Hydrophobia is in great shape right now with 2 solid WI5 pitches in the middle. The ice, for the most part, was very good with only a few spots of rotten ice lenses. Pretty much solid gear the whole way although we did need to excavate a rather large hole through bad ice at the top of the route for our first v thread. The sun is hitting the top third of the route on clear days now for the first 3 or 4 hours of the morning so the conditions will be changing.
The drive in was quite resonable as we were able to drive past the bog to the drainage at the mouth of the Hydro basin in a stock Toyota Tacoma. Both creek crossings were no issue as they were frozen solid. It snowed up to 10cms in the area during the day so we needed to put chains on to get back out. It was a good thing we had them because we would have spent the night on the bog if we hadn't... always entertaining climbing in Waiporous....
Have a fun and safe weekend!
Mike Stuart
ACMG Alpine Guide
ACMG Alpine Guide