Meri Simms climbing the summit slopes of Ishinca in Peru's Cordillera Blanca
Peru and the Cordillera Blanca must have the most easily accessed 6000m peaks in the world. It’s possible to be at a base camp for a peak the same day you leave town. It’s also a cheap country to travel in and climbing requires no peak fees. The dry winter season also has stable weather giving us a good chance of getting up high.
Kim Ladiges firing up an off-fingers splitter crack on Mount Barrill in Alaska's Ruth Gorge
Another serac rips from the summit ice cliffs of neighbouring Mount Dickey, and the familiar roar of avalanche thunders through the valley. My calves shake on crumbling footholds, the infamous “Cracker Jack Gravel” of the Ruth Gorge.
I’m balanced on an arete well above my last piece. I reach for a pecker piton and weld it into a thin crack with my free hand, tightening my crimp on the other. I launch into the corner above, loaded with tottering loose flakes.
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
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.
Twenty File Mile Falls. WI4R, 100m. The main flow in the centre of the cirque.
A multi-pitch ice climbing crag located at the head of Twenty Five Mile Creek – a tributary of the Rees River.
This was an area first spotted during a scenic flight in the winter of 2016, but wasn’t properly explored until June of 2018 when three routes were climbed. The cirque at the head of the Twenty Five Mile Creek catchment sits directly below Twenty Five Mile Saddle and contains at least ten separate ice lines. Including the main flow of Twenty Five Mile Falls - a 100m WI4 route. This is marked as the 98m waterfall on the topographic map.
El Capitan
Yosemite Valley saw a true Kiwi invasion this spring season, swarming to the most famous big walls in the world. Our attention in this expedition was unequivocally focused on the greatest of them all, El Capitan. Over the course of the month, our group would go on to climb the Motherstone by six different routes, for a total of 15 El Cap ascents between them.
Yosemite was the second of the NZ Alpine Team’s official training trips, the first being Canadian Rockies. These two destinations are the most convenient for kiwi climbers looking to gain mileage & experience ice climbing and big wall climbing as a foundation for larger alpine objectives.
The Torre Group at sunrise
After our first exhausting failed effort on Punta Herron, our motivation for a second attempt was drained, none of us thought we would be returning anytime soon. This was our main objective, but the thought of repeating the twelve-pitch approach traverse beneath Standhardt only to find Punta Herron unclimbable again was a risk our sore bodies dreaded, now four weeks into the trip. But spotting the bone-dry north ridge of Punta Herron from Mermoz rejuvenated our psych, and after five days of Chalten extravagance we were rearing for a second attempt.
Cholatse, view towards the NE and NF on the approach trek
The following outlines our acclimatization schedule, climbing equipment and clothing used for an ascent of the North Face of Cholatse. You can find a video of the ascent here
For more information on the new route climbed on the South West Pillar of Lobouche also as part of this expedition click HERE
Rack
12 ice screws , various sizes but with two stubby screws
I recently snuck off from a social tramping trip to the Copland Hot Pools to make a solo ascent of the West Ridge of Mt Sefton. The easiest route on Mt Sefton (MC 2+), the West Ridge provides a straightforward snow climb from Welcome Pass. The route either follows the reasonably level Douglas Neve to where a final snowslope leads to the summit, or else a much more interesting and crevasse free option involves gaining the ridge crest shortly after Welcome Pass and sidling a beautiful sharp snow ridgeline until the final summit slope.
Kim Ladiges on the Ragni Route Cerro Torre , this was taken during a failed attempt where we turned around due to bad weather
Man Spooning – Verb , two men locked in the spoon position during an alpine bivy. Depending on the participants, usually a function of age and or temperature, man spooning may take several seconds, minutes or even hours to begin. Once both parties have accepted the terms on their situation, man spooning usually continues until it’s time to start climbing. It is not common to hear the expression “Lets manspoon” this is usually a silent agreement.
Scroll to the bottom of this story for a video from this and other previous attempts on the Ragni Route
