|
Daily Trip Notes
A seven day ascent of Mt Aspiring with two extra days of 1:1 instruction on alpine skills
Day one
The start point is our base in Wanaka where you will meet your guide. Following the gear check, we drive to the road end to meet our helicopter and fly into the mountains in the early afternoon, weather permitting. From our landing spot on Bevan col a 2 hour walk across the Bonar Glacier takes us to Colin Todd hut. Alternatively we may opt to camp in our tent camp on Bevan Col if we think the hut is too crowded – or the weather makes camping a good option.
Day Two
This day will be an acclimatisation day, and we take the time to ascend a smaller peak such as Mt Bevan and undertake some familiarisation skills with your guide. On a fine day, the Bonar glacier provides a stunning setting with peaks rolling off into the distance in all directions.
Day Three & Four
Based out of our mountain hut, these two days are spent exploring the Bonar and the nearby Volta Glacier. On the out edges of this huge icefields there are several suitable peaks to climb and with that the chance to brush up on your technical skills. With your own UIAA qualified instructor/guide, this is an excellent time to brush up on crevasse extraction, glacier travel, steep ice climbing as well as the multitude of tips you pick up from being with a professional. In a high mountain environment such as this, there is no better way to get value from your guide as part of the build up to the ascent of Mt Aspiring.
Day Five
 On our planned summit day we will have a 3am start. Forcing down breakfast at that time is never a thrill, but having sorted out the approach to the peak yesterday, the route is relatively known. The route of the ascent will be the NW ridge – either via the full ridgeline or via the steeper Ramp, which gets us to the ridge some 300m short of the summit The views will hopefully be amazing but this is only half way and the descent is time consuming, returning us to our sleeping bag as late as 7.00pm. *Please note that this may also be a contingency day if weather or conditions dictate.
Day Six
The way from here is down and we commence walk out, heading for French ridge hut or a bivvy site in the West Matukituki valley dependant on the trip so far and your fitness. OR this may be our contingency day.
Day Seven
Today we complete the walk out to road end and our vehicle. The other option (all going well) is to fly out on back flight (weather permitting) to vehicle at the road end. Please note: Due to the nature of the terrain and duration of the walk out we often utilise the option to fly out on a back flight at the completion of the climb. This is an additional cost and we can advise you of the price estimate at the time of booking. Under pressure for time? This ascent can be done as a 5 day package. Talk to us about details.
Equipment Lists -please click link below to download
|
