HUT BUILDING AT EASTER

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27626, 5 April 1955, Page 6

HUT BUILDING AT EASTER

PROJECT IN GODLEY

VALLEY

WORK ON RAIGIEBURN SKI TOW TO CONTINUE

During the Easter holidays a party of about 14 members of the Canter-bury-Westland section of the New Zealand Alpine Club will work on the re-erection of the club’s Godley hut. The hut was dismantled in February after floods in the river early this year left the hut overhanging four feet over a 200 feet high shingle face. Measuring 19$ft by lljft, the hut, of iron and wood, was built in 1934 at the head of the Godley valley about 20 miles above the Lilybank station. It is now to be re-erected about 300 yards from its former site. The new site is on solid rock at the toe of a hillside.

In the main the hut was found to be in remarkably sound condition but some replacement materials were taken into the area about a fortnight ago. Vehicles are able to travel 17 or 18 miles up the valley from the Lilybank station bringing the mountaineers within about an hour’s walk of the hut site. If the weather is favourable at Easter it is hoped to have the hut completed on its new site by the end of the week-end.

The Canterbury Mountaineering Club was to have begun work at Easter on the foundations of its new base hut at Foliage Hill close to the old Hermitage site at Mount Cook, but difficulty in securing supplies ot cement has caused the club to delay a start on the building of the hut. The new hut, with more than 900 feet of floor space, will contain two bunk rooms with accommodation for eight, a living room, kitchen and servery and a washroom and shower room. Local stone and shingle will be used in its construction to window sill

level and above that the walls will be of oiled cedar weatherboards.

Members of the Craigieburn Valley Ski Club will be pressing on during Easter with work on the installation of their new 3000 ft ski tow or lift. Before Christmas a Bristol Freighter of No. 41 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force dropped four and a half tons of parts for the tow on the ski field. Building has been going on since.

At present members of the club are putting in pylons standing 18 to 22 feet high every three or four chains along the length of the tow. Four are already in position and another six have to be completed. Concreting in of these pylons will be next week-end when about 30 club members may be in the valley. Work on the erection 'of the tow is not yet half finished but it is expected that it will be completed by about the end of July. Though the air drop of supplies saved members of the club many hours of strenuous work carrying heavy items of equipment into the field, some heavy pieces have still had to be manhandled. Pipes for toe pylons weighing from 150 tp 2501 b have had to be carried in three and a half miles.