Cascade saddle at New Years Eve timeframe

[Flynt]

Hi, looking for a bit of insight on the cascade saddle from aspiring hut to dart hut. Safety is always number one so I wanted to check, what will the trail be like at that time frame? Will it be snow covered or will most of the snow have melted? Also is it worth taking a rope? I have read there are some steep tricky spots on the way up to the saddle. Is it so that a rope would be helpful to climb up and then pull packs up? Also is camping on the saddle a bad idea? Too exposed? And then finally what are your thoughts about hiking down to dart glacier. Camping and spending a day doing the the glacier, and then going back up thru aspiring hut to the car park, to get back to the car. Would that be doable, insane, or would I be missing on some great scenery around Dart hut and the Reese dart trail? Thanks in advance.

[wayno]

it should be free of snow, but it can and does snow at that time of year, if it does have snow at this time of year, don't attempt it, it would be too slippery to be safe.
cascade saddle should only be attempted in dry weather.. even heavy cloud can make the tussock grass and vegetation treacherously slippery on the steep slope. its claimed several lives in recent years. a walking pole does help.
dont bother with a rope, its more about what its like underfoot than negotiating bluffs. they arent that step that you cant walk them with a pack the whole way. theres good handholds where its at its steepest for short pitches.
pay close attention to the weather forecast and don't treat it like the gospel they get it badly wrong on occasion http://www.metservice.com mountain forecast section or m.metservice.com on your phone..
if you dont have a head for heights don't attempt it, safest way is to climb from the aspiring side , but people do descend that time... if you camp on the saddle. keep food smells down and away from your tent or the keas will go after your pack or tent or anything left on the ground, the saddle is extremely exposed and cold year round at night, if the wind gets up you''ll want an alpine tent to withstand it. the best scenery is on the saddle... the dart valley is pretty generic for the area further down.. but the safest way down off the saddle is on the dart side. not sure what you mean by doing the glacier, its extremely broken up and unstable, its not normally travelled on, i dont know of anyone who has travelled it and looking at it I wouldnt trust it. it sits beneath neves with seracs that avalanche and i've seen it avalanche and its not snow, its gigantic blocks of ice that avalanche. people day walk up to the saddle and back, certainly makes the climb easier, its a killer with a full pack from my experience. going down the res is a difficult option, public transport to the road end usually only goes there in the morning.
and don't asume you will see anything, be aware you could be staring at the inside of a cloud and its a long way to climb to do that. if you dont think you're that fit i wouldnt try carting a full overnight pack up there, its the only time i've climbed in NZ where i literally couldnt keep moving continuously up the whole way before running out of breath. I dont normally have to stop other than to eat, but the saddle literally brought me to my knees..
if you camp in the upper dart, the river can flash flood right across the whole river flat and the side streams can increase massively in width and become unfordable, so camp away from both. and if thers much rain in the forecast get back over the saddle before it comes or get down to dart hut away from all the streams that become unfordable.. that area claims almost as many lives as the saddle does.