Mt St Cuthbert

Mt St Cuthbert, St Cuthbert Range, Omarama. October 19th 2025

01_Easement-start-sign
02_Start-of-the-climb
03_Dave-showing-the-way
04_hot-and-dry-terrain-already-in-early-Spring
05_pit-stop-and-pphoto-of-the-Mackenzie
06
07-Dusting-of-recent-snow
08-Summit-Pole
09_group-summit-photo
10_start-of-long-walk-out
11_almost-back-to-cars

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The Mt St Cuthbert climb starts at the DOC Easement on State Highway 83 , 3.5 km east of Omarama.

Here, three members of NOTMC met up with Rodney and Dave Woods from Dunedin, starting the climb at 9.50 am. It was great to have these guys lead us, as they had hiked to the summit and back the same way two months earlier. Beware of the DOC sign suggesting it takes 2 hours to the Summit – it took us 3.5 hours.

After walking through a lucerne track between two fences, we started the steep climb. Rather than staying close to the fence line where the DOC markers are placed, it was easier to follow sheep tracks up the ridgeline. After forty minutes of climbing, the views were impressive: the braided Ahuriri flowing down to lake Benmore, The Buscot and Benmore Peak to the north. Gliders were floating below us, competing with kahu soaring on the nor’west wind. And beyond them, we could see Lake Ohau, The Ben Ohau Range, and Lake Pukaki. Aoraki/Mt Cook was lightly masked by the incoming cloud.

I hour and 40 minutes after setting out we reached the fence line junction with the 4WD track from Omarama station. We followed this track, with the nor’west wind pounding us, until we found some shelter behind tussocks for a 25 minute lunch stop. Adding extra layers of fleece and jackets, and exchanging sunhats for woolly hats, we battled our way into the ferocious wind to eventually reach the summit of Mt St Cuthbert (1558m) 3 hours and 35 minutes after setting out. The pole marking the trig point was covered in ice, and we clung on to it to keep steady in the gusting nor’westerly.

Rather than returning by the same route down the slippery gravel of the steep ridgeline, Rodney suggested we duck out of the wind and follow a south east ridge down to the headwaters of Glen Creek and the 4WD track leading out to the Otamatakou Easement. We needed to cut through a paddock to join up with the easement from the 4WD track. It was a long walk out to the Benmore Holiday Park on State Highway 83, and from there it was another 5.2 km walk (I hour) along the A2O Cycle Trail to the parked cars. We returned at 7:15 pm, having completed a round trip of 9 hours and 25 minutes, covering a distance of 26.5 km.

The official DOC descent route down to the Otamatakou starts at another summit rock outcrop, east of the actual summit and follows a boundary fence with a DOC marker. This fence joins on to the 4WD track we followed. We will try that route next time! On that next trip, when coming out at Benmore Holiday Park, we could have a bike or car waiting for us to save that trek along the A20.

Thanks to Rodney, Dave, Lorenna and Colin for their ever cheerful company.

Jenny Kitchin, Rodney Meiklejohn