Date: January 11, 2025
Location: West Wanaka Mountains, West Matukituki, Mount Aspiring National Park, Otago, New Zealand
Total Trip Distance: 15.17 mi / 24.41 km
Total Elevation Gain: 6,400 ft / 1,951 m
Trip Duration: 14 hr 45 min
Team: w/ Henry Frakes
Rating: I, 1+
Field Notes: The original trip intention was to do Rob Roy Low to High Peak Traverse in a day carrying full alpine kit. However, in the early morning the snow was not cooperating and we wound up sleeping on a rock. At sunrise we walked over to Homestead Peak and scrambled up the North West Ridge. The climb has some steeper, exposed sections with very loose rock.
The Southern Alps have been blessed with stable weather recently, and thankfully, it aligned with Henry’s days off.
Climbing with Henry has both positive and "negative" aspects. The positives are that he is highly skilled, positive, has excellent communication skills, is level-headed, extremely fit, mentally tough, and competent. There is only one "negative" - every trip will be massive!
Jokes aside...I am stoked to have a climbing partner and friend who enables me to grow in the mountains. But if I am being real, every trip does turn into a big one…
Bold Peak: 11 hours
Remarkables Grand Traverse: 10.5 hours
Mount Tyndall: 10.5 hours
Mount Brewster: 15.5 hours
Our original plan was to do the Low to High Peak traverse of Rob Roy over two days. As the days got closer to the start of the trip Henry pitched the idea of doing it in one day.
This would be something like 50 km, 2700 meters of climbing requiring a trad rack, two ice tools, rope, and a glacier kit. To be fair, doing it in a day makes it a harder day but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a harder trip. You still have to carry all of that bivy gear and food. So we opted to do it in a day. Or rather, I was "convinced."
At 10 pm on Friday night, we set off.
I had been up this way before on an aborted attempt of Homestead Peak and felt confident about the route by following my previous GPX track. In the dark is a different story and we found up fucking around in scrub for a bit. Henry and I both agreed it really sucked.
Eventually, we got to the tarn (no longer there) at 1200 meters and had a quick bite to eat. The terrain so far had been frustrating and the mountains were cloaked in a thick band of fog. We both started to doubt the trip and shared our concerns. It was also very, very warm. None of these things aligned with the forecast.
We climbed a steep tussock spur and then sidled ugly terrain at 1,540 meters. At this point, we voiced that if the cloud had not dispersed we were aborting the climb.
There were too many unknowns:
- We had never climbed the route or been on the Avalanche Glacier.
- We didn’t know of a single person who had ever climbed the Low to High Peak traverse.
- We had low confidence in the forecast.
When we hit the snow another problem came up - it was completely isothermic, a wet mess. Thinking it may just be the lower elevation, we climbed to 1850 meters with the same result. Game over. Not happening this time. We found a rock to lay on, put on a puffy, and fell asleep.
At 4:30 in the morning, we got out of the stove and brewed some coffee. I waited for the caffeine to hit and convinced Henry to climb Homestead Peak. He really didn’t want to, but when I explained to him that I was never coming up here again unless it was for Rob Roy, he said yes. What a guy!
We romped over to the North West Ridge and scrambled the loose, exposed terrain to the summit. Our view was obscured by the cloud and spent less than ten seconds at the high point.
There was a brief moment of happiness as we glissaded down the snow. It had been one of the most mentally challenging days I can remember in a long time.
The stress of a big climb on an unknown route, a very long day, climbing through the night on no sleep, carrying all of the rope and technical gear, rough terrain, and a frustratingly wrong forecast.
As my buddy Alex said to me when I recapped the trip to him, “That’s the mountains for ya.”
Post-trip I slept for twelve hours straight. It’s just amazing what good sleep can do and how it can make you forget all of the difficulties you experienced. Not even twenty-four hours from finishing, Henry and I were already texting each other about going back.
Happy days…
