A tramper looks down at the Dart River from the Dart Track last year. PHOTOS: GUY WILLIAMS Six months after a landslip in the Dart Valley severed the popular Rees-Dart tramping circuit, the Department of Conservation says it is too soon to say when it can reopen the affected section of track. Doc Whakatipu-wai-Māori acting operations manager Bridget Railton said it had been working with engineers, geologists and contractors on options for restoring the track. They include various realignments to bypass the slip, or installing a ‘‘gantry structure’’ to get over it. The slip remains ‘‘stationary but unstable’’. The Dart River undercuts the bank at both ends, Railton said. ‘‘The dynamics of the river, and potential future weather events, play a large part in the erosion acceleration or stability, and more of the bank could slip if we face another major weather event.’’ No way through: The start of the Dart Track at Chinaman’s car park, north of Paradise. Until the next steps have been finalised, she can’t give a timeframe for reopening the closed section. She emphasises the bluffs above the slip are inaccessible, and bypassing the closed section of track would require a ‘‘dangerous’’ river crossing. Discovered by trampers on January 11, the slip took out about 10m of track on a sheer rock bluff about two hours’ walk from the road end north of Paradise. Trampers can still do an in-and-out walk up the Rees Valley, or get a helicopter transfer over the closed section. Slips in the Dart Valley, starting with a massive one at Sandy Bluff in 2014 that created a 3km-long lake, have severed the tramping circuit three times in the past 12 years. guy.williams@odt.co.nz
