Walk up to the ski field in growing darkness, with rain starting. Turn back and walk back towards the car (Rangipo hut was the first fall-back plan) after getting a message from Cindy and Graham (who had left at 6 a.m. and parked at the ski field) about bad snow conditions on the mountain. Altercation and negotiation on account of the key for the gate across the Tukino road (Graham and Cindy's car was on the other side of it). Bad weather and lack of functioning headlamps then meant we gave up on the walk to Rangipo hut and instead drove to Turangi and stayed at a backpackers.
The weather on Sunday morning was near perfect so we headind back to the mountain with our freshly negotiated key, unlocked the gate so Graham and Cindy could get down, and went for a walk up the mountain. Lucky we hadn't pushed on to the hut the night before. The snow was fresh and deep all the way up the mountain with no places where things were hard enough to get some crampons on and make some decent progress. It was a nice enough walk in the sun however, even if it was a little frustrating not to be able to do any climbing in the end. There are a couple of photos here.
