I went on a great tramp on the weekend with a friend, in the Maitland valley, behind Ohau ski field. On Saturday we headed up the valley (with the farmer’s permission) and shared Maitland hut with a roaring open fire, and a couple of friendly trampers who had arrived from Snowy gorge.

On sunday we began hiking up to Lake Dumb-bell but became sick of bashing through snowy tussock and speargrass, so decided to head for easier ground on the ridge. We wandered north in near whiteout conditions, but soon after passing the ski field basin we descended out of the cloud and were treated to spectacular views. We even got a glimpse of Mount Cook (spot it in the last photo).