Hollyford Track Winter 2013

[Schmeed]

So i have heard the hollyford track in summer is not particularly challenging and saw that it is also open during the winter months. I was wondering if anyone has done it and if so did DOC's Take out any of the bridges etc and what was the weather like etc?

[wayno]

i've been in the area but havent done the track.
its low lying and largely doable year round but the odd bad storm can cause a lot of damage to the track, i met a guy who had just come back after navigating it after a big storm, he was in shorts and his legs were cut to bits from negotiating the tree fall on the track... but that was a pretty big storm one of the worst of the year...
they shouldnt remove the bridges, they only do that in avalanche prone areas and its not an avalanche prone area
expect down to sub zero overnight. but above zero during the day up to the low teens...
expect a fair bit of rain and possible snow fall. not usually heavy snow at that altitude. it will be generally damp all round...
if you're doing it one way then , you'll need to fly one way, fly in, planes can't always fly in bad weather and you could be waiting days to get a flight, so better to wait to get a flight in than get a flight out....

[wayno]

doc post updates on issues with tracks ,
this is the link for the area covering the hollyford so you can see how the track is close to when you want to go

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... and/#major

[Schmeed]

ok yeah, like i have been looking at it for a while, and yeah i can imagine it would have been bad after a storm
I was looking at walking back out since I'm a uni student with very little money but yeah i've checked it out and doesn't seem overly hard

[wayno]

i dont think doc clear the storm damage as promptly outside of summer, i've seen alerts for track damage linger. so pay attention to the doc alerts and be prepared for it to take longer than expected if damage comes
weather can be pretty stable through a lot of autumn and into the start of winter,
i go down in autumn and usually get reasonable weather, i've had my worst weather down there in summer... it snowed three times when i was there at new years and had 400mm of rain in two days..
mountain forecast here.
http://www.metservice.com/mountain/fior ... ional-park