Getting High

Mason Gardener

During the last summer holidays, I was sitting on a forklift driving around in circles trying to save as much money as I could for the coming year while still trying to maintain some sort sanity.

However, the drive to be back in the mountains was almost as excruciating as the days drifted by. To make matters worse, when I did find out that I had almost a week off work and conditions in the hills were perfect, my climbing partner was otherwise occupied in Australia watching the tennis with his ‘Mrs’. I really felt luck wasn’t going to be on my side this time, but after a typical scroll through my Facebook feed all my luck changed. A young guy from Sweden had just posted that he was dead keen to give Mt Cook a crack and just needed a partner. He sounded experienced, and so after a quick message and an hour and a half phone call I decided I was going to meet him in Mt Cook village that night. Chucking all my gear in the back of the Subaru, and then a quick dash to the supermarket I left Christchurch for Mt Cook at 4pm on Wednesday 22nd. Anticipation built throughout the drive down, but as soon as lake Pukaki came into view with Mt Cook in the background a rush of adrenaline surged through me; and after one failed attempt already, I was biting at the bit to get back up there.

I meet up with Joda at Mt Cook village around 8.30pm, we soon realised that both of us were compatible and had the same ideals when it came to mountaineering. Therefore, with intrepidation we geared up and set off into the dark not knowing how the next three days would play out. After navigating the ball hut road for 3 hours we finally arrived at the hut around 1am. We decided to have a quick 2-hour nap here to recharge, as from experience the moraine wall to follow was going to get us worked.

After sleeping in only our jackets, we quickly set off again into the darkness. We descended down onto the lower Tasman glacier and skirted along the edge of Ball glacier; this ends you up at the base of a 800m moraine wall, which for the most part is the steepest most unstable piece of shit wall you will ever step foot on. You grimace your way up here for around 2 hours, absolutely hating your life but smiling the whole time. Eventually the sun rose just as we arrived at the base of the Boys glacier. Here Joda and I stopped to have a bite to eat and rope up. We then trudged up the Boys glacier seamlessly, staying aware of overhanging cornices and avalanches, no dramas this time round.

It all goes quickly once you put your head down, and so very soon we were looking across to the infamous Caroline face of Mt Cook. From here you suddenly get a massive appreciation for this Massif and understand why there is such a draw for the mountain. Maybe another 2 hours later of descending and climbing you arrive at Cinerama Col on the edge of the Grand Plateau. “Holy shit”, were the first words I managed I think, it’s pretty surreal to be standing underneath the 5 tallest peaks in New Zealand all at once.

The next hour to Plateau Hut goes by breathlessly as you just take in the whole landscape around you. After getting situated in the hut, we had a mean feed and were even able to get our tan on outside the hut on a neighbouring rock. As the day drew on, we watched as ice seracs fell and whole parts of the mountain fell to pieces. Its scary to listen to the whole mountain breaking apart, there’s just hope that during the night it all freezes back up and there is somewhat of a glue holding it all back together when you walk below it. We went to bed early that night as alarms were set for 11pm.

Summit day began at midnight underneath the stars, conditions were calm and cold, so we felt extremely confident that a summit was going to be possible. We first crossed the Grand Plateau and the repetitive crunch of crampons on ice gave us piece of mind. Things went well during the first couple of hours as we navigated our way up of the plateau and onto the lower Linda glacier. With warmer weather conditions occurring over the past week, it was obvious why guiding parties had stopped the weekend prior; huge parts of the glacier had begun deteriorating badly, crevasses became very prominent and often difficult to cross, in our opinion the Linda would have been completely cut off within the next week. Any way we made light work of the broken-up glacier and quickly made it up to where we believed the Summit rocks would begin.

However, what we didn’t anticipate was how disorienting the glacier becomes when travelling in the dark. Un beknown to us at the time, we had begun climbing up the infamous ‘Gunbarrel’ serac. Generally, most parties who climb Mt Cook avoid the ‘Gunbarrel’s’ at all costs, as they are very prone to falling and wiping out everything in their path. Although, when conditions are perfect, they pose an excellent alternative climbing option for more experienced and stronger climbers. So, with intrepidation we continued up. The climbing felt very secure as Joda and I soloed up the steepening ice, sections of the climb we estimated would class as waterfall ice 3 (WI3). After inspecting the guidebook later, we found out that the direct line we took which stays away from the rock buttresses on either side has yet to be named and graded, who knows potential first ascent?? (FA) but I doubt it…

Moving on over the last major 5m tall ice step and daggering up the last bit of firm snow we successfully had climbed the Gunbarrel’s and crested somewhere high on the Zurbriggen Ridge, just below the summit ice cap. By this point the colours in the sky began to light up the southern alps in all its beauty and grandeur. After not having a rope on for the soloing, we once again donned the rope to keep us safe for the final 100m of ascent to the summit.

We arrived at the climber’s summit of Aoraki Mt Cook (3724m) at 06:10am 24/01/2020, 6 days following my 21st Birthday.

It’s a pretty special feeling to be standing quietly on the tallest point in New Zealand, with only your mate, your thoughts and the wind to keep you company. In my mind this summit has really been a culmination of all the years of hard work and suffering I have been through in the hills. It does take time to reach a goal and in this case two attempts; but it was hands down the best all round trip of my life, and I know it will be extremely hard to beat.

Finally, the mountains are inherently dangerous, so for anyone thinking of getting fizzy in the hills following lockdown (I know I’m one of them) just make sure you keep it safe. Push your limits but stay controlled, do your research, but most of all make sure you have fun out there; New Zealand is one of the best playgrounds in the world!!