Mueller Hut Adventure - July 2020

Holy F#ck!!! What an adventure. This was a trip I had been manifesting for months. A couple buddies & I had been talking about doing Mueller Hut for a while. Mueller Hut is a Doc Hut located 1800m up on the Searly Range that provides 360-degree panorama views encompassing glaciers, ice cliffs, vertical rock faces, and New Zealand’s highest peak, Mount Cook. The hut sleeps 40 people, in peak season you will need to book out well in advance. Now in the offseason, the peak of winter, this was a whole other story. Wow. We decided to do this hike to push the limits of our comfort zone. We wanted to do something pretty gnarly, where we knew the rewards would be something pretty special. You don’t need to book during the off-season as the hut beds are on a first come first served basis. We were aware the weather was always going to be the biggest factor as to whether we would be able to complete the 4hr one way 5km near vertical hike. After the stars aligning, the forecast was looking near perfect. We were over the moon leading up to the trip. Excitement levels were high. Dreaming of the scenes. Leading up to the 3-day adventure we knew it was going to be cold. There was a pretty hectic storm that drew snow right to ground level at the Mount Cook Village. I don't believe this happens very often, and obviously, this meant there was a huge snow dumping in the mountains. I kept a close watch on the Avalanche risk, which I would highly recommend.

Now let me please tell you guys, this adventure during July in the middle of winter, right after a massive snow dumping is NOT for the faint-hearted. Holy shit. To be honest I think we slightly underestimated the mission. Please do your own research. Be prepared. Have the right equipment, enough food, and water. Things can turn pretty quickly in such violate environments as Mount Cook. She is one powerful beast.

After a night camping out by Lake Pukaki under the stars by the campfire, we packed our overnight packs which my friends at Kathmandu kindly decked us out with some serious kit. We certainly looked the part, but more important, we were warm & prepared. We signed into the Department of Conservation in the village. This is a nonnegotiable for anyone doing an overnighter. You pay the DOC fees, they let you know the weather risks & all required information and you're on your way. We were greeted with some pretty gut-wrenching news. Although it was a Bluebird day & zero wind, (perfect conditions to do a day hike), the weather took a last-minute turn & was due to change overnight with forecasted strong winds & heavy cloud to roll in & advised that we shouldn't do the overnight stay at the Hut. Man, I was absolutely guttered, to say the least. After months of manifesting and planning, the weather looking perfect it was a tough pill to swallow. But we were completely accepting of this. It shows the harshness & power mother nature has, which only made me respect the mountains more.

Our friend, who is a pilot around the surrounding area, turned up just after we had unpacked & re planned the day & gave us a glimmer of hope. She is very experienced with the weather patterns down there & she said we can get up to the Hut, and experience a winters evening which will be so incredible. The wind was looking like it would turn overnight but as long as we are out first thing in the morning, we were confident we would get down safely. We are prepared, had enough supplies & warm clothes. We will be fine. Now I do not condone going against the advice of DOC, I know how dangerous that can be. But I was confident we had enough experience & preparation & we would be fine.

We repacked our bags, and start on the journey of a lifetime. The bluebird day treated us with crystal clear views as far as we could see. Countless cha hoo's & hi-fives. True euphoria in awe of what we were seeing. When I said we underestimated the hike, we did by a mile. I am pretty fit, and I was absolutely blowing, to a point, we would walk 50m then have to stop for a breather. The altitude & trudging through knee-deep snow certainly didn't help but a high level of fitness is definitely needed. After getting to the hut, we changed into a dry fresh kit. Puffer jacket keeping us cozy as. Smashed dinner, ate a block of Caramilk, and waited till pitch darkness so we could shoot some Astro. For those that don't know what this is, it's taking photos of the stars. Now, this can be a pretty tough task, a few things need to align to get some epic shots. One of those being light pollution, the other is the position of the milky way & the last being the time & effort it usually takes to get to a good location in the early hours of the mornings when the galaxy is at its brightness. Being that high up in the mountains, there was zero light pollution. So it was pitch black at 8pm. Galaxy was humming in basically every direction the eye could see. These conditions were near perfect to get some goodness. We collected as much bangers our hands & toes could handle before near frostbite. We shot back to the hut & shared yarns kipped up in the alpine sleeping bags Kathmandu had sussed us. These were an absolute lifesaver. Withstanding the -10 degree temps, they trapped all body warmth so we were definitely pretty toasty for the night's kip ahead.

Waking up at 2am to the sound of whistling & howling wind gusts. The hut was shaking & our hearts were pumping more than the hike up. We knew we were in for one helluva trek down. I was even thinking, "Fuck, maybe we should have listened to the advice from DOC". We tried sleeping a little more with no success so kept a close eye on the stars out the windows of the hut hoping they wouldn't close in. Cranking on the gas stovetops to heat up some brekkie, packed our belongings & got the hell outta there. Sure was one epic sunrise. With wind & fresh snow overnight closing in the packed snow tracks, made for an interesting hike down. Making new tracks & trying to locate the track markers which were near fully snowed in. The first 45 minutes down was going be to the most challenging as our route was directly in the firing line, lucky we made it over the ridge safely, this then protected from the hectic winds. We charged back down the hill taking in some crazy scenes but bloody cold. We eventually returned to the car park, after a few close calls down the icy stairs. Eggs bennie & triple shot coconut flat whites were first on the to-do list! Man, it sure was a relief to get down but we were totally still in awe of what we had just accomplished, uploaded our Instagram stories, and let our loved ones know we were safe.

This was easily one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. My goal for this trip was to push the boundaries of my comfort zone. It certainly did that & more, what a bloody adventure. What a crew to tick this off the list with, my boy @jessejames1212, @jonnygoose & most importantly @briboyd who gave us all the confidence we needed. @kathmandu the legends kitted us out we what we needed to stay warm & dry. Again, I do not stress this enough, to do this mission in the middle of winter is full noise. Shit can go down at the drop of a hat, the weather can change in an instance and your life can be put in danger if you not fully equipped. Do the research, look out for avalanche patterns, keep a close eye on the weather & remember to sign in / out to DOC before and after the overnight hike.

This is a list of what my winter pack included : ( essentially you need to take everything you need for the duration of the stay. Nothing provided except gas cooker & long drop toilet )