A solo traverse in the Darran Mountains

My Darrans obsession began in winter 2005. I drove to Homer Hut from Dunedin after work one Friday in June, arriving at 1am as the car thumped across the unseen river bed, which had a foot of snow in it. That weekend was spent dodging avalanches en route to Gertrude Saddle. While driving home, I narrowly avoided hitting a road gate, which had been closed behind me all weekend because of the avalanche hazard. I was keen for more.

At the height of summer in 2006, I find myself with three days off in the middle of the week, a settled weather pattern and no one to climb with. A solo mission is called for.

New Climbing on Ruapehu

Three winters ago, Mike and his climbing partners began opening up new routes on the north-eastern side of the Pinnacles. Very few people knew of the exciting new lines they had found. If the pictures are anything to go by, the adventurous will be sharpening their tools, racking up and jumping on these new routes as soon as this winter's first snowflakes touch the ground.

Given the popularity and unequalled accessibility of the Pinnacles, it is astonishing that such a remarkable climbing venue had been overlooked until only recently. The area is dubbed Te Herenga after the now extinct and largely eroded volcanic cone that produced the prominent rock features in the area.

The Minarets

The Minarets attract much interest as one of the easier mountains to climb rising above the magical 3000 m. They are a true mountain in terms of dominating their surrounds, being the eighth highest massif in the country. For this reason, many mountaineers attempt the Minarets in their first few years of climbing...

...By the time attempts 2 and 3 come around, the three of us can loosely be described as mountaineering guns. At least the kind of guns that shoot plastic sticks with suction caps on the end. We have had a good time at the head of the Tasman Glacier, taking only a few hours to climb Elie de Beaumont, and are seeking to polish off the Minarets as the final course of our fine mountaineering feast.

Kyrgyzstan

We load up the horses and most of the afternoon is spent reaching a pass that allows us to drop down into the Jiptik valley. We reach the pass just as the sun is starting to go down and get our first view of the mountains we have travelled half way around the world to meet. In front of us is one of the most amazing mountain faces I have ever seen – a gigantic north face with a spur running straight up the centre. I'm flipping out! We boost down scree slopes to the valley bottom, where we make camp for the night and sleep out under the stars. Sometimes I forget how amazing the stars can be away from the lights of civilisation and I spend a long time just digging the stars and our surroundings.

Winter Climbing 2008

This is the final piece on the year's winter climbing. Already we have looked at climbs on Mts Green and Elie de Beaumont. This report covers other climbing during the Darwin Glacier and Darran Mountains meets.

The Darwin Glacier climbing meet. When I let my mind wander while pruning the roses I often catch myself reminiscing the Darwin Glacier climbing meet. It occupies that special place in my heart a little left of the thought of driving a 350Z and about two centimetres down from the thought of a kitchen tap that issues forth organic cola.

Grand Traverse of Aoraki-Mt Cook

'IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE FUN TO BE FUN!'

I shout the words of heroes through the wind towards Romaric. The line escapes my mouth but is immediately lost in the space between us. I realise I just said it for my own peace of mind but the response comes anyway…

'WHAT?!'

'WE’LL APPRECIATE THIS ONCE WE GET DOWN!'

'YEAH, BUT NOT NOW!'

I sense that something of the original quote has been lost in the exchange so I turn to face the climbing ahead of me. The steep narrow ridgeline climbs rapidly into the clouds. We both know we must be extremely close to the summit, but the last time we could see anything was hours ago. Our optimism wanes with each step that isn’t the top.

Elie de Beaumont

Elie de Beaumont (3109m) will be familiar to most Kiwi climbers. It is one of those mountains that dominates its surrounds, in this case the head of the Tasman Glacier. It is also one of the more achievable 3000m peaks and thus, like Mt Aspiring, Mt Lendenfeld and the Minarets, is pretty high up on the wish list of mountaineers in their first few years of climbing.

Winter adds a little more to the mountain. The nature of the climbing doesn't really change because even in summer it is a glacier and snow climb, but the colder temperatures, less daylight, deeper snow to plug through and harder ice to negotiate add an edge to the climb.

Kichatnas!

Our proposed route is up the couloir on the right-side of the north face and then up the steep west face. This route has been tried by a number of strong parties in the past, all of which failed owing to technical, loose aid on the west face. No one has ever got more than one pitch up. Our game plan is to bring all of our aid gadgetry up with us. Earlier, we had planned to haul the couloir so that we could have a portaledge with us. However, owing to the high snow year, it looks like hauling will be not a good option. We load up heavy packs and roll to the couloir.

"Welcome to the real world, laddie!"

The most intense experience of my short climbing career and life. I ran through the whole range of human emotion over the course of my first climb in the winter wonderland that is the Darrans. I've never done anything harder, or scarier in my life. Here is my story...

Winter Ascent of Mt Green

The Darwin Glacier (Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park) winter climbing meet provided personal highs for all those involved, but one climb was particularly special. Vaughan Shanks and Colin Morris made three attempts over five days to climb the aesthetically stunning Mt Green (2837m) from Darwin Corner. The altitude gain was 1200m, and it should be noted that any height gain approaching 1000m in a single day is a big ask in winter. Sounds Himalayan doesn't it? This is Vaughan's account of one of the year's best climbs.

A new classic: Tears of Allah

The Garden of Allah is not generally known for its good quality rock, but as with all generalizations there is always an exception. For the Garden of Allah, the exception is the north facing buttress of Newton Peak’s west subsidiary peak. Rising 400 metres above the glacier, this buttress largely comprises compact orange greywacke – in other words, the stuff we like to climb on!

Single Cone

Single Cone is a good alpine day trip for a beginner wanting to experience moving quickly over easy ground. The rock is good, the access is easy, the views are spectacular and the climbing is challenging without being too taxing.

A short vertical step leads to the steepest section of the climb yet – a smooth, exposed slab. The climbing is straightforward but I can see why people often rope up for this bit, a fall here would be a one stop trip. I place a bomber cam in a vertical crack splitting the slab and run it out another 10–15m before reaching another set of bolts soon after the slab leans back again.

The Glass Bead Game

With us all on the big ledge below the main pitch, KVC and I offered it to Bob D, since he was the guest. It was easier doing that than climbing it ourselves. The pitch is a 25 metre slab with sloping holds and no cracks, and it had long dribbles of verglas dreeping down it. Bob did a fine job tiptoeing his way up and across, going from rock to verglas, all with no positive holds or any pick placement. Not even any turf. He managed to find one doubtful spike runner near the top, just enough to let him make the last couple of big grunty moves up a corner and over a bulge onto a large terrace. A big leering grin accompanied the invite to join him on the terrace. A brilliant lead by Bob, despite the well meaning advice from the rabble at the foot of the pitch.

Climbing at Chamonix - Pointe Isabella (3761m)

But suddenly, standing on that snowy arete high above the Talefre basin, I felt very vulnerable. The realisation slowly dawned on me that all of my goals and aspirations for this trip were utterly unimportant; two years of dreaming about climbing the stunning Aiguilles Verte suddenly replaced with the burden of responsibility and a new analysis of what drives me to climb mountains...

Author: Daniel McGowan

Saga of the Midnight Cowboys

The late start and casual approach took its toll though, and before we knew it, it was after four o’clock and starting to get dark. Some of us started muttering about roping off down into the gully on our right, but The Mighty Steve would have none of it and powered off up through the next wee rock band into the gloom, climbing fast to escape the whining below...

West Face of Mt Hamilton

From the Bonney Glacier, Steve and Tom completed a possible new rock route on the west face of Mt Hamilton (3025m). The climb dog-legs up the 500m+ face with nine pitches of generally good compact rock, and two pitches of choss. The crux grade is about 15/16...

...Looking back, this trip had certain hard-man qualities. The problem is that we are not hard men...

Reflections on the Nuns Veil

We are leaving it all behind, for now – no work, no suburban routine, no political scandals or useless celebrity gossip. Soon time will be measured in terms of how much daylight is left, how much vertical ground remains to be covered, how long until we can rest again...

Climbing in Antarctica, Part 3

I'd been going around 40 hours with no sleep, very little food and very little fluid. I saw the track over and above the cracks and was convinced that crowds of climbers had made them. I thought, "If all these people went this way then I better go this way too" but then had to stop and shake it into my head that only I, Camilo, Pachi and Jarmila had been up here in the last 12 years, and only Camilo had so far gone down. Just the four of us - no crowds. Time to get my shit together...

Climbing in Antarctica, Part 2

The action was with the girls, trying a new route on the west face. The northern end of the main west face of Vinson is bordered by a blunt buttress. Just around to the north from this is a 1200m high section of the face that had no routes on it, but several promising lines. Jarmila and Pachi picked out a line and headed off just before 7pm...

Climbing in Antarctica, Part 1

We were trying to hold up half the tent against the blast, as well as support the pole remains, so I had a pole running up my spine and against my head for eight hours, constantly thumping me with the wind. If the tent inner was destroyed, our only hope would be to huddle in the remains, in our sleeping bags, and let the storm blow and snow around and over us. We would just have to out-suffer it. If the storm lasted too long, we'd just die right there...

South Face of Matenga Peak, Franz Josef Glacier

Early on in the trip we took advantage of a late-clearing morning to get some fresh air, and check out the South Face of Matenga Peak which is about 40 minutes walk north from the hut. We knew about the Zimmerman/Rennie line from 2006 (Mixed Blood, M4), and decided to try the line to the right...

O' Caroline

Attempt one was thwarted by boot issues and attempt two was aborted half way up the Ball Glacier as it looked like the ice cliffs were due for a major collapse. Returning two weeks later to see nothing had changed, I assumed this must be how it always looks. Which meant I’d run out of excuses. It looked like there would actually be some climbing this time…

...One of the problems with soloing is there’s no one to call you a lazy bastard when you stop to admire the scenery every five minutes. On reaching the ice fields, I left the worst snow I’ve ever encountered and met the worst ice…

‘Blindsight’ on Girdlestone’s Southeast Buttress

While looking around, we see a piece of water ice that potentially looks good, on the southeast buttress to our right…

We find ourselves following the small bit of ice with our eyes, and then connecting other pieces of ice and rock in our minds. The steep buttress seems to eventually reach a ridge of snow and ice with steep but straightforward climbing to the summit.

Not knowing anything about this route and not being able to clearly see a complete line from the bottom we are nonetheless intrigued. A quick glance at each other and our original plans are scrapped.

‘Ok, let’s have a look at the bottom, maybe the ice will be good…’

The Russians Make the First Ascent of the West Face of K2

‘Wow! It looks like Jannu!’ - said Gennady climbing one of the rock cornices. "The wall is like a composition of Everest North Face and Jannu North Face - such a steep rock wall at high altitude."

The Russian attempt was described by one commentator as like hanging out for four days without oxygen in the highest camp on Everest - and then going on a 3-4 day summit push.

An evening with Guy McKinnon - the first winter ascent of the east face of Mt Whitcombe

You may well have read about Guy McKinnon’s first winter ascent of the east face of Mt Whitcombe – it’ll have been in the Climber and Alpinist magazines by now. But I thought I’d like to sit down with the man over a scotch with the fire crackling on a cold evening and have a chat about the climb. Problem is we are at different ends of the country so it had to be done over the phone. Yet in my mind we were sipping from our tumblers and puffing away on our pipes having just put another log on the fire. Please join me for an evening with Guy McKinnon.

Girdlestone South Face

Crossing the glacier, we dodged the slow shower of death cookies and made our way round toward the South East Buttress. We aimed to join the buttress at about a quarter height via a moderate snow gully. Arriving at what we thought would be the start of the route, we were greeted by sheer cliffs, some even overhanging with rime ice. Swiss Andy’s words echoed in my head, “This is not ze waay...”

VF Tomaselli, Punta Sud 2989m, Dolomites

Embracing the overt ‘touristiness’ of Rifugio Lagazuoi we stretched out on the large wooden deck and enjoyed a well earned Radler. The afternoon was quite mild, even at the Rifugio’s lofty elevation of over 2700m. Staring out to the south, we gazed over dozens of rugged peaks and admired the glaciers of the Dolomites highest, the Marmoloda...

Author: Daniel "Chucky" Clearwater

In the Sacred Footsteps of the Rainbow God

Tapuae-o-Uenuku is the highest point of the Inland Kaikoura Ranges, and in fact, the highest peak north of Aoraki - Mt Cook National Park. "The Footsteps of the Rainbow God" are well known for their massive dominance of the surrounds, rewarding views up and down the country and a somewhat soggy river approach...

The First Ascent of Mount Ruapehu
NZETC has just made a digital edition of "The First Ascent of Mount Ruapehu" freely available online. Published in 1926 the book includes first person accounts by Beetham and Maxwell of the 1878 attempt and 1879 climb. I reckon this is the best bit...

Author: Alison Stevenson

The East Ridge of Taranaki

Author: Glenn Pennycook

Nosferatu and the Yankee-Kiwi
Last spring Graham Zimmerman, Andrew Rennie and Mark Kendrick made a rare ascent of 'Nosferatu' on the south-east face of Mt Vampire. This face runs up from the Mueller Glacier at Aorangi / Mt Cook National Park, and despite being relatively close to the village sees little action - hence their account is of interest to the ice climbing alpinists out there...

Author: Graham Zimmerman

Climbing the Supercouloir on Fitz Roy
Melbourne climbers Tim Billington and Mat Farrell made a rare winter trip to Fitz Roy in Patagonia.

Tim's description of the area sounds like paradise. "No climbers here at all in winter. We are apparently the first (and maybe the last) climbing party for winter '06! Damn cheap, better weather than New Zealand, and easier access.....!!!"

Author: Tim Billington and Mat Farrell

Climbing 'Billy no mates' style
It could be said that I’m a bit of a loner, and to some extent this is true. I enjoy the company of others whether it be at the crag or in the mountains. However, I equally enjoy the added challenge, increased awareness and the feeling of solitude gained by heading into the hills alone...

Author: Gareth Morgan

A Haast kicking - a reality check on ‘easy’ routes in winter
They could have heard the swearing at Pioneer Hut. I was sitting “a cheval” on an ice ridge fifteen metres from the summit of Mt Haast’s west peak and completely stymied. A stream of expletives was flying from my mouth accompanied by the vilest imprecations I could heap on the mountain.

Author: Guy McKinnon, Christchurch, New Zealand

Honeymoon on Haidinger
Wife's version
We were married - the husband was to organise the honeymoon and much to my surprise and delight, our romantic getaway was to consist of a 12 day trip in Pioneer hut with 4 other reception guests and rain forecast for the first 4 days...

Husband's version
... I stepped one leg across the gap between glacier & the gully. A moment of adrenalin & my weight transferred to the other leg & I was across. Whacking my tools into the brittle ice I slowly moved up the gully. Crampons scraped...

Author: Kathleen Lee, Mark Roberts

Fine Weather on Taranaki
... The pictures below tell a story of perfect weather, incredible views (Marlborough Sounds to the Waitakere’s), good company and a bit of adventure – everything a climbing trip should be...

Author: David Newstead

Some photos of climbing from Pioneer Hut by Fred de Zwart and Steven Fortune 2-5 Oct 2005
... The second day, we climbed the left-hand couloir of the South face of Mt Douglas. Encountered good ice flows over the lower steps, easy snow on the middle section and solid ice on the top section...

Author: Steven Fortune

A Winter Attempt of Aoraki Mt Cook
...It took quite a bit of work plodding in the soft powder, usually up to our shins. We alternated the lead as we started up the lower Linda, cruelly needing to drop 200m before regaining the height. We past into the shadow of Silberhorn at round 2pm. Even with heavy packs we needed at least four layers on with balaclava and winter mitts...

Author: John Kristiansen

Taranaki

... From here we climbed up to the top of the Turtle (a traverse of which I'd love to try sometime) and gained the summit at 4pm (Simon's first time up Taranaki), in nearly windless conditions. Despite the heat during the day the snow remained quite firm, with numerous icy sections, particularly towards the end of the day on the descent down the North Ridge...

Author: Robert Frost

New line on mt Mallory
...We climbed a new route on the south face of Mt Mallory (only due to traversing with the best ice) we went in being rather optimistic about conditions, not really thinking it was going to be on but actually found more ice then expected. The Mallory - Barnicote faces are coming into condition... nicely.

Author: Kevin O'Donnell & Gavin Lang

Perspiring.
An account of the first ascent of Perspiring, grade 4+, south face of Mt Aspiring.
Okay, well it was back in Dec 2003 that my climbing partner Howie emailed me with an idea of a new line he had seen on Mount Aspiring's south face. When he described it to me it was exactly the same line I had been looking at too, so all that was left to do was climb it.

New Route on South Face of Aspiring
On the 19th of January the British Ex-pat team of James Edwards, Kev Neal and Oliver Metherell made the first ascent of 24 Hour Party People, a direct line on the South Face of Mt Aspiring, the “Matterhorn” of New Zealand...

New Route on the South face of Mont Blanc
In late August, 2003, Mark Jenkins and I wandered up to the Eccles bivouac hut (4,050m; 13,260ft.) via the lower Innominata Ridge and Pointe Innominata, which involved impressive loose-rock scrambling, several rappels, and an unnerving patch of glacial ice, aggravated by carrying 10 days of food and fuel in our overstuffed rucksacks...

A Pom's Adventures in the NZ Alps.
West Ridge of Malte Brun and East Ridge of Mt Cook.
... Walking in over the unrelenting moraine of the Tasman glacier, Rocket in true "pommie"style, wondered whether he had been a little ambitious in his estimations...

Author: Steve Melvin

New ice route on Aylmer East Face
On 7 September Adrian Camm and I climbed what appears to be a new ice route up the centre of the East Face of Mt Aylmer (next to Tasman Saddle). It turned out to be quite sustained on good ice, with 5 pure ice pitches followed by 2 more steep mixed pitches to the top of the face and 100m or so of simul-climbing to the summit (450m plus soloed ground and an entry pitch at the bottom). We named the route 'Archbishop of Canterbury'.

Author: Dr Paul Knott, Christchurch, New Zealand

A Yank Writes Home
... The next day brought fine weather, and we were faced with yet another hand wringing, soul searching, angst filled decision: We'd gone to a lot of work to get there and didn't want to descend, but the forecast called for a day of good conditions, then 85 km+ winds and possibly more snow and/or rain.

Author: Phil Berggren, Elizabeth, Colorado, USA

The First Ascent of Haidinger's East Face Headwall
There is something about the Haidinger massif. As climbers bash their way up the mid section of the Tasman Glacier, Haidinger looks on unimpressed 2000 metres above....

Trip Report: Mt Aspiring Dec 22 – Dec 28 2002

Author: James Russell, Auckland, New Zealand

First Winter Ascent of 'The Thing'
...Rocky and the Brit ex-pat Nick Wall, a veteran of big wall climbs in Yosemite and two epic retreats from the North Wall of the Eiger, had teamed up to attempt a first winter ascent of 'The Thing', Mt. Mallory, New Zealand Alps...

Author: Steve Melvin and Nick Wall

Dingle-Button Route on Mt Hicks
... After climbing the first two pitches of steep ice we thought the route was within our reach. We put an anchor above a bulge on a tiny boot-sized ice ledge and racked up properly for the climb ahead. ...

Author: Neil Wood, Auckland, New Zealand

The report for the Aiguilles Rouge trip
... we found ourselves in a gorgeous haven in the middle of the bleak snow, rock and mud world of the Tasman. The Beetham Valley was full of tussock, gentians, Mt Cook lillies and Spaniard, the stream was remarkably clear and blue, and the red peaks of the Malte Brun Range formed a stunning backdrop...

Author: Robert Frost, Auckland, New Zealand

Caroline Face
When I was 11 years old I thought the greatest music ever written was Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera. I knew all the words. Now you know.

... No climb was worth climbing unless it was difficult. No climb was difficult unless it was in the middle of winter, was done solo and was long. Long meant a minimum of four bivouacs and at some stage I think I may have introduced the requirement of sitting out a storm during the climb. Only if the climb satisfied all these criteria was the technical grade a factor...

Author: Anthony Bonello, Sydney, Australia