MOUNT HOLDSWORTH

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 112, 15 May 1939, Page 8

MOUNT HOLDSWORTH

NEWTRAMPERS'HUT

OPENING CEREMONY

The weather was perfect for the opening this weekend of the accommodation hut which has been built above the bushline about 800 ft below the summit of Mount Holdsworth.

The hut, which accommodated on Saturday night about 45 members of the Hutt Valley Tramping Club, has been built over a period of three months by working parties of the club. All the materials, amounting to over four tons, were carried up; and the track, which is three hours' climb from Bannister Hut at the mountain base, is now a very clearly-defined pathway through interesting bush. The work was financed from Hutt Valley Tramping Club funds, supplemented by a Government subsidy of £ for £. The energy and enthusiasm of the working parties evidence the need for such a centre in the Tararuas for the enjoyment of the sport of skiing. Just above the hut are some good slopes upon which in summer is to be found one of the finest collections of alpine flora in the North Island. Progress has already been made on the levelling of a ski run from the slopes down to the hut.

The hut is 25ft x 16ft, and is strongly built and warmly lined. It is fitted with shelf bunks, tables, forms ana stools, and cooking shelves, and the view of the bushed ranges and the Wairarapa valley from its wide windows is superb. The scene was an animated one on Sunday morning, when the visiting parties gathered there for the opening ceremony at 11.30 o'clock. There were about 120 persons present, of whom 50 persons represented kindred clubs, including the Heretaunga Club, Hastings, the Manawatu Tramping Club, the Wairarapa, Tararua, and other clubs. Thirty-two women managed to make the trip. The president of the Hutt Valley Tramping Club, Mr. W. Wilson, thanked all those who had contributed to the erection of the hut, naming it the "Powell Hut," in honour of the secretary of the club to whose untiring energy and enthusiasm its completion is directly attributed. Mr. Wilson was then presented by the youngest member with a bouquet of alpine flowers, j artfully enclosing a bottle of beer. The latch-string was cut by Miss Biddy Dickson. A visitors' book, embodying a descriptive history of the hut, was signed by everyone, and it should prove an interesting record. Some amusing song topicalities concerning club members and hut erection were enjoyed, and "Auld Lang Syne" and cheers wound up the proceedings.