Descending from Buchanas to Matukituki

A variation to the Mt Alta tour is via the SE ridge and the Rumbling Burn. There is heaps of varied terrain and a multitude of different route options. We did this in a low snow year but still got plenty of powder skiing in. It did involve a hike on tussock out of the Rumbling Burn which helped vary the trip. I recommend this tour.

Freddy skied from the summit of Mt Cook last year (2011) taking the direct line from the summit. I spoke to Freddy about this route, which he says averaged in the 40 to 45 degree range. There was a section near the top where he had to take his skis off and cramponed for 10m or so, before putting skis back on and continuing.

The descent of Mt Tasman was more circuitous but no less bold for sure. Freddy ascended via Syme Ridge, but picked a line he hadn’t climbed to ski down. The picture of the route says it all.

Approx route ski descent Mt Tasman

When talking about these descents Freddy was rather casual and modest about his achievements but most open to talk about them. He states that he is not into ‘extreme stuff’ and that it has to be a’ good run’ for him to do it. This applied to his ski of Mt Cook.

However as I reflect on our conversation, it is apparent that Freddy has put a lot of research into the mountains here, has a great eye for routes, is adept at reading the NZ environment, and has the skill to be able to translate that into action. It is my opinion that it is by no accident that he has been able to pull off these feats.  It has also been noted that his gear (which Freddy tells me is 3 years old) is superlight (Dynastar Altitrail Powder skis, Scarpa F1 Rando boots and Dynafit  Tourlite bindings).  On one hand this makes me think of  scattering planks which skitter at the first sight of ice. On the other hand each descent Freddy makes is always in prime packed powder. He is not driving the skis hard like a racer, rather, he is keeping in perfect centered balance and so does not have the need for a heavy stiff boot, and with the light boot can ski a lighter ski -  think a park skiers lighter gear and centered balance vs the racers driving boot and hard edge. And this lighter gear allows Freddy to make some phenomenal speed in the hills, and keeps him fitter for the descents. Its a clever and well thought of setup.

more turns Twin Stream

Twin Stream is well known for its rock climbing walls but in winter it has some good and steep lines to be skied.
You can either walk in or fly in; about 4 hours walking vs 5 minutes flying: $0 vs $350 a load. Contact Heliline Glentanner at 0800 650 651 and make sure you ask for a quote including GST, landing fees and whatever else fees apply, they tend to forget to mention it in the quote.

We explored the north side of the valley. There is an old moraine wall that gives safe access to the upper mountain. Large run out avalanches are pretty visible at the bottom.
The tour is pretty straight forward and takes you to the saddle to Kai Tarau at 2350m.
An axe and some crampons are suggested as you will be travelling in glacier terrain.

On the southern aspects of the valley there is plenty more to explore and a bivi site is available at the bottom of the rock face at 1350m.

The walk out is a good mix of boulder hopping and matagauri; about 3 hours to the car park.

You need to contact Glentanner station for permission at 435-1843.

Ski descent Mt La Perouse

Once he got to the traverse across the bench 2/3 of the way up he put his skis on to glide across , before ascending the couloir to the summit. Once again Freddy had great conditions and enjoyable skiing. He skied the bench traverse with a glide (no boot-packing), and had several large jumps to clear crevasses. Nice line.

Also whilst in the area Freddy skied Sturdee Peak – for which I can’t find a photo.

SW Face Mt Avalanche

I met with Freddy this morning and got the beta on some of his latest ski trips. This is his second trip over to NZ from his home in Turino, Italy.  He’s been back in the country about a month and has been running around skiing so much that he says he’s exhausted. Yesterday he did a one day trip from Aspiring hut onto Cascade saddle, up Mt Liverpool then skied down into the Dart, then back out to top out on Mt Tyndall and back to Aspiring hut. Phew. When we left the cafe he was off to New World to buy a “huge amount of food”.

Anyhow Freddy was very keen on his recent  ski of Mt Avalanche. He left from French Ridge hut and climbed the Quarterdeck, descended onto the Maud Francis before climbing Mt Avalanche.

The ski descent he described as fantastic, just a touch under 50 degrees but very exposed in the top half. He described the snow as “pressed powder”. Freddy then pick up his bivy gear, rocked up Mt French,  then skied the Breakaway down into the Matukituki Valley. There are no pictures, he travels light and fast.

I believe this line was skied about ten years ago by the Canadian Johnny Chilton. Does anyone else know?

Freddy also skied the west face of Mt Aspiring. The crux was the entrance, he had to climb the first 15m onto the face from the ridge over a rock band. Once on the face he described the  skiing as fun, easier than Mt Avalanche, with a slope angle of about 45 degrees plus. The snow was also “pressed powder”.

West face Mt Aspiring

As per the other tours grab an helos lift from Harvey Hutton of Backcountry Helicopters 443 8351.
We got dropped off on point 1977m north of Mt Shrimpton and skied the basin below. Made our back to the saddle between Mt Shrimpton and point 1960. A big south facing cornice gave us some grief and a shovel and an ice axe might come handy. From there drop into the basin and back up to the saddle south of mt Shrimpton. Ski as far as you can till you meet the Makarora-Mt.
Shrimpton track that will take you straight to the car in about one hours walk.
It is a pretty straight forward trip but it crosses steep sections of the mountain and it needs a stable snow pack. Approx time from drop off to car park is about 6-7 hours.

North McKerrow range, skiing off pk 1977, with upper Camerons Creek in back

Having done the traverse of the McKerrow range South to Boundary Creek, we decided to try North to Camerons Creek.

Harvey Hutton flew us up in his Hughes 500 for $105 each (seats 4). Contact him on 443-8351. He dropped us off on the ridge near pt 1958, just North of Shrimpton as he would not land on the summit.

The terrain was described by someone as rolly polly with steep drop-offs. There are broad basins but also many cliff bands interspersed so it is imperative that there is good clear visibility. Also, even though there are a few exits possible, they would be difficult, in which case the route is reasonably committing.

We skied up the ridge to Pt 1977 followed by a steepish descent on gorgeous corn snow to the tarns. We ascended the next ridge via the right had of the 2 main gullies, then a long ski and sidle to where pt 1646 divides the slope. It is best to keep high and go over the top of this small ridge. We continued to sidle under peak 1726,  keeping high and close to the upper slopes until we got directly above our descent path. There are a few chutes that lead through a rock band that enabled us to reach the basin below. We then descended to bush line. We packed trail runners (thank god) which helped our descent down a moderately easy avalanche scar through the trees to the Camerons Creek Track. It can be a little difficult to find this route and if you haven’t had NZ bush experience this might not be a good starter route

The  Camerons Creek track starts easily but has a few ups and downs when it gets closer to the creek. By the end it seemed quite long, but the scenery is good, and the gorge at the end is interesting.

Times – 4 hours from heli drop off to tree line. 1 hour tree line to Camerons Creek track.  3 hours along the track to car and beer. The skiing is technically easy. Slopes are avalanche susceptible and require good stability.

Mt Clarkes southern ridge

Mt Clarke is a beautiful peak in the Forbes Mtns just north of Mt Earnslaw and can be skied as an overnight mission from the Rees Valley. If one has a good 4WD and river crossing experience then it is possible to drive to where the valley narrows – about 45mins walk from the bottom of Clarke slip which gives good access to the long leading southern ridge of Mt Clarke. You can have a relatively leisurely start and just plan to drive up the valley, ascend Clarks slip (start up the northern side of the slip and at the top exit out on the northern edge as well) and sleep in the basins at the top of Clarke Slip. Day 2 is then an ascent of Mt Clarke and return to the vehicle.

And for the even keener souls…
Years ago Marc Scaife and friend Erik Bilou pioneered a high traverse from Mt Clarke to Wright Col. Note this is a demanding trip, carrying camp/bivvy gear and ascending and descending some steep country. You would not want to do the trip if there was instability in the snowpack. I have always wanted to do the trip and Marc and Chris asked myself and Alan along on it late September this year (2012). We only decided on the Friday morning so we camped at the vehicle on the first night making for a long (11 hr) day on the first day, and the second was only marginally shorter.

From Mt Clarke (we dumped packs to ascend and ski once we had traversed to the western side of the glacier)  we traversed to the crux on day 1 which  is a 400m steep climb under the Osonzac peaks to Ellie peak, before another traverse and a ski down the Grant glacier -which can have nice skiing on it’s sheltered slopes (not this time tho’). At 1690m we traversed east to skiable slopes that took us to our lovely camp near spot height 1203 in the Hunter Creek (slightly overhanging bivvy rock (2 pax)and water).

Next day we skied the more western branch of the Hunter up to the col below Cerberus and then up the cruisy groove feature to take us to below the rocky pyramid of Sir William Peak. We skied the Frances glacier down to the Bedford Valley (pretty well following a line south towards Point 1688). After a brew we headed up the unlikely looking gut that leads to Wright Col. We had to boot pack a couple of steeper sections and the lowere debris filled gully was somewhere we didn’t want to linger. From Wright Col it is a straightforward ski to Kea Basin and then a hike down the track and back to the vehicle.

This is an amazing trip but definetely a serious undertaking. We carried light ice axes and crampons and 3 of us had a whippet and a normal ski pole.

South Side 1912 from Cragieburn

With low snow cover access to Cass Saddle hut can be pretty quick and afford some nice tuns en-route.. Cass Saddle hut is a basic back country hut with a wood burner and bunks and water is close at hand. Low snow cover really is the key for this trip to be good value, I mean ski in ski out touring is a special thing right!So, with that in mind my advice is wait for a low snow year, that said there is loads of good skiing to be found around the various basins, with a huge range of aspects and elevations and if your into waiting for the ski in ski out thing to be on your gonna find some trees to get involved with too!

In September 2011, there was lots of snow down low and the long days meant that skiing NE, SW and SE slopes in a day was feasible. Crampons and an axe may be useful for some of the ridge travel especially during melt freeze. There’s lots of steep terrain so keep in mind what’s above! And the edges of the trees offer lots of fun for all.

Video link  http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=BY498YtMUXI

Touring from the Routeburn Track

Just a quick day trip up the Routeburn. Good day out, bit of effort getting up there but all good.

Check out the video post  for this trip!