Club nights are at Turnbull House, on the first unimpeded Monday of every month. New and prospective members are welcome. Meetings and talks start at 8.00 pm with club business and tea and coffee afterwards.

Meet at the Backbencher Pub on Molesworth St for our pre-section night liasons, from 6:30pm until after 7:00pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

New AIC Graduates in Awe of Aspiring

AIC students take their first few steps

All enthused after the NZAC’s Alpine Instruction Course, three of us dreamed up a plan:

“French Ridge hut – yeah – The Quarterdeck, Mt French – yeah – New Year, cocktails, pavlova – yeah yeah – let’s get a group together.”

It was one of those random conversations that could’ve gone nowhere, but it ended up on the summits of Aspiring and Earnslaw. We managed to fit in the pav and cocktails though, with six of us celebrating an early New Year’s Eve at French Ridge – AIC students Nina Creedman, Edwyn Bryant, Scott Taylor and myself, and associates Stacey Murphy and Christine Turner.

Early the next morning, Scott, Ed and I bid farewell to the others and began the next phase of our trip, heading up the Quarterdeck and across the Bonar Glacier to Colin Todd Hut. Emerging onto the top of the Quarterdeck just as the sun broke through, we were greeted by a stunning view of Aspiring. Meandering across the glacier, we spent much of the time gazing up at the ramp (the steep slope we would use to access the North West Ridge) – our responses flicking between admiration, low-level anxiety and full-blown terror.

On arrival the team split up to do various tasks – the guys worked out a route halfway to the ramp, plugging steps for us to follow in the morning. And although it may have looked like I was lounging about the hut, I was actually undertaking intensive research, soaking up as many tips as possible from the professional guides.

Rudely jolted awake at 1.30am, we leapt up, launched into that lengthy ‘pack-rummage-lose it-find it-repack’ ritual that climbers do, and headed off into the starry night. Before the trip I’d imagined that we would be climbing after the guided parties, and would just follow in their footsteps. But we were the first up, so it was us leading the whole way apart from when a guide took a turn going up the ramp.

Thanks to Scott and Ed’s efforts the day before and their subsequent route-finding, we picked our way towards the ramp, with just one big monster of a crevasse keeping us from complacency. With Ed and I balanced delicately on a snowbridge, Scott set up an anchor and we prussiked/scrambled our way out as the soft snow around the hole collapsed. Whitney Thurlow, a guide from Wanaka, had given us some invaluable advice for the ramp. As it was critical to get down as early as possible before the snow got soft and rotten, he advised us to climb up the ramp unroped (but to pitch the descent), to do the 2 hours up the summit ridge as fast as we could, and not to hang about on the summit.

We reached the summit at 8am, and savoured the moment of being the first group up there for 2007. (I know it’s superficial but it still felt good). The weather was perfect – the dawn mist had cleared as we climbed, giving way to spectacular 360 degree views including Mt Cook, Earnslaw, the Olivine Ice Plateau and the Red Hills.

Descending the ramp was our next challenge. Scott and Ed did all the lead climbing and belaying, while I got to enjoy the ride as the middle person (and Assistant Belayer which involved coiling the rope and shouting words of encouragement). The guys did brilliantly with the pitching – they were consistently thorough and safe. In fact there were times when they would dispense advice or tips, and I could’ve sworn that Pete de Joux or Don French were right there with us.

One more yawning crevasse to spook us at the end of the descent, and then we were back on safe ground, ready for some lunch and a short rest in the sun. The final stage of the day continued with the crevasse-dodging strategy, picking our way gingerly back to the Bonar and the Quarterdeck, returning to French Ridge in the late afternoon. I was so tired that I slid most of the way down the Quarterdeck. But all three of us picked up our game as we neared the hut, leaping about wildly down the final slopes.

Since we were still only part way through a 7 day weather window, we had a day off, then picked up Ed’s father Jeff and headed into the Rees Valley to climb the East Peak of Mt Earnslaw. After falling into the trap of thinking that Earnslaw would be easier as it was less high than Aspiring, we found it a bigger challenge. The route was mixed rock, ice and snow, with various testing combinations of all three.

Armed with a wooden ice axe that he’d had since the age of 18, Ed’s dad led us up there in the style of an adolescent mountain goat. After admiring the view of Aspiring, we did about 6 pitches down a couloir to get down. On the long journey back to Wellington, Scott and Ed became inseparable from the chapstick tubes tied round their necks. After two days on a glacier without applying lip balm (not being well versed in the finer details of lip protection), they now had lips like Zulu warriors.

Louise Thornley

Is that 100 yet?

James Wright, Paul Mason, and Don French climbed Mt Adams (2208m), on the WestCoast (between Harihari & Wataroa) while passing by. Most notable thing about the ascent was the group climbing above the Westcoast rain to fantastic weather.

The above three where joined by Scott Campbell for a multiday trip up the Newland valley, off the Wilkin river. Access to the valley was helped by an excellent set of deer trails. After establishing a camp at its head the four attempted Mt Alba (2360m) via the South East Ridge.
The summit was obtained at 8:00pm under a greying sky. Descent was expedited by a rappel down the West face, Axius Glacier and Newland Pass, returning to tents at 11:00pm. The river crossing of the Wilkin will be one of the more entertaining (and chilling) moments of the trip.
Don French

The limestone Cliffs of Wellington

During the last few months Tom Wilson and Mike Peat have been making the most of the summer evenings by scouring the hills and valleys surrounding our great city in the hope of discovering new rock to climb. These explorations began following a vivid dream had by Mike where he spotted a limestone crag on the scale of the Dolomites that had apparently lain un-noticed just on the outskirts of Wellington's southern suburbs. We can now confirm that the existence of any such crag is pure fantasy, but several outcrops of more modest proportions have been found of climbable quality. A few possible new routes have been climbed, but it is reasonable to assume that others may have preceded us and a few local climbing grandmasters need to be consulted before this can be confirmed. We hope to get some topos out for the next Vertigo so that these choice climbing spots can be enjoyed by you all.

A few weeks back Mike Peat visited Punk Rock for the first time in several years to discover that the access to the crag and indeed the crag itself had become overtaken by impenetrable scrub. Returning with trusty slasher on a couple of evenings the access track and base of the cliff has now been cleared and the route down from the skyline walkway has also been cairned which will hopefully make it easier for those first time visitors. More scrub clearing is still required around the top and bottom of the cliff, and the route through to the slide also needs clearing to reopen access. Any volunteers willing to help please contact mike at mike.p[at]highways[dot]co[dot]nz

South Island Rock

Pamela Doake and Mike Peat had a rock climbing based holiday down south over Christmas, 3 days at Paynes Ford / Pohara, 2 days at Castle Hill, 5 days at Mt Cook and a day at Charleston (yes we had fine weather every day). Pamela, being a non climber was my belaying 'rock' and I'm ever grateful to her giving up a couple of hours each day to hold my rope and crane her neck. Being my first proper rock climbing in years I started off by struggling up embarrassingly easy climbs but by trips end I had rediscovered something of the form of my youth was managing more respectable leads on both sport and trad routes.

Central North Island Rock

Over the Wellington Anniversary Weekend Yibai He and Mike Peat ventured north visiting Froggatt, Waipapa, Whanganui Bay and Whakapapa Gorge. We were joined by Kylor a visiting American on the first day and Malcolm 'X' on the second day. We each climbed some 20 routes in total including 9 on the first day, the onset of rain meant we narrowly missed out on collecting a case of beer wagered by Bryce that we were set to collect if all 3 of us led 10 routes.

Bolting (a bit of a whinge really)

Having visited quite a few crags over the last month after 10 or 12 years away from the rock climbing scene I find myself compelled to comment on the impact of bolting on crags. I commend the great number of first ascentionists now choosing to use only stainless steel bolts and also minimising bolting by putting up routes with mixed bolt / trad protection, but there are also others seemingly focussed on fulfilling their personal goals without considering the long term impact of their bolting. A decade ago most bolts I climbed on were 1st generation
(un)galvanised steel, now in some cases 3rd generation bolts are in use on these routes leaving unsightly scars from the previous bolting. It's a real concern that inappropriate materials are still being used by some climbers simply because they want to put up new routes or re-bolt
inexpensively. Only the best materials having the longest in service life ought to be used so that we may enjoy our climbing today without ruining it for future generations. There also appears to be a number of climbers out there who think it acceptable to place bolts beside cracks
rather than solely in the 'blank' areas of the route 'because it's a sport route', this ought to be discouraged. I have some sympathy in cases where the trad gear available is very thin verging on dangerous, but I've seen bolts within 1m of 'safe' cracks which really isn't on.
Some people would have bolts banned completely, I think that's a bit extreme and would simply encourage anyone involved in route development to consider bolt quality first and cost last, and to use as few as possible so the route is safe for experienced climbers of that grade.

Mike Peat

Mt Cook via a weather window

The planning for this trip began for me some 4 seasons ago. Weather and a lack of suitable or available climbing partners finally forced the issue this season – a decision was made – I would go with whoever was reasonably competent and available.

Many were consulted and much hard training was done for what was expected to be a 12-15 hour fast moving day.

Thus myself and work colleague Welshman Neil Gardner assembled, after a 37 day wait for a weather window, one very wet Saturday at Wellington airport for the big rush south. “You going to climb Mt Cook in this weather? You must be mad” was the common response we got from friends, family, and work colleagues! I suppose we were, to risk climbing a mountain that had been climbed many times before. I guess I just couldn’t rate myself a mountaineer unless I’d climbed this one.

We arrived in Unwin on Saturday and met up with Trevor Hardingham who was from Australia and had made himself known via the NZAC web noticeboard. The plan was set, we were to skiplane in to Plateau Hut 10.30am Sunday, do some pitching preparation, and then climb from midnight.

Sunday came a might breezy and we had our slot pushed back to 12noon. Joined by 3 Czech’s it was felt that going in a Porter Pilatus would maximize our chances. Approaching the Grand Plateau you suddenly realize how SMALL the landing area is and how BIG the mountains are! There were many thuds as the wind twisted and contorted over the main divide. We flew over the Hochstetter icefall and straight at Mt Tasman. The windscreen was filled with ice cliffs and seracs as our pilot banked hard to the right barely 200m away. “Just relax boys” he said! Now it was Mt Dixon coming at us, and the plane first of all dropped like a stone and then reared up over Syme ridge then the SW ridge of Dixon. I dreaded the air pocket that must be just on the other side of that ridge as our pilot hauled on the power and got us out of there dropping back over the Hochstetter.

When we got back to the airport I was still shaking. No way was I getting into THAT plane again! So we choppered in instead with two Aussies who were going to climb Dixon, arriving just before 5pm. 2 quick hours of pitching and I was satisfied our team would be good. We got a magic 3 hours sleep before arising at midnight for a 1am start.

Traversing across the Plateau and up the Linda was fast with excellent firm conditions. “A good wicket to bat on first”, I said. By 5am we were at 3000m just below the gunbarrel and off to the right when it let one rip! For half a second I was frozen thinking this can’t be happening. Then instinct kicked in and I yelled “RIGHT, RUN!”. Several chunks of ice, some foot sized, went whizzing past, one of which gave Neil a glancing blow in the calf without injury. We ascended a small ridge and hunkered down and waited for the main event to sweep us. We were immediately engulfed by a white veil of powder that ended up being just a dust coating, the main body having missed us by 200m.

Somewhat shaken we carried on ascending to a point adjacent to the rocks on the far side above the Linda Shelf, and then began a dropping sprint which covered the danger area in less than 20 seconds. Carrying on across the Linda shelf (still roped) conditions were good, albeit in cold (-8C) conditions. But after 100-200m they hardened up considerably to a 45 degree sheen such that we had to put in running belays and front point. The underlying ice was so hard crampons would only go in a precarious 10mm, and ice screws would not bite without considerable hammering first. Hour, after calf killing hour, followed until by 11am we had ascended the ice gully on the end of the shelf and traversed the ridge to just below the Summit Rocks.

What faced us now looked impossible – heavily rimed rock with virtually no anchoring points in site and no clear line to follow. We declared “lunch” and while sitting there I did notice a line that started to the left then came back above itself. The short snow slope above looked easily doable, but the short icicle fall above looked problematic but could possibly be bridged. What followed was 2 hours of pure exhilaration as I lead 2 pitches, punching through rimed up rock with rhythmic swings of my axe, clearing a way through, setting up runners all the way, finally topping out with just the last 350m of the climb to go. YEE-HAA.

We unnecessarily pitched the first part of the summit ice cone, possibly the only place we wasted time during the whole day. Then myself and Neil made an oxygen deprived un-roped burst for the summit for the last 200m arriving at 5pm. It was a blue sky day, -1C with not a breath of wind.

4 hours and 5 raps later we were back at the Gunbarrel, and the temperature had dropped to -7C. In sprint mode we descended the Linda in 90 minutes passing 9 avalanche runs, mostly minor ice falls, but with a surprise 4-5m deep monster slab from the side of Mt Tasman right near the bottom. Midnight saw us arrive back at the hut. A 23 hour day.

The Aussies had had similar issues while climbing hard ice on the SE ridge of Dixon the same day taking 16 hours – tis the season!

The next day we rested with a short jaunt up Glacier Dome. Leaving early on Wednesday we descended via Cinnarama Col and the Boyes Glacier. After a not insubstantial negotiation of moraine we made the car park 8 hours later. Completing the first ascent of Cook from the Linda side for the 2006-2007 season.

Additional photo’s/details can be viewed at http://kpatterson7.photosite.com/Album1/

Kevin Patterson

Miscellaneous Adventures from Nank

Mueller: Late in September, in lieu of a planned longer trip, many Ellises - Ben, Mark, Michael, Jane and Dave, and John Nankervis (token non-family) spent a few days based at Mueller Hut ski touring. Some great runs were had including one from high up on Sealy, and then a final one in exquisite corn snow down to Sealy Lakes.

Guatemala: In October during a break from inspections of coffee fincas, orchid gardens and indigenous weaving, Steve Hazelton, Phil Grover and John Nankervis climbed Volcan Zunil 3543 m, extinct, and attempted Volcan de Pacaya...far from extinct; indeed incandescent lava, closely inspected, prevented them from getting to the summit.

Arthur's Pass: Just prior to Christmas Stacey Gasson, Mark Yeo, Stu Hutson, Murray Sutherland, Alistair Betts, Ron Stutter and John Nankervis climbed Phipps via the SW face in light snow and then on the next, perfect, day turned back on the Rome Ridge of Rolleston just above the gap (there has to be a moral to this, maybe "climb only in bad weather"?)

Darrans: Over the New Year break John Cocks, Paul Denys, Russell Braddock and John Nankervis took advantage of a long Milford fine spell. From a camp above the bluffs, accessed from opposite the Chasm crag they climbed Sheerdown by the north-west ridge. What a view and the climb was fun too.

John Nankervis

2007 Rock Hop

The Rock Hop is planned for Saturday 10 Feb 2007 as part of the NZAC National Bouldering Series. It will be held at Baring Head as usual. Registrations on the day and kick off at 10 am as usual.
There will be a BBQ afterward at the reserve.

Kristen Foley

Doc Moving buildings temporarily As of 29th November the DOC information centre will no longer be situated in Government Buildings, 15 Lambton Quay. Our lease is expiring at Government Buildings and we have had to find temporary accommodation until the new Conservation House and visitors centre in Manners St is completed. Due to its location we have decided, on a temporary basis, to share a retail space with Mainly Tramping at 2 Manners St, prior to us moving in to our purpose built shop on the ground floor of the new conservation house at 18 Manners St. We hope to move into the new visitors centre below Conservation House in early February.

Gear Stolen

Arthur Sutherland and Wendy Davis from the Boyle River have asked me to pass this message onto you all.

On Friday afternoon someone stole from the Boyle River OE Centre ropes course a brand new yellow/blue climbing rope and the safety kit which contained a orange climbing/rescue rope and around $1000 worth of equipment (Project Adventure lanyard, karabiners, binnoculrs, trauma scissors, pulley, grigri and belay device. The police have been notified.

Please can you do the following for the Boyle: Alert people in your organisation through email to look out for someone trying to on-sell this equipment and report them to the Police

Get More From Your Membership

45 Years of Antics, Edited by Kelvin Lloyd

A compilation of hilarious tales and extreme adventures selected from Antics, Otago University Tramping club's irreverent annual magazine.

Over 200 pages and 120 images printed in full colour. See www.outc.org.nz/45years or email 45years (at) outc.org.nz for further info. FMC affiliated clubs discounted price $29.95, plus $5 p&p for 1-2 books, or $10 p&p for 3-5 books.
Cheques payable to "Otago University Tramping Club". PO Box 1436, Dunedin

Please provide name, address, phone, email and let them know you are an NZAC member to get the discounted price.

Margaret (at) alpineclub.org.nz

You think you have what it takes?

Family and work commitments have meant that I am not getting the time to dedicate to VertiGO that it deserves.
If you would like to take over from me and add your own personal touch to the publication, send an email to me.

Editor

10 minutes of fame

Short talks night - 2 April. Anybody interested in doing a 10-15 minute slide or digital presentation of a recent trip please get in touch with Hayden Cox (hc@nzalpine.wellington.net.nz).

Aconcagua : 2007

The highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere and outside Asia is the perfect choice to take your high altitude trekking to the next level. I'm organizing an Aconcagua expedition on 11-12/2007 and I'm looking for people to join the core group to work out the details during the next few months.

The expedition will be as independent as possible and guided or unguided depending on the route choice. Climbing Aconcagua does not necessarily require technical climbing skills but experience in high altitude trekking and fitness is required as the goal is not to use external help beyond the base camp. Later, when the exact budget, date, route and timetable have been set the expedition will be open for any club members to join.

Especially for those who aim on taking eight thousanders later Aconcagua is extremely good practice. I am also considering combining an acclimatisation trip to the Cotopaxi (and possibly the other volcanos there) in Equador just before the expedition. Please contact me through e-mail at jsarkila@gmail.com for more information and visit www.aconcagua.com for general information about the mountain.

Juho Sarkila, Wellington