Day 4 26th Nov 2009

Received 4th Dec 2009
We are at Dart hut after a magnificient day climbing Mt Troas above the Whitbourn glacier. We headed out early this morning from Dart hut,(though not as early as we would have liked, we overslept the alarm). We charged up the Whitbourn, then sidled up the western face leading to the western ridge. The weather was magnificient though we were conscious that the forcast was for 90 km winds at 2000 m. Our packs were relatively light. Our actual goal was Mt Edward thanks for the idea David) but we were running 2 hrs late and the overnight freeze was turning to slush. After lunching on the northern side of Troas we attempted to continue sidling along the north side of the ridge. The snow was now quite soft and after noticing a slab avalanche on a similiar aspect of Maoriri, we turned back. The mixed climb of the western face of Troas was solo-ed offering amazing views of a navigatable Whitbourn glacier, the majestic Snow Drift Range and the Earnslaw massiff. It was a very special and awesome day, we only wish we got up at 4.
But you must be asking what we are doing at Dart hut already. Well on day 1 we plodded our way up to Rockburn hut, the weather forecast for the week was quite unsettled, especially for the weekend when we wanted to cross the Olivine via a complicated route. Considering we were struggling with our packs we decided that some marked river walking might be a better idea to help us adapt.
So we backtracked out to the Routeburn Rd and hitched and walked to Chinamans Bluff. At 3 we decided to try and make it to Daleys Flat, or camp beforehand. It was a major struggle and I have never feared a 100m climb more than Sandy Bluff. We made the hut and I collapsed, my feet, calves, hamstrings,back and shoulders refused to operate. Never ever ever have I been so sore after a days tramping. Andy was a bit better so he brought me some food.We did not break camp to get to the Dart hut until 11 am but we were definitely getting stronger despite the rain. We are sitting tight tomorrow as buckets of rain are forecast and 150kph winds too which means we cant get out on the top.
The goal is to cross over Cascade climbing Tyndall on the way. Potentially heading to Colin Todd hut, other options include Marion Plateau.
Anyway Richard, was wondering if you could bring in a decent small and light alarm clock and some size 11-12 jandals for me, though we will probably be in touch before this letter arrives.
Hope the cricket is going well. Andy says Hi to his parents though he misses civilisation as he is still looking for light switches.
Typed in by Marjet who may have misread some of Rion's writing.
There has been some radio messages from Rion and Andy in the past few days. Andy connected with his orthotics. They have stayed at the Liverpool bivvy and also on French ridge.