On Monday the weather was supposed to ease up for our push up the Silberhorn arête of Mount Tasman, but our alpine start was considerably delayed by hauling winds from 1-3am. When we finally woke just before 6am it was wind still and we decided to try our luck. The glacier traverse to the base of Tasman was smooth and our snowshoes managed the soft snow with relative ease. A field of crevasses got us onto steeper ground and we pushed as high as possible until a large crevasse with a prominent snow bridge stopped our progress. We decided to switch to crampons and crossed the crevasse now onto steep 80 degree snow and ice. The first obstacle was a major shrund, which we traversed horizontally onto step ice. Several pitches of steep snow led us to another high shrund that appeared to follow the entire Silberhorn arête from left to right. We found a large snow cave that provided a reasonable belay ledge to push through the shrund. The next pitch was very steep onto the rocks just below the ridgeline. I could not find a stable belay ledge around the rock since it was now very hot and the snow stakes found no solid ground. A tenuous belay finally got us to the top of Silberhorn arête after about 600 meters of vertical climbing. Once we hit the exposed ridge just before the crux rock step the Westerly wind gusts started again and we looked at the spindrifts hitting the rock step. It was late in the day for a summit bid and the winds made it impossible to attempt the rock crux so we decided to call it a day and focus on the perilous descent past crevasses and shrunds.  We arrived safely back at Plateau Hut at about 4pm tired but very happy with our push.

 

Jason	Mark,Roman,Jason with Syme Ridge	Roman & Mark	Roman, Mark, Jason

The weather forecast showed another system moving in fast, which would have shut us down for another two days so we decided to call the helicopter for some multi-pitch climbing at Sebastopol the next day. After a nights rest at Unwin hut, which is situated a short drive from Mt.Cook village with Sebastopol Bluff right in the middle we went to work on two multi-pitch routes. First was Crown of Gorse Bolts a mixed route, which started with an easy pitch followed by a steep wall split by a faint crack that took reasonable cams and got harder as the angle increased. We polished off this long and windy warm up in style and were keen for another one. This time we chose the area classic Red Arete (easy but long). Jason and Mark started simul-climbing for some extra speed and the higher we went the harder the wind started to blow once again. A few pitches up and the incoming wall of rain drove us back to our shelter at Unwin hut. We had enough of the gale force winds and packed our hired car to head straight towards lake Tekapo for some hot spring action.

Half a day of soaking and our energy was coming back fast, we decided to head straight back to Springfield – the gateway to Arthur’s pass and the bouldering fields of Castle Hill. Jason’s driving got us there in record time for a late pup meal, some Guinness and a nice relax at the local YHA called  Smilies. This place has a Japanese style hot tub but we found out that it is only operated in winter.

Mt.Dixon with major shrund from Silverhorn

 

Next morning we hired bouldering mats in Springfield and headed for our lodge the brand new Doug at Castle Hill village only a short drive from the alpine limestone boulder fields. We didn’t bother to unpack and headed straight for Spittle Hill for a brief introduction to mad slopers and crazy mantles.  This was my third trip and Mark and Jason got right into the fray polishing off two V3s before the rain drove us back to our fireplace once again. The luxury of our own log house was overwhelming and we even lasted about two hours in front of the log house before we saw the rain ease outside. I was keen to explore Flock Hill with its remote access and lack of a guide, which still shrouds the area in mystery but once we arrived at the bottom of the long walk up, we ran into the underground cavern of Cave stream. I remembered Kerry mentioning it on a previous trip, but I had forgotten all about it and when we discovered a waterfall disappearing into a cave – with a ladder on the side, nothing could hold us back.

Sebastopol Bluff Multipitch Climbing area

View from Sebastopol towards Tasman glacier and Cook (valley on the right) with Mt. Wakefield in the middle

We had plenty of gear back at the lodge and hurried back to get racked up. It was late afternoon and we had no idea how long this cave system was, how deep or any other kind of information, but it was just too good an adventure to resist. As we belayed gingerly into the darkness below us with water gushing down into the cave we went back and forth testing the current for strength. Glacier travelling techniques from Mark and Jason came in handy and after a few hundred meters our progress became faster and we switched to simul-climbing through the bends and pools of the cave system. We did not have any wetsuits and used rock climbing shoes in the water and after about one hour of progress things started to feel numb. It was getting late and without knowledge of how long this system was we retreated back upstream to make it out just before darkness fell. We found out later that you are meant to do the cave starting downstream and that there is a visitor book hidden inside. Needless to say we will be back...

Lake Tekapo Hot Springs

 

Cave Stream near Flock Hill

Roman & Jason entering the stream	Cold Cavers	Roman, Mark in the bowels

We had one more day of bouldering at Castle Hill before returning to Christchurch for ‘shopping’. But the weather was now deteriorating and we appeared to run out of luck. The next morning we decided to head back to civilisation, but when we drove passed the bouldering car park a lonely ray of light illuminated the boulders: just one more session I pleaded and off we went for a final pump amidst the limestone trophies. When we finally returned to the car we were smashed after a solid eight days of climbing and that surely was the end of it?
Not quite!
We received a tip off from the locals that the YMCA in Christchurch had its own climbing wall. We headed straight for it and arrived just after lunch. The climbing wall was closing at 15:00 so we head two hours to check out the huge indoor facility right next to our bedroom! We were smashed onve again, but Mark and Jason had planned a night out in town which began with a ‘few’ Guinness at the Irishman and ended late, very late…

Spittle Hill (left) Quantum Fields (right) with Mark

 

 

We were flying back the next day but rumour had it that there was also a bouldering wall at the YMCA. We couldn’t just leave without checking it out, right?  Let’s just say we spend what little we had left and felt that we at least had squeezed in every possible climbing style New Zealand had to offer from its premier alpine peaks, via subterranean caves to the polished boulder fields right back into civilisation. Christchurch has indeed been hit hard by the earthquake and the city centre is now completely curtailed, damage is visible everywhere and we were happy to spend a little time there as tourists. Finally the airport came into sight and we were told that our plane was cancelled so we flew to Wellington instead of Sydney, but who cares we will be back and the wheels have begun to turn already……..

YMCA climbing and bouldering in Christchurch (awesome bonus)

Jason YMCA boudering cave	YMCA climbing Wall	Mark YMCA bouldering cave

 

Mt.Cook, Grand Plateau trip resources:

 

 

1. Unwin Alpine Hut: http://alpineclub.org.nz/hut/unwin

2. Helicopter rides: http://www.mtcooknz.com/mackenzie/home/

3. YMCA Christchurch with climbing galore: http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/YMCA-Christchurch/Christchurch/35063

4. Jason's Food resource guide for 10 days as a spreadsheet HERE.

5. Tekapo Hot Springs: www.tekaposprings.co.nz

6. Our Loghouse at Castle Hill Village: The Doug: www.the-doug.co.nz/

7. YHA Springfield Smilies: http://www.yha.co.nz/hostels/south-island-hostels/yha-springfield

8. Mt. Cook, Platea Hut booking: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/backcountry-huts-by-region/canterbury/aoraki-mount-cook/plateau-hut

 

NEW - Download Jason's excellent how-to resource guide for climbing at the Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park HERE.

 

 

Roman 21 December 2012