Backcountry Trust volunteers made the most of autumn’s sunshine to work on a full-scale renovation of Anti-Crow Hut in Arthur’s Pass National Park.

BCT’s Ollie Clifton said the makeover of the popular but somewhat neglected hut “turned out to be a bit of a mission”, and volunteers gathered over several weekends for the task. 

The original hut was built by revered mountaineer Geoff Harrow more than 60 years ago. As a teenager Harrow would bike from his Christchurch home to Arthur’s Pass to explore the mountains, and in his lifetime he climbed all the major peaks in the area. He joined the New Zealand expedition to the Himalayas led by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1954, a year after Hillary’s successful ascent of Everest. In the 1960s Harrow discovered the nesting sites of Hutton’s shearwaters in the Kaikōura ranges, and he spent the rest of his life working to save the seabirds from extinction. 

Located near the Waimakariri River, Anti-Crow Hut is a stepping stone for alpine adventures further up the valley.