Kiwi Bike Tour

Day 1 (Mt John: 15 kms, 2 hours)

My first bike day in New Zealand is a local ride out and back from the town of Tekapo.  The town is on the shores of Lake Tekapo, a giant turquoise glacial lake.  A few clicks west of town (which lies at 710m) is Mt. John.  In the span of 4 kms, the narrow and windy road switch-backs up through apline meadows and sheep herds to the summit at 1050m.  Views from the top are stunning, snow capped peaks in every direction.  Takes about 1 hr to ride up, 2 minutes to spin down...

Day 2 (Wanaka-Haast: 149kms 8 hours)

Started the day in Wanaka, the start of State Highway 6, which runs up the west side of the South Island.  The first 50 kms snaked along the shores of 2 giant mountain lakes, Lake Makea and Lake Wanaka.  The next 20 passed through sheep farms and mountain valleys, before ascending to Haast Pass.  The ecosystem changes significantly over the pass, going from arid mountains to tropical rainforests.  Hairpin turns on the descent through huge valleys with waterfalls on all sides.  The remainder of the day followed a river right out to the coast, and dinner in Haast.

Day 3 (Haast-Fox Glacier: 121kms 7.5 hours)

Riding along very remote and rugged coastal scenery today, mountains coming down to meet the Tasman Sea. Lots of tight turns and wind.  Great view from Knights Point.

Day 4 (Fox Glacier-Ross: 130kms 8 hours)

Mostly in Glacier country today, rode between Fox and Franz Josef glaciers with lots of hills in between. Crossed over the steep Fox and Omarau Saddles before a rainforest ride into gold-panning country.

Day 5 (Ross-Punakaki: 108kms 7 hrs)

Uneventful flat (and windy) farmland ride for the first 65kms, thought the highlight of my day was going to be the Big Mac in Greymouth.  But the last 44km along to coast were amazing - very rugged coastal scenery, could hear the waves crashing all afternoon. 

Day 6 (Punakaki-Murchison: 101kms 6 hrs)

Riding today along the Buller River in the Buller Gorge.  Uneventful day, excpet for a punch from a passing motorist...

Day 7 (Murchison-Richmond: 112kms 8.5 hrs)

One of the toughest days ive had on a bike.  After the first hour, it started pouring and just wouldnt let up. Fought tough headwinds the whole day, crossing 2 saddles in the process - Hope Saddle and then Spooner Saddle.  Happy to get a hot shower and beer after.

Day 8 (Richmond-Picton: 127kms 8 hrs)

Excellent day as my last riding day.  The rains stayed away and the ride wound along the coast before going up over 2 passes.  The final 40 kms were along Queen Charlotte Drive with incredible views of the Queen Charlotte Sound.  Rolled into Picton at 5:30pm, just in time for the ferry to Wellington.

Mt. Cook

In New Zealand for 3 weeks for a try on Mount Cook (Aoraki).  At 3752m, its the highest mountain in the country and, depending on how Austral-asia is defined, highest on the continent.  Its located in the Southern Alps of the South Island, a stunning range with giant glaciers and steep cliffs.  Given the fact that i'd be solo, I hired a guide - Marty Schmidt - a very accomplished climber whose guided all over the world, including Everest and K2.  They allow for 6 days since the weather is so variable.  Cold winds come up over the ocean from Antarctica and usually bring snow.  Mt. Cook is only 40 kms from the ocean, so by the time the winds hit they regularly gust up to 150kph. Weather on the mountain was very poor the first couple of days, so we played golf and went rock climbing to some crags on the eastern side of the island.   

Finally the winds calmed and we flew into the Alpine Club hut at 2200m.  The hut is perched on a ridge in the center of the range, and, although we were the only ones there, is the hub for trekking and climbing in the area. We organized our gear and set out Saturday afternoon up the heavily crevassed Linda Glacier on snowshoes.  After 4 hours we set up camp at about 2800m and slept for a few hours before leaving the tent at around 1 am.  Winds were light, and the sky was filled with stars.

After roping up and crossing the rest of the Linda Glacier, we ascended/traversed steep snow slopes to a location called the Shelf.  The first section of technical climbing was up a couloir of maybe 60 degree snow/ice. 3 or 4 pitches of our 60m rope led to the start of a section called the Summit Rocks.  At that point the sun started to rise over the peaks, and i realized just how steep and exposed the route was. The rocky section was 3 or 4 rope lengths of steep mixed rock and ice - again 2 ice axes were necessary.   We rested at the top of the rocks, then head out up the Ice Dome, at first a steep ridge that dropped off 2000m to the east, then finally snow slopes to the main summit at 8 am.  In respecting local Maori beliefs, we did as all climbers and did not stand on the very highest spot.  Weather was great and winds were low - we could easily see out to the Tasman Sea to the west.

A very long descent followed - slow going down the steeps with 10 or 11 rappels.  Picking up the tent on the way, we made it back to the hut at 5 pm, all told a 16 hour day.  We were able to catch a helicopter out just ahead of a fresh storm, and and hour later were settled in the Mountaineers Pub in Mt. Cook Village for steak dinner and celebratory beers. Excellent climb, one of the toughest i've done.

Temple

GW and I decided on a climb of Mt. Temple (3553m), the highest scramble-able peak in the Canadian Rockies. Set off early and after some equipment glitches we make our way to Sentinal Pass for lunch. Higher above the pass, a narrow patch of snow takes us through the narrow rock gully that is the steepest part of the route. After clearing the yellow and grey rock bands, the summit comes into view.

Excellent views of the Valley of the Ten Peaks and Moraine Lake well below us. Perfect weather on top - bluebird day and not a breath of wind. 11 hours after starting we are back at the car, ready for a beer at the Post Hotel.

Snowdome

Ski-mountaineered up Snowdome (3452m) with Duncan this past weekend. Day 1 had us rope up on the toe of the Athabasca Glacier. Up past the end of the snowcoach road, under hanging seracs (only 1 collapsed) and up the headwall brought us to the vast Columbia Icefields. We contoured up right towards Snowdome, although the partial whiteout and lack of landmarks had us navigating mostly by GPS. We camped at 3100m on a small dug-out platform on Snowdome's southern slopes. After a windy night, we set out early from camp. Navigating again by GPS we eventually located the snow crusted measuring stick on the summit. After taking some measurements for the Candian Geographic Society, we took off the skins and flew down, needing only an hour all the way back to the foot of the glacier. Excellent trip.

Hector (Winter)

Duncan and I ski mountaineered up Mt. Hector this weekend. On skis this is a Rockies classic one day ascent without the need for a middle-of-the-night alpine start. Skinned up through trees and over avalanche debris before carrying skis for a short steep gully. Reached the glacier at mid-day and roped up for the gradual climb to the summit rocks.

Shed the skiis 150m below the summit and bootpacked the rest of the way. Some iced-over rock required crampons for a short stretch. Very low visibility on the way down, but perfect snow and great turns all the way back down to the highway.