Kim approaching Gangapurna
September 30, 2018, NZAT members Kim Ladiges and Matthew Scholes flew into Nepal for a 6 week expedition with the primary objective being the south face of Gangapurna, 7455m. Here Matt Scholes recounts his and Kim's journey to attempt this huge 1500 metre face in the Annapurna Massif.
The Manaslu Circuit - Acclimatisation Trek
A couple of years ago, I sold my business in NZ and more or less became a full time climbing bum. This coincided with becoming a father, and the two combined led me to examine some of my climbing choices and the statistical risks associated with them. I was keen to make sure that I had good habits in place to avoid those once in a lifetime accidents that over a long climbing career might happen.
Salewa Mountain Trainer fitted with ultralight crampons
In the saturated and expensive market of high-tech sneakers for climbers, called ‘approach shoes,’ one model has for several years stood out in terms of durability and utility. In partnership with Bobo Products, the New Zealand importer of Salewa, I recently got my hands (or feet) on some new Salewa Mountain Trainer IIs. Not that I needed to: my 5 year old pair still looks almost new, despite considerable abuse. Nevertheless, the new model has received a few upgrades and improvements, and at the outset of this review I’ll simply say that they are great (you can stop reading now if you wish).
Climbing with the Tendon 7.8mm half ropes on North Face of Dent Blanche in Switzerland
In search of a lightweight set of half ropes, I have recently been testing out the Tendon Master 7.8mm ropes. I have used them on recent climbs in the European Alps such as the long north faces of Dent Blanche, Aiguille du Jardin, and water-ice climbing in the Haute-Maurienne, and I found them to perform excellently on these particular climbs. If you are looking for a new light, compact double rope setup, read on.
Rating
North Face of Les Drus. Allain-Leininger route with bivouac spot marked
Les Drus is the most impressive granite monolith overlooking the Chamonix Valley. Often you will catch a glance of the intimidating, dark rock peak from the opposite sunny side of the valley, and its a wonder that this face would be so alluring. This winter in Chamonix has been unusually dry, the mountains are devoid of ice, every new snow fall brings dry snow that fattens the ski-fields, but blows off the steep mountain faces. So instead of lamenting it, we embraced it, and set about blunting our tools and crampons on 850m of granite dry tooling up the North Face of the Petit Dru.
Sun set over Mt Fitz Roy, Patagonia. As a storm fast approaches.
The size and weight of your pack can have almost as much impact of your chances of success on a climb as your level of fitness and skill.
BD Offset X4
In this review Jaz Morris discusses what he's learnt about different models of offset cams during a long season trad climbing on North American granite. We couldn't find any comparison reviews on the internet so we hope this will fill a bit of a gap!
Tim surveys the morning view from our partially buried tent after our second night at 5100m on the North Spur of Flat Top.
In mid-September 2018 I teamed up with Tim Elson, a member of the newly invigorated Alpine Climbing Group in the UK, for an expedition to the Brammah Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir, India. We'd identified two amazing looking objectives: the 1600m high North Spur of a 6100m peak called Flat Top, and the South Face of the Kishtwar Eiger, a peak various recorded as somewhere between 5600m and 6000m depending on the map.
The Southwest Face of Mt Percy Smith
‘The Promise’ Grade VI, 6+ (WI4, M5+, A0), 700m.
On the Southwest Face of Mt Percy Smith (2465m), solo first ascent, Ben Dare, October 7, 2018.
New Advisory Mentors Tim Macartney-Snape, Lionel Clay and Allan Uren
The New Zealand Alpine Team are proud to announce that Tim Macartney-Snape, Lionel Clay and Allan Uren will be joining the NZAT in an Advisory Mentor role.
Tim, Lionel and Allan are three of Australasia’s most accomplished alpine climbers. They each have a wealth of experience spanning a number of decades, and the knowledge and expertise that they will bring to the NZAT is invaluable.
