Wellington Holdsworth Jumbo Circuit

A fairly hard 2 day circular tramp that can be shortened at several points with escape routes down off the high ridges. Day 1 can be up to the Powell Hut or extended to reach Jumbo Hut ascending Mount Holdsworth and Jumbo on the way. The descent via the Atiwhakatu Hut from Jumbo takes between 3 – 4 hours. Overall tramp distance is 23km with an altitude range increase of 1249 metres on Day 1 and 917 metres overall loss on Day 2. The route includes manicured tourist track to rather poorly poled routes on the narrow ridges between the Powell and Jumbo Huts.
13.49km 8 hrs 45 min +/-1249m (Day 1)
9.4km 4 hrs 10 min 50m (Day 2)
Last Updated April 2009

Start Point: Easting 1808595 Northing 5468661

Feb 2024

This trip was completed as an easier 3 day option, each day about 4 hours . The track to Powell hut now has many timber stairs , some very high for short legs. Powell hut is in good condition. Day 2 to Mt Holdsworth and on to Jumbo hut- mainly on an exposed ridge, a poled route that was difficult to follow in a couple of places. Jumbo hut and its toilets were in poor condition. Day 3 down Raingauge spur to Atiwhakatu hut remains steep with lots of roots and the track is straight forward after that back to the carpark.