by wayno » Sat 29 Sep, 2012 6:15 am
traverse sabine you can do entirely in huts, guaranteed a bunk outside of peak summer, harman pass doable in huts unless you really want to tent, do harman pass at the warmer time of year if you're going to tent and if you're going to do traverse sabine at cooler time in huts that will reduce the warmth required in your bag....
if you are tenting it in autumn you need to plan for sub zero with an insulated mat that will cope with sub zero. i've never used synmat in the cold. i use thermarest. not the neo. winter in the south island in the mountains can easily hut minus ten or fifteen. even in autumn dont take a tent with a mesh inner the wind howls up and down the steep valleys like a wind tunnel making the cold a lot worse... I avoid tenting in the south island as much as possible! and never in winter.... problem is even when its not sub zero the high humidity means the air sucks the cold out of you faster than in the dry cold..... a few hundred grams of extra down will be well worth carrying in autumn.
i've got three bags, a summer with 300gm down exped ultralight, a three season, with 500gm down exped 500 light (with down jacket for backup) and a winter bag, with 900gm down fairydown everest entrant, waterproof for the coldest weather,,, and in winter i've needed the 900gm bag.....
i'm planning on going to nelson lakes in march and i;ll be taking the 500gm down bag unless the forecast is particularly cold, if it is then it will be the 900 bag...
i've done winter trips there before and i'll never forget how cold i was in a -10 rated bag in a small hut. although back then that was the only rating for the bag it may have been the extreme rating. it was a 2 kilo synthetic hollow fibre bag...in the morning i had to use a bit of effort to seperate by boots from the ground as they were frozen to it...
from the land of the long white clouds...
