Snowscaped Mueller Hut in Winter – Panoramic Mountain Views

10/07/18 ~ 11/07/18

Overview

Mueller Hut is one of the more famous huts in New Zealand. It is situated on the Sealy Range in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, overlooking mighty Mount Cook and the Hooker Valley below. The trail begins near Mt Cook Village (more specifically, White Horse Campground) and heads up the range above. It would normally take about 3-4 hours to reach Mueller hut at a distance of 5.2k, however, it was a huge weekend of snow prior to the hike and the time and distance was not quite the same for my experience.

Is Mueller Hut in Winter Safe and Worth it?

Conditions

First of all, the snow conditions will vary every day after a snowfall. I personally felt confident that the avalanche risk wasn’t strong in this area when i undertook the hike, but this doesn’t mean i was right. I have a reasonable about of snow hiking experience and had traction control along with an ice axe for potentially dangerous icy snow terrain.

The snow was so soft for the most part, both weren’t required on the first day. However, the wind overnight swept a lot of powder snow away and made for dangerous icy conditions on the top of the ridge and also on the steps towards the bottom – I ended up using both tools more on this day than the first. I would not have hiked to the top without gear! Be prepared to spend a few more hours getting to the top – It took me about 5 hours.

Hut Features

The hut features in winter were limited. For one of the most well equipped huts in NZ, not everything functioned well. I had to jump into the gas bottle cage to access less depleted bottles. Water tanks were covered in snow and contained a lot of ice. Melting snow and ice on the stoves might be required. Either the shorter days or snow covered solar meant the lighting was limiting – bring candles (like with most huts in NZ). There’s also no heating at Mueller Hut – bring loads of warm gear.

Experience

Yes, it was amazing! Overnight hiking is less interesting to me than multi-day hiking. However, the conditions made Mueller Hut an amazing experience. The views were incredible! There is also less people on trail, making it more intimate and relaxing when at the hut. Definitely consider doing the hike, but only if you’re prepared!

My Trip

Day 1

The stormy weekend led into Monday. I drove that evening from Dunedin to be ready for a Tuesday morning start near the park. There is only one freedom camping site near the township of Twizel called Lake Poaka Amenity Area, and is the closest free site to access Mt Cook National Park. Aside from being a little muddy fromt he rain, it was a great little site by a lake!

I first had to visit the DOC (Department of Conservation) office and buy a hut ticket and just check avalanche conditions again. I knew it was in a high risk zone in general (the entire National Park was), but the terrain didn’t seem too risky or steep when looking at the contours. Because the slab was deposited in one giant storm, i felt ok with it being somewhat stable and not resting on a layer of ice etc.

Kea Point Lookout

A short stroll to Kea Lookout was my first location. Good for a less adventurous person, and i didn’t linger long, knowing the views would only get better from above.

Mueller Hut Climb

It wasn’t far up the mountain before the snow starting taking over the vegetation and was evident on the steps. The sun and wind hadn’t really gotten to the snow yet, so it was quite easy to walk on without traction control at this point.

Sealy Tarns

The stairs kind of disappeared after awhile, and it turned into pure snow hiking, but it was fairly obvious where to go to get to Sealy Tarns – the small lakes half way ip the mountain. It turns out the lakes are full of snow however, and we didn’t see them haha!

The next section isn’t quite as steep as the stair part, but was naturally MUCH harder due to the snow thickness and lack of solid ground. Most steps were at least knee deep at this point.

The final flatter section before the steep final climb was where previous hikers made a different trail or to the far point of the ridge. I personally thought it was not worth the effort and chose my own route straight up the mountain. I have a good history with ‘the straight up’ approach haha. It was quite easy until the section between rocks where it was super soft and steep. I was basically crawling through snow at this point. However, it meant once i got to the top, the entire climb was done.

Top of the Ridge

After reaching the top and witnessing the epic views – i made the final flat snow trudge to Mueller Hut. The snow at the top was pretty firm and icy at times, and the ice axe and microspikes were welcomed when skirting around some rocks near precarious slopes. When i rejoined the ‘trail’ it was back to the deep soft powder snow and slow going. I was so exhausted and couldn’t wait to arrive.

Not long after i arrived in the hut, i was joined by a Scottish couple, Stuart and Nicky, whom i briefly met in the DOC office in the morning. I knew they were going up, but i thought there’d be more daring people. Turns out it was just the three of us there! We were treated to a nice clear skied evening with beautiful views all around. I was a little bummed after reviewing my astro shots and finding i messed up the focus on every shot! >:( Luckily, the sunset was just as spectacular.

Day 2

The next morning was windy and foggy, but the weather was still not too shabby aside from that. I forgot to check out Mueller Glacier the previous day (in awe of Mt Cook’s view too much!) and made sure i had a peek. Sadly, it was a bit too foggy to see clearly, but it was still nice to see.

We set off together in the morning for safety. The wind conditions potentially could bring on avalanche conditions in my head so it didn’t take much thought. Every now and again, we’d have to stop walking and turn around when the wind threw ice into our faces. It eased off as we made back down the slope.

We made it to the bottom and shared some burgers and beer (well, ginger beer – as the girls couldn’t sell it without the manager present). The hike was awesome overall due to the extreme conditions, and made it far more memorable.

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