NZAJ 2015 preview

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ALPINE JOURNAL 2015

NEW ZEALAND ALPINE CLUB

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ALPINE JOURNAL 2015

Latitude: -45.150000

Longitude: 168.833333

we ARE climbing

Takeshi Tani on ‘Cyber Pasty Memorial’ WI5+ / M7, Alberta, Canada Photo: ex-Bivouac Staffmember John Price johnpricephotographic.com

PROUDLY

For twenty five years Bivouac Outdoor has been proudly 100% New Zealand owned and

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It is the same gear we literally stake our lives on, because we are committed to adventure and

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committed to providing you with the best outdoor clothing and equipment available in the world. we ARE climbing.

PROUD TO SUPPORT

NZAC

10 STORES NATIONWIDE

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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.

Enquire now about purchasing the full southern alps set. national office: (03) 3777-595, office@alpineclub.org.nz or order online at:

alpineclub.org.nz Photo: Mark Watson

NEW ZEALAND ALPINE JOURNAL 2015

CONTENTS President’s Page Penny Brothers 8

THE VERTICAL WORLD Bill (WR) Sykes, Botanical Explorer, Western/Central Nepal 1952, 1954 Grant Hunter & Bill Sykes 76 Blue Sky Expedition Tamotsu Nakamura 84 Eastern Rim of Central Tibet, Southern Tibet and Eastern Tibet Tamotsu Nakamura 85 A Scree Pea With a View Hugh Wood 90 When the Dust Settles Pete Strang 92

NEW ZEALAND ROCK AND ICE Up Cirque Creek Without a Shovel Milo Gilmour 12 Tramadol Dreams Steven Fortune 16 Tempest Ben Dare 19 The Virgin of Poison Bay Max Olsen & James Thornton 22 Yeah, Nah, Dur Troy Mattingley 26 Peaking Pete Harris 28 A Couple of Weeks in the Olivines Nina Dickerhof 32 Skirting Between the Clouds James Thornton 38 A Chink in the Armoury Range Shane Orchard 42 2500m—A Ski Odyssey Mark Sedon 46 The Symphony on Skis—A 30-Year Journey Carla Braun-Elwert 52

AREA REPORTS North Island Rock Dan Head, Kester Brown, Cliff Ellery, Don French & John Palmer 98 South Island Rock Kester Brown 103 New Zealand Alpine Kester Brown 108

OBITUARIES

OVERSEAS CLIMBING The North Pillar of Fitz Roy Daniel Joll 60 The Traverse of Illimani in Bolivia Erik Monasterio 65 Untouched India Mike Page 68

Richard Tornquist 1924–2015 114 Robert William Cawley 1925–2014 115 Alec Gourlay 1928–2014 116 David Edward Cooper 1928–2011 117 David Graham Bishop 1938–2015 118 Toby Benham 1983–2015 119

c o v e r Howie McGhie on the final pitch of Friday’s Fool (M4, WI3), west face of the Telecom Tower, Remarkables Range. Guillaume Charton i n s i d e f r o n t c o v e r Tess Carney descending towards the Kirk Glacier, Armoury Range, with the Warrior in the background. Shane Orchard h a l f t i t l e Aerial view of the western side of Aoraki Mt Cook. Gavin Lang t h i s p a g e Jewell Lund on the fifth pitch of Labyrinth (21), Barrier Knob, Darran Mountains. Forest Woodward

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President Penny Brothers Executive Committee Chair Geoff Gabites Honorary Treasurer Gillian Crombie Honorary Secretary George Edwards Publications Richard Thomson Accommodation Richard Wesley Climbing and Instruction Paul Prince

Section Representatives Auckland Magnus Hammarsal Australia Lucas Foxton Canterbury/Westland Craig Hoskings Central Otago Erik Bradshaw Central North Island Mike Greer Nelson/Marlborough Jerome Waldron North Otago Hugh Wood Otago Danilo Hegg South Canterbury Neil Harding-Roberts Southland Peter O’Neill Wellington Simon Williamson

National Office Staff General Manager Sam Newton National Administrator Margaret McMahon Administration Assistant Narina Sutherland Programme Manager Sefton Priestley Publications Editor/Designer Kester Brown New Zealand Alpine Journal Editor Kester Brown Proofing Jude Brown New Zealand Alpine Club PO Box 786, Christchurch, New Zealand Phone 64 3 377 7595 office@alpineclub.org.nz | alpineclub.org.nz NEW ZEALAND ALPINE JOURNAL 2015, Volume 67w Published by the New Zealand Alpine Club Designed and typeset in Minion and Univers by Kester Brown Printed by Spectrum Print, Christchurch.

ISSN 0110 1080 Placeholder, not for Printing Logo use must be approved by Blue Star Group NZ Ltd Min Size 12mm Height

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PRESIDENT’S PAGE

by PENNY BROTHERS

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nother busy year is coming to a close. It has been busy for the best of reasons—our members have spent another year getting out into our hills and onto our crags, from newbies doing an instruction course to elite-level climbers pushing the boundaries on new routes.

In November we celebrated the launch of two brand new websites. The ICT project has been a major commitment for the club, particularly for the staff in our Christchurch office, and I congratulate them on producing exciting, appealing websites thoroughly relevant to the club’s activities in the 21st century.

The staff can also be congratulated for their contributions to NZAC winning the award for organisational excellence at the New Zealand Outdoor Awards in 2015. This year we also celebrate the election of new life members Pat Deavoll, Don French, Ron McLeod and Keith Moffatt.

In 2016 we will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of NZAC in 1891 by AP Harper. This is an opportunity to look forward to the next 125 years, and to ensure the sustainability of the club into the future. Firstly, we are looking at the sustainability of our membership. Our focus on youth—with the National Youth Rock Climbing Camp, the National Indoor Bouldering Series (NiBS) and Youth Mountaineering Courses—is catering to the development of a new generation of climbers.

On the instruction front, we are seeing growth in the demand for instruction through NZAC, with more people wanting to learn at the basic and intermediate levels. The Mountain Safety Council is no longer offering instruction, creating further opportunities for NZAC in this space.

We are seeing changing patterns in our members’ activities, with a rise in the popularity of winter climbing and ski-touring.

The most recent NZAC membership survey showed that only 20 per cent of our members are women.

We need to consider our appeal to women, Māori, Pasifika and people of many other cultures who call New Zealand home.

The membership survey also showed that members value what the club does in the realm of recreational advocacy as much as what we do concerning huts, instruction and publications. This relates to the broader themes of the sustainability of our mountain environment and our continued ability to access climbing areas. The challenge presented by the Remarkables access issue in 2015 showed both how perilous our access can be, but also how successful a well-organised community response can be.

We have a growing expectation to minimise impacts on our environment resulting from climbing activities. A cornerstone of our 125th anniversary celebration will be hosting the Sustainable Summits Conference at Aoraki Mount Cook in August 2016. The American Alpine Club organised the first two of these conferences in the USA. Now NZAC has taken up the reigns, making the conference a truly international event and showing that New Zealand and the club are leaders in this field.

Other challenges for continued sustainability of the club are in the financial realm. The success and growth of the Banff Mountain Film Festival is good for both its impact on raising the profile of climbing and mountain sports, and the financial revenue for the club.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is the tension between individual responsibility, including the right to take calculated risks (something that is at the heart of every climbing activity) versus the societal and regulatory trends around safety management, which continue to be imposed both from within the club and externally. The future of climbing and the club depends on finding the right balance.

Finally, I am honoured to become the new president of NZAC, and I sincerely thank outgoing president John Cocks for his service to the club, his enthusiasm for all its activities and his wise leadership. With our strong record of volunteer engagement and our excellent staff at the Home of Mountaineering the prospects are great.

My best wishes to all members in their climbing activities for the year ahead.

8 NEW ZEALAND ROCK AND ICE

Lake Wilson and the Serpentine Range. Katja Riedel

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