The Climber 94

THE CLIMBER NEW ZEALAND’S CLIMBING MAGAZINE

ISSUE 94 SUMMER 2015/16 $9.95

QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF THE NEW ZEALAND ALPINE CLUB

I TRAIN h c it P t s a L e h T FOR YOU’RE TRAINING FOR MORE THAN A GAME. PREPARE FOR YOUR NEXT A D V E N T U R E W I T H A C T I V I T Y- S P E C I F I C W O R K O U T S A N D T R A I N I N G G E A R B U I LT T O D E L I V E R B I G G E R D A Y S A N D B E T T E R M I L E A G E .

THENORTHFACE.CO.NZ

EMILY HARRINGTON

JOE BUDD /

CORY RICHARDS

SNAPPED Get your photo published on this page and we’ll give you a stylie pair of Chalkydigits pants of your choice from their current range.

Matt Burnett on the final moves of The Giving Tree (31), Little Babylon, Fiordland. ROMAN ALEXANDER-HOFMANN

CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS

18

22

28

34

Reaching Out

Pat Deavoll

Canadian Rockies

Playing Favourites

BY ANDREW FINNIGAN

BY ANNA KEELING

BY DEREK CHENG

BY MIKE ROCKELL

10

THE SHARP END

Asking for help in the mountains

NZAC Life Member 2015

Rock climbing in the Canadian Rockies

Five favourite multipitch rock climbs in New Zealand

12

NZAC NEWS

04 EXPOSURE

16 PEOPLE 46 TECHNIQUE

ON THE COVER Bob Keegan going ham on the three-star, limestone-esque Komatsu (26) at Far Horizon crag in Wanaka. In many ways, this is the quintessential modern Wanaka route: a steep, cruxless pumper with good moves all the way and friendly holds. You can thank tireless local crag developers Bruce Dowrick and Jon Sedon for continuing to seek out gems like this one.

MARK WATSON

2

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

THIS PAGE Lans Hansen, Paul Bird and Vincent Zintzen at the 'notch' during a descent of the North Ridge of Mt Tasman in October 2014.

The team had climbed the classic North Shoulder route from Pioneer Hut on the west side of the Divide.

JOHN YU

48

BOOKS AND FILM

50

STUFF YOU NEED

54

WALL DIRECTORY

56

THE LAST PITCH

we ARE climbing

Jennifer Olson ‘Scared Peaches’ 5.12a (25) Air Voyage Wall Lake Louise Photo: ex-Bivouac Staff member – John Price / johnpricephotographic.com

For twenty five years Bivouac Outdoor has been proudly 100% New Zealand owned and committed to providing you with the best outdoor clothing and equipment available in the world. It is the same gear we literally stake our lives on, because we are committed to adventure and we ARE climbing.

10 STORES NATIONWIDE OFFICIAL GEAR SUPPLIER

www.bivouac.co.nz

EXPOSURE It started the night before as a trip to Mt Somers.

Through changing weather, a helicopter crash and a phonecall from TVNZ, Jack Grinsted and I ended up here.

A damp boulder beside a puddle at the Fox Glacier carpark made for a nice end to a strange day.

JASON BLAIR

4

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

EXPOSURE

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

5

EXPOSURE

6

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

EXPOSURE Mark Chambers savouring perfect spring conditions on the South East Ridge of Boanerges, Hopkins valley area.

Boanerges is a great moderate objective for the aspiring mountaineer.

Jaz Morris wrote a profile of the South East Ridge as part of our 'Mild Things' series—see The Climber issue 92.

JOE HARRISON

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

7

EXPOSURE

8

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

EXPOSURE Mountain and outdoor photographer Mark Watson led a group of eight keen participants on four days of intensive mountain and landscape tuition at the 2015 NZAC Mountain Photography Workshop, based out of Unwin Lodge at Mt Cook and with an overnight trip to Mueller Hut. Pictured here is Simon Carr lining up a shot on the Sealy Range, with Mueller Hut and Mt Sefton in the background.

Following on from the success of this workshop, Mark will be running another course in March, see alpineclub.org.nz for details.

Mark Watson

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

9

THE SHARP END

SHOULD PROJECTS BE OPEN OR CLOSED? READING DAN HEAD’S letter in issue 92 of The Climber got me thinking. Should projects be closed or open? This question might seem ridiculously complicated but in reality it’s a simple ‘yes or no’ question. The inner bolter in me completely agrees with everything Dan said. Why should developers put in all the hard work and then not even get their names printed in a guidebook?

On the other hand, what right does anyone have to ban someone else from climbing a section of rock just because they hammered some stainless steel into its façade? Sure, if the bolter hadn’t had the vision or psyche to bolt the thing then the climb would not exist, however, nobody owns the rock. Where is the line between a bolter who is overly attached to their project, and a dictator of the crag? Or even one who is just missing out on deserved recognition?

Developers are the backbone of any rock climbing area, there is no debate there. I adulate anyone who has bolted a route because, having bolted a handful myself, I know it’s bloody hard work. Memories frequently enter my mind of the fear I felt as I endeavoured to bolt a short overhanging prow at Bullock Creek (which is now the quality route Don’t Tell Mum (21), which is yet to see a second ascent, not hinting though).

Let’s say closed projects were outlawed, every climb was open for all from the millisec-

10

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

ond it was conceived. Yes, you could say New Zealand climbing would progress, we might even see our first grade 9a climb (35 for the rookies). However, I think this boost would be short-lived. Would you still bolt a route if you knew some hunched-over gym bunny might come along and campus it before you could even wash off the lichen? In some cases, closed projects can actually benefit an area. If those jug-jockies can’t try the closed projects, they might find themselves psyched enough to pick up the drill and craft their own masterpiece.

I think closed projects are holding us back, but in saying that I feel like a hypocrite, I know that whenever I put in the hours bolting something the last thing I plan on doing is leaving it for someone else to climb. But there has to be a limit for how long you reserve that rock. I hear Alex Megos might be coming to the Darrans. How would it go down if all the projects got closed when he arrived? ‘Sorry mate, No Thor’s Hammer for you. Try the Cave instead.’

What I’m trying to say is that every bolter should have a limit. If you bolt something then by all means you should get first dibs on the first ascent, but there should come a time when you make it open to everyone. After all, there’s always more rock. It’s a complicated dilemma.

– Jarrod Alexander

WRITE & WIN Send us a letter and you’ll be in the draw to win a

$200

CACTUS OUTDOOR GIFT VOUCHER!

Correction John Price's photograph on pp30-31 of The Climber 92, titled 'Jah Man' is captioned incorrectly. The climb is, of course, the Indian Creek mega-classic Supercrack. The following correct caption has been supplied by John: 'Every climber who has an interest in crack climbing dreams of jamming their way up the worldclass sandstone splitters that Indian Creek has to offer. It was amazing for me to finally get down there and do just that. In the photo, Larry Shiu is working hard on the famous Supercrack (5.10), a burly hand crack that widens at the top and is cer-

THIS ISSUE’S PRIZE GOES TO: JARROD ALEXANDER

tainly no giveaway for the grade.'

FOR THE MOST EXTREME CONDITIONS IN THE WORLD

ADAPTIVE°

CONTROL THREE VERSATILE LAYERS ONE COMPLETE SYSTEM

BASELINE JACKET

(360g)

Modern stretchy hooded fleece moves moisture.

STRATA HOODIE

(465g)

Breathable synthetic insulation regulates temperature.

NEXUS JACKET

(590g)

Fully featured hardshell protects from rain, snow & wind.

WWW.RAB.EQUIPMENT AVAIL ABLE NOW FROM R AB SPECIALIST STORES THROUGHOUT NZ. Auckland: Outfitters, Living Simply, Outdoor Action, Dwights Outdoors, Waikato: Trek & Travel, Equip Outdoors, BOP: Whakatane Great Outdoors, Outdoorsman HQ, Taupo: Outdoor Attitude, Taranaki: Kiwi Outdoors, Wellington: Dwights Outdoors, Motueka: Coppins Outdoors, Nelson: Rollos Outdoors, Christchurch: Complete Outdoors, Greymouth: Colls Spor tsworld, Hokitika: Hokitika Cycles & Spor tsworld, Wanaka: MT Outdoors, Queenstown: Small Planet, Te Anau: Fiordland House, Invercargill: Southern Adventure And Hunting and Fishing New Zealand stores nationwide.

Distributed by: Outfitters 0800 021732 www.outfitters.net.nz © Equip Outdoor Technologies UK Ltd. | Photo: Calum Muskett getting some spring ice , Coldhouse Collective.

THE CLIMBER

NZAC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2015

NEW ZEALAND’S CLIMBING MAGAZINE

ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16 Editor Kester Brown kester@alpineclub.org.nz Design and Layout Kester Brown Gear Editor Graham Johnson NZAC News Sam Newton sam@alpineclub.org.nz Printing Spectrum Print, Christchurch Musical Inspiration The Libertines – Anthems for Doomed Youth Contributors Jarrod Alexander, Roman AlexanderHofmann, Jason Blair, Christine Byrch, Tony Charlton, Guillaume Charton, Derek Cheng, Michael Eatson, Andrew Finnigan, Joe Harrison, Merryn Herlihy, Graham Johnson, Daniel Joll, Anna Keeling, Reg Measures, Ralph Miller, Ed Nepia, Shane Orchard, Andrew Peacock, Daniel Pringle, Mike Rockell, Scott Simper, Peter Strang, Mark Watson, Forest Woodward, James Wright, John Yu. Advertising enquiries Kester Brown tel: (64) 027 4266 173 e-mail: adverts@alpineclub.org.nz web: climber.co.nz/advertise Subscription information Published quarterly. $9.95 per issue, $28.00 per year (incl. GST & NZ surface mail; overseas p&p at cost): e-mail: subscriptions@alpineclub.org.nz web: climber.co.nz/subscribe Contributions are welcome THE CLIMBER is published by the New Zealand Alpine Club. We welcome contributions in the form of photography, features, short articles, reviews, comment and letters. Please get in touch if you’d like to submit some material—we are always keen to hear from potential contributors.

For more info see climber.co.nz/contribute.

Contact us for payment rates.

THE CLIMBER climber@alpineclub.org.nz PO Box 786, Christchurch.

Unit 6, 6 Raycroft Street, Opawa, Christchurch. tel: (64) 03 377 7595 | fax: (64) 03 377 7594 climber.co.nz

THE NZAC AGM was held in Christchurch on Friday 20 November and was well attended.

Reviewing the 2014/15 financial year, it was a good year for NZAC. A healthy operating surplus allowed the club to invest significant amounts into capital expenditure projects. A lot of that can be attributed to the successful sourcing of external project funding in the form of grants. While it is always great to get external funding, it was acknowledged by the AGM that it is important to only fund capital expenditure projects via grants. The club does not want to get into a position by which it is reliant on external funding for day-to-day operational expenditure.

At the AGM, the Presidential Alpenstock was passed from John Cocks, after his two-year term as president, to Penny Brothers. A motion of thanks to John for his outstanding service was unanimously passed. Penny Brothers spoke of her vision for NZAC and referenced next year’s 125th anniversary and the formulation of the club's next strategic plan as major considerations for her term as president. For his ousteanding work at Homer Hut and for organising the NZAC Darrans Winter Meet, Alastair Walker was awarded, in absentia, the NZAC Volunteer of the Year Award.

THE 2015 OUTDOORS AWARDS IT WAS an excellent night for NZAC at the 2015 Outdoor Awards. NZAC Executive Chair Geoff Gabites won both the Volunteer Award and the Supreme Award for his outstanding contribution to the outdoor sector in New Zealand. Geoff is a deserving recipient, as someone who has given of himself to NZAC and the wider climbing community over many, many years. Congratulations Geoff.

NZAC itself won the Organisational Excellence Award, which is a fantastic honour for the club.

The judges were looking for an organisation that has significantly improved outdoor recreation outcomes for New Zealanders through their policies, procedures and culture. The judges concluded that NZAC is a 'well run, financially stable and fit for purpose organisation that demonstrates excellence in their field.' Flattering indeed.

Accepting the unexpected award on the club's behalf, NZAC General Manager Sam Newton attributed the club's success to the volunteers who have put in countless hours over the course of 125 years. Congratulations to all NZAC members.

FAMILY MEMBERSHIPS NZAC IS launching a Family membership option, which will cover up to two adults and five under18-year-olds living at the same address for just $160. All will have full member privileges, and those currently with primary and secondary member discounts will be upgraded free of charge. You’ll get an email prior to the change happening.

NATIONAL CLIMBING CAMP Placeholder, not for Printing Logo use must be approved by Blue Star Group NZ Ltd Min Size 12mm Height

NEW ZEALAND ALPINE CLUB

Cxxxxxx

Printed with the environment in mind on Forest Stewardship Council® certified paper.

NZAC Our vision: NZAC champions the pursuit of climbing, enabling skilled and active adventurers. We provide inspiration, information and seek to enable a vibrant climbing community.

Our core purpose is to foster and support climbing.

DISCLAIMER Material published in The Climber is obtained from a variety of sources. While all care is taken, neither The Climber nor the New Zealand Alpine Club nor any person acting on their behalf makes any warranty with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information published nor assumes any liability with respect to the use of, or for damages arising from the use of, any information disclosed within this magazine. © NEW ZEALAND ALPINE CLUB | ISSN 1174-216X

12

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

FOLLOWING A FANTASTIC camp last summer, the 2016 NZAC National Climbing Camp is headed back to Tukino Lodge on Mt Ruapehu from 4 to 10 January. The camp is being jointly hosted by the North Island sections with support from the Tukino Alpine Sports Club (TASC). NZAC members and family, and overseas alpine club members are all welcome.

Enquiries can be directed to camp@alpineclub.org.nz.

NZAC NEWS

In addition to all the great local events and courses being run by the club sections this summer and autumn, keep an eye out for these upcoming events:

CAMPS AND MEETS •

The National Youth Climbing Camp is being held for the fourth time, this year in Takaka. Thanks to the fantastic support of the volunteers who make this possible and the fundraising efforts of the Canterbury Westland Section.

The ever-popular Unwin Easter Rock Meet is returning, and will run from 25–28 March. This meet is a fantastic way to get your multi-pitch fix. If you have done some lead climbing but are interested in longer routes, sign up for the Multi-pitch and Transitions Rock Course the same weekend.

Also at Unwin Lodge that weekend, after a sell-out course in December, Mark Watson will be running another mountain photography workshop—this will be your last chance to learn from this talented bloke before he shoots off on a three-year adventure.

Back by popular demand, Andrew Trotter will host another Ashtanga Yoga Workshop at Unwin from 23–25 April.

•

•

•

A lpine Recreation T R E K

•

Courses Advanced

C L I M B

•

S K I

| Private Guidi

ng

R E D R A H B CLIM

FUN COMPETITIONS AND EVENTS •

The Bouldergaine event will return in 2016 after being cancelled last year due to fire. This manic mixture of bouldering and orienteering will be held on 5 March at Castle Hill and is guaranteed to be more fun than a frog in a glass of milk.

The ever-popular National Indoor Bouldering Series will return again in 2016. It will be bigger and better than ever, and run from June to September.

•

BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL •

Of course the world-famous Banff Mountain Film Festival will be back, with screenings all around the country in May and June. These sell out quickly so keep an eye on banff.nz for session times near you.

Keep up to date with other events, courses and news on the new club website: alpineclub.org.nz.

!

Photo: Wolfgang Maier

UPCOMING NZAC EVENTS

ded gear provi

| private huts

www.alpinerecreation.com 0800 006 096 | +64 3 680 6736

METEOR Stylish cut, light and cool, perfect for every outing.

Photo © www.kalice.fr

SAMA

Light and well-ventilated thanks to large vents, the METEOR helmet offers exceptional comfort for both climbing and mountaineering. The quick and simple adjustment system provides for unparalleled ease of use.

The METEOR is available in two sizes to fit any head shape .

ClimberNZ-HPH_Issue93.indd 1

03 434 9535

sales@spelean.co.nz

www.spelean.co.nz www.petzl.co.nz

17/12/15 10:45 AM THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

13

NZAC NEWS

ANDREW PEACOCK

NZAC TRAVEL INSURANCE An overview of the current situation with NZAC Travel insurance NZAC HAS offered comprehensive travel insurance to its members since 1 July 2004. Back then, Peter Garrett of Alpine Risk Management arranged cover with ACE Insurance. Peter continues to manage the scheme on the club’s behalf. Regrettably, in December 2015, ACE Insurance terminated NZAC’s master policy mid-term. ACE stated a change in underwriting criteria for its decision. However, one cannot escape the fact that over the past three years, the total cost of claims under NZAC’s policy has exceeded the premium income.

Following notification of ACE’s decision, Peter made a detailed submission to several insurers before settling on an offer from Allianz Global Assistance. Allianz is one of the largest insurance companies worldwide and has an extensive travel insurance portfolio in New Zealand. Between AGA and Peter, a bespoke master policy has been created to cover rock climbing, mountaineering and other outdoor pursuits. The policy commenced on 16 December 2015.

The new policy has a simple three-tier rating structure for worldwide travel (with no differentiation between countries or regions). There will be low risk (covering trekking below 5,000m), mid-risk (covering rock climbing and skiing) and high risk (covering mountaineering) cover, all with good levels of benefits, but also including premium increases.

Travel insurance, as with most types of insurance, is usually a ‘grudge’ purchase. People often leave it to the last moment before reluctantly taking out cover. NZAC understands that members look long and hard at its travel insurance policies and premiums before deciding whether or not to purchase.

14

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

The following statistics provide some background for the change of insurers and consequent but necessary increases in premiums.

For the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015, 558 insurance certificates were issued by NZAC, with 50 claims paid out. Since 25 April 2015 (the date of the big earthquake in Nepal), 41 claims have been lodged, with three withdrawn (below excess) and one declined for non-disclosure.

The types of claims: •

Eight claims were for curtailment following the Nepal earthquake.

Some baggage was also included as personal possessions were unable to be recovered because of buildings being too dangerous to enter.

• Four were for curtailment unrelated to the Nepal earthquake.

• Eight were for loss of deposits.

• Five were for injury accidents from climbing or biking.

• Nine were baggage claims, including one entire expedition bag stolen, mobile phones stolen or lost, cameras damaged, money lost or stolen and theft ex-car.

• Seven were other medical claims (gastroenteritis being common).

• One curtailment claim involving a couple cost around $15,000 combined.

• One person has lodged an as yet unadjusted claim for a value in the tens of thousands of dollars.

• Earlier this year we had a curtailment claim for altitude sickness that cost over $12,000, and an emergency evacuation due to a snow storm that cost over $17,000.

• In 2014 we had two climbing accidents that cost $107,000 and $28,600 respectively.

The above is just a snapshot of what a few of the more expensive claims have cost. Many claims are avoidable. The NZAC executive asks all travellers to take great care both before and during their journey, to protect themselves and their possessions from accidents and loss. C

NZAC NEWS

CLIMATE CHANGE IN MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTS (PART 2)

BY NZAC SUSTAINABILITY ADVOCATE SHANE ORCHARD Mountain Water and Life FROM RAIN to snow, erosion and more, there are many potential effects of climate change on water in the mountains. In this issue we take a look a few likely scenarios in relation to some important watery places.

Extreme events are an obvious area of interest. More extreme or more frequent events such as floods and droughts affect waterways not just in the mountains, but all the way down to the sea. In places where drier conditions prevail, the beds of waterways may become hardened, especially if vegetation is lost along the margins. When rain does come it contributes to ‘flashy’ run-off patterns (because little water soaks into the ground), and has effects on the risk of flooding further downstream. In wetter places large floods may become more frequent and new erosion patterns are a potential concern.

The flow of water is itself a major aspect of healthy waterways. In mountain areas snow-melt can help maintain stream flows for substantial parts of the year. A reduced snowpack can translate to an earlier peak in the spring flows and more likelihood of very low flow levels as the summer months come on. Lower flows also affect water temperature not only in the hills but right throughout the catchment areas. As a result, impacts on cold-water species, including fish, are expected in New Zealand due to climate change. Unfortunately, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Climate change has the potential to cause many effects on our native species, especially in places where there isn’t much room to move.

Colourful snow bank ecosystems in the Sinclair valley, Rangitata headwaters.

SHANE ORCHARD

Living snow banks That’s right, snow banks are an official ecosystem! In dry places that wind-drift behind your favourite bank feature can be the key to a thriving ecosystem over the summer months. In these systems, the slowly melting snow provides essential moisture for specialist colonist plants, which in turn promote soil formation upon which other plants depend. The result is a unique and diverse oasis of life in an otherwise hostile environment.

Snow bank systems have thin soils that are often soft and easy to damage. If you see one, give it a wide berth to help it stay intact until the snows come again!

Water is essential for all life and the amount, timing, and quality of what’s available can all have large effects. Wetlands and floodplains are areas that may be especially vulnerable. Those places have already been heavily impacted by historical change and are important to protect for their many unique plants and animals. There are also whole systems that may disappear if conditions become unfavourable.

So what can we do? On the one hand climate change is actually nothing new. Many negative effects are expected as a result of the compounding of existing stresses rather than the changing climate itself. Erosion, pollution, and the spread of invasive species and diseases are all in that category. The most problematic aspect could simply be that the rate of change is much faster than in recent history and will be difficult to deal with. It may not be possible to cover every scenario but reducing existing impacts where we can and keeping alert to what’s changing are obvious places to start. C THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

15

PEOPLE

LIFE

NZAC MEMBERS NOVEMBER 2015

NZAC elected three new Life Members in November: Don French, (Wellington Section); Ron McLeod (Southland Section); and Keith Moffatt (Otago Section). All three have made an exceptional contribution to climbing and the club during the course of many years.

DON FRENCH

BY DANIEL PRINGLE AND JAMES WRIGHT DON HAS made a broad, longstanding and enduring contribution to New Zealand climbing, climbers, the club, and the wider outdoors community.

Don is a passionate and accomplished climber and has been a respected stalwart of the North Island climbing community for many years.

Don has been mountaineering since the mid-1970s, and as he has been a club member since 1981 will gain veteran status next year. Don has climbed extensively in New Zealand, in the European Alps, and has visited the Himalaya on four separate expeditions. Don has a number of first ascents to his credit, and is also a very capable rock climber.

The French family farm on the steep countryside of Wairarapa’s Tinui area inspired Don towards mountaineering. Later, school and Massey University provided opportunities to visit the North Island volcanoes and to explore the Southern Alps, and kindled an interest in rock climbing. At one time, Don made 12 consecutive weekend trips from Palmerston North to Whanganui Bay, attesting to the fact he was well bitten by the rock climbing bug.

In the Indian Himalaya, Don made a number of ascents, including an impressive first ascent of a sub-peak on Kedarnath Dome in the Gangotri Valley. Don then climbed in the European Alps, where he made the first New Zealand ascent of the Dru Couloir with Dave Wills. Don also climbed extensively at Gorge du Verdon and Buoux. In 1986 Don participated in an ill-fated trip to Jannu in north-eastern Nepal.

In 1991, Don led the NZAC Centennial Expedition to the Kullu region in the Himachal Pradesh. At this time the club was run entirely by volunteers, with national administrative duties shared around sections. Don applied his professional training as an accountant to his role as club treasurer from 1989 to 1992.

In the '90s Don became inspired by the NZAC’s Centennial 100 Peaks Challenge and set about the task of climbing all of the peaks on the list.

As of spring 2015, he only has four peaks remaining on the list, with Magellan being the only one above 3000m.

If Don’s climbing exploits are largely unknown and unacknowledged in rural Masterton, his contributions to Search and Rescue are probably equally unknown outside the Wairarapa. Don began as a search volunteer and leader in 1977, and maintained his involvement around periods of studying and working outside the region. Don has served as alpine advisor and helped set up two alpine-trained response teams prepared for full winter conditions. Don’s experience, local knowledge and physical ability and dedication make him a highly regarded searcher and leader.

Over more than 15 years Don developed, coordinated and instructed the Wellington Section Alpine Instruction Course. Don fostered both students and assistant instructors and each year improved on his comprehensive spiral bound manual. These courses have introduced

16

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

many Wellington trampers and climbers to the world of mountaineering, and inspired them to become active climbers and section members.

Within the section, Don has taught navigation and continues to lead trips. The tragic death in 2010 of Paul McLachlan on a Wellington Section AIC and the subsequent coroner’s inquest were a heavy burden on Don who was the course leader, although he was with a different group on the mountain that day.

In time Don returned to the hills, and in the last few years he has made what may be his most enduring contribution to the club, and in particular its North Island members. In 2011 Don founded the Tukino Alpine Sports Club (TASC), with a vision to restoring the grand but disused Christiana Ski Lodge at Tukino, and promote mountain activities on the remote alpine playground of Ruapehu’s eastern flank.

With a small team, Don launched into financing, planning and working on the significant upgrade and renovation to the hut. Don established a partnership between TASC and NZAC, adding the lodge to the NZAC hut network. With drive-on access at 1700m, on a club ski-field, the lodge is now extensively used for Wellington, Central North Island and Auckland section instruction courses, and the annual North Island ski-touring and ice climbing meets.

Don proposed and was then the central figure in organising and ensuring the success of the NZAC Summer Climbing Meet at Tukino in January 2015. The camp spurred a wave of route development on the cliffs nearby. Don’s vision of Tukino providing high-quality and very accessible winter and summer climbing is coming to fruition.

In a way, Don has embodied the values and virtues of the amateur Kiwi climber, outdoorsman and enthusiastic club man. He has a proud climbing record at home and abroad, and a long history of volunteer involvement in climbing instruction and local search and rescue. He contributes to the club at section and national level in administrative roles, encouraging younger climbers, leading trips and organising events, and is a modern-day hut builder.

Don may have climbed more peaks on the 100 Peaks list than anyone else. We hope he gets the last four! His voluntary contributions of time, energy and resources are just as proud.

PEOPLE

KEITH MOFFAT

BY PETE STRANG KEITH HAS been a member of NZAC since 1974. His contributions to the NZAC Otago Section over the course of the last 16 years have been quite exceptional.

Keith’s introduction to the outdoors began with boy scouts. When at Canterbury University he joined the university tramping club and began climbing with a friend. Keith’s first real mountain summit was Single Cone, in the Remarkables. That was in the days before there was a road most of the way up!

In 1974 Keith moved to Invercargill and joined the Southland Section of NZAC. After Invercargill his work took him to Napier where he climbed some North Island mountains and had a few trips to the South Island. He moved to Dunedin in 1978, with the arrival of his children shortly thereafter, trips into the mountains became limited.

Keith was secretary of the Otago Section for the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2014 and 2015. He was chairperson for 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. He was treasurer for 2006, 2007 and 2008. And he was a committee member from 2009 to 2013. Keith has also been a CCM representative for the Otago Section.

Keith helped me with the organisation in 2001 of the National Climbing Camp at Aspiring Hut, and was the main organiser for sub-

sequent camps in the Rees valley in 2006, at Aspiring Hut again in 2010, and at Makarora in 2014.

Keith is a master of understatement and has consistently diminished the significance of his contribution over the years. That is the nature of the man. Keith’s competence is without doubt, and he has done some significant climbs over the years. Keith has been very involved in leading and attending section trips. His fellow climbers and other members of the Otago Section hold him in high regard. Many of his trips have involved him instructing and introducing ‘newbies’ to the basics of the sport. Keith is particularly well regarded for his good judgement, leadership skills and humour.

Keith assisted with the upgrade of Unwin Lodge by designing and installing the electrical and control systems. This was a huge contribution involving weeks of work.

Keith organised the demolition of the old Esquilant Bivvy. And he has done work on Cascade Hut.

RON MCLEOD

BY RALPH MILLER COMING FROM a farming background, Ron showed an early interest in the outdoors. At high school, Ron was fortunate to encounter a sympathetic teacher in Bev Noble, an NZAC member of many years' standing.

Bev formed a school tramping club, thus inspiring a continuing flow of enthusiastic young trampers. Several of those trampers, including Ron, went on to join NZAC. Ron joined the local tramping club immediately after leaving high school, and became an NZAC member in 1973.

The club is fortunate that Ron's employment as a fitter and turner broadened his already wide practical skills in general construction, engineering and welding. Ron has become the Southland Section's go-to man when work around Homer Hut (the club's second highest earning hut) is required. Whether the task is merely replenishing the firewood supply or something more technical, Ron (and frequently his wife Martha) is always there. Homer maintenance has been a labour of love for Ron for the past 42 years, and it shows no sign of abating.

Ron took to climbing like a duck to water and has been continually active in the New Zealand mountain scene over many years. Ron has made numerous ascents in the Darran Mountains, including the first ascent of Skyline Buttress on Mt Christina with Austin Brookes, Bev Noble and Rodger McCurdy in 1974.

High points of Ron’s climbing career include his participation in the 1976 Southland Patagonian Expedition and the 1981 NZAC Molamenqing Expedition to the Tibetan Himalaya.

In South America, Ron was in the summit party with Austin Brookes, Paul Chapman and Bruce Farmer on the first ascent of Cerro Stokes.

Later, Ron made the third ascent of the Polish Route on Aconcagua, partly in order to test his aptitude for acclimatisation to altitude for an upcoming Himalayan trip.

Ron overcame a stress fracture in his foot to summit Molamenqing (7707m) in 1981, which was the third highest unclimbed mountain in the world at the time. The expedition had to make its own maps from NASA photographs, as it was one of the first expeditions to visit this area of Tibet after the Chinese reinstated access.

Ron led the operation of the Southland Alpine Cliff and Face Rescue team for more than 20 years (the first New Zealand specialist rescue team was formed in Southland) as well as being involved more generally in Search and Rescue.

Ron has also been a keen instructor of novice climbers. He has always encouraged newcomers to mountaineering through active participation in section outings, instruction and working bees.

If all that weren't enough, Ron has served on the Southland Section Committee in several positions, culminating in a long-standing chairmanship for eight years. Ron’s willingness to serve, and his competence, have proved so attractive to the section, they have used him shamelessly.

Ron’s loyalty to the club and the Southland Section are absolute.

Ron’s natural modesty and unassuming nature (Southland qualities) mean that his virtues are not normally promoted and so it could be easy to overlook them. For that reason, it is very appropriate that Ron’s colleagues and friends in the Southland Section have seen fit to lift Ron’s profile and properly recognise him. C

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

17

REA CHING OUT The mountains provide a lesson for an ex-guide in learning how to ask for help

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ANDREW FINNIGAN

I

don’t like asking for help, at home, at work or in the mountains. I am told I was one of those four-year-olds who would tell Dad ‘I can do it myself,’ when trying to lift something twice my bodyweight. You might think this is a trait of a high achiever but it has been offset by my fear of failure and a lazy disposition. I generally aim for somewhere just above average and have very successful in that regard.

Not wanting to ask for help definitely holds me back. I often spend a lot of time trying to solve problems myself, when I could save hours by asking someone for help. Maybe this apparent strength is what makes us Kiwi males feature so highly in suicide statistics. I’ve just read that New Zealand had the highest ever number of suicides in the last year, and that 75 per cent of those were males.

I needed a lesson, and Mt Aspiring provided a classroom.

I was standing in blowing snow at 10.00pm on the Quarterdeck, and once again I didn’t want to ask for help.

I used to be a mountain guide. I went half of the way to being fully

18

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

qualified. I worked in the industry for five years and, in keeping with the description of myself above, I moved on, having been moderately satisfied by the exercise and having been moderately successful.

I am pretty sick of Mt Aspiring. It’s an amazing peak and one of my favourites but I have walked up and down the Matukituki valley about ten times. I was hoping a trip I did last September would be my last to Aspiring for a while. There were a few important people I really wanted to help to the summit. On that trip, I was hoping I might finally get the last of them up the damn thing so I could leave it alone for a while.

Guiding professionally is more simple than informal ‘guiding’. If the client falls off the mountain when guiding professionally, it’s your fault.

Simple. If there is any chance of a dangerous fall, you need to take pretty serious steps to reduce or remove that possibility. Taking a non-paying friend however, is a bit murky as you can let them be more independent, and your duty of care is somewhat relaxed. That can make it hard.

My father is a perfect client for climbing Mt Aspiring—he is fit, he can

Andrew's Dad nearing the summit of Mt Aspiring, with the Therma Glacier and the Haast Range in the background.

use crampons and ice axes well, and he has climbed Mt Taranaki in winter more than 20 times. My parents and I flew to Bevan Col last September after more than two weeks of blazing sunshine and high freezing levels. It was more like summer climbing than it is during some summers.

We cramponed across to Colin Todd Hut. Dad and I got ready to climb the next day. We left early and made our way up the Ramp, which had been the scene of a tragedy just a week earlier. There were assorted bits of gear strewn down the Ramp. We were reminded that mountaineering is a serious game. We stopped and thought of a stranger who was loved and missed by his family and friends.

We summited in perfect conditions and got back to the hut by lunchtime. We were hoping to fit in a day skiing at Treble Cone before we had to be in Dunedin for a half marathon so we decided to walk down to French Ridge Hut after a nap.

We were rested, conditions were good, the weather was good (apart from some fog on the Bonar Glacier) and we had five more hours of daylight left. We set off across the Bonar at a slow clip, with Mum now on the rope as well. We used a GPS all the way up the glacier in a white-out but I

could tell the fog was localised as the sun still shone through.

I was confident the Quarterdeck would be straightforward to navigate. We were moving slower than I had expected. By the time we were half-way up the glacier it was clear to me it would be dark by the time we got to the Quarterdeck. We start climbing in the dark all the time so what’s wrong with finishing in the dark? I was close to turning us around but pushed on as I wanted that day at Treble Cone. We got onto the Quarterdeck on dark at 8.00pm. We were all weary but I was confident and pleased we were out of the glacier fog and seeing stars coming out above.

We started slowly working our way down the Quarterdeck. I was surprised the terrain did not provide a simple walk, as it usually does in spring. We had to do a little bit of weaving between the remnants of crevasses. I was short-roping Mum. Dad was walking down behind us. We got to a slight steepening. I stopped the folks and went down to check it out. There was a 30-degree diagonal, downward traverse around a small ice-cliff. I set up an anchor and lowered Mum 40 metres down the rollover and eight-metre ice-cliff to a flat spot below the cliff. I told Dad to follow THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

19

ABOVE Andrew and his parents (with Kate Campbell) at Bevan Col during a previous attempt on Aspiring.

RIGHT TOP Andrew and his Dad on the summit of Aspiring.

RIGHT BOTTOM The ice-cliff on French Ridge where the incident occurred. The group spent the night here and were evacuated the following morning.

FACING PAGE Andrew's Dad descending the North West Ridge of Mt Aspiring.

"

Activating the EPIRB was telling myself, and the world, that I had got it wrong. I am proud of my mountaineering judgement, and I had failed.

my footsteps around the ice-cliff, knowing he was very capable of it. It was a bit windy, dark and there was light snow falling. Perhaps Dad didn’t hear me, perhaps he didn’t understand the instructions, and of course he was tired. Dad followed the fall-line down which I had lowered Mum. I didn’t notice as I was packing away the rope and anchor. Dad yelled up to me from the top of the cliff, ‘It gets steep here!’

I yelled back, ‘Come back up and follow my steps to the left, it’s easy that way’.

After a moment Dad said ‘No, I’m tired. Can’t I just abseil it?’

I grumpily unpacked the rope, rebuilt the anchor and threw the rope down past him. It was 40 metres to the flat spot from where I was so I could only throw down one strand. Dad had abseiled over 50 times so I left him to it. I didn’t want to go down the 30 metres to him and back up again. I know a half-rope needs to be held very firmly when abseiling, especially on one strand, but Dad didn’t know that. As soon as he weighted the rope fully he lost control of the brake rope and hit the flat landing hard and fast. I couldn’t see him from above the rollover but after a minute or two I made my way around the cliff and saw what had happened.

Dad was confused due to a head knock, and was very short of breath. He was clearly in a lot of pain. His helmet was in his backpack.

After ten minutes, when Dad’s head had cleared, he asked me to activate our EPIRB. I didn’t say no but I did say: ‘Do you want to see how you feel in ten minutes?’ I hate asking for help. I had made a bunch of decisions that had cumulatively increased the chances of an accident. There were a lot of different choices I could have made to help prevent this outcome. I didn’t

20

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

want to admit I had got my parents and myself in too deep. If Dad was okay and we could manage the two-hour journey down to French Ridge Hut, the incident would just add to an epic story of a successful climb.

Activating the EPIRB was telling myself, and the world, that I had got it wrong. I am proud of my mountaineering judgement, and I had failed. I had to ask for help.

The Wanaka SAR team were amazing. I am so grateful we live in a country where taxpayer’s money provides a resource that means my Dad didn’t have to pay dearly for our mistakes.

Rescuers Rich and Lionel were dropped at the bushine at 1.00am. The pair walked up through the night and got to us at 6.00am. We were in our sleeping bags when they arrived, half shivering but comfortable enough with a stove and a sheltered bivvy spot. I am sure Dad wasn’t comfortable with his pneumothorax and cracked ribs.

I couldn’t have argued that I didn’t need help, or that I would have sorted it out. I really needed help. I am hugely grateful to Rich and Lionel and the other eight SAR volunteers who got up at 10.00pm and planned through the night to activate multiple rescue avenues at first light. We were helicoptered off at about 8.00am.

I am trying to get better at asking for help. I think lots of Kiwi blokes need to get better at that. Why would our young men ask for help if they don’t see the old men ask for help and observe a positive response from the community? The Wanaka SAR team was awarded a certificate of achievement by the Govenor General for the rescue. Dad said he would have climbed with me again the next day if he could have. C

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

21

PAT DEAVOLL

NZAC LIFE MEMBER 2015

22

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

ABOVE Pat on the Gangotri Glacier in 2007. BRUCE NORMAND FACING PAGE Pat topping out on the Bibler Come Again Exit of Deprivation, on the North Buttress of Mt Hunter, Alaska. Pat once described her time on this climb as 'the happiest day of my life'. MARTY BEARE

PROFILE BY ANNA KEELING

Pat Deavoll appears to have forgiven me for trying to kill her in 2002. The incident is recounted in her book Wind from a Distant Summit. We were nearing camp at 3.00am after a 22-hour ascent of the West Face of Mt Huntington when, in the murky weird twilight of Alaskan midsummer, I made the stunning mistake of jumping into (instead of over) a well-concealed bergschrund, almost pulling Pat in behind me.

Despite such a major transgression in alpine etiquette, The Climber invited me to profile New Zealand’s incredibly accomplished all-around climber and alpinist as she achieves life membership to the New Zealand Alpine Club. It’s another lofty achievement, and one that is surprisingly complex in it’s attainment, as the club’s criteria for election states: ‘Upon the recommendation of a committee of the president and not less than three past presidents convened by the president, the Club Committee may elect to life membership any member who has made an outstanding contribution to mountaineering or rock climbing or to the club.’

I asked NZAC General Manager Sam Newton about Pat’s contribution to NZAC, given that she worked for the club for four and a half years. Sam told me: ‘Pat made a strong contribution in her time as a paid staff member of NZAC. She was largely responsible for building the NZAC National Instruction Programme, which utilises paid NZMGA guides to deliver low-cost, physically and mentally rigorous experiential instruction of a type similar to

what Pat received in her late teens. The underpinning philosophy of the programme, which comes directly from Pat, is to learn how to be self-sufficient and work efficiently and safely in small groups in our mountains. Participants bivvy out, carry their own food, work in a partnership of two climbers, walk in with big packs, and live with what they can carry in their packs. We aim to develop Kiwi climbers that can climb in Kiwi conditions.’ Yep, that’s classic Deavoll.

I hadn’t seen Pat for a couple of years when I popped in to visit her in Christchurch recently. Recovering from another ankle operation, Pat hobbled to the door on crutches, wearing a bright skirt. Spring sunlight poured in the windows, and her friend Ruth popped up to ensure Pat was not trying to do too much on her ankle. ‘This is my fourth ankle operation, it has to take this time,’ Pat told me. Her cat, Lily, crouched nervously in the background, aware that she and Mum were about to take a car trip back to Timaru. Pat, a journalist with North Canterbury farming roots, has been the Fairfax

farming reporter for South Canterbury for the past year.

I love talking to Pat. She’s strong and smart and opinionated. I enjoyed reading Wind from a Distant Summit. I loved the honesty in how she speaks of giving away ‘long-term relationships and a marriage, a permanent home and financial security,’ to follow what she now accepts has been her only path.

Pat’s book is exciting, heartfelt and tragic, and it filled in the gaps in our friendship, the bits where we did different things and our paths rarely crossed. Pat is a decade older than me; my early memories of her have become almost legend: Her ‘80s and ‘90s forays into some of New Zealand’s most difficult kayak descents, one including a grade 19 rock climb exit after a mishap while kayaking Huka Falls; an early descent of the maelstrom that is Nevis Bluff on the Kawarau; kayak expeditions to India; ascents (in plastic boots) of difficult ice routes in Canada in the ‘90s, hard rock in the UK; and her great ascent of Deprivation on Mt Hunter, Alaska in 2003, on a day she described as ‘the happiest day of my life.’

One lazy evening, as Pat and I drank glacier cocktails at our Tokostina base camp in Alaska, she told us that her favourite place to rock climb was on the wild trad limestone sea cliffs of Pembroke in the UK. But Pat was dismissive when I complimented her on her ripped physique and six-pack abs.

A year later I camped a night with Pat and Marty Beare on the Kahiltna Glacier in Alaska THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

23

I ONCE HEARD PAT TELL SOMEONE AT A PARTY, JUST BEFORE HER FIRST TRIP TO THE WAKHAN, THAT SHE WASN’T GOING TO LET THE TALIBAN RUIN HER HOLIDAY

LEFT Pat and Karen McNeill (two tiny dots on the left-hand snowpatch) on the Colton Leach route on the west face of Mt Huntington, Alaska. SCOTT SIMPER RIGHT Pat belaying on an earlier attempt at the Colton Leach route. SCOTT SIMPER

as they prepared for their climb of Deprivation. I tugged my sled around in preparation for departure to the Cassin and gave Pat an awkward hug.

‘Pat, if any woman is going to climb this route, it’s you,’ I said, kind of offhandedly. Wasn’t that obvious? I left her in nervous and hopeful tears.

Now I wonder why NZAC has taken so long to give her life membership!

Pat’s expansive climbing résumé is well known (see the timeline on page 27). Pat claims she was a shy and overweight teenager. She came to climbing through several instruction courses in the Aoraki Mt Cook region in 1976. Pat described the third course she took with Alpine Guides Ltd in an email to me: ‘We went up the Tasman, over Graham Saddle down to Almer Hut (climbed something there, can’t remember what, it might have been Drummond), then over to Pioneer Hut, then climbed Lendenfeld and Haast from Marcel Col then, get this, that night the guides abseiled all ten of us off Marcel Col down to the Grand Plateau! We arrived at Plateau Hut about 5.00am the next morning.

Outrageous! But that turned us into a very tight team; we had all been terrified together. Then we climbed the Anzac Peaks, and walked out.

24

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

We were a very tired and sunburnt crew. We were a real mix of people.

Not all of us were athletes, that’s for sure! I would have been the youngest, at 17, and there were a few others close to that age. It was an awesome trip, a great chance to look around the area and a great kick start to my mountaineering.’

Pat’s excess weight apparently dissipated. Over the next few years she traversed the entire South Island and climbed many of New Zealand’s classic routes. During the mid-‘80s Pat travelled and explored remote corners of Nepal and Pakistan with her then-husband. Almost always hungry and with enormous packs, the pair tramped remote, high glaciers, returning to civilisation from time to time to work to raise money to travel again.

From the late ‘80s onwards, Pat focused on difficult kayak descents and technical rock climbing. Two seasons in the Canadian Rockies cemented Pat as a leading female ice climber. The century turned and Pat ramped up her climbing on difficult, technical peaks.

As Pat eases through her 50s, her energy is now focused firmly on expeditions. We shifted to sitting on stools so Pat could keep her ankle

elevated as she explained: ‘I want to save my flagging body for my overseas climbing trips—these are what mean the most to me and I want to get in as many overseas trips as I can before my body craps out completely.’ She glows as she describes her plans for 2016 and 2017. She has more expeditions planned to the Wakhan Corridor of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. ‘Expeditioning is what I want to do now. There are not many climbs I still want to do in New Zealand. I want to go to out-of-the-way places. I just like the culture in Pakistan, particularly the northern part. The region is so sparsely populated because it’s so arid. Afghanistan is even more arid. I like the remoteness. I even like the security issues and the edginess. It’s unknown. I don’t want to climb in Nepal. I don’t want to climb a route in Alaska which has been climbed before many times.’ I once heard Pat tell someone at a party, just before her first trip to the Wakhan, that she wasn’t going to let the Taliban ruin her holiday.

Pat’s expedition for 2016 involves plans for a traverse of two peaks on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Koh-eLangua-e-Barfi (7017m) and Koh-e-Langar (7072m) are in an area that has not seen climbers for four decades. Pat will climb with American anthropologist and multi-linguist Ted Callahan, who lives in Afghanistan. In 2017, Pat will travel to Tirich Mir (7708m) with a bigger international team.

Although Tirich Mir has been climbed, it is the highest peak in the world outside the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges, and it has not been climbed since 2000. ‘If I can get the expedition together and give it a go, it will be the hardest climb I have ever done. It’s a big lottery. But the climbers who have shown interest make up a very strong, very experienced (at altitude) team.’

I asked Pat how she plans to train and get fit again, and we began an enthusiastic discussion about tramping clubs.

It’s a full circle. ‘If I am honest with myself, I am just as

Pat on the classic steep ice and mixed route Logan's Run (MC6+) on the south face of Mt Hicks, Aoraki Mt Cook National Park.

MARTY BEARE

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

25

TOP Pat taking a rest break during the descent on Koh-e-Baba-Tangi (6516m) in the Afghan Hindu Kush. Pat and her sister Christine Byrch had just made the first ascent of the North West Ridge, and the second ever ascent of the peak. PAT DEAVOLL LEFT Pat and Christine on the summit of Koh-e-Baba-Tangi. n MIDDLE Pat (right) with Lydia Bradey, Giampaolo Corona and Lorenzo Corona on the summit of Wahine Shar (5800m), Hunza region, northern Pakistan, having made the first ascent of the peak. RIGHT Pat and Malcolm Bass on the summit of Haizi Shan (5833m), in the Daxue Range, China, having made the first ascent of the peak.

happy tramping in New Zealand these days as climbing. I’ve joined the Christchurch Tramping Club. I would love to get back to the Garden of Eden and the Bracken Snowfield, or the upper Godley.’

Three years ago I wrote a piece for Alpinist magazine’s ‘Local Hero’ department on Pat. Back then, as now, I went to see her in Christchurch.

This year, sitting on the floor in Pat's compact Summerhill stone home, surrounded by icons and images from her journeys to the East, I was struck by how far she has come. As she clattered the tea cups in the kitchen and complained about the quality of her scones, I realised Pat now seems to understand the brilliance of heart and the striving that has gone into all her climbs. Where she used to fixate on summiting and meeting expectations (mostly her own), Pat now seems to realise the attainment of the actual peak is only a piece of the picture.

I stared at the image of Tirich Mir on Pat’s blog. A white massif looms

26

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

behind the arid peaks of Pakistan. There’s a town, Chitral, in the foreground. I tried to imagine going to this huge mountain with Pat, and the uncertainty of the climbing, let alone the security issues.

‘I think the basis of my success as a climber has been my really solid grounding when I was quite young at Mt Cook. I did an endless number of classics, like the East Ridge of Cook and a Syme Silberhorn traverse of Tasman. If you can cope with Mt Cook conditions, the big mountains don’t seem so daunting. Then on top of that I added skills as a rock climber and as an ice climber. And then I added the ability to climb over multiple days at altitude with a heavy pack. If you have good New Zealand alpine skills (but only Mt Cook will do—scrambling around in the Hopkins, the Darrans or the Remarkables won’t cut it), good rock climbing and ice climbing skills, the ability to function at altitude, and steely determination, then you can pretty much go anywhere.’ C

PAT’S CLIMBING TIMELINE 1975–76

1976–84

1985-86

1987-94

1994 1995 1996 1996–99

1999–99

2000–01

2002 2003

2004 2005 2006 2007

2008

2009 2010

2011

2012 2014 2016 2017

Three back-to-back instruction courses with Alpine Guides Ltd. On the third course, Pat walked up the Tasman and crossed over the top of the Franz and Fox glaciers, then descended back to Plateau and Mt Cook village, climbing easy peaks en route.

Ascents of all the 10,000ft peaks in the Southern Alps. Highlights: The East Face of Sefton, the Right Hand Icefields on the south face of Hicks, the South Face of Douglas, the Balfour Face of Tasman, and the East Face of Aoraki Mt Cook.

Two years climbing and trekking in Nepal and Pakistan. Highlights: The South Face of Mera (6476m, Nepal), the East Ridge of Grigindal (6200m, Pakistan), a circumnavigation of Nanga Parbat, and the Biafo-Hispar traverse in Pakistan.

First all-female team ascent of the West Face of Mt Dilemma with Karen McNeill.

Gave away mountaineering for kayaking and rock climbing. Several trips to Australia to rock climb. Trips to India and Pakistan to kayak.

Made another ascent of the South Face of Douglas. More climbing in Australia.

New Zealand female competition climbing champion.

First all-female team ascent of Siblings of the Sun (26, 12p) in Bungonia Gorge, Australia, with Robyn Cleland.

Rock climbed in Thailand, Spain and France with Robyn.

Got back into mountaineering. Highlights: Multiple routes on the south face of Hicks; the Balfour Face and Hidden Balfour Face of Mt Tasman. First female team ascents of the South Face of Douglas (with sister Christine Byrch) and South Face of Aspiring (with Swenja Stellfeld).

Rock climbed in England and the USA. Spent a winter waterfall-ice climbing in the Canadian Rockies. Highlight leads: Sea of Vapours (WI5-6), Curtain Call (WI6), Upper Weeping Wall (WI6), Cascade Kronenbourg (WI6), and Nemesis (WI6).

A second season waterfall-ice climbing in the Rockies. Highlight leads: Les Miserables (WI6+), Acid Howl (WI6+), French Reality (WI6+), Stuck in the Middle (M6R), and a solo of Polar Circus (WI5).

The first ascent of Intifada (28) at Barnett Park, Christchurch.

The Denali region of Alaska. Highlights: The Nettle Quirk and Colton Leach ice routes on the west face of Mt Huntington.

A second season in Alaska. Highlights: First ascent of Peak 11,525 in the Upper Tokisitna Glacier region, Deprivation on the North Buttress of Mt Hunter, the South West ridge of Peak 11,300.

A member of the British/Kiwi expedition to Jankuth (6805m) in the Indian Garwhal—reached 6500m with Marty Beare.

First ascent of Xiashe (5833m) in western Sichuan, China with Karen McNeill.

First ascent of Haizi Shan (5833m) in western Sichuan with Malcolm Bass.

Attempted the first ascent of Beka Brakkai Chok (7120m) in Pakistan with Lydia Bradey—reached 5800m.

First ascent of Wahine Shar (5800m), in Pakistan with Lydia Bradey.

Another attempt at Beka Brakkai Chok, with Malcolm Bass—reached 6500m.

First ascent of the West Face of Miandi Peak (6600m) in the Indian Garwhal with Bruce Normand.

First ascent of Karim Sar (6180m) in Pakistan via the South Face.

Part of the British/Kiwi expedition to the West Face of Vasuki Parbat (6800m) in the Indian Garwhal­­—turned back at 6200m while the others went on to summit.

First ascent of the North West Ridge of Koh-e-Baba-Tangi (6516m) in the Wakhan Corridor region of Afghanistan with sister Christine—this was the first female team ascent in the Afghan Hindu Kush.

Led water-ice climb The Replicant (WI6+) in the Canadian Rockies.

First ascent of the West Ridge of Koh-e-Rank (6100m), Wakhan Corridor, with Maryrose Fowlie. Next magazine Sportswoman of the Year 2012.

Attempted Langua-tai-Barfi (7011m) in the Pakistan Hindu Kush with Chris Todd—reached just under 7000m.

Planning to traverse Langua-tai-Barfi (7011m) and Koh-e-Langar (7175m) in the Wakhan Corridor with Ted Callahan.

Organising an international team to climb Tirich Mir (7708m) in the Pakistan Hindu Kush.

Xiashe (5833m), Shaluli Shan Range, Sichuan, China.

Pat and Karen McNeill made the first ascent of the peak via the South Face and South East Ridge in 2005.

Haizi Shan (5833m) Daxue Range, Sichuan, China.

Pat and Malcolm Bass made the first ascent of the peak via the North Face (pictured) in 2006.

Karim Sar (6180m), Batura region, northern Pakistan.

Pat made the first ascent of the peak solo via the South Face (pictured) in 2009.

Koh-e-Baba-Tangi (6516m), Wakhan Corridor region, Afghanistan.

Pat and Christine Byrch made the first ascent of the North West Ridge in 2011.

Koh-e-Rank (~6000m), Wakhan Corridor region, Afghanistan.

Pat and Maryrose Fowlie made the first ascent of the peak in 2012.

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

27

R OC K CL I MB I N G I N TH E

CANADIAN ROCKIES WO RDS A N D PHOTOGR A PHS

BY D E REK CHEN G

28

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

The wall steepens and I gingerly place a foot higher. I reach for a hold, which breaks off in my hand. I toss the offending piece of stone from the wall with a cry of ‘Rock!’ Friends below scatter.

A few moves higher I send another loose rock flying, this one the size of an onion.

The projectile scrapes the leg of a friend at the base of the crag who had mistakenly thought that huddling in a corner would keep him out of harm's way.

Shit! This is perhaps the worst pitch of rock climbing I've ever done. There is no pro for dozens of metres. This pitch of crappy, brittle limestone on Castle Mountain, in the Canadian Rockies, feels steep for a grade 5.4 (12). Every foot and hand placement is delicate, and tenuous. Every movement must be slow and deliberate. I've grabbed handfuls of gravel more solid than this.

After several held breaths and excruciating moments I finally find a cam placement.

A few moves later, I climb over a ledge to an anchor. Exquisite relief. I continue up, reaching the top of the second pitch. A blood-curdling scream suddenly sweeps up the face. Everyone freezes. I can't see my partner, Katelyn, who was seconding the first pitch as part of another party of two. I call out anxiously. There’s nothing but silence for a few heartbreaking moments.

‘I'm okay,’ a response finally floats up. Katelyn had pulled off a block the size of a toaster. As she was to the right of the anchor, she had fallen and swung. The block dropped harmlessly over her shoulder, adding to the debris at the base of Brewer's Buttress.

What are we doing here? Surely there are better mountains to climb, with kinder rock.

The same question lingered when I was kicking loose shale onto Katelyn's helmet while she was confined to her anchor on Saddle Mountain. And when a rock to the helmet rudely reminded me of my own vulnerable position while soloing Mt Indefatigable. And on Hand in the Honey Pot on Mt Rundle when a chunk of limestone bigger than a loaf of bread broke off when my thigh merely brushed it.

But the Rockies are magnificent in other ways—an adventure playground of the highest order, with endless mountain terrain rich in glaciers, forests, and peaks that push skywards. Where else in the world are there so many towering rock faces, most of them easily accessible from the main highway running across the country?

The following words from Canadian climbing hero Sonnie Trotter say it all (especially the lack of words about rock quality): ‘It is absolutely astonishing to me that this heavenly range actually exists in real life. They are some of the wildest, most spectacular, pristine and, for the most part, accessible mountains in the world—and they are right in our own backyards.’ ***

FACING PAGE Alan North on the first pitch of the four-pitch bolted climb Cardiac Arête (5.10d/20), on the Grand Sentinel, Banff National Park.

ABOVE: LEFT Travis McPhee places a cam in a roof crack on the third pitch of the south face of the Grand Sentinel. n MIDDLE Ben Kunz crimping hard at the crux of DEW Line (5.11c/22) a classic arête at the Back of the Lake crag at Lake Louise. n RIGHT From the base of Ha Ling Peak, Katelyn Merrett surveys the mountainous terrain that surrounds Canmore, in the heart of the Bow Valley.

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

29

The first thing you notice when you enter Rockies territory is the sheer volume of rock. Around every corner on the drive east from Rogers Pass, more mountains with more rock faces are revealed.

The Rockies are immense, even though they exclude classic areas such as the Bugaboos and the Valhallas.

The Canadian Rockies form part of five National Parks: Banff, Yoho, Jasper, Kootenay, and Waterton. The range also includes a number of provincial parks. The Rockies runs some 2000 kilometres, from the border of British Columbia and the Yukon down through Alberta, and south over the USA border to Montana. The rock is sedimentary; it’s mainly limestone, with bands of shale and quartzite that can be exceptionally solid, or notoriously brittle.

The first I heard about climbing in the Rockies was from Bruce Miller, a humble member of alpine royalty who has tied in with the likes of Conrad Anker. Miller was belaying alpine legend Steve House on the Greenwood Locke route on Mt Temple in 2010 when House pulled off a flake and slammed into a ledge from 25 metres up. House suffered a broken back, ribs, pelvis, and a collapsed lung. That was not the strongest advertisement for climbing in the Rockies, but events transpired and the summer of 2015 led me to the heart of the Bow Valley. The small town of Canmore is nestled among a series of eye-catching peaks. The Ship's Prow blushes in dawn light. The Three Sisters to the east catch the evening light. Mt Rundle's 11 peaks trail a jagged line west to Banff. But several enquiries into rock quality were all met with the same shrug: ‘It's the Rockies. It's a bit shit.’

Still, the first pitch of Brewer's Buttress on Castle Mountain transcended the usual definition of a choss-pile. We chose it because of the hut on a massive ledge halfway up the peak, and the fine view from the long-drop, perched on the edge of a precipitous drop. We bivvied under the stars, with only the foraging of squirrels and the odd passing freight train breaking our slumber.

The following morning, after a mild leg-scratch and a near miss on the first pitch, we climbed a number of aesthetic corners to the summit. The higher we got, the lower the choss-o-meter registered. Some pitches even gifted us immaculate rock. At the top, the sharp, splendid pyramid of Mt Assiniboine greeted us in the far distance.

Assiniboine was immediately added to our list of objectives, which was growing every day. We’d added: Ha Ling, the iconic peak I could see from our bedroom window; Yamnuska, the birthplace of climbing in the Rockies; and the Grand Sentinel, a free-standing pillar on the south-east side of Mt Temple.

I hadn't clipped bolts for several months, and gaining a bit of sport climbing fitness seemed like a good way to start the summer. At first, the polish and hard-to-read nature of certain areas were hardly inspiring (avoid Grotto Canyon). But soon enough, locals directed me to Planet X, Acephale and Echo Canyon, the steepest crags in the Bow Valley. I was quickly enamoured with several classics, like Shooting Star (5.12d/27) at Planet X, an overhanging line of striking dihedrals and roofs; and Atlantis (5.12c/26), on which sharp, diagonal rails weave a path through steep terrain.

All of these crags are an outrageously convenient five-minute drive from town. That was mind-blowing to someone who was used to the ten-hour round-trip from Wellington to the Central North Island crags. Even the alpine climbing is close to Canmore. Yamnuska? Twenty minutes to the carpark. Lake Louise? An hour. And there are plenty of virgin lines to tempt the more enthusiastic developer.

One day, we dared to venture beyond an hour's drive, heading deep into the Kananaskis Range in search of a beautiful corner aptly named

30

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

ABOVE Alan North enjoying the exposure and technical moves on the top pitch of Cardiac ArĂŞte (5.10d/21), on the Grand Sentinel.

RIGHT Frazer Burley finds some useful cracks on the face of Joy (5.6/14), a 600-metre-long dihedral that splits the face of Mt Indefatigable, Kananaskis Range.

FACING PAGE TOP A climber surveying the countless surrounding peaks from near the top of the North West Ridge (5.4/12) of Sir Donald (3284m).

FACING PAGE BOTTOM Reflections of peaks on the perfectly still surface of Moraine Lake, at the head of the Valley of the Ten Peaks, Banff National Park.

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

31

Joy (5.6/14). The 600-metre dihedral splits the main face of Mt Indefatigable from the first move to the top-out—a stunning, unique feature.

Every climb seemed to have something special. Takakkaw Falls, in Yoho National Park, has an anchor a stone's throw from a raging waterfall. Above a typically loose, unprotectable shale pitch, a giant hole in the face leads you into the darkness. The route requires you to crawl on hands and knees along this 30-metre cave, which is understandably damp, a remnant from a time when the waterfall was even more immense. The cave narrows just enough to force you to drop into a belly-shuffle before you emerge into the light next to the apex of the waterfall and its narrow, sharp channels and deafening roar.

Sir Donald (3284m) is a dark triangle that dominates the skyline at Rogers Pass, and looks like it belongs in the Himalaya. It offers a delightful 5.4 (12) scramble up the North West Ridge, which rises above the surrounding glaciers and rugged peaks.

Back in Canmore, the pull of Ha Ling was overpowering. We chose the classic North East Buttress (5.6/14), a casual excursion with some fine pitches of corner climbing, among broken bands of bad shale. Like other popular tourist peaks with easy trails to the top, a heroes' welcome awaited us at the top: rounds of congratulatory applause along with expressions of disbelief along the lines of, ‘Wow! Did you guys just climb up the face?’

To the east, the famous Yamnuska beckoned, its long and jagged skyline rising up from scree slopes. We headed up Kahl Wall, a so-called classic with nine pitches up to 5.10b/c (19). It had unique climbing: jug-free, with many holds, but all of questionable worth. The crux pitch had a number of thin moves with excellent exposure. The worst pitches validated the quality of Yam's easier lines—they're a bit shit.

The following day we headed for Saddle Mountain, near Lake Louise. Within minutes of starting Dodging Wives, a four-pitch bolted 5.11c (22), a distinct sentiment spewed forth: f**k Yamnuska. Why would anyone choose that pile of crumbly cake over this magnificent quartzite?

Saddle has a number of stunning lines, the most spectacular of which is Screams From the Balcony, which tops out on an overhanging buttress replete with several small roofs. I counted nine roofs in all, the last one surmounted via a beautiful finger crack. At the top, I was unsure if the screaming was out of fear, or in delight.

32

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

ROCKIES CLASSICS TICK-LIST Sport climbs Wicked Gravity (5.11a), Back of the Lake, Lake Louise.

DEW Line (5.11c), Back of the Lake, Lake Louise.

Venom (5.11d), Back of the Lake, Lake Louise.

My Two Bits (5.12b), Echo Canyon.

Atlantis (5.12c), Echo Canyon.

Shooting Star (5.12d), Planet X. Alpine rock climbs Sir Donald, North West Ridge (5.4).

Mt Indefatigable, Joy (5.6).

Yamnuska, Kahl Wall (5.10b/c).

The Grand Sentinel, Cardiac Arête (5.10d).

Saddle Mountain, Screams from the Balcony (5.11b), Fools in the Rain (5.11c), McTrump Route (5.10c).

Mt Rundle, Hand in the Honey Pot (5.11b/c).

Mt Edith, Spectacular Megafauna (5.11c).

LEFT Krissy Blakney on the overhanging upper wall of Spicy Elephant (5.13b/29), one of many pumpy sport lines on Atlantis Wall, Echo Canyon, Bow Valley.

RIGHT TOP Ben Kunz linking horizontal crimp rails on Wicked Gravity (5.11a/21), at the Back of the Lake crag, Lake Louise.

RIGHT BOTTOM Maté Mackenzie on the steep and unrelenting My Two Bits (5.12b/25), Atlantis Wall, Echo Canyon, Bow Valley.

Alongside Screams From the Balcony is another line of roofs: Fools in the Rain (5.11b/22), which is navigated via a series of crimps. Other classics, including McTrump Route and Toys in the Attic, contain a series of aesthetic corners and cracks cutting natural lines to the top.

The Back of the Lake crag at Lake Louise is considered to be the cragging jewel in the Rockies crown. Anyone who passes through with only a week to climb is told to head directly there. The rock is perfect quartzite, often with vertical cracks and horizontal in-cuts for hands and fingers on the overhanging sections. There are roofs, arêtes, technical faces, and cracks. Sometimes you get all of the above in one steep, magnificent line. And the setting is stunning. The hue of Lake Louise seems to be infused with a purity of blue that doesn't exist anywhere else.

Moraine Lake is in the same area, at the head of the Valley of the Ten Peaks. A stroll up the valley not only gives you a view of several peaks that resemble the bottom jawline of some mammoth, prehistoric predator, but also brings you to the free-standing, 100-metre-high pillar known as the Grand Sentinel.

Of the few lines on the pillar, Cardiac Arête (20) is the stand-out. This route has four bolted pitches up a sharp, aesthetic arête, with wild exposure and a nearby glacier that frequently releases boulder torpedoes to the talus below. At the top of the route is a flat platform, which seems custom-built to pose for summit photographs and bask in the euphoria that comes with the sheer pleasure of beautiful climbing in a sublime position.

Lake Louise epitomises everything that is great about the Rockies: a lot of rock amid stunning serenity. But even here, we were not immune to poor rock. The first pitch of Screams From the Balcony was a mini-version of our nightmare on Castle Mountain. The tops of some other routes require battles through bands of collapsing shale.

While having lunch at Saddle Mountain, some climbers dislodged a boulder the size of an armchair from the top of the cliff. The sound was like the swooshing of a diving bird inches from the cliff face, but magnified a thousand times. I gazed skywards, half-expecting to see a winged dinosaur the size of a bus, but instead watched as the block obliterated on impact with the ground a mere ten metres from us.

This is a special type of playground, where falling death-blocks could interrupt your lunch. As I continued to munch on my hummus and crackers, it struck me: You have to be prepared—more than usual—to navigate rock both excellent and fragile, but as long as death was avoided, this enhances the experience; it improves your skill set. Close encounters with choss are character building, and add flavour to an adventure.

The summer season in the Rockies is short. As October rolled around, several objectives—Mt Assiniboine, Mt Edith Cavell, the Tonquin—remained undone. Whole ranges were unvisited. Therein lies the secret of the Rockies to keep drawing you back: The infinite rock faces will mean that the tick-list will always keep growing. C THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

33

P L A Y I N G

with

Mike Rockell

FAV OURITES

little while back I got a Facebook message inviting me to write about my five favourite multi-pitch rock climbs for The Climber.

Irresistible! I decided to limit my selections to climbs within New Zealand. We do have a bunch of good multi-pitch routes here for which you do not need an ice axe, but it does often help to have alpine legs.

The multi-pitch rock routes I’ve selected are climbs that are several pitches long and will absorb you for the better part of a day. Unless you are considering an enchainment, each climb will likely be the only one you do that day. I have also left out routes that would more typically be considered mountain climbs or alpine routes (like the rock routes on the north face of Mt Hicks).

The ones I have chosen range from trad to sport, and scary and intense to lighthearted. They are all in the South Island. Each one has provided a special day out for me, partly due to the people I have had the pleasure of climbing them with, and partly due to the aesthetic appeal of each line, the pitches and the moves, not to mention the locations and challenges.

I climbed each of these routes during a mid-life climbing renaissance, after moving to Christchurch from the North Island.

A

Mike relaxing at Homer Hut between soujourns into the heartland of New Zealand multi-pitch rock climbing—the Darran Mountains. MARK WATSON

34

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

35

ROUGH DIAMOND DIAMOND FACE OF MOIR'S MATE CLEDDAU VALLEY FIORDLAND (5 pitches: 20, 16, 21, 19, 21) his was the first multi-pitch route I did at the start of my mid-life re-engagement with rock climbing. It had been more than 30 years since I’d last done the trip along the ridgeline from Homer Saddle to the base of Moir’s Mate. It is a lot more exposed than I had remembered.

Arriving at the foot of the climb with James Wright, we looked up at the route on a coldish grey day with cloud licking around the face. I was meant to lead the first pitch, but said, ‘James, this one has got your name on it!’

Off James went, steadily and methodically working his way ever higher until he eventually called for me to follow. ‘Hmmm, grade 20,’ I thought as I struggled to find composure.

A bit later on it was my turn to lead the third pitch, a grade 21. The sun came out as I delicately made my way sideways to reach a point of ‘what the … ?!’ Then I found a hidden hold to the right, and with the mental support of a nearby bolt, pushed the powerband to the red and went for it. In dire straits, I just managed to clip the third bolt. Determined to not blow it, I forced myself on. My mouth was dry and my arms felt like they would explode at any second. ‘Great pitch! I want more.’

The fourth pitch is a grade 19 and according to the guidebook is 12 metres long. It’s actually more like 24 metres long. So keep that in mind.

James took over for the fifth and final pitch (grade 21). He was climbing super well and bit by bit he solved its problems. Once he reached the top though, he could not find the anchors anywhere.

We found out later there weren’t any. I followed and it started to rain. High up, I slipped off and dropped a few metres, swinging sideways, and tore my new jacket. Things were starting to get a little serious, but more was to come.

We prepared to abseil the route. James went first and made a long diagonal abseil off a sling that we left behind. When I followed, I stopped part-way down and clipped into a bolt, then tried to pull the rope. It wouldn’t come. I tried pulling harder. I pulled like a school boy. It still wouldn’t come. Hanging off a single bolt high on a face in the Darrans in the evening in the cloud as it rained seemed like a good recipe for serious trouble. Somehow we eventually—and with great relief—managed to get the rope moving and continued on down. Working back along the extremely exposed ridge to Homer Saddle in the deepening gloom, feeling drained and exhausted, required real care.

Welcome back to serious multi-pitch climbing!

T

RIGHT Dave Vass (belaying) and Rich Turner (leading) in a sea of rock on Rough Diamond. MARK WATSON BELOW The Diamond Face of Moir’s Mate. KESTER BROWN

36

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

37

abyrinth is an old-school route that was ahead of its time when it was put up. It has technical, intricate climbing and pitches that seem to go on forever.

It was a bitterly cold but fine February morning when Simon Carr and I walked from Homer Hut up and around to the north side of Barrier Knob. We put on down jackets at Gertrude Saddle and did not break a sweat as we worked our way around the horrible traverse route to Adelaide Saddle. By lunchtime we were underneath the north face where we found shelter from the wind thanks to a rock wall bivvy. There are numerous climbers’ bivvies at the base of the north face—they are mostly about 300mm high so once you lie down they provide excellent shelter. We got some sleep while we waited for the wind to drop. Later that afternoon we went up and got familiar with the area by doing the first two pitches of Sidewinder (23), which is is a really good route and goes pretty close to Labyrinth at one point. Fading light chased us back down to the bivvy for the night.

The next morning we woke up at first light with the face looming dark above us. Slowly the sun rose and filled the wall with light, revealing the stunning sight of a bold sheet of rock soaring upwards. We quickly got ourselves over to the foot of the climb. We were feeling a mixture of fear, anxiety and anticipation. We knew there are some very long run-outs on the route so the stakes were high. Fall off at the wrong place and you could die.

We were uncoiling the rope when Simon generously said: ‘You can lead all the pitches Mike.’ Gulp, okay. Deep down, I was wondering whether I would climb well that day or not. I remained positive and eventually became excited at the opportunity to do all the leading.

The first pitch goes something like this: Climb easily up a few metres to reach a belay that you are not going to stop at. Then climb up and up to reach a roof, at which point a fall would put you on the slab your belayer is on, so don’t fall off. Then you starting working your way leftwards, doing awkward moves with your fingers in an upside-down dirty crack, but you do get some gear. You break out of this crack and climb over a roof, then you must figure out some corner/arête stuff, then finally you arrive at the belay after some utterly absorbing climbing.

The next two pitches comprise absolutely superb face climbing up a blank-looking wall. The hardest moves are reasonably well protected, and as I suspected, the long run-outs are not too bad.

Indeed, I stopped a few times to pull out my laminated topo to check directions. The last thing you want to do on a route called Labyrinth is to climb off into a cul-de-sac and have to down-climb from miles above your last bolt.

The final difficult pitch is a stonker. You work your way up a crack line, getting gear where you can. My calves began to feel the strain during the first 20 metres of this pitch. Just when the line appears to peter out, Paul Rogers and Murray Judge pulled off a masterstroke by swinging the route left onto a searing headwall. I looked up and saw some tat about ten or 15 metres above me.

I thought that must be the belay. I worked my way up and to my disappointment found that the tat was only someone else’s bail point from a high bolt. I climbed up to a little rooflet. I had one more hard section to go. Feeling mentally fried after leading the long, run-out pitches, I breathed in, thought of England, and told myself I had climbed well all day so I’d better not blow the on-sight now. I was going to need to make some good decisions—better ones at least than someone I had heard of who made a wrong choice, got boxed above this bolt and had to jump off. I tried going to the right then the left then the right then left again. I was wearing the rock down. Then I got it!

There was one last easy pitch then it was time for the abseils. As the sun moved off the face I told Simon he could take over and get us back down. So that was my birthday—it will be a hard one to beat. Labyrinth is a great route for climbers who are solid on grade 22 technical stamina climbing and have a strong head.

L

RIGHT Jewell Lund high above Lake Adelaide on the perfect stone of Labyrinth. FOREST WOODWARD BELOW Lake Adelaide and the peaks surrounding the head of Moraine Creek in early summer. KESTER BROWN

North face of Barrier Knob

38

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

LABYRINTH NORTH FACE OF BARRIER KNOB, DARRAN MOUNTAINS (5 pitches: 20, 22, 21, 21, 16)

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

39

VINDICATION NORTH FACE OF MT MOIR CLEDDAU VALLEY FIORDLAND (6 pitches: 19, 20, 24, 25, 22, 20)

indication is the most recently established of the multi-pitch routes I have done. This route is a modern multi-pitch sport route put up in 2009 by Murray Ball, Nick Cradock and Milo Gilmour. Being located on the north face of Mt Moir, it has great views down the Cleddau valley, and of the Milford Road so far below.

For this climb I walked in with Iain Lawson and we bivvied comfortably right beneath the route. That meant we could get out of our sleeping bags and put our rock shoes on. The terrain in this region is steep and imposing—we were happy to stay in our sleeping bags until the sun came around.

The first two pitches are a lovely entrée to warm the body and get some flow going. Then the work begins. The third pitch is grade 24, it leads you up, right and out onto an exposed arête. I was moving okay, but I was hoping to onsight the pitch, and I think this was making me a little tense. At the crux there are a couple of closely-spaced bolts and I burnt a lot of energy clipping one of them.

I tried pulling awkwardly through rightwards to the belay stance but could not quite manage it and fell off. After a quick rest on the rope I managed to do it the second time.

We then watched Michael Eatson and Daniel Joll climb this pitch behind us and let them climb past. Daniel did a good job on the crux pitches, he got both of them first go. While Dan ticked the next pitch, I learned that Michael was the son of an old climbing friend, Chris Morris, with whom I had climbed in Yosemite back in 1983.

Iain then said, ‘Mike you can lead the next pitch.’ So I retightened my shoes, chalked up and set off into the partially known. Soon I was on the crux (warning: onsight spoiler!), which requires laybacking an arête edge for a couple of moves. Once again there is a bolt in the middle of the crux that you are better off not clipping. Unfortunately I slipped off again and just missed getting the pitch first go. As with the previous pitch, I pulled back on below the point where I had fallen and climbed through the crux the second time. But it was not over. The remainder of the pitch is demanding and absorbing with lots of climbing in it.

The fifth pitch (grade 22) is another absorbing one with a funky mantely thing and a changing corners layaway. Yum! I would recommend this climb to people looking for a harder version of Lucky Strike. Personally, I think the crux pitches are more like grades 23 and 24 and they would both be fantastic if one bolt was removed from the crux sections on each.

While you are in the vicinity, get on Lapland. This is a two-pitch route. The second pitch is grade 21, but was the hardest thing I did that summer. The pitch is 50 metres long, and has four bolts plus the occasional piece of natural pro. It is seriously run-out, and completely lacking holds in places, but the rock is so good it’s enough to make you believe there is a god.

V

RIGHT Mike enjoying the mellow exposure of Vindication, high above their bivvy site and the Milford Road. DANIEL JOLL BELOW The Moir region from near Homer Saddle. KESTER BROWN

North face of Mt Moir

40

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

41

42

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

CHINK IN SHINING ARMOUR INTO THE TOP HALF OF RAVAGES OF TIME CHINAMANS BLUFF DART RIVER VALLEY MT ASPIRING NATIONAL PARK (8 pitches: 17, 18, 20, 21, 17, 18, 16, 20)

hen you’ve driven through the madness of Queenstown, heading towards the head of Lake Wakatipu, the setting very quickly changes to a little piece of paradise, with some of the best scenery you can imagine. I didn’t know that sandflies were a part of paradise, but they do help keep the masses away.

Thanks to intrepid and prolific new-routers such as Murray Judge, Murray Ball and Nick Cradock, there is also some great multi-pitch climbing to be had in the area, specifically on Chinamans Bluff.

The classic route of the area is Ravages of Time, but for me the best combo is to do Chink in Shining Armour first then continue up the top half of Ravages.

Starting up Chink in the morning sunlight, you quickly rise above the bush line to see expanding views up the Dart River to the glaciers at the head of the valley. Chink shares a start with Ravages but then veers left up onto a broad, blank-looking face. You gotta love those wide open vertical spaces. Thin delicate climbing keeps you thinking but you never feel stressed as there is always a bolt not too far away.

When you top-out on Chink you reach a broad ledge with trees. Some might see this as a bit of a shame as it breaks the continuity of the cliff but I think it is a great spot for some lunch in the shade.

After lunch you can climb the top four pitches of Ravages. The first pitch is wicked. Each time I have started up the sandy arête of that pitch I’ve thought, ‘Surely this is going to be harder than grade 17,’ but that’s probably due to post-lunchtime lethargy. After the arête you bravely head out on an easy traverse to the belay, which is in a spectacularly exposed position.

Then the seconder has to become the leader and boldly step up around an arête into the unknown for two pitches of very pleasant trad climbing.

And then for the highlight of the day: the last pitch. A searing steep crack rises above. Many a somewhat weary climber has thought twice before launching up this pitch. But the gear goes in good, even though you hardly need it. Then it’s onto a slab to collect your breath for the finalé as the rock overhangs and four bolts show the way. Save enough energy to clip the bolts and grab the tree at the top.

I have found a single rope works best for the abseils—there’s less to get tangled in the trees. Do be careful on the abseil back to the lunch ledge. This link-up offers a great day of climbing in a mellow environment and in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.

This link-up is a great route for people who like to climb grade 20–21.

W

LEFT Lisandro Sanchez on the second pitch of Chink in Shining Armour. GUILLAUME CHARTON BELOW Chris Burtenshaw very happy to be hanging out at a spectacular belay above the Dart River on the upper half of Ravages of Time. MERRYN HERLIHY

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

43

44

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

TANIWHA MATUKITUKI VALLEY WANAKA REGION (9 pitches: 19, 21, 24, 22, 24, 24, 19, 23, 23)

p beyond the head of Lake Wanaka at Hells Gate (from Paradise to Hell or so it would seem), is the nine-pitch monster route Taniwha.

The first time I saw Taniwha was when I had driven up the valley in the middle of winter. It was dark and cold and the cattle looked miserable standing in muddy paddocks. The cliff was foreboding and it was hard to tell where the line went. I did not think too much more about the route for a while, but somehow it stayed on my radar. I started putting out feelers for suitable partners. I needed someone a little better at climbing than me.

Tony ‘one route too many’ Burnell was the ideal choice for linking up with Mike ‘just one more climb’ Rockell. We drove down from Christchurch with me graunching the gears of Tony’s car on the way down (he drove all the way back). On a beautiful sunny February evening we camped next to the river looking up at the cliff.

The next morning we steeled ourselves for a chilly river crossing. But we soon warmed up as we worked our way up a creek bed then a rope line to the foot of the cliff.

The first couple of pitches ease you into the climbing gently enough, but don’t be fooled. Pitch three, the first and perhaps easiest of the three grade 24 pitches, will get you thinking as you try to work out the crux move. After that there is a classic grade 22 pitch. You head up a steep slab, and have to work some magic as you undercling and smear your feet along a rising diagonal overlap.

Got your breath back? Good, now for the hardest of the grade 24 pitches, let’s call it grade 24+. The pitch is steep as. Straight off a hanging belay, you go up a steep corner, then straight onto a bulging overhang with hundreds of feet of space between you and the bush below. Once this section is done you may gulp in great lungfulls of air and hope you have broken the back of the beast. There’s only one more grade 24 pitch, then a 19, then two 23s—just an average evening out at the crag for some.

After the final grade 24 pitch is dispatched you will probably want a brief change of angle … and you get it. The golfer’s pitch (19) requires you to grab clumps of grass as you make your way up this unmown beauty. Beware of stranded mountain goats and Fonterra tanker drivers.

Okay, there are now two pitches to go. You better have something left in the tank, because they are two long pitches, both grade 23, and total 70 metres. That’s like five routes in the Port Hills. Ooze your way up the penultimate pitch until finally there is just one more pitch left separating you from the top.

It’s the middle of the afternoon, you’ve finished your water and jettisoned your spare clothes and anything else that might weigh you down. Be ready to get pumped beyond your wildest dreams. And be warned: the second to last pitch is grade 23, but the final pitch is harder. The moves keep on coming at you, the holds are unrelentingly small, and just as you are reaching the final top-out ledge you must resist the strong temptation to grab the tat that someone has left hanging over the edge.

Thanks to Ed Nepia and Guy Cotter for this wonderful creation, which rises above the Matukituki River. This route is a well-bolted masterpiece. It’s never frightening or risky. Do be careful on the abseils though—this route is very steep and you can end up hanging in space out of touch with the rock. I know one person who, only after a desperate effort and assisted by a puff of wind (she was light as a feather), managed to just touch the cliff and regain contact. Taniwha is an excellent climb for people who can climb multiple pitches of grade 23–24 in a day, even if that means having the odd hang on the rope. I have done the climb twice now and am keen to head back a third time in an unlikely quest to redpoint the thing.

U

MAIN The author on the classic, fourth pitch (grade 22) of Taniwha.

MARK WATSON

NEAR LEFT The Hell’s Gate cliff in the Matukituki valley. ED NEPIA

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

45

TECHNIQUE

Alastair McDowell and Tawny Wagstaff simulclimbing along the summit ridge of Aoraki Mt Cook in early December 2015. The pair, with Michael Eatson, had climbed the south face via White Dream before completing a Grand Traverse and subsequently descending to Plateau Hut. They are pictured here on the High Peak. MICHAEL EATSON

THE USE OF MICRO-ASCENDERS FOR SIMUL-CLIMBING

BY GRAHAM JOHNSON

BEING ABLE to move quickly and safely over moderate terrain is one of the key tricks for completing alpine routes in reasonable timeframes.

While the crux pitch of any given route might have a high technical grade, other pitches on that route might be considerably easier. There often exists a ‘grey area’ where the climbing is easy enough to render the chance of a fall extremely unlikely, yet the consequences of an unroped fall are not acceptable. It's in this grey area that simul-climbing becomes a useful tool for using time effectively.

Simul-climbing involves both the leader and the seconder climbing simultaneously, with the leader placing protection as they climb, and the seconder following on a relatively taut rope. When moving together like this, it is assumed the terrain is easy enough that the chance of either person falling is extremely low.

Simul-climbing is not always the safest way to travel, but is sometimes a good compromise between time-consuming pitching and un-protected simul-soloing.

One way to add a little more security into the simul-climbing system

46

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

is to involve micro-ascenders, such as Petzl Tiblocs or Wild Country Ropeman IIs. A micro-ascender only allows a rope to run through it in one direction.

If the leader sets the rope up to run through a micro-ascender at a piece of placed protection, then in the even of the seconder falling, the microascender will lock the rope at that piece of protection, so the weight of the seconder will be held at the protection, thus protecting the leader from being pulled off.

A lot has been said about the propensity of toothed ascenders (like the Tibloc and Ropeman II) to cut the sheath of a rope when loaded dynamically. This fear prevented me from using my Tiblocs for simul-climbing for many years. A recent experience, however, has convinced me that the safety benefits of using a micro-ascender in this fashion outweigh the potential risks of damaging the rope.

TECHNIQUE

A personal case study in the use of Tiblocs for simul-climbing Recently, I was climbing in the French Alps with a friend on one of the many couloir routes. The route we had picked for the day was about 900 metres long and had a crux grade of WI5/M6. However, only about 150 metres of the climb was anywhere close to the crux grade difficulty. The rest of the couloir was relatively moderate 60- to 70-degree mixed snow, ice and rock terrain, on which my partner and I were extremely unlikely to fall. An unroped fall however, would have meant certain death. It was perfect terrain for simul-climbing.

We simul-climbed all but the three crux pitches, placing gear as we needed and ensuring we had at least one Tibloc on a bomber piece of protection at all times.

High on the route, my partner was leading and was exiting the couloir. Either he or the rope knocked a rock loose that hit me. I was literally blasted off the mountain from the force of the impact. The rope came tight (we probably had about a metre of slack between us) and caught me effectively. While I was badly injured, a Tibloc on a cam 20 or 30 metres above me had locked off so effectively that my partner was unaware I had been hit by a rock and had fallen. He had felt nothing on the rope.

I have no doubt that had we not used that Tibloc, I would have pulled my partner off as well. We both would have fallen quite a distance, and it’s almost certain both of us would have ended up injured.

Inspecting the rope in my hospital bed afterwards, we were unable to identify the section of rope that was caught in the Tibloc—it all looked and felt fine.

beta Some tips for using micro-ascenders while simul-climbing: 1

Place the micro-ascender ‘upside down’ from how you would normally use it for ascending a rope. If you are unsure whether you've placed it correctly, try it out. The rope should slide up, but not down.

2

Be sure to place bomber gear. As you're not building belays, the runners you place are your only connection with the mountain.

3

Do not extend the piece of gear you put the micro-ascender on. Extension increases the amount of play in the system and would increase the dynamic load on the micro-ascender in the case of a fall. With a taut rope and a long extension, there is an increased risk of the leader being pulled off.

4

Use round bar-stock carabiners (not fancy modern-shaped ones). This is something you're supposed to do with microascenders anyway, as non-round carabiners put asymmetrical pressure on the rope and can cause rope damage. I carry ‘biners specifically to use with my micro-ascenders.

5

Do the best you can to keep the rope taut between the follower and leader. The slower and weaker climber should be in front. In the case of a fall, a tauter rope will decrease the dynamic load on the micro-ascender, therefore decreasing the chance of rope damage.

6

More tips and technical details can be found on the Petzl website and Andy Kirkpatrick's website: petzl.com (goo.gl/0PwVBN) andy-kirkpatrick.com (goo.gl/eBnc9K)

Your local Outdoor Store ONLINE

Mailorder specialists for

• Climbing and mountaineering equipment • Headlamps for hands-free lighting • Camping, trail and tramping needs • FREE delivery on all orders • Orders ship within 24 hours

outdoorestore.co.nz OES NZ_NZClimb 16.indd 1

17/12/15 10:20 AM THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16 47

BOOKS AND FILM

FIVA

An Adventure that Went Wrong

By Gordon Stainforth Reviewed by Tony Charlton THIS IS the story of just one climb, of the Fiva Route on the Troll Wall, in Romsdal, Norway, which turned out to be an epic. It was a long (over 2000 metres), but non-technical route, first climbed in the 1930s. At first glance that does not seem to be a terribly interesting subject for a climbing book. I probably wouldn’t have given the book a second look if I hadn’t been told that my name was mentioned in it. I was climbing in that area in the same year. I was curious to find out what was said about me, so I got stuck in to the book.

Fiva is written in the present tense and reads like a thriller. Once started, I found it difficult to put down. The author, Gordon Stainforth, wrote the book 40 years after doing the climb, which was completed in 1969 with his twin brother John. The pair were only 19-years-old at the time, and Fiva is written from the point of view of a confident teenager who soon realises he’s set his sights a bit too high.

The twins were reasonably competent rock climbers who had sharpened their claws on the steep but short rock faces in Derbyshire and North Wales. The Fiva Route was ten times the length of anything they had done before. They had been on a basic snowcraft course in Scotland so were confident they could tackle any snow or ice they found on the climb. They carried one ice axe and one ice hammer between them. Surprisingly for 1969, they actually had curved ice gear. Although Chouinard axes and ice hammers were not available in Britain until the following year, they had shortened their axe and had the straight pick bent into a curve.

The twins left without eating any breakfast at 3.45am on a Sunday in July. In the land of the midnight sun, it was already broad daylight. They left the message: ‘Back Sunday night or latest Monday morning.’ They were so confident of completing the climb in that time the only food they took was three cheese sandwiches and two bars of chocolate.

On the approach to the climb they passed two other climbers who turn out to be Bill Lounds and me. We were on our way to climb the 3000metre long Troll Pillar. We had a brief conversation, in which I am quoted as recommending them to take ‘just a couple of Mars bars’. I think the author must be mixing me up with another Tony, as I would never have made that kind of recommendation about a route I hadn’t done.

The first part of the climb was easy; it followed a diagonal grassy rake leading to the first rock slabs, where the twins roped up and started up a leftward slanting ramp on ‘nice gneiss’. They soon found the climbing to be so easy that they took the rope off again until they got onto steeper rock. The narrative is interspersed with short anecdotes about how they started climbing and references to the type of gear used at the time, which, naturally, I related to. There were no harnesses, no belay devices and climbers often clipped their climbing rope into a length of hemp line, wound around their waist several times and fastened with a reef knot. The

reason for the hemp was that it wouldn’t melt, as nylon could do when subjected to a bit of friction when holding a fall with a waist belay.

The twins were following a rather vague description from the English guidebook written by Tony Howard of the Rimmon Climbing Club, who had been on the first ascent of the nearby Trolltind Wall, the tallest rock face in Europe. It wasn’t too long before the twins began to have doubts about the route line as it seemed quite different from the description. There were no in-situ pegs as there would have been on a popular route. It’s not until they got to a ledge with a cairn that they knew they were on-route. It’s about this time they heard voices and the noise of metalware clanking. The sounds were coming from the ridge to their left—it was Bill and me on our route.

The twins looked up at the huge intimidating face above and began to realise they had bitten off more than they could chew. By then it had begun to rain, but there was never any question of turning back.

Attempting to follow the guidebook description, they climbed a small gully to the left of the huge central couloir, but it proved too difficult, and badly protected, so they retreated into the main couloir. They were now on soft snow with a thin layer of ice on top, but they were fortunately able to get protection in the rock walls. Further up, the couloir steepened and got wider, so they could no longer get any rock protection. Gordon used an axe belay to bring up John. They had a narrow escape when John fell off and pulled Gordon after him—they were luckily held when John landed in a small crevasse.

They continued climbing throughout the Sunday night, with a short rest on a dripping ledge, and all day Monday, until they found the ‘exit hole’ described in the guidebook. They finished on horizontal ground at about 4.00pm.

The descent is described as an easy walk down to the road at Stigfoss, but the route isn’t obvious. It took them another 16 hours, including a couple of hours’ rest wrapped in their spaceblankets in the rain.

The book was written for a wider audience, so there is a glossary of climbing terms, but I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good adventure story. It won awards in the Banff Mountain Festival 2012, and was a finalist for the Boardman-Tasker prize. Fiva has been favourably compared to such books as Touching the Void and the author of that book, Joe Simpson, describes Fiva as ‘a wonderful, nostalgic, gripping, classic yarn with great humour’.

Fiva—an adventure that went wrong, by Gordon Stainforth. Golden Arrow Books, UK, 2012.

N E W

ZE A L A N D

ALPINE JOURNAL 2015

The New Zealand Alpine Journal is NZAC's premiere publication. It celebrates and records our mountain community's year in photographs, art, poetry and writing.

The journal is delivered to you as part of a full NZAC membership. Individual copies and subscriptions can also be purchased from the NZAC website: alpineclub.org.nz Previous editions (plus the latest edition for subscribers and NZAC members) are available to view online at: climber.co.nz/journal

48

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

BOOKS AND FILM

TE ARAROA

Walking New Zealand’s 3,000-kilometre trail

By Mark Watson Reviewed by Kester Brown THIS BOOK is a photo-story of the landscapes that accompany the journey of walking Te Araroa, a trail that traverses the length of New Zealand from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

For six months, from January to July 2015, Mark Watson walked the length of the trail, carrying eight kilograms of camera equipment as well as the usual long-distance tramping gear. Mark organised much of his journey around photography, often waiting at certain locations for good light, or walking extra long distances to be in position for good photographic opportunities.

Apart from the photographic element, and the somewhat late summer start, Mark’s journey was more or less a typical Te Araroa experience, and this shines through in the book. Although Mark has clearly put a lot of effort in to get the best shots available at each location, he was a real participant on the long journey, so was limited by the constraints of through-walking logistics. More often than not, Mark would have just one chance to get the best shots he could to represent each location. This lends the book, and the photographs, real authenticity. If it was misty or raining when Mark crossed a saddle (or snowing, as it was at Waiau Pass), that’s what we’ll see in his photos from there. Likewise, if Mark woke up to a beautiful, crystal clear, sparkling, still morning (like he did at Careys Hut at North Mavora Lake), we get to see that side of the experience.

The trail is separated into nine sections in the book, each with a brief overview of the terrain, significant landmarks, walking experiences and historical notes. These are continued in the very brief captions that accompany each photograph—we’re given just enough information to place each photograph in what existing knowledge we already have, or to facilitate further investigation. On my second read through, I found it more satisfying to ignore the captions altogether and let the photographs tell the story. Pausing at each shot in succession is a perfect ‘armchair tramper’ experience. The best moments of any outdoor adventure are the reflective ones, those interventions when a certain scene or position catches your eye and causes you to pause and soak up the sense of place. This book captures those types of moments, in series, of

Mark’s experiences of Te Araroa’s landscapes.

Highlights for me came in unexpected places: a lone tree on the skyline of a layered, dusky Waikato hillscape on the Mahoe Forest Track (p73); the Mangapurua Stream winding through clay cliffs and tangled, verdant North Island bush (p98); and the whole section from the Richmond Range to the St James Walkway (pp130-153).

Notably absent from the story told here are the people of the land and the trail. Even Mark’s photographs in the urban centres are mostly empty of human life. Where people are present, they’re often isolated in the landscapes: a lone figure walking a stretch of footpath by the highway in Manurewa; or a solitary adult bypassing an empty kids’ playground in a mall in central Hamilton. Even Victoria St in downtown Auckland is deserted. It gives the book a sense of loneliness, which I thought might be indicative of Mark’s experiences in those urban areas, having often come into them after multiple days of solitude—I imagine walking 3,000 kilometres mostly on your own can get quite lonely! However, it’s equally likely these scenes are deserted simply because Mark shot them in the early hours of the morning in order to get the best light. The ‘Trail Notes’ chapter almost comes as a relief, in that we get to see some smiling faces, and some ‘behind the scenes’ images and descriptions of trail life.

This book is essential for anyone has has walked, or is thinking about walking, Te Araroa. But it will also appeal to anyone with an interest in New Zealand landscapes and photography. It beautifully showcases the diversity of our country’s scenery. And ultimately, what better praise can I give this book than that it prompted me to lace up my boots and go for a walk in the bush this morning, in search of one of those special moments the landscapes of Aotearoa have to offer?

Te Araroa—Walking New Zealand’s 3,000-kilometre trail, by Mark Watson, New Holland Publishers, NZ, 2015.

BOOK NOTES STANDING MY GROUND A voice for nature conservation

SLICE OF HEAVEN

MEDICINE WALK

Climbs and scrambles on seven continents

by Richard Wagamese

by Ross Cullen

Medicine Walk, a novel by

by Alan F. Mark

Canada’s celebrated author Ross Cullen is an ex-president

Richard Wagamese, was

Alan Mark is one of New

of NZAC, the author of the

awarded the Grand Prize at

Zealand’s best-known conservationists.

Barron Saddle to Mt Brewster guidebook, and

the 2015 Banff Mountain Book

former professor of resource economics at

Competition.

As long-time professor of botany at the University of Otago, Alan’s career has com-

Lincoln University.

Medicine Walk follows a father and son’s redemptive journey through the wild

bined rigorous science with committed environ-

Slice of Heaven describes adventures on

mental activism. In his newly published autobi-

seven continents over 34 years by Ross. This

and mountainous backcountry of British

ography Standing My Ground: A voice for nature

book is part of the genre of climbing literature

Columbia, Canada.

conservation, Alan gives an account of his life

that focuses on the challenge, excitement, joy

and work—a career that has spanned over five

and friendship that climbing brings to everyday

evant to so many mountain cultures … Richard

decades (and continues today).

life. The lively text, wry humour and thought-

Wagamese gives the rivers, the hillsides, the

ful comment provide insight on why, how and

ridges and the valleys a powerful voice in his

where ordinary people aspire to climb.

beautiful, tragic and hopeful story.’

Standing My Ground documents important conservation battles and tells the story of a genuinely humble man who is one of the most

Slice of Heaven documents an important

outstanding New Zealanders in his field.

slice of New Zealand’s modern climbing history.

Published 2015 by Otago University Press, NZ.

Published 2014 by Elcho Publications, NZ.

‘The story is distinctively Canadian, yet rel-

–Herry Vandervlist, Banff Mountain Book Competition Jury.

Published 2015 by Milkweed Editions, Canada.

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

49

STUFF YOU NEED

QUICK RELEASES Approach shoes

SCARPA :: CRUX

FIVE TEN :: CAMP FOUR

SALEWA :: MOUNTAIN TRAINER

Scarpa’s new approach shoe for 2015, the Crux, strikes a very good balance between serious mountain approach shoe and everyday trainer.

The Crux laces right to the toe, has a good partial rubber rand, and a Vibram Vertical Approach sticky sole.

The fit is quite low profile. The sole is of medium stiffness. These are super comfortable, lightweight, durable shoes that are great for those who want to mostly wear them to the crag, but also want a shoe that can handle lengthy approaches and scrambles on steep rock, scree, mud and snow.

These shoes are a top choice for climbers wanting all-around performance.

Weight: 375g. RRP: $249.00

We reviewed Five Ten’s iconic Camp Four approach shoes in The Climber issue 90.

Since then, the Camp Fours have had a minor makeover, with some snazzy new colour-ways, a new heel cage, some tweaks to the construction of the upper so that there are now less seams, and an increase in the height of the lugs on the sole.

These shoes have set the standard for serious alpine approach shoes in recent years. They are de rigeur equipment for seasoned Darrans climbers due to the superior quality of the Five Ten sticky rubber.

These shoes are durable and offer great support. They’re the number one choice for most Kiwi climbers.

Weight: 418g. RRP: $289.95

Salewa’s Mountain Trainers are ultra-stiff, burly mountain shoes.

The upper is constructed of Nubuk and features a full-wrap rubber rand.

These shoes have very good support and excel on the roughest, steepest terrain.

The shoes have a multi-fit footbed system to cater to a variety of foot volumes.

The sole is made of Vibram Alpine Approach rubber.

The Mountain Trainers are not as comfortable for general use as some of the lighter models reviewed here due to their stiffness and narrow sole profile. These shoes are best for climbers looking for a proper mountain shoe rather than a travel or cragging shoe.

Weight: 530g. RRP: $349.00

LA SPORTIVA :: BOULDER X

MERRELL :: CAPRA

SALOMON :: XA PRO 3D

The Boulder Xs have all the standard features of high-quality approach shoes: leather uppers, a good rand, and sticky rubber soles (they use Vibram Idro-Grip rubber for the soles).

An additional benefit of these shoes is they’re made by La Sportiva, so you know they’re well constructed, with a generous amount of R&D and testing having gone into the design.

The sole is just the right stiffness to provide security and support for a variety of activities. They’re the equal of the Scarpa Cruxs in terms of versatility, but they are a little stiffer and narrower.

Weight: 400g. RRP: $249.00

The Capras are the only untested shoe in this comparison. It would have been a disservice to omit them however, as they deserve consideration from anyone looking to purchase a serious pair of approach shoes in New Zealand.

The Capras have a ventilated upper, made from suede and mesh (a Gore-Tex version is also available). The sole is made from Vibram Mega-Grip.

The Capras do not have a rubber rand or lacing systenm that goes to the toe, so they are probably more suited to walking and tramping than they are to climbing and scrambling.

Weight: 439g. RRP: $249.00

The XA Pro 3Ds are not actually approach shoes at all, but they have nevertheless secured themselves a loyal following amongst climbers.

The XA Pro 3Ds are Salomon’s legendary trail-running shoe. They don’t have a rand, leather upper or sticky rubber, but they are very supportive, with a quick-lacing system that provides excellent security.

These shoes are stable enough to work as an approach shoe, the sole is reasonably stiff for a running shoe, but more supple than the other shoes reviewed here, therefore they’re best in rocky terrain where agility is required.

Weight: 410g. RRP: $249.00

50

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

STUFF YOU NEED

RAB MYRIAD HARDSHELL JACKET I’VE NEVER been a fan of hardshell jackets, but suffered them with everyone else until about five or six years ago. At that point softshells got good enough at repelling the weather to allow me to start using them for almost all of my outdoor needs. My hardshells have languished in the back of the closet in recent years—they only come out for the odd ski day, when I seem to spend about as much time rolling around in the snow as I do actually skiing.

A few years ago, Polartec entered the hardshell game with a new, ultra breathable waterproof material called Neoshell. It’s claimed Neoshell is the most breathable waterproof fabric out there, more breathable than Gore-Tex Proshell or eVent apparently. But hardshell materials are only as good as the fabrics they are laminated to—if the outer fabric is not very breathable, it doesn’t matter how good the membrane is.

Early on, it seemed like jacket manufacturers were unwilling to fully embrace the breathability of new fabrics. For the Myriad, Rab has chosen a lightweight, 20-denier fabric that allows the Neoshell to perform as intended. You can tell Rab have put a lot of faith in the breathability of this jacket because they have omitted pit zips. Lots of vents on a hardshell is an easy way to tell the jacket doesn’t breathe very well. Hopefully, I thought, the lack of vents means the Myriad breathes extremely well.

Over six months of testing, I’ve used the Myriad from the Canterbury flatlands to the French Alps and lots of places in between. The only time I’ve felt sweaty and clammy with the Myriad on was while trail running on a muggy but windy day down by the Rakaia when I’d forgotten my normal running jacket. Otherwise, the Myriad has been great. I never get sweaty when climbing in it and never get wet through when retreating from climbs in the rain. One of the supposed drawbacks of Neoshell over other waterproof/breathable membranes is that it’s not completely windproof. Polartec claims Neoshell blocks 99.9 per cent of wind. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed that 0.1 per cent slipping through.

Outside of what the Myriad is made of, a lot of thought went into the design of this jacket. It is clearly designed for serious alpine climbing in all conditions, this jacket has two large pockets (which sit high enough to be

above your harness), one small internal chest pocket, a large but easily adjustable hood with a wirestiffened brim, and Velcro-adjusting wrists.

And that’s it. There are no other tricks or fancy features, just a pared down, lightweight (404g in a size large) alpine shell. The fit is quite trim—I’m 185cm tall and 75kg, and the medium size is perfect, it doesn’t leave lots of material bunched up under my harness.

Because of the athletic cut and the inherent stretchabilty of the Neoshell fabric, the jacket is a joy to climb in; it’s never restrictive.

While I haven’t abused this jacket, it has been on quite a few trips where it’s been scraped against rocks and had tools draped over it. Despite that, it still looks brand new and doesn’t even have a scratch on it. I don’t doubt that a full-on bush bash could destroy this jacket but it has been surprisingly durable considering its weight.

I have two negative things to say about the Myriad, one fairly minor and one a major. My minor gripe is the wire brim stiffener in the hood, this is very annoying as it almost always needs to be bent back into shape after being stuffed in a pack, and I really don’t see any advantage over a more flexible (and lighter) brim. My major complaint is almost enough to drive me crazy. Nine times out of ten, the front zipper gets snagged on the internal zipper flap, requiring some choice words and brute force to get it unstuck again. I cannot believe a company like Rab would let such an otherwise excellent product be undone by something as simple and essential as a zipper flap. If you hear someone shouting obscenities as it starts to rain in the mountains, that’ll likely be me fighting with the zipper.

For all its positive attributes, and as much as I like wearing it, I wouldn’t buy this jacket again because of this one simple drawback.

Rab Myriad hardshell jacket. HHHHH –Graham Johnson

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

51

STUFF YOU NEED

BLACK DIAMOND X4 CAMALOTS I LOVE small cams. I’m a micro-cam connoisseur if you will. I’m always looking for the best small cams and I think the Black Diamond X4s are among the best on the market.

X4 cams come in six sizes, which are colour-coded. The range provides options for placements from 8.4mm to 41.2mm wide. All X4s have a thumb loop, which doubles as a high clip-in point. There are also offset versions available (not tested) for all you aid climbers out there.

The X4s represent a progression from Black Diamond’s C4 and C3 cams and there are obvious advantages that the X4s have over the older designs.

Like the C4, the X4 is a four-lobed camming device. The X4 however, has an extremely narrow head—it’s almost as narrow as the three-lobed C3.

Black Diamond has achieved that by internalising the cam springs; they are hidden within the lobes of the cam, like an Alien. Four lobes are generally regarded to provide more stable placements, higher holding power than three lobed cams, and a decreased propensity for walking.

Another advantageous feature of the X4s is their flexible centre stem.

The central steel cable is protected by a series of armoured beads, which allows the stem to flex over edges or around corners without damaging the stem. This flexibility means the cams are less likely to walk, and are easier to wiggle into deep cracks than cams with a stiffer stem. Those two features allow the X4s to fit in a wider range of placements than the equivalent size of either the C3 (narrow head but stiff stem) or the C4 (wide head and stiff stem) cams.

I think Black Diamond have done a better job with the smaller sizes of X4s than the larger sizes. The 0.1 and 0.2 are excellent small cams. They often feel solid when I place them, which is rare for such small cams. The smallest three sizes supposedly have a large range due to Black Diamond’s stacked axle design. This design apparently provides the range of a double axle but is usable on sizes where a double axle wouldn’t be possible.

However, I’m dubious about that claim because the black and blue Aliens (with a traditional single axle) both have a bigger range than the corresponding X4s. The 0.4 and 0.5 X4s are my favourites; they have a full double axle, which provides a huge range with the added bonus of the double axles acting as cam stops. Sizes 0.4 and up also have Kevlar trigger cables (the three smallest still have the classic wire trigger cables). I’m yet to see how long these cables last, but I’m confident in their durability as I have been using mine for more than a year and the cables are showing almost no signs of wear.

The head on the largest X4 (size 0.75) is too heavy for the skinny cable, this makes it flop around too much when I’m trying to place it in tricky slots so I still prefer the 0.75 C4.

One area in which the X4s earn some extra points is the armoured cable. The cable is excellent and works to prolong the lifespan of the cams. The beads in the cables are separate from each other, so they move freely. This is great in horizontal placements as they roll across edges so one area doesn’t sustain all the damage.

Equally durable are the cam lobes, which are constructed of quite a firm metal, like on the C4s. However, the firm metal is used even on the small sizes, which I’ve found don’t quite bite into rock the way a softer lobed cam would. An advantage to this metal is that it does not show much wear and tear after a fall.

Black Diamond X4 Camalots. RRP $149.90 each. HHHHH

ROCK DELUXE NORTH a guide to the best crags and boulders 24 crags Over 1100 climbs Illustrated history of North Island rock climbing Full colour topos Dozens of inspiring climbing images Access, accommodation and other practical information for every crag

‘The best guidebook I have ever seen’ –Graeme Dingle

Order online at alpineclub.org.nz All proceeds from the sales of Rock Deluxe North will go to a fund for the support and development of rock climbing in the North Island

52

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

–Jarrod Alexander

STUFF YOU NEED

SALEWA RAVEN COMBI GORE-TEX MOUNTAINEERING BOOTS A STIFF pair of technical boots is amazing for slashing steps over short sections of snow without needing crampons, confidently edging on rock, and using with technical crampons. Stiff boots are often heavy and cumbersome though. I was looking for some light and stiff boots for summer climbing when I came across the Salewa Raven Combis. I must admit I didn’t know much about Salewa boots but I was immediately sold on their light weight (800g for a pair in size EU40.5) and the fact these boots are available in two different widths: normal and wide. that’s amazing if, like me, you have hobbit feet.

I’ve used these boots on a wide range of different routes, mostly during summer but occasionally in winter too. I’ve found I really like the combination of the super stiff sole but relatively flexible ankle for approaches and technical climbing. They have a heel welt for crampons but no toe welt so are not compatible with crampon toe bails. The upside of this is that their compact toe profile is great for climbing and scrambling on rock. I’ve found these boots climb well on ice but I tend to switch to a heavier pair of winter boots with more ankle rigidity if I’m planning on lots of front-pointing.

As expected, the Raven Combis don’t have much insulation but I haven’t had a problem with cold feet wearing them. One detail I really like on these boots is the neoprene cuff around the top of the boot to stop snow falling in, meaning that if you leave your gaiters behind to save

weight your feet stay remarkably dry even in deep snow.

My one disappointment with these boots has been the rate at which I have worn them out. That’s partially because I enjoy wearing them so much but also because of their thin sole and rand. As with all lightweight gear, some durability has been sacrificed to save weight.

In summary I think they are a great pair of boots unless you enjoy regular walks up the Tasman moraine—for that kind of abuse you probably want something heavier.

I’m a mentor on the New Zealand Alpine Team, which is sponsored by Bobo products (who distribute Salewa in New Zealand), so I’m looking forward to getting my next pair at a discounted rate. Having said that I paid retail price for my current pair of Raven Combis and I would do so again if I had to.

Salewa Raven Combi Gore-Tex mountaineering boots. RRP $699.00 HHHHH –Reg Measures

MACPAC PROTHERMAL HOODY THEY SAY imitation is the highest form of flattery. Patagonia must be extremely flattered. Although Patagonia wasn't the first company to make a warm fleece baselayer with a balaclava-style tight-fitting hood, their R1 Hoody is a staple in many alpinists wardrobe. Patagonia first made the R1 Hoody around 2000, but it wasn’t until about 2007 that the garment gained massive traction, and nearly every other manufacturer of technical outdoor clothing quickly followed suit with similar products.

A light but warm fleece pullover with a balaclava style hood is not a revolutionary concept, but if you don’t currently use one for alpine climbing, the effect of adding one to your kit will feel, well, revolutionary.

Enter 2015, and Macpac—no doubt encouraged by the members of the New Zealand Alpine Team who love their R1s—has finally gotten on board with the ProThermal Hoody. Think of it as ‘R1 prothermalus’. Like most of the R1 genus, the ProThermal Hoody has some basic features: a lightweight grid-style stretchy fleece with a smooth face; a close-fitting hood designed to be worn under a helmet; a very high collar; low-profile thumb loops; a long cut for tucking into your pants; and a chest pocket.

At the species level the Prothermal begins to differentiate itself. The fleece is lighter than a lot of other similar garments. I have two other hoodies in this genus, one lightweight summer and spring piece and one Canadian-winter-weight piece. The Prothermal falls somewhere in-between those two. The Prothermal is about the right weight for most New Zealand conditions, but you'd certainly want some additional warmth for winter alpine missions. The one outstanding feature, which I haven't seen on any other similar hoodies, is that the hood comprises a double layer of fleece. That might not sound like much of a big deal, but it means that when fully zipped up, the hood on the Prothermal packs a lot of warmth for the overall weight. With the hood off, it's then easy to shed heat. The double layer of fleece also means that the smooth face of the fleece is against your head, making it a little more comfortable.

The chest pocket is fine—it’s big enough for a phone and a gel or two.

A neat feature is that the hoody will pack into its chest pocket, and there's

a little loop for you to hang it from something, like your harness. I can't imagine actually using the loop—if I was going to carry something on the back of my harness I would carry a windproof layer, but the loop adds functionality with no real weight gain, so that's okay. While we're talking about pockets, one of my main gripes (which applies to almost all mid-layer pieces like this) is the placement of the chest pocket. All of the climbing garments I own with a chest pocket have the pocket on the left side of the chest. If you are wearing a few layers and you put a small item in each chest pocket, you end up looking and feeling like you've had a mastectomy. Why can't they alternate sides for pockets to be on?

The other downsides to this otherwise great piece are fairly minor.

While the zipper on the pocket has a nice, glove-friendly pull cord, the main zipper (the one you use all the time) has a miniscule zipper pull-tab that you practically need tweezers (or bare hands) to grasp. An easy fix would be for Macpac to just use the same pull cords on all the zippers on the hoody. Secondly, being that this is a lightweight fleece, it's not that durable. I got mine towards the end of August this year and it already has more holes and pills on the fleece than either of my much older other hoodies. I can't imagine the Prothermal lasting too long.

All in all, the Prothermal Hoody is a good example of the genus.

I'd wear something different for very cold conditions, but for allaround climbing in a temperate climate like New Zealand has, it's just about perfect.

Macpac Prothermal Hoody. RRP $149.00 HHHH –Graham Johnson

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

53

WALL DIRECTORY

Use your NZAC membership to get discounts at the following indoor climbing walls: Auckland

Canterbury

Extreme Edge West Auckland

YMCA Adventure Centre - Clip’n Climb

10% discount to NZAC members.

$2pp discount to NZAC members who bring along their children

Admission: with own gear - $17 Adult, $12 child. Students 10%

(or a group of children).

discount with ID. 1,3,6 and 12 month memberships available.

Admission: school day and non-school day prices: adult $16 ($18),

Courses available. Climbing gear for hire or purchase. Address: 5A

student $15 ($17), school-age $13 ($14), pre-school age $8 ($10).

Waikaukau Road, Glen Eden, Auckland. Ph: +64 09 818 3038.

Address: cnr Waltham Road & Byron Street, Christchurch. Ph: +64

extremeedge.co.nz/glen-eden

(0)3 377 3000.

Extreme Edge Indoor Climbing Panmure

ymcachch.org.nz/adventurecentre/clipnclimb

10% discount to NZAC members.

Roxx Climbing Centre Christchurch

Admission $16 Adult, $10 child with own gear. 1,3,6 and 12 month

NZAC members: $12 adult, $10 student, $8 youth (6-12), plus

memberships available. Courses available. Climbing gear for hire,

$3 one-off registration fee. Admission: $16 adult, $14 student,

or purchase. Address: 40 Morrin Road, Panmure, Auckland. Ph:

$8 youth (6-12), plus $3 one-off registration fee. Address: cnr

+64 (0)9 574 5677.

Waltham Road & Byron Street, Christchurch.

extremeedge.co.nz/panmure

Ph: +64 (0)3 377 3000

Birkenhead Pool and Leisure Centre

ymcachch.org.nz/adventurecentre/roxx

$11 entry to NZAC members.

Uprising Boulder Gym Christchurch

Admission: $14 adult, $11 children. Bouldering $7.50. Instruction

NZAC Members with I.D. $12 entry

and gear hire available - harness $5, shoes $4.50, chalk-bag $5.

Admission: adult $14, student $12, under 13 $10. Unit 4, 5 Tanner

Address: 46 Mahara Ave, Birkenhead, Auckland.

Street, Woolston, Christchurch. Ph: +64 (0)3 389 50601

Ph: +64 (0)9 484 7290.

bouldering.co.nz

aucklandleisure.co.nz

Rockup Mobile Rockclimbing Wall

North Otago

10% discount to NZAC members.

Climbing wall hire. See website and contact them for details and

Waitaki Recreation Centre

options available. Contact: 0800 ROCKUP (0800 762 587).

NZAC discount on entry (unspecified).

rockup.co.nz

Admission: Admission: Senior $88 (NZAC $66), junior $60 (NZAC $45), family $120 (NZAC $90). Casual per day: Senior $8 (NZAC

Wellington

$6), junior $5 (NZAC $4). 10% discount to school kids as a group if paid in full. Other groups to pay gym hire and instructor, plus

Fergs Kayaks Wellington

gear $30 per group. Address: 43 Orwell Street, Oamaru. Ph: +64

NZAC club night and discount to members.

(0)3 434 6932.

NZAC Club Night Mondays ($10 entry/$2 harness), or $12 any

sportsground.co.nz/waitakicrc/112878

other time. Admission: Adult $15, student $12, child $10 (plus $4 harness, $4 shoes, $3 chalk). Address: Shed 6 Queens Wharf,

Southland

Wellington. Ph: +64 (0)4 4998 898. fergskayaks.co.nz

YMCA Climbing Wall Invercargill

Hangdog Indoor Rock Climbing Lower Hutt

NZAC discount on entry (unspecified).

NZAC members $13 and 20% discount off gear at the shop.

Invercargill. Ph: +64 (0)3 218 2989

Admission: adult $21, student $17, child $17 (with harness/2hr pass

recreation.ymcasouth.co.nz/com-rec/climbing-wall

Admission: adults $4, Students $3.50. Address: 77 Tay Street,

and supervised safety briefing if needed). It is $4.50 cheaper if you supply your own harness. Gear Hire/instruction available.

Australia

Address: Unit #11 - 453 Hutt Rd, Alicetown, Lower Hutt. Ph: +64 (0)4 589 9181 hangdog.co.nz

Cliffhanger Climbing Gym Altona North VIC Concession rate entry for NZAC adult members.

Admission: adults $17, students $15, 12 and under $12, bouldering $10. Passes and gear hire available. Cnr Grieves Parade & Dohertys Road, Altona Nth, Vic. Ph: 3025 +61 (0)3 9369 6400 cliffhanger.com.au

Pulse Climbing Adamstown NSW $5 discount off adult entry to NZAC members.

Admission: adults $16, under 12 $13, Harness hire $5. 10/122 Garden Grove Pde, Adamstown, NSW. Ph: +61 (0)2 4023 4743 pulseclimbing.com.au

CAMERON MACKENZIE

54

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

THE LAST PITCH

AS I DESCENDED, THE WHOLE ICE-CLIFF BAND ABOVE US COLLAPSED. I WAS GAINING SPEED AS A PIECE OF ICE THE SIZE OF A SMALL FRIDGE HIT ME IN THE RIGHT THIGH. The Last Pitch: continued from page 56

Local climber Chris Prudden skied down to us, having come off the summit. Chris joined us for a stroll to the ice-covered bluffs at about 2100m.

We cut out a platform just underneath the bluffs. The slope was about 45 degrees. She found her bindings hadn’t been adjusted to her boots.

Chris got his Swiss Army knife out and she started adjusting them.

Just then the left-hand side of the bluffs shed their winter ice. A section of ice hundreds of metres wide and ten metres high let go. Chunks of ice as big as small cars tumbled into Snow Valley, picking up speed as they went.

Chris was off like a flash. Wise man. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ I said.

‘No bloody way,’ she said, focusing totally on adjusting her bindings.

‘What?’ I asked, incredulous.

With a huge crunch the right-hand side of the ice-cliffs gave way.

‘We’ve got to go,’ I said, ‘we’ll die.’

‘No way,’ she said.

I looked at her and said, ‘I’m not going to die for this, I’m going.’

I was screaming, begging, imploring. She was resolute, immovable, concentrating on the binding. It was as if in her glowering anger the ice cliff wouldn’t dare fall. And let’s be honest, I felt like if I was the ice cliff, and knew what was good for me, I’d be looking off somewhere in the suddenly very interesting distance, twiddling my icy thumbs, whistling Puff the Magic Dragon.

It was a bloody hard choice, but I jumped my skis down the slope.

As I descended, the whole ice-cliff band above us collapsed. I was gaining speed as a piece of ice the size of a small fridge hit me in the right thigh. I remember it being like body surfing, but on a wave of tumbling, broken ice. I was moving downwards at speed so the ice didn’t hurt me, but it carried me 100 metres down-valley before I could get it off me. I looked up, certain I’d see a now-dead and smashed ex-girlfriend. But she just stood up from the small platform we’d cut to get into our skis on, with not a scratch on her. How that could possibly be I’ll never know. All the ice had sailed over the top of her. Why she had refused to move from the suicidal slope is because of a stubborn streak wider than the Southern Alps. *** There are plenty of objective dangers in the New Zealand mountains. Wet snowgrass and ice-fall are just two of them.

I’m sure all climbers who spend time in the mountains have had some near misses. I was once struck by rockfall—after a lead climber pulled off a piece of rock—which took the t-shirt off my back.

You can add to your luck by making good, calm decisions, not getting grumpy with your climbing partner, checking your gear, getting up early, and most of all knowing when to ‘run away’.

She was very lucky on both of the days described in this article. The outcomes could have been very different. C

WANAKA ROCK a comprehensive guide to Wanaka rock climbing

–Anon

Full colour comprehensive guide Complete coverage of areas new and old New and updated topos Over 700 routes and boulder problems 200 pages Lavishly illustrated with inspiring photography

Tom Hoyle

A joint publication between NZAC and the Wanaka Rock Climbing Club

Order online at alpineclub.org.nz

As the proud owner of this book, you are directly supporting climbing in Wanaka. All proceeds are spent on preserving access, maintaining tracks, facilities and bolts, and developing new routes and crags.

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

55

THE LAST PITCH

On the ridge just north of Gillespie Pass, with the Young River South Branch on the left.

KESTER BROWN

USING A FEW CATS’ LIVES Decisions made in anger in the mountains, especially when combined with poor preparation, can lead you down a path with poor outcomes.

It was early October in 1990. My girlfriend and I had just finished a season working at Treble Cone ski area, and were looking for a good mission.

We decided on a stroll over Gillespie Pass in Mt Aspiring National Park.

We wandered up the Young River South Branch, and stayed in the old hut. We had beautiful views of the upper valley cirque, with Mt Awful at its head.

We were the first people to have visited the hut since the previous autumn. The shadowed, south facing side of the valley held huge curtains and waterfalls of ice, which looked spectacular and far more like they belonged in Canada than New Zealand. (That’s something for ice climbers to note and remember during really cold winters like the one we had in 2015.)

The day was fine but cold and windy. We passed a small stream with a huge, fresh stag’s footprint in the sand; its owner was long gone.

My girlfriend’s hands got cold as we climbed towards the pass, so we stopped and I gave her my gloves.

When we gained the ridge, I chose to stay on the windward side, as the snow was firmer there. She plodded along in soft, calf-deep snow on the lee side. She gestured, calling me over, but I was content where I was. I was twice her weight, so I knew I’d go knee-deep or more in the soft stuff.

My decision to stay on my side of the ridge may have been an error. It was too windy to talk so we continued on. She was not happy with me.

We came to the descent and the snow line. We’d discussed the dangers

56

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 94, SUMMER 2015/16

of slipping on wet snowgrass the night before. I took my pack off to put crampons on.

She wasn’t keen to stop. In fact, she wasn’t having a bar of it. She refused a discussion and strode off through the tussock.

She slipped on the second step. Like magic she was gone. She disappeared from sight over a bluff. I was sure she was dead, but I called out her name in anger and panic. I started descending to where she’d fallen.

After about five seconds a call came back. Fumbling with my crampons, I got them attached securely and descended as fast as I could. I found her with just a minor scratch; the bluff was only a couple of metres high.

She apologised in a slightly embarrassed and angry way, strongly implying that this incident would not be discussed further. We were a bit shaken, but moved on. *** The next event occurred on Mt Taranaki in October a few years later. She had just gotten new skis and was keen on a few turns. We headed off for a ski down Snow Valley above Tahurangi Lodge, on the north side of the mountain.

We were late getting away. It must have been 1.00pm by the time we walked out of Hongi’s Valley and headed upwards in perfect-looking softening corn snow. North Island volcano spring corn is not Utah pow, but it’s pretty good stuff.

Please turn to page 55

Introducing the new Momentum

Ines Papert Black Diamond Athlete Rjukan, Norway Photographer: Thomas Senf

For more information and where to buy: www.southernapproach.co.nz or call 0800 335 000

SOUTHERN ALPS GUIDEBOOKS NZAC is pleased to offer a complete set of seven climbing and backcountry guidebooks to the mountain ranges of the Southern Alps.

Purchase guidebooks from the Southern Alps set from NZAC National Office: (03) 3777-595, office@alpineclub.org.nz.

Or order online at:

alpineclub.org.nz PHOTO: MARK WATSON