This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Tt was time for Sse bash at the Kaikouras after the disappointing snow and weather conditions on the trip 5 weeks beforehand. Four of us went down ~- Tony Gazley, Bill Drake, Paul Aubrey, and Paul Richardson.
Tony and Bill went up the Hodder to Hodder Hut and the next day skied from the summit of Tapuaenuku in beautiful fresh powder snow. They descended a very BtESP gully near the top — must've been exciting. Meanwhile the two Pauls went up Trail Stream and camped in the head at about 5000 ft. Overnight 100mm of snow fell and we didn't leave until 10 a.m. for Mitre Peak. It was mostly a plod in new powder where's the ice, son? Next day we shot up Gladstone in similar conditions, got. back to camp by 10 then headed out, meeting the others for lunch on the large flat below the confluence. Both climbs were done in misty conditions, Trail Stream is quite different from the Hodder - it's very open and far more eroded. Travel is really quick. It only took us 1% hours to get down to the Hodder Junction, and it's only 2 hours from here to the road, We saw about 16 chamois half way down the Trail.