Driving North on your way up Lake Pukaki you will soon pass the lake itself and the homestead known as Glenntanner before crossing the bridge of Bush Stream where you need to park. Making sure to start your ski tour on the southern side as you need to head up this stream. When I say head up the stream I mean that literally as there are no trails and you will have to get your feet wet. The next 5 or so kilometres you will be in and out of the water but before long the valley will branch off to the south via Back Stream where you need to head up arriving at the base of Mount Dark and setting up camp on one of the few flat spots.

Start out early in the morning as this can be a long trip and you need to make the most out of daylight. Start heading up the valley with a focus on both your descent line and the ascent as they are two different routes. For climbing you need to focus on the lookers left side of the basin where you can find a drainage/couloir that is steep but gives you access to the northeast ridge of Mount Dark where you can ascent the relatively easy upper slopes all the way to the summit.

Once on top of Mount Dark focus your attention on the Northwestern slopes directly below the summit. With a bit of cautious scouting you will be standing on top of the face with an obvious route down to the valley below. The trick to this ski tour is waiting until the snow has corned up and is easily edgeable as a slip can be fatal. As for the ski descent it starts off on a relatively steep headwall before mellowing out in the valley below. Once all is said and done it is time to head back down Bush Stream to your car.

For more pictures and the full story check out this link https://www.whereiskylemiller.com/new-zealand/mount-dark/