South Island tramping starting after xmas

Hi, I'm looking to do a tramp, sometime, between Sunday 24th January and Thursday 28th. Rune

I'd probably be around Chch around that time trying to sell my car as I leave on the 2nd of Feb. I'll keep you up to date though

Forgot to mention, I'll be flying into Christchurch for a wedding, so I'll be there. I've been thinking about doing the Copland Pass.

current advice is not to attempt the copland pass anymore. It is becoming more dangerous due to erosion and snow melt. Fitzgerald Pass is the recommended alternative instead.

Is Fitzgerald Pass accessed via Copland Shelter? Or up from Hooker Hut?

aparently this shows the route to Fitzgerald Pass http://www.alpinerecreation.com/images/trek/map_coplandfitzgerald.jpg

I did the Copland quite a few times, and never had a clue that there was another route! Fitzgerald looks quite a lot more straightforward. (Edit: The Alpine Recreation site does suggest it's pretty steep, and it looks exposed to icefall if you aren't on the right route. And from dim dark memory, the slopes down into the Copland might not be so easy either. Maybe not so straightforward as it looks on the map.) The Copland sounds like it has deteriorated a lot over the years. As are many other areas of the Alps as climate change begins to impact more and more. On one of my trips over I very nearly came unstuck right next to the Copland shelter. A group of us were heading over from the Hooker Hut and waited a couple of hours for the cloud to lift. Around 2pm I stuck my head out the door and saw a decent gap in the clouds and let the others know it was time to go. I headed off around the shelter and along the ridgeline about 30m to the rocky outcrop behind. And then waited. The first guy gets around the hut, stops and looks at me."How did you get there?" he asks. "I walked of course" I replied. "Well where are your f***ing footprints then?". An entire 30m of cornice had silently let go right behind me. The only foot print left was the very last one from where I was standing.

its only in recent years that fitzgerald pass has become the prefered route to copland pass due to deterioraton of the copland pass route

Ta for the map waynowski.