Expedition Reports

Free Rider El Capitan Trip Report and Beta

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Daniel sending the Enduro Corner during Caro and his ascent of Free Rider.

Creator:

John McCune

In 2018 I was standing around on top of El Capitan with Jon Seddon a fellow Kiwi and my climbing partner for that particular trip. It was my second attempt on Free Rider with Jon. Earlier in the year my first attempt ended with a dislocated shoulder in the offwidth above El Cap Spire. We were sorting our haul bags and having a quick chat with Adam Ondra who was doing a photo shoot. We had just finished our attempt on Free Rider which had gone well but ultimately we had both fallen a couple of times. Adam asked me dead pan: "Why didn’t you just try again?" I laughed, we did!

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Expedition Reports

Muztagh Ata

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Muztagh Ata stands at 7545m and is located in far western China, it’s often called one of the easiest 7000m peaks because of the lack of technical difficulties, but an 18% success rate suggests that it’s not that easy.

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Peru 2019 - Cordillera Blanca

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Meri Simms climbing the summit slopes of Ishinca in Peru's Cordillera Blanca

Creator:

Matt Scholes

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.

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Expedition Reports

King Cobra - Alaskan Big Wall Free Climbing

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Kim Ladiges firing up an off-fingers splitter crack on Mount Barrill in Alaska's Ruth Gorge

Creator:

John Price

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.

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Expedition Reports

Gangapurna Expedition 2018, Nepal

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Kim approaching Gangapurna

Creator:

Matthew Scholes

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

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Expedition Reports

Brammah Glacier Expedition - Kishtwar, India

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Tim surveys the morning view from our partially buried tent after our second night at 5100m on the North Spur of Flat Top.

Creator:

Reg Measures

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.

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Expedition Reports

Twenty Five Mile Creek Ice

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Twenty File Mile Falls. WI4R, 100m. The main flow in the centre of the cirque.

Creator:

Ben Dare

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.

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Expedition Reports

Yosemite - One Month of El Capitan

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El Capitan

Creator:

A. McDowell

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.

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Expedition Reports

Patagonia - Tierra del Viento

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The Torre Group at sunrise

Creator:

Dan Joll

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.

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Expedition Reports

North Face of Cholatse - Equipment , Clothing and Route Beta

Cholatse, view towards the NE and NF on the approach trek

Creator:

Daniel Joll

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

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