old sheep’s trail the views really started to open up. We really were in the middle of nowhere.
All started fine as I down climbed the hill but I quickly lost the trail. I found myself going down the thickest matagouri bushes I’ve ever seen.
For the next 5 hours I got destroyed by sticker bushes all the while looking at the hut in the distance. Hands down it was the worst bushwhack in my life.
I got to the hut and waited for Ryan and Jossi who were out on a mission and rested for hours. Later that night they showed up and we chatted about there trip and got ready for the next weather window to come from our base camp.
While Ryan and Yossi went snowboarding Yossi had found himself caught in an uncontrolled slide and had decided he would take a heli out the during the next weather window. He had a baby on the way and we were all happy that he spoke up.
Our first plan was to go for the Warrior which was a days approach and base camp mission so we needed two days of clear weather. Ryan had a Delorme so we were able to get up to the minute weather forecasts and found that two days later the weather was going to clear so we waited.
Heading up the Rakia River to the Base of The Warrior
Two days later the forecast came to fruition and after saying goodbye to Jossi Ryan and I were heading up the Rakia valley. We were interested in checking out and riding The Warrior.
The thing about New Zealand is that with going to a certain mountain you will encounter numerous cruxes along the way. The photo below was pretty sketchy climbing steep exposed snowgrass covered in snow.
After making it onto the upper basin we were able to start skinning towards our next col.
Once on the col we had to do a steep thousand foot down climb. We found our way down on snow and loose snowgrass covering a lot of vert in a short amount of distance.
Once in the valley the stress of the day was over with. We were able to drop off our camping gear at a base camp and were within striking distance of the warrior. From our camp the slopes were looming right in view.
An afternoon snowboard run
That afternoon we hiked up to the head of the valley to check out the area. Soon we were taking a corn run back to camp where we were in for an early night.
Climbing the Warrior
The next morning we got up 2 hours before sunrise hiking up to snowline before putting on our crampons. The snow was still firm which made for perfect purchase as we climbed the steep slopes. Finally making it on to the upper plateau 20 minutes before sunrise.
We basked in the sun for 45 minutes taking in the views and warming up waiting for the snow to soften a bit for our descent.
It was a steep slope and that moment the snow was still firm so after about an hour break we started climbing. We made our way up the main chute front point cramping along the way.
When we made it onto the upper ridge we hung out on some rocks and took in the view.
The slope we came to ride was steep with a chute followed by another chute before you got to the upper plateau. We would occasionally throw rocks onto the slope to see if it was getting soft.
The line was looming 3,500 feet below us. From our view point we could see our camp the entire time. If all went well we were going to ride back directly back to camp.
Snowboarding the Warrior
Ryan made his way in first and carefully tested the slopes. He found them to be good so we made our way down and found another steep couloir below the steep plateau
We were able to ride fall line all the way back with our line in view behind us. Looking back up at our line on the left followed by the left side of the lower ridge.
Heading back to the Lyall Hut
That night we rested and decided with oncoming weather it was best to head back to the hut so the next morning we were off on the exit.
We climbed back up the moraine and steep now grass making our way onto the ridge.
It was cool looking back at the warrior proudly standing in the distance. It was a beautiful zone and it would have been nice to stay there longer but weather dictates some peoples lives.
Once on the ridge we decided to take a bit more direct exit and ended up going in a huge snow covered gorge. It was amazing riding through a beautiful canyon but quickly became avi runnels.
Once lower in the canyon it was back to moraine bashing but it went all the way to the valley floor.
From the valley it was time to head back to the hut to purge on our food reserves and come up with another mission.
Heading up the Lyall Glacier
The next few days we waited for the clouds to clear while reading books numerous times over. Soon enough the weather cleared and we were heading back into the mountains
This time we would head to the source of the Rakia river passing lake Lyell and heading onto the Lyell glacier. From there we would head to the high col of the range where we would set up basecamp and see how conditions were.
After walking around the lake we were on the Lyell glacier bashing through rocks that had been deposited onto the glacier.
Walking through the valley you constantly heard and saw avalanches. The mountains were raining rocks as we walked on the rock covered glacier for 3 kms before switching to skinning
We made our way up the mellow glacier before reaching the steeper slopes and found good climbing conditions.
Once we made it onto the ridge we built a flat platform and set up camp before going for a sunset lap on the nearest peak.
Once on the summit we got an amazing view of the surround mountains.
It was awesome seeing the source of the Rakia river and all the ground we had covered. The views were limitless looking across the Main Range and the Canterbury high country. We were looking into the heart of the range. Looking down the valley to the bend on the river where the Lyell hut is in the photo below.
Looking down the opposite valley
Looking at the mountain opposite our camp.
Night time snowboard run
Before long we strapped our boards in and rode down a nice sun covered slope a thousand feet before skinning back to camp.
We raced the light ski touring back up wanting to make it back to camp for the sunset alpenglow. We were camped on the right side of the col above Ryan’s head
We got back to camp and took in the light show as we ate food and came up with a potential mission. We had hoped to climb the mountain beside camp.
We were going to climb the opposite side of this peak.
Heading back to the Lyall Hut
The next morning was way too hot and the snow was a wet slide nightmare. We had hoped to climb the peak but didn’t feel comfortable doing a traverse in those conditions. Soon we were packing up camp and making our way back to the hut.
Avalanches were coming from every direction as we made our way down the scree knowing that we made the right call. Hopefully we would get another weather window.
Hiding from a storm at Lyall Hut
We got back to camp and for the next few days a storm had come through and at the tail end snowed to lower elevations.
There was a hope that the weather was going to clear so Ryan and I got our gear together and went for a day trip behind the hut.
In NZ people wear shorts when hiking and I went out with my base layers on which got soaked as I climbed up the snow covered snowgrass.
The day was going to be long and the weather was a bit questionable so I decided that the best thing for me to do was turn around and head to the hut. Ryan was filling solid and comfortable going solo so he decided to keep going.
I knew I made the safe call and I am happy that I did but most importantly I learned a valuable lesson about keeping your layers dry and not having a backup pair.
Exiting the Lyall Hut
For the next few days we waited on weather once again until a small window opened that would be enough for a heli to come pick us up.
It came in from the West Coast so we would fly up and over the range.
It was awesome to see the ground we covered from the heli , taking seconds to cover ground that took us hours
On our flight out we flew over the Garden of Eden, one of few Wilderness areas on the South Island and a place I hope to one day go to.
New Zealand is an awesome land with limitless opportunities for adventure. We were able to ride The Warrior and explore other areas within the Rakia so it was a total success. Thanks for taking the time to read this and thank you to Ryan for such an amazing trip.
Thank you for reading and If you enjoyed reading this and want to see more ski tours within New Zealand check out this link