The Wilberg has a mistique about it that stems from several things. The weather, the walls of green scrub, the gorged creeks draining from it and rock on parts of the range that is shockingly bad and only held together by plant roots. In other words, it’s steep thick and loose. It’s also gorgeous, with nifty little spots secreted within it. Wilberg was a draughtsman involved in the West Coast 1880s topographical survey.
Much of the Wilberg Range can be traversed from Mt Wilberg to Avalon Peak, but in places travel on one side or the other is much easier.
Between Avalon Peak and the North Poerua Glacier, pinnacles and loose, friable schist makes travel very difficult in several places. However, there is a practical route with packs from Mt Wilberg to Adams Flat in good weather. It’s a route to use for its challenge, isolation and wilderness qualities rather than its speed.
See Poerua River for further details on access to or from the Wilberg Tops.
Places
in association with the Canterbury Mountaineering Club