Department of Conservation (DoC) Whakatipu operations manager David Butt says the slip’s opposite Slip Stream, about two hours’ walk from the road end north of Paradise.
It means the affected section of the track will be closed for the remainder of this walking season, and possibly the next.
The slip’s taken out about 10 metres of track on a sheer rock bluff, making it impassable. It was discovered by trampers last Sunday afternoon.
The river below is continuing to undercut the bank, so the slip’s still moving and likely to take out more track.
"It’s not a place where people want to be," Butt says, while trying to bush-bash a route over it would be extremely dangerous.
"This is really tricky terrain — there’s a significant bluff system all around that area."
Crossing the Dart River to bypass the closed section’s also out of the question, because the river’s "dangerous at the best of times".
It means the four-to-five day circuit in Mount Aspiring National Park, which had 2810 bed nights in its three huts last year, can’t be completed.
"Certainly there’ll be people going hunting who are experienced in those sorts of areas, but our advice is that the track is closed, so make other plans."
Trampers can still access the upper Dart Valley by walking from the Rees Valley road end, or by walking the challenging Cascade Saddle route from the Matukituki Valley.
They can also walk from Chinaman’s carpark at the Dart Valley road end as far as the closed section before returning.
DoC’s inspecting the slip and will then
look at options for re-routing the track or building a structure to cross the area, either of which will be expensive and challenging.
"We know there’s not an easy fix for this, so we’re expecting it to be closed for a significant period of time, unfortunately."
DoC completed a major project in 2016-’17 to restore the track after a massive landslip on the other side of the valley in January, 2014.
