well it certainly isnt like the old forest service day when they could assemble a hut in a week ....
two and a half months later and the new hut still isnt ready..
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/backcountry-huts-by-region/wellington-kapiti/kapiti/kime-hut/
email from DOC
they expect the new Kime hut to be available to the public by the end of June..
problems-with-new-kime-hut
http://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/view/page/articles/read/problems-with-new-kime-hut/
A similar situation arose a few years ago when Alpha Hut was extended,the hut was "closed" while extensive renovations and a new log fire installed ,but common sense dictated that because of the extreme conditions that could occur at any time , access would not be an issue.
My own feelings are well documented in various communications that the new hut should have been near or on the junction of the track to the Main Range , in the proximity of the old Vosseller Hut(removed by the NZFS without consultation ).
If ..and its only an "if" ....a hut was at this site , there may have been no Bennington tragedy.
I guess DOC are in a bind. They have to comply with the building code, which means they are liable if anybody comes to harm using the hut before it passes inspection. This is not DOC's decision: it's the Department of Building and Housing. And they are short of money. Keeping the old hut around in the interim would have cost more -- and that policy would effectively translate into more expensive and hence fewer hut upgrades.
Not to suggest that it's a reason not to have a hut in an intelligent place, but my impression is that there were many things that could have prevented that tragedy, and very few were to do with a badly placed Kime Hut. I'd hate to see the bulk of blame for that sort of tragedy ever being assigned to DoC.
hes not the only one to have died short of the hut, getting over hut mound is a pig in strong wind, it can stop you getting down to field hut,
Yeah but he's not the best example, either. If Kime had been closed at the time they'd probably still be here today.
even if he had made Kime Im not convince he would of survived. He had poor gear and Kime was unheated and appeared to be uninsulated It deserved its reputation as the coldest hut in the Tararuas
he was found wearing seven layers of clothes. i think the conditions were unsurvivable for anyone once they were wet through which he probably was.... they estimate the wind chill was minus twenty up there at the time... you'd need to have a dry suit to have any chance without dry shelter...
