Lessons from Lake Angelus Staying at the Angelus Hut is a privilege, getting there – particularly without the right equipment – is a challenge, as Nelson journalist Charles Anderson found out. Charles Anderson
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inally, my boot slipped. It lost its grip after what felt like an hour of leaning on the edge of the sole. That boot, and me, had been
trying desperately to dig into the ice, to keep some semblance of stability high above the valley. But then, the gradient was too much. The boot went from underneath me, and I went with it. I swung my body over to face the mountain, gripping the ice axe in two hands, pulling it to my sternum, and dug it into the slope. Then, I started sliding. The “most straightforward” way to Angelus Hut, the tramping notes said, was via Robert Ridge. I informed a work colleague earlier in the week of my plans to make the journey to Angelus Hut. She raised her eyebrows. The finer print of the tramping notes
warned of the exposed nature of the trail, traversing nearly 10km of open tops - “with no easy escape routes”. “Though it is relatively straightforward in good conditions, it quickly gets difficult and dangerous when the temperature drops and the wind picks up.” The last time I went to Angelus Hut was more than a decade earlier when I was flown by helicopter to report on its opening. From high above, the difficulty of the route was diluted. In the height of summer it was a combination of browns and greys - a symptom of the alpine environment where beech forest gives way to stark landscapes. It only took about 15 minutes to make that journey. This latest trip would be longer.
Angelus Hut
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