Date:  07 June 2019

A small slip during Wednesday night’s downpour caused a large rock to come smashing down onto the staircase near the waterfall.

DOC are requesting the track users not to move the rock themselves.

“We are asking the public to leave the rock alone, as removing it would destabilise the stairs, which would require us to close the track,” says Glyn Morgan, Waikato DOC Supervising Ranger.

Five or six steps have been damaged. “Our Rangers have assessed it and at this stage we have removed the debris but not the rock which is 80% of the obstruction.”

“We will require a generator and jack hammer to remove the rock and will have to reconstruct the stairs at that point’, says Morgan. “We plan to do this work on Monday as this will allow us to get materials and equipment organised and on site and keep the track open for weekend visitors.”

“If we remove the rock it will destabilise the remaining steps, create risk to the public and would require us to close the track for health and safety reasons. This way we can then ensure a full repair in the shortest timeframe possible”.

“Although the slip can be easily crossed”, says Morgan, “we ask people to exercise caution while negotiating the stairs and keep an eye out for further slips”.

In the meantime, DOC would like to thank everyone who walks or runs the Hakarimata Summit Track for their support and patience.

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