The big news is that I have actually used my ice-axe and crampons that carried all the way over here and hadn't used! Yey! I had had a good weekend, been walking in the port hills on the saturday with a girl called Laurayne, who I met through the mountaineering club. We are keen to get out and about together so fingers crossed! The weather on Sunday was not as good as expected so me and James put our castle Hill bouldering trip on hold, and had a walk in the port hills, once the weather had picked up a bit. On Monday I had the day off so I packed my rucksack and headed to Arthurs pass. I had decided to climb Avalanche Peak, a peak of 1833m. I was on my own so I chcked in and left my intentions at the visitor centre, and made sure I had enough stuff with me should I get injured or stranded, as the weather was pretty awful when I set off. The way was well marked though and wound up through trees and scrub for the first hour or two. The sun came out as I began walking, and as I left the bush line only the tops of the mountains were in cloud. Once the bush line fell away the gradient became gentler and patches of snow became evident. The cloudds had now completely lifted, and I got great views of the mountains, Rolleston in particular. The last bit followed a ridgeline, with snow and rock, so I got Alice (my trusty ice-axe!) out, as a slip would've been disasterous without her. The snow was steep and stopping a slide would've been difficult. I reached the summit in blue skies and sunshne and took in the fantastic views. I had some lunch on the summit, and was joined by a kea, a mountain parrot, know for its appetite and cheeky tricks to get food off tourists! I left the summit after lunch, and wore my crampons for the descent. It had been a great day, and a successful summit, all bit it a little one!
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