An informal trail race to the top of one of New Zealand's most scenic mountain ranges
The Nelson Lakes Vertical K is an informal race to the top of the St Arnaud range.
No entry fee, no marshals, no timing chips, no gear checks. Just come along and race.
(It’s up to you to make sure you’re prepared and safe)
The race is based in St Arnaud, 1.5 hrs from Nelson and Blenheim.
The race route follows the DOC track from Kerr Bay car park (at Lake Rotoiti) up to the top of the St Arnaud range.
The race start is ~1km from the car park, along the St Arnaud Range Track. It is not marked (DOC took down our sign, fair enough) but starts immediately after you cross the creek bed at the junction with the Loop Track:
https://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-41.811718,172.861613&z=15&pin=1&lbl=Vertical%20K%20start
https://goo.gl/maps/Wci6wu5Cts52
The first 700m of ascent is up through beech forest on a rough but well marked track. The final 300m of ascent is a scramble up loose scree (above the bush line) to the top of the ridge. The route up the scree is sparsely marked and you’re free to pick your line.
At the end of the race, you’ll have to make your way back down the same track to the car park.
Strava segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/17064545
We’re keeping it simple. Click ‘Going’ on the Facebook event if you’re going to race.
This will give us a rough idea of how many people are going to race.
We’ll post any updates to the Facebook event and you can also ask questions there.
On the day, meet in the car park (near the start of Lake Head Track) at 10:00am and we’ll all walk together to the start line.
Check the Facebook event the day before – if the weather is rubbish we will cancel.
Nelson Lakes Vertical K 