South Island 3 Aoraki - Mount Cook

[past my sell by date]

Of the 23 rolls of film I took in New Zealand on that visit, one mysteriously failed to make it back to Britain ( left in a bag or something) - and irritatingly it turned out the the one that included most of my ascent of Aoraki - Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest peak - i.e. the one I would least likely be able to repeat.
So this report is rather short on climbing photos. but Gary Dickson my guide has provided a few
South Island is a place of extraordinary contrasts. We headed North from Wanaka on 22nd December (my birthday)

The route from Wanaka to Aoraki (Mt. Cook) took us on Highway 8 over the 971m Lindis pass - a semi desert area. to Omarama and on through Twizel

New Zealand is full of British plants which have been imported without the predators (of whatever sort) that control them here. Gorse, broom and wild dog rose are three of the worst , but Lupins are another: since however they are rather pretty and also fix atmospheric nitogen - there is little objection to them

Three pictures of the arid area around the Lindis Pass

A Golden Spaniard - the leaves are sharp as a razor edge and hard as steel., and the flower spikes can reach 2metres. heaven forbid you fall on top of one

. Beyond Twizel the route goes along Lake Pukaki to the Helicopter landing area just beyond Mt Cook village

Lenticular clouds over Aoraki

Aoraki down the length of Lake Pukaki - wild dog rose in the foreground

A closer view as we drive down the side of the lake - more dog rose in the foreground
Aoraki - a truly majestic peak - was 3764m high until 1991, when the summit collapsed in a large rock and snow avalanche shaving 10m off the height. Since then further ice loss has reduced the height to an estmated 3724m - so its exact height at the time of my ascent is not certain

The helicopter took us up to Plateau hut at 2200m

Aoraki from Plateau hut

Map of the ascent - of over 1500m
This climbs the Linda glacier to Bowie corner - where some parties camp, splitting the ascent into two - traverses up and across the Linda shelf and then climbs the top section of the Zurbriggen ridge - first through the "summit rocks" (where Anton my guide on the Remarkables was tragically killed six years later) and finally up the "Ice Cap".
The Glacier is "peppered with (mainly transverse) crevasses, and in dry seasons can become impassable when guided ascents stop. Another major problem is on the descent: the snow softens dramatically as the sun comes on to it and if you reach the summit late can be waist deep on the descent. I think they say "one hour late at the top - three to four hours late in total".
It is possible to climb directly up Zurbriggen ridge, but the lower section is steep and icy and it's a grade harder (3+)

A great view of the route on the New Zealand guides website

Gary's similar photo from 3467m Mt. Tasman (Horokoau) - New Zealand's second highest mountain
We set out at 12.45 AM - by far the earliest I have ever left a hut. The snow on the glacier had still not frozen from the previous day, but hardened as we progressed in alitude.
somewhere on the Linda shelf a small volley of stonefall - just pebbles - landed beside us and Gary started running so I ran after.
On reflection it seems we might just as well have been running into the stones as away from them, but in the middle of the night on New Zealand's highest mountauin you don't stop and argue with your guide
We reached the end of the shelf in daylight and climbed a 50m or so snow gully to gain the ridge - I started to feel the altitude and gasped a bit. We had no problems through the rock section, and eventually stood a few feet from the top at about 7.00AM in perfect weather. Traditionally, because the summit is sacred to the local Maori tribe you don't stand on the very top.
I recall that the view Westwards towards the sea was mostly clouds.

Tasman (Horokoau) from Aoraki - Gary's photo
Because we had summited in good time the snow on the descent was in relatively firm condion. It had been formed into waves by the wind, and I found that I sank in a lot less walking on the ridges than in the troughs. Later on I changed films, and a few pictures of crevasses descending the glacier survive.

Linda glacier crevasses

Looking back up the glacier
As we regained the flat areaof the glacier approaching the hut, Gary seemed to be going absolutely flat out - dragging me behind him The reason I discovered later was that this was ( at that time anyway) his fastest trip, and he wanted to make it in under 12 hours - which we just did

View from the helicopter flying out - Lake Pukaki in the distance

[Pointless Parasite]

Nice How would that grade as an Alpine climb? From the photos I'm guessing AD+. At least you don't need to go the full length of the summit ridge to reach the top.

[dav2930]

I'm a bit late seeing this but wow, what an expedition that must have been. - And what a cruel twist of fate that the one roll of film that went missing was the one with all your photos of the ascent on it! You must have been absolutely gutted

Aoraki looks a most spectacular mountain - a good match for anything in the European Alps. Must have been very satisfying to have summitted one of the great mountains of the world.

I was interested to read how the height of the High Peak has been reduced by bits of the summit collapsing. At that rate the High Peak could end up lower than the Middle Peak (3717m)!

Great report.

[past my sell by date]

Nice How would that grade as an Alpine climb? From the photos I'm guessing AD+. At least you don't need to go the full length of the summit ridge to reach the top.

Yes about that. Aspiring is probably PD+/AD- depending on the condition of the Ramp. Having done that two days earlier I was very fit and acclimatised, but I think we were lucky with the snow. On the way down I don't remember going more than calf-deep; but thigh or even waist deep is possible, which is why the average return time is 16 hours.

You might be interested in this from Wkipedia
"Aoraki / Mount Cook is a technically challenging mountain with a high level of glaciation. Its level of difficulty is often underestimated and can change dramatically depending on weather, snow and ice conditions. The climb crosses large crevasses, and involves risks of ice and rock falls, avalanches and rapidly changing weather conditions."
Dave
Losing that roll of film was a pain but no use crying over spilt milk It would surprise me if the middle summit isn't eroding as well. Remember that the Southern Alps are a mere 17million years old - and falling down rapidly: apart from the Darrans the rock is basically shite

[litljortindan]

Amazing mountain(s). The Golden Spaniard leaves sound handy as a social distancing tool.

[past my sell by date]

Amazing mountain(s). The Golden Spaniard leaves sound handy as a social distancing tool.

The Golden Spaniard is seriously scary! The thought of tripping over on a path and falling on to one just doesn't bear thinking about
But overall, New Zealand is wonderfully benign: the most lethal thing is supposed to be a tree-nettle whose sting is serious if you are allergic - and there is a small spider whose bite is poisonous but I don't think anyone has ever died.
Compare that with Oz (where almost everything is lethally venomous) and you wonder why the difference?