Mt Pleasant Crag, PH

Had an afterwork climb with Andy Kingdon. Flailed around on 'Ferret' (15/16) and tried top roping a 19 round the corner.

Shortcut St James, Lewis Pass

We were hoping to climb Mt Murchison, but a poor forecast had us searching for alternatives. A trip was devised with plenty of good and bad weather options between the St James walkway and the tops that it circumnavigates.

Ready to go at the Lewis Pass Summit.
Geoff, Sarah, AJ and Chucky

River grovelling up an unnamed tributary of the
Maruia River toward Henry Saddle

Found a few snow caves where avalanche debris
had been carved out by the stream

Climbing avalanche debris toward Henry Saddle

Chucky on Henry Saddle

From Henry Saddle we had some good quality bushbashing to get down to the Henry River Flats. Got rained on a little that afternoon and made it to the very crowded Anne Huts after a 10.5hr day.

Steph arrived not long after dark, having run the 30km from Boyle village in under 6 hrs.. what a keen bean..

It snowed overnight , making for a beautiful 8hr slog round the St James station to Ada Pass Hut.

Nearly at Ada Pass and the sun comes out to warm us up

Enjoying a well earned beer at Ada Hut

Again it snowed overnight and dawned a bit murky. The tops looked extremely windy, so we elected to continue down the St James Walkway, much to Steph's dissapointment..

But the sun came out along the way and we paused for a dip in the Upper Maruia River.

Pausing for lunch on day 3 at Cannibal Gorge Hut

AJ admires the Maruia River

Mt Kakawau and Carew Falls

Went for a stroll up Mt Kakawau on the way home from a work trip to Greymouth. Coupla hours each way was rewarded with a partial view back toward the main divide on a brilliant clear west coast day.

On the way home we swung past Lake Brunner and checked out Carew Falls.

Mt Hutt Skiing

We went skiing.. It was awesome..

Super hot day, nice soft spring snow, good company and a beer and pie at Hororata on the way home..

Magic :)

Ball Pass, Mt Cook NP

A magnificent two day traverse of the Mt Cook Range with the CUTC.

Drove up late on Friday and stayed in the CMC hut.

Next day Vaughn ferried us via 4WD as far as possible up the Ball road to the Ball Shelter in the Tasman Valley
From there we climbed the ridge, which was mostly rock lower down.

There were a few interesting bits, with a little exposure, but all could have been bypassed if we chose so.


Above the rocky ridge, the terrain mellowed out unti Caroline Hut. From there, the ridge steepend a bit over Furggens knob and didn't broaden out much until right below Ball pass (2120m)


We all snow camped just beneath the pass, and had amazing views of Mt Cook's Caroline Face at Dawn.

Sunday saw us pop up over the Pass to view the Hooker Valley, and the dominant bulk of Mt Sefton. The route then sidles (dropping perhaps 100-200m only) the south side of the valley to reach the higher of two subtly flat sections on the ridge that flanks the south side of the valley. From there you can look directly down onto the playing fields and the rest of the route.

There were two steepish sections on the descent, but even our newbies managed to get down in one peice. In retrospect, it may have been just a little safer to get the rope out and lower the less experienced members down a 60m pitch or two.

Finally behind the playing fields we descended a deep gully with perfect plunge stepping snow. Once reaching the Hooker moraine terrace, we plodded a couple of hours back to Mt Cook village, tired but satisfied with an amazing weekend with perfect weather.

Mt Isobel, Hanmer Springs

Wandered up the hill with Geoff, Sarah, Amy and AJ in thick cloud. A few canyoniferous bits had me lagging behind whilst scouting the river.

Saw a sweet waterfall just before lunch.

Up on the tops the there was just enough of a gap in the clouds to enjoy lunch by.

On the top of Mt Isobel

Had a sweet soak in the hotsprings on the way home :) 4hrs round trip.

Angel Face, Britten Crag, PH

A very windy day in the Port hills. Geoff and I walked to Britten Crag to the Angel face area.

We each lead; Bury the Brass (17), No Quarter (17) and Mercy (15).

Soon we were surrounded by numerous other climbers, all keen to climb the same lines, so we bailed and went to check out the Cave Crag to satisfy the curiosity..

Mt Oxford, Nth Canterbury

Another magical Thursday in the hills.. 2hrs from the Carpark to the Summit, not including a snowball fight along the way.

Great conditions on the summit, with 15cm of fresh dry powder, light winds and whispy high clouds. AJ and I made a Snowman on the summit, which was rather amusing.

Strolled off down the west ridge and endured a couple of hours negotiating terrible storm damage through the beech forest. With the snow on the ground and all the broken branches, the track was impossible to follow.

We checked out Ryde falls and found a canyon waiting a descent! 5 drops at least, all polished solid rock, super short but super cool!

9.5hrs, 1475m of vert.. we were tired...

Mt Oxford Summit

AJ, Mr Snowman and Chucky

Snowball's away

Chucky getting high

Found a new Canyon!! Ryde Falls, Mt Oxford

Bottle Lake MTB

Bottle Lake rocks! Had great fun after work ride with Geoff. Plenty of undulating single track..