August 15 2020 The Godley Glacier is at the northern end of Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. There are three branches of the glacier; the Neish Plateau, the Amherst/Mt Shyness glacier, and the Terra Nova pass/McClure branch. These spill together to form the Godley Glacier, which eventually melts its way into the Godley Lake. The Neish…
Category: West Coast Glaciers
Symphony on Skis, West to East, Mt Cook N.P.
Symphony on Skis: A West to East crossing in 5 days The team and photo credits are: Ian McIvor, Karl Greasley, Liv Barron & Anna Brooke. This is one of the trips that should be on every ski-mountaineer’s list. It offers changing mountain and snow conditions, glacier travel, steepness, playful lines, and a smorgasbord of…
The Prelude and Ski Rhapsody, a multi-day ski traverse; Mt Cook NP & Two Thumb Range
THE PRELUDE: Starting from Bush Stream Bridge at Mesopotamia in the Rangitata Valley, to the eastern summit of the Brabazon Ridge. West along the Brabazon Ridge, sidling north of Mt Brabazon and south of Points 1785 and 1797, then following the ridge via Point 1852 along to Brabazon Saddle. A little care initially, descending to…
Mt Mannering via Whataroa and Classen Saddles – Murchison Glacier, Main Divide Southern Alps
A great adventure ski tour crossing the main divide with a spectacular summit. From Murchison hut ascend the glacier on the opposite side of the valley heading towards point 2178. The glacier steepens at around the 1900m mark to 2000m mark and for us required cramponing. We did this in November with a low snow…
The Fritz Range, Franz Josef Glacier
One of the most popular ski tours in the Mt Cook National Park. The Fritz range leads in a NW direction from the main divide of the Southern Alps out towards the Tasman Ocean, parallel to the Franz Josef Glacier. The Range holds its altitude the length of the Franz Gl, and so involves passing…