WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!! my faith in Alpinism is restored........ A great end to the season with a summit of Mt Avalanche (2606m), a bold rock mountain jutting up from the Bonar Glacier, directly accross from Mt Aspiring.
It was only the night before that I text a few buddies as a last ditch attempt for some decent mountaineering. Ed, my mate in Wanaka was keen, and when I mentioned I was keen on Avalanche he jumped at it. Been on the list for a while. So I packed by back pack (I'm getting good at this, just under 18KG now!) and left home by 7am. By 11am we were on our bikes heading into the valley towards Aspiring hut. It only took us an hour by bike, we stashed our bikes, had lunch and set off on foot. Another hour or so down the valley and we were ready for the steep 1000m (vertical) climb to French Ridge Hut. Just around 4 hours later we were approaching the hut gratefully..... Dinner and bed, for an early start. We had been assured by descending climbers that the quarterdeck (the crevassed snow slope leading up to the glacier) was still in good nick, but they had climbed it on a freeze, we didn't expect to be so lucky.
We left just after 4.30am, and headed up rocky scree slopes to the snow. The snow was firm, which was a relief, we roped up and negotiated the crevassed slope to the top. At one point there was a narrow strip of snow, about 6 inches wide, bridging a massive crevasse! Scary stuff......
We topped out on the glacier as the first rays of light were hitting the snow. Its was such an amazing feeling to be up there again, it looked untouched and serene and beautiful. we had some food and then crossed the glacier towards Mt Avalanche, a proud rock mountain, about an hours walk away. We took our crampons off and put our axes away, and climbed onto the rock. The rock is loose and flaky so we had to be careful that we held onto solid holds, nad didn't knock rock onto each other. It was fairly easy going for a while, then we crossed a snow col, and headed onto steep rock. We only took a few slings as protection, but Ed led out, using rocks as choc stones, and even improvising with a snow stake as protection. Four pitches later and I led us up the last steep bit, and over loose boulders to the summit. And what a beautiful summit it was. Sunny day, mountains as far as the eye could see. Even Aoraki (Mt Cook) in the distance. And my happiness in the mountains restored!
However, still a long way to go, the summit is only half way, and we had lots to do. We rappelled down to the snow, being careful not to damage the rope on sharp rocks. 6 or 7 raps later, we were on the snow. It was soft now, and we were tired. We got to the top of the Quarterdeck and began the delicate tip-toe down. The narrow bridge was now dangerous and we belayed each othe over it. Twice I put my foot through a snow-bridge, plunging in thigh deep. I looked back into one hole where my foot had been and saw a gaping chasm. I called back to Ed to be careful. We got back onto solid ground at last, and down to French Ridge Hut, 15 hours after we left! Tired, but happy, we ate, then slept......
We got up early the next day, and began the long walk out to our bikes, then biked to the car. Chatting along the way about climbing, and how much of it is hard, and tiring and not necessarily "fun" at the time, but how addictive it is, and how much you get out of it.
Happy happy! But also a bit sore and tired!!