Board approves new hut

Press, 23 April 1979, Page 2

Board approves new hut

Timaru reporter The Three Johns Hut, which was destroyed by gale-force winds on January 30, 1972, has been approved for replacement by the Mount Cook National Park Board. The original hut was along the ridge towards Mount Darby from Barron Saddle, in the Mueller Valley. Mr E. J. Davies, the chairman of the board, said that a report had been received from the hut and track committee, which had recommended that huts Jost through geological disturbance should be replaced. Mountaineers should be catered for, as should less experienced climbers and experienced trampers who wished to see the park. “It is a two-pronged approach,” Mr Davies said. The board had, therefore, approved in principle a new hut to meet the demand for persons crossing the Copland Pass and those spending the night there before returning to Mount Cook village, and also for use bv day.

The present transit hut is on the western side of the Hooker Valley, below the Copland Pass. The Malte Brun Hut, on the east side of the Tasman Glacier below Malte Brun ridge, was demolished recently because of its dangerous position.

Approval had been given in principle for the construction of two huts in the Malte Brun area; one would be in the Beetham Valley which leads into the Tasman Valley, Mr Davies said. “The hut will be a climbing base for peaks in the Malte Brun range. Over the ridge is the site of the old Malte Brun Hut, beneath which the ground is falling away,” he said. The Beetham valley hut would serve as a replacement, and would also accommodate less experienced persons, Mr Davies said. A small high-altitude hut would also be built, and priorities would be established, as would, designs and exact heights.