Artesonraju, Paron Valley
There's an immense satisfaction in seeing the fruition of many years of hard work, perseverance and the continual acquisition of skills garnered from climbing in New Zealand and abroad. Nothing demonstrates this tremendous New Zealand climbing ability better than the four first ascents on Taulliraju (5830m) over the past two weeks.
East face of Mt Blanc Du Tacul & the Super Couloir.JPG
Climbing the Super Couloir on Mt Blanc du Tacul via its classic direct start is a must do climb for many alpinists visiting the Chamonix valley.
Rachel Knott on the crux pitch of the North Buttress of Sabre
“You should have a crack at Sabre if you want something tough. By god, there’s a mountain for you!” G Hall-Jones to M Gill, c.a. 1958
Aiguille Sans Nom North Face
Aiguille Sans Nom Direct linking to Gabarrou Silvy
Rose Pearson climbing the curx on the Carrington Rose, during a winter trip to Chamonix
The Carrington Rouse (originally known as the Rebuffet Terray) is a classic ice and mixed climb on the Aiguille Des Pélerins in the European Alps. With 550m of technical climbing and a close proximity to the mid-station of the Midi lift it makes for a nice winter day-trip from town if you plan to simul-climb it or a 1-day climb if you pitch the cruxes with a bivy before or after at the mid-station. Dan, Kim, Rose and Peter climbed this in thin conditions in late January 2016. We found it to be fun and engaging with a crux just below the routes top-out at the Col des Pélerins. What follows is a quick route description and some gear beta.
Chaz following one of the ice fields Eiger North Face
The Eiger North Face is one of the classic alpine routes in the world. Long, steep, committing and a story made famous by books like The White Spider and Clint Eastwoods movie the Eiger Sanction, it is a must do climb for many alpinists. There is much written about the North Face of the Eiger and also some excellent topos available online. I thought however it might be good to share the climbing gear we took with us for a winter ascent.
Gemma Wilson on the SW Ridge of Mt Aspiring
"One of the classic climbs in the Alps,” says Allan Uren in the Mt Aspiring Guidebook of the South West Ridge of Mt Aspiring. It has been on my ‘top-priority list’ of climbs for an embarrassingly long time, one to do at the first available opportunity. I don’t know why 5 years has gone by since I last went up Mt Aspiring, but it might be that we have so much good climbing in New Zealand and every time a high pressure system comes along, there is too much to choose from.
A piss bottle admiring the view of Bugaboo Spire.
I feel warmth as it leaves my body. Cold plastic, warmed by a steady stream of 40 degree fluid. On a cold night there is mild relief for my frozen fingers as they firmly wrap around a 1.5L Nelgine come piss bottle. Brett Gilmore a friend from Hawkes Bay first introduced me to the guilty pleasures of the piss bottle in a tent on Mt Ruapehu. At the time I was less than convinced, especially as he was trying to negotiate the confines of a narrow coke bottle mouth, which for anyone who has tried knows, extra care and attention is required.
Torre Massif
Zodiac on El Capitan is a great route to introduce you to the mid grade clean aid climbing. At C3 the route is hard enough to be interesting but not so hard that you should have any major epics. In saying that there are approx 6-7 pitches graded C3 and many of the other pitches are C2 or C2+ so the route is fairly sustained for its grade.
