Ashton Hut Reno Report - 20th to 23rd March 2021

Six members of Permolat Southland choppered into Ashton Hut from the car park beside the Oreti River up the Ashton Gorge and into the Ashton Hut.

Landing the chopper

The landing was rather tight because the bench the hut sits on is sloped and not much wider than the hut so a level chopper pad was cut beside the hut with lots of large rocks moved to clear the tail rotor.

The Toilet

Work then started on the toilet with the hole dug and the top structure started.

The toilet was then finished and moved to site then roofed with sky light and flashing.

The Hut Renovation

We installed a 1000 lt water tank with guttering under the eaves as a snow damage preventative and tied the tank down.

Meanwhile the roof was changed out and new ridge cap and flashing installed.

We installed new chimney stays and a chimney cap and flashed the front porch.

The hut was flashed to cover the bottom plate and piles were flashed to cover the pile tops. Also a water channel was dug.

We flashed the window at the back which had no flashing and patched some holes in the walls and chimney.

Inside the Hut

We covered the floor with 7 mm treated ply.

We put in a new fire insert of 5 mm steel pinned in place and part filled behind with stones. We also put a breather vent for the fire.

A new table and a couple of two person forms were constructed. We added a ladder and roll bar to the bunks.

We repaired and put new shelves in the porch and painted a sign for the toilet which is hidden in the trees below the hut.

Finally we put an overflow vent in the water tank and placed a tin sill on the top door step.

Testing the Chopper Pad

Here is the chopper on the new pad and the full crew who spent 4 days at Ashton Hut and did about 162 man hours on the job. The crew are Steve, Alastair, Marty, Annabel in back, and the two Johns in front.

How to get involved

Permolat Southland would like to thank all the crew who volunteered on the job, Greg and Karen for organising the reno, High Country Helicopters for flying us in and out, DOC for allowing us to do this project in the first place and finally to Backcountry Trust for financing the whole project.

If you’d like to get involved in looking after huts and tracks, get in touch with your local Permolat group.