NZ mountain gear list

[srforum112]

I'm one of a party of five planning a 7 day walk in Nelson Lakes National Park in early February.

The planned route is off track commencing in Maruia springs and finishing at lake Rotoroa and includes a number of mountain climbs and hopefully some high level camping amongst the tarns.

I have completed a gear list but am unsure about the clothing requirements for the mountains at this time of year. I understand the weather is changeable so will need to carry warm clothing, but seek advise from experienced walkers on what type of clothes and how many clothes to take day and evening, particularly for someone who feels the cold. The issue is to keep warm and dry and keep my pack weight reasonable.

At the moment I am planning to take the folllowing:
Event hard shell jacket and overpants, merino beanie, lightweight windproof beanie, event gloves,
Evening - macpac fleece pants, merino 260 long sleve top, merino 260 long johns, 800 fill montane down jacket, woollen socks
Day - zip off pants/shorts, merino t-shirt, lightweight fleece, woollen socks/liners, long sleeve merino top (spare)

What are your thoughts on taking a softshell jacket to wear during the day?

If you have any other advise about gear and anything else regarding walking in NZ, I would gladly like to hear it.

Sonja

[wayno]

on the whole its a good list.
polypropelene is better than merino if it gets wet, merino is more for the campsite when you've changed into dry gear and even then i avoid it on overnight walks because its heavier, personal choice though. its still not a bad thing to take merino.
i prefer heavy polypro long johns over fleece trousers, , they work out warmer and lighter. but fleece trouers are still a reasonable choice.
softshell isnt very warm when you stop, especially for its weight compared to normal fleece. even windfleece isnt as warm for its weight than normal fleece once you put a shell over it. and if it gets wet, windfleece and softshell hold more water than normal fleece.


what sleeping bag are you taking, you will need something ideally rated down to a few degrees or near zero, depends how hot or cold you sleep.
i use a lightweight back i can boost the rating on , it allows the down to be moved from teh bottom to the top for cold weather conditions.

[wayno]

you'll get away without the fleece pants if youre taking long johns as well at that time of year.

[srforum112]

thanks Wayno
I have polypropelyene and merino tops and pants. I'll have a think about which ones to take.

My sleeping bag is a mountain design ascent 500, with 700 down loft. Its warm! I also am taking a thermal liner (extra 15 degrees) in case I need extra warmth.

Thanks for your thoughts on the softshell. I think a light weight fleece and hard shell is the best combination.

Sonja

[wayno]

mountain forecast for nelson lakes
http://www.metservice.com/mountain/nels ... ional-park

this can give an idea of the weather, computer generated, not always the most accurate,
http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/ ... casts/1500

[wayno]

this will give you any upcoming weather warnings
metservice are also available for mobile devices m.metservice.com

http://www.metservice.com/warnings/home

[Rob A]

You go over a few passes so bank on a few differnt weather patterns.
Going in from M you at least know what the conditions will be over Lewis Matakitaki rather than being three or four days out from known weather when starting at Nelson Lakes end coming down Mount Robert map, and having to hole up at lake Thompson if it all turns to sh it.
Personally I would take merino in every instance. Polypro is done. Having a brian the size of a planet I wear a hard wearing shirt (columbia) over the top of it though.
If you duck up the durville you might find it more interesting to slip over moss pass, unless you are all passed out at that stage. Dunno, its all good though.
Still prefer to go from north to south from Rotoiti rahter than Rotoroa.
The way you are going has more huts though, without the long day over the waiau. Any decent bag in a hut is fine. A pure alpine bag might be overkill.
The route over 3 Tarns pass shown on the docs map is wrong (unless they fixed it last year). Its correct on the topo (BT23 Lewis Pass). Check out Peter Kemps site (Nelson Lakes Shuttles). Its easy to pick up the right one going in from Ada Pass hut.
The advice down that neck of the woods is the weather is stable at that time of year. Unfortunately if its changing from one day to the next, that is what it is stable at. Four seasons in one day. Consistently.
Anyway, its a cool walk.
Your lightweight fleece jacket can get rolled up and put on the back of your pack in the bungie. Chances are it will go on and off regularly.
Pack cover is worth it to keep the rain weight out of your pack. Obviously you have a liner.
Where are your gaiters? Yes you need them.

[wayno]

polypro is not done,,,, i've tried both extensively starting thirty years ago. i've been soaked regularly in polypro and in merino and polypro wins hands down for warmth and speed of drying, if it rains hard in nz it can be like queensland is at the moment.... only cold,.... i had 400mm of rain in two days ,

[Rob A]

Woolens layer better. Do you know how to do it effectively?
You can only lead people to water.
It was good enough for Sir Peter.

Heres good one for you. Colinm put this link in another thread www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml Hit play.
I think you said youd never heard of any relationship between qld weather events and what wound up in south island?

[Moondog55]

If Ed Hillary had access to polyester fleece and modern underwear he would have worn it, while a nice woollen or cashmere jumper have their place in my bushwalking wardrobe it isn't in the base layer.
I do prefer polyester to polypro but they both work almost equally well.
Many years ago I had a female acquaintance who did the Overland track wearing nothing but 3 layers of Helly Hansen LW polypro underwear ( 2 on her legs) and old black japara.

[wayno]

i've spent countless days walking in the south island mountains in all weathers.
polypro performs far better than wool in keeping in you warm and dry IMHO
thats what my experience tells me and thats what I pay attention to over the opinion of others

[srforum112]

Thanks guys.
Thanks for the map info Rob. Will check.
Definitely have gaiters, my trusty ol canvas sea to summits.
I'm not keen on pack covers, seem more trouble than they are worth. I have a cascade macpac pack, it is fairly waterproof and will pack a liner and put stuff dry bags.
There are advantages and disadvantages to merino and poly thermals. I prefer wool, however it is heavy and I agree with wayno that it take forever to dry. Poly is light, but tends to stink after a couple of hard days on the trail whereas wool doesn't.
Very much personal preference.
The weather looks good at Nelson this week, hopefully it continues for another two weeks.....

[wayno]

a pack cove has to be securely attached, the wind can be pretty extreme and they blow off and catch onto tree branches
in storms debateable about keeping your pack dry, i think it just delays them getting wet, better to rely on a pack liner..
when they are wet and tehy get on the ground then they just attract mud and debris onto them... a lot of nzers regard them of no use. seems to be the foreigners and the less experienced who buy them because someone in a shop was selling them
i say polypro because i've lost count of the times i've been in snow or seen it snowing in the south island at every month of the year. and wool juset doesnt cut it compared to synthetics when its wet and cold like that.
i've done my own tests on how well polypro dries, i've jumped in a river and observed how long it took to drip dry, compared to wool. and the difference was a lot... i wouldnt trust wool to dry overnight but polypro does.

[wayno]

long term forecast for the area

http://www.metservice.com/rural/buller

long term rain map, the pink area is usually scattered showers if anything at all. pay attention to the other colours especially any bright ones.

http://metvuw.com/forecast/forecast.php ... noofdays=7

[Rob A]

Thanks for the map info ...
I'm not keen on pack covers, seem more trouble than they are worth.

Dont know what your GPS is, you might not have NZGD2000.
If you set to WGS84 remember to adjust your position format to NewZealand T, I think it is off the top of my head, otherwise you will be in for some head scratching. Check it somewhere, before you need it.

You can get plenty of breeze and horizontal rain through the springs then soaking when you are down into the gully. Same after you climb out from Ada.
So a cover is certainly worth its weight, specially on a cascade. The seven no nonsense ex kiwi army guys I met who were heading up into Gloriana and Faerie Queene seemed to think so too. I notice the snow bunnies use em too.