South Island Gallery / Climbing / 2014-02 Trying to climb Mt Cook  


Ben and I tried to climb Mt Cook via Plateau hut and the Linda glacier route. We gave up after we couldn't find a route all the way through the massive crevasses--this was before Teichelmann's corner and there were plenty more to come! It was very late in the season (Feb 15th) but a couple of groups had got up 5 days earlier (their tracks kept ending at the edge of crevasses where snowbridges were gone).

The morning after we tried to climb Mt Dixon but we couldn't get off the plateau and onto the route because of bergschrunds and steep choss.

Ascent and descent by Haast ridge was ok--12 hours up and 9 down. The ridge has some steep choss but is mostly ok. The Tasman morraine wall is easy to climb (300m beyond the end of the ridge) then cut left and cross a chossy cliff to gain the ridge about 300m up.

 P1040715 Early start to walk in via the Tasman glacier and Haast ridge
 
 P1040717 Descending the morraine wall from Ball hut
 
 P1040721 A bit of ice exposed near the Hochstetter glacier junction
 
 P1040722
 
 P1040724 Ben climbing up the morraine to Haast ridge
 
 P1040726
 
 P1040728 Upper Tasman glacier, looking towards Tasman saddle
 
 P1040734
 
 P1040738 Climbing off the choss and into the snowgrass
 
 P1040742 Haast ridge
 
 P1040743
 
 P1040745
 
 P1040750 Haast hut
 
 P1040751
 
 P1040753 We were pretty pleased to find a route through the first lot of crevasses
 
 P1040756 No luck at the second lot, after a couple of hours trying
 
 P1040759 The rest of the Linda glacier route with more big crevasses and schrunds higher up
 
 P1040760 Our tracks leading back into the maze
 
 P1040761
 
 P1040763 Crossing back to the hut at dusk (we'd planned to bivi at Bowies ridge)
 
 P1040764
 
 P1040768 Mt Dixon--sussing out a route for the next morning (didn't find a way onto the ridge in the end)
 
 P1040770 Crossing from Plateau hut back to Haast ridge
 
 P1040772 Ben and the mountain
 
 P1040774 Plateau hut and Mt Cook
 
 P1040777
 
 P1040779
 
 P1040780 A bit off-route on the descent down Haast ridge
 
 P1040784 Finding the only shade on the Tasman glacier--Ben preparing for moving to the desert!
 

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