Distance: 0.5 km (0.5 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 1404m to 1603m. Gain: 199m. Loss: 0m . Gradient: 25 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)

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

Primary, mapped (1/5)
Formal route, on maps, principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Moderate-hard (difficulty: 4/5)
Continuous moderate climbs

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

Alpine weather (difficulty: 2/7)
Tramp on open tops, exposed to alpine weather

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

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

The steep climb south from Ballard Hut to the main track is not marked, but is fairly obvious - just head south up the steep face from the hut to the ridgeline. You leave the bush at the hut, and the entire climb is on gravel and tussock - exposed to the weather but a scramble, not a climb.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

From the cairn at the summit, an unmarked route drops steeply north towards a saddle 200m below. At a jog, it takes just 10 minutes to descend the 200 vertical meters from the summit to Ballard Hut, which is hidden in beech on the saddle. The route is not marked or poled, but is fairly obvious.