Skiing and Climbing in Arthur's Pass

Grant Guise has been a loud voice of late for the possibilities of ski-mountaineering in New Zealand. Grant gives us a taste of what we can expect if we head into Arthur’s Pass.

Alpine climbs in the grade 1-2 range are not only ideal for young alpine climbers, the newlywed and the nearly dead, but perfect for skiers looking for new challenges.

The following are fun climbing / skiing trips I’ve done over the last two years around Arthur’s Pass.

Ski - Mountaineering Races

The race division skinned up Kicker Ridge and boot packed up a steep ridge to Nervous Knob, then skied and skinned along the ridge back to the summit of Hamilton...

Ski touring trip to Pioneer Hut

...The area is simply magnificent. Not having been to the Pioneer before, I was overwhelmed by the vastness of the snowfields and the proximity of the peaks. Pioneer Hut is a small NZAC hut, with just 12 bunks but it is extremely well placed on the uppper Fox Glacier: it is an ideal base for a huge number of climbs and ski tours on the Fox neve...

Author: Ciprian Toader

Winter Ski Mountaineering in the Tasman, Part 1
“The joys of waiting for the stars to align for climbing to be possible in the winter. Going to try to fly up the Tasman, maybe walk up the Hooker, if not Wye Creek for ice.”

Author:Johnny Davison, Tshering Pande Bhote, Cameron Mulvey