Midwinter Trip: Highest Hut in the Ruahines!

We are running a hopefully snowy trip to Howletts Hut and Sawtooth Ridge. Along the way we'd like to bag some higher 1600m peaks around the area to try get some good snow. Howllets' Hut is the highest hut in the range so it would be a cool hut to see some great views.
 

If the weather plays nice this tramp will be slightly difficult as we can't stay in tarn bivvy with more than probably 4 people so please be confident in tramping in some more rugged terrain for 6+ hours.

Snowcraft experience is a must as this is technically an alpine trip regardless of weather we get heaps of snow or not. A head for heights would also be recommended as some of the terrain on Sawtooth Ridge can be quite exposed especially in the snow:)

Here is the route-