Distance: 3.0 km (2.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 1471m to 1668m. Gain: 246m. Loss: 252m . Gradient: 10 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)

Unmarked route, clear (7/9)
Unmarked route, follows obvious geography (river, spur, trail, etc)

Primary, unmapped (2/5)
Route not on maps, but is principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Occasional moderate climbs

Easy-moderate (difficulty: 2/5)
Tussock / river-gravel / open bush / cut track

Occasional scrambles (difficulty: 3/7)
Tramp with some scrambles and exposure to falls

None (difficulty: 1/6)
No unbridged river crossings

Iceaxe/crampons (difficulty: 4/7)
Ice axe and crampons required in winter

A hard, exposed route in winter. Not for beginners.

Sawtooth Ridge is a narrow ridge with two rocky outcrops spaced evenly along it - hence the name. It is no better or worse than surrounding ridges in the Ruahines, but from its name has gained a daunting reputation. It is a tramping route in summer, with a few scrambles but no technical climbing. In winter it is a serious proposition. There is no marked track over the ridge, but a well-used ground trail is clearly visible, and this should be within the capabilities of most trampers who have tops route-finding ability and don't mind a scramble or two.

A broad rocky ridge runs south from Ohuinga, dropping steeply after 300m to the saddle at the lowpoint of 1400m, passing two rocky outcrops by sidling below them

Continuing south from the saddle, the two main rock outcrops (the teeth of the saw) are only partially climbed - good, well used ground trails cut across the steep faces of each avoiding the rocky bits of the outcrops. If you find yourself climbing on exposed rock, you're in the wrong place, and there is probably a sidle trail nearby. (My notes fail to record which side of each tooth I sidled.)

Climb / sidle the remaining smaller 'teeth', the ridge rising gradually so that by the far end of the sawtooth you're only 100m below the summit of Tiraha. A short climb follows up tussock and scree chutes to the summit.

Tiraha Summit is not marked. It is the junction of routes along the Sawtooth Ridge, the ridge east then south to Howletts, and a tough route starting SW to Te Hekenga and thence the western Ruahines.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

No description