Two weeks of nothing much to report except that finally most of the administrative details are sorted and hopefully all being well we will depart around 8th July for the Baltoro Glacier.  Down at the Motueka beach on Saturday I could see a line of glistening snow peaks in distance and set out early Sunday morning for a quick mountain hike , 10 odd hours or so to Angelus summit and back. In the last weeks Zendo has arranged a new and very vital sponsor , 40 below  www.40below.com  who will provide overshoes  booties , drinking bottles and covers for us.  Not so worried about cold toes now !! 

Conners Creek and Mt Chitterden (2205m) is a favorite as its one of the easiest and fastest  ways to access a higher local peak in the Nelson Lakes. A quick ride up the Rainbow valley followed by the hike up Conners creek leads to the base of Chitterden. Our plan was to camp on or near the top but after a late departure we only made it to about 1800 m and camped in a small glade before attempting the Mountaintop the next morning. After several attempts on the face and various gullies with full packs we finally conceded , dumped the packs at 2100 m or so and climbed the ridge-line to the top for some magnificent views before the long scramble trek and bike back to Rainbow car park a solid 12 hours later. Great training with Bill (Gandulf) and quite the different weather from the last couple of outings. 

There's a lot of good fortune with anything. Having a great spell of weather in the Karakorum's would be one and having an early winter with lots of miserable weather here would be a second - than you have to grab the fortune when it presents itself. With another raging South Wester about the tops and a small snow storm going on it was a day to race up and make the most of it. Rain, sleet , snow ,ice and wind - 5 seasons of weather in 6 good hours scurrying around behind Winter peak and Mt Arthur. Not much to see in photos - mainly white - highlight of day was sliding blocks of snow that had broken of the wind formed cornice on the Arthur ridge and tumbled down the mountain off the side off a cliff and watch them cascade a bit further - not for long though to cold and windy to hang around.