Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Intro The group had signed up to do Syme Hut, but changed plans given the conditions and out of respect for the two climbers who lost their lives on Mt Taranaki 4 May. Our first night was at Konini Lodge by the Dawson Falls Visitor Centre. Saturday we drove 50 minutes around the mountain and … Read more
Taranaki Maunga West Side Story The unexpurgated version Contents CHAPTER 1 This latest collapse sent a massive avalanche of volcanic debris … CHAPTER 2 … and many of us were feeling a bit nervous about the loose rock situation … CHAPTER 3 … dozens of stones had now started ricocheting down the slope … CHAPTER … Read more
Taranaki always seems a lonely mountain separated from all his mates on the Central Plateau. The Maori story of how he ended up standing alone, sad, and badly wounded explained it all perfectly—although nowadays the theory of plate tectonics seems even more plausible. But whichever you believe it is still a fun peak to climb … Read more
When does a tramp become a wade? 6 of us set out on Friday evening from the train station with some trepidation given the forecast for howling gales and torrential downpours to attempt the Pouakai Circuit on Mount Taranaki, leaving from and returning to the North Egmont visitors centre. Frances, our intrepid leader, was (tactically?) … Read more
The following may be of interest to those unfamiliar with Mt Taranaki, but who are keen to climb it this summer. Last summer I climbed Mt Taranaki – via the Northern ‘tourist’ route. I had wanted to do the day climb for a few years but just hadn’t got around to researching what I might … Read more
On Friday night we ended up going to Waigongoro Hut, which was less than an hour from the road end to save us a chilly night camping. The track is reasonably straight forward with one creek crossing, which can be avoided by taking a slightly different track lower down from the carpark. It climbs gently … Read more
Two weeks out from the trip, leader Debbie emailed us two plans. Plan A would be Taranaki South Face ALP1 (M) – subject to the weather, snow conditions and avalanche risk. Should the weather, snow conditions and avalanche risk not be to Debbie’s liking, then Plan B – a tramp around the Pouakai Loop (M) … Read more
We left Friday evening, the van was full and everyone was happy and excited for our tramp. After a quick dinner in Bulls, we arrived at a backpackers place in Stratford, where we found out that we would get to sleep in until 8am, so we were already off to a very good start of … Read more