East/West Aspiring Expedition

Somewhat apprehensive about my speed after the Brewster adventure, I commenced a ten-day traverse of the glaciated, sometimes remote, region surrounding what is arguably the most beautiful peak in the Southern Alps, Mt. Aspiring.

We were an eclectic bunch as we started the walk in up the West Matukituki valley. There was John, a Sydney canyoning instructor and gardener, Kris, a Belgian ski-instructor and computer programmer and Esther, a Swiss nurse. Our instructors were Pete, a chap with a devilish grin to match his cheeky personality and Simon, a more reserved, contemplative guide. Pete and Simon have made the jump from Australia to live near the mountains which Australia is yet to annex.
Although we started the walk-in a day late (and the trip had become a West-East traverse instead of the reverse) to avoid some foul weather, our efforts were in vain... a night spent in French Ridge hut, then onwards...

After the ascent of the famous (and spectacular) Quarterdeck pass and skirting the Bonar Glacier beneath Aspiring's South face to Colin Todd Hut we watched the formation of lenticulars and some bizarre clouds like none I'd seen - a huge hole opened in the cloud around the summit of Mt. Aspiring which poked up through it to another world like a time-tunnel or worm-hole from a sci-fi movie.
From Mt. French to Mt. Bevan the scenery was dwarfed beneath a vast hollow as if somebody were tossing a heavy grey blanket across it which had then frozen in an arc mid-air. Time to head into the hut.

Several days (nearly a week in total) of hut-bound amusement commenced. The picture shows Kris doing "Turn the Tables (15)", a route in Colin Todd hut. We also soloed "The Bunks (5)", "The Rafters (an ungraded aid route)", "The Door Frames (7)" and the "Toilet Stairs (2 if you're wearing boots or 21 in underwear, bare-feet and snow at 4am without a headtorch)". We also sniggered at the tedious banter on the hut radio each night as lonely hut wardens discussed the waterfalls, the keas, and anything else to pass the time when all we wanted to hear was a report of fair weather. *SIGH*

At last we had some bursts of sunshine and made it outside for a stretch and to muck about in the snow, build a cave, hoist each other out of a hole. We also made a dash up the Rolling Pin (2249m). I forget what happened here as we didn't summit (probably imminent bad weather), but nobody seemed to mind too much, it was good to be out of the hut.

Picture (left): Chris with green hair - or maybe that's Simon's new rope "Don't stand on it!" - and Esther somewhere around about the Rolling Pin.

Above is a shot of Simon (I told you he could be serious and contemplative) beneath the Rolling Pin under the closest thing we had to a blue sky apart from the morning of the walk-out (see below).

This is the view over Simon's shoulder. As you can see, the weather wasn't that great. It is supposed to be summer damn it!

In case you're interested, in the middle of the picture is the Volta glacier. Out to the left is (I am led to believe by Pete) the region where the opening shot of The Two Towers was filmed... so where are the Hobbits?
Here's Pete (on the left) looking like he's about to order a beer, me, John, Esther (who has good Gortex colour sense) and Kris modelling his green hair and matching helmet. Simon is taking the picture.

Picture: Esther, Kris and Pete descend.

After this little jaunt I recall top-roping a slab and a boot-sized crack outside the hut which we'd all been eyeing off for the last few days.

Then back to Colin Todd hut for another night of revelry, and excellent cooking.

Picture: Colin Todd hut on the day when we had scheduled the walk-out. As you can see, the day we planned to leave, the sky turned blue. After a night in the snow cave (well, Kris and I stayed in it, the others couldn't turn down the luxury 5-star hut) and without an ascent to our names, we trudged with heavy hearts towards civilization. (Roll-over the image to see the hut retreat into the upper distance just like a real movie.)

continued...

 

Aspiring Pt. 2 | NZ Trip