Wild in the west

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 80, wIntEr 2012 33 32 THE CLIMBER ISSUE 80, wIntEr 2012

Perched high above the Copland Valley, the Sierra Range is an amazing place of rock, ice and sky. The range is a long ridge extending west from Mount Sefton, along which are numerous smaller though dramatic peaks. To the north, precipitous rock terrain drops

steeply from these summits, leaving large shards of splintered rock reaching skyward. On the southern aspects heavily glaciated slopes eat into the ridgeline. No doubt this has something to do with the narrow arêtes and sharp peaks that remain. The well-named Splinter Peak and its un-named neighbour occupy the central part of the range. To the west, the névé drains into the Horace Walker Glacier, while to the east, the Douglas Névé and Glacier occupy a large shelf beneath Mt Sefton.

To access these areas it is possible to either walk or fly in and out. There are two main routes onto the névé: the Scott Creek route (up from the Copland Valley) and the route via the Conical Hill track from the Karangarua Valley. Once established on the ice there are plenty of excellent camp sites thanks to numerous small cols and flat areas along the upper névé. No doubt these sites would be severely exposed in a wind storm and although it didn’t happen to us, whiteout navigation could become problematic too. Although there are many gentle gradients on the névé, there is a comprehensive network of large crevasses to negotiate. The peaks themselves also have their fair share of shrunds alongside many other crazy snow and ice features. Most of the ski descents require careful scoping of these features before plotting the best line.

The peaks themselves are a briliant touring destination, offering a wide range of terrain all hugely elevated above the surrounding valleys. Riding off any of the peaks here is sure to leave you uplifted! The range is basically a row of small peaks characterised by funky patterns of snow loading and other glacial features. Splinter Peak is just one of these and is host to a large blade of rock forming an airy summit. From the summit, a narrow rock arête leads to a small sub-peak and beneath that a long snow arête, which is guarded by shrunds. Scott Peak is another fantas-tic peak on the range offerring a couple of short but steep lines, whilst to the west Blizzard Peak and points 2360 and 2458 offer longer runs above the Horace Walker. Finally, no mention of the area would be complete without a mention of the fantastic line off Mt Glorious. This offers an amazing ski descent off the Pilkington Glacier, which can be ridden all the way to the snowline to connect with the Conical Hill ridge and a potential exit to the Karangarua.

splinter peak

wordS and photoS by shane orchard

Topo50 map BX15 Fox Glacier

a p p r o a c hStraight-forward three day walk in, or you can fly from the horace walker Glacier.

a S p E c tShort and open west and south-west slopes offer funky glaciated terrain.

top splinter Peak’s un-named neighbour from the west.

bottom The author navigates a line onto the splinter Peak arête, one of the standout features in the area. haydyn SUrGEnor

FacInG paGE haydyn surgenor and Monika Bischof approaching the crest of the sierra range, with the copland Valley and aoraki Mt cook beyond.

wild in the west

aside from the well situated huts on the Franz and Fox névés and mt brewster, the west coast seldom springs to mind as a

destination for ski touring and mountaineering. Usually, the combination of easy access and dry conditions make for many options

on the east side of the divide. by comparison, approaches from the west bring to mind hostile rivers, impenetrable gorges and the

high chance of a tangle with the local vegetation. Even a heli trip can turn adventurous due to the west coast cloud factor.

despite the challenges, there are many fine peaks west of the divide, offering stunning terrain for backcountry touring.

Getting oneself to a wild west coast location offers the reward of treading the path less travelled, views out to sea, and

typically incredible surroundings, all of which provide good reason to suffer a few hardships. here we profile three lesser

known destinations, each characterised by being a little off-the-beaten-track.

THE CLIMBER ISSUE 80, wIntEr 2012 35 34 THE CLIMBER ISSUE 80, wIntEr 2012

is where the guidebook description proved bang-on and a heli pick up in Boyd Creek might be worth considering if that’s an option. The problem area kicks in below the 1200m contour where a loose boulder strewn slope awaits. The only way forward is to negotiate this slope to gain the lower Fox Glacier below. In our case a harrowing hour of route-finding through loose and unprotectable terrain finally saw us on easier ground to end an awesome day out.

Mt Kensington occupies the south-west corner of an exten-sive snow and ice area centred on the gardens of Eden and Allah. From here a long ridge stretches west all the way to

Mt Adams. The whole area is within the Adams Wilderness area and as such Kensington is a fairly remote peak. Being a remote area the approach and exit arrangements are amongst the biggest challenges facing a touring party. Options from the west include approaching via Adams Flat or via Adverse Creek. Routes from the east include Perth Col, which provides easier access though it is some distance from the Mt Kensington area. On our trip we camped near Mt Baker and opted for a long day tour beginning with a ride down the Garden all the way to Angel Col. The most direct route from here is directly over Mt Farrar, although the alternative of following the glacial valleys further west also looks straight-forward.

The Mt Kensington area consists of a cluster of very rideable peaks including Mt Hulka, and the smaller peaks of the Devils Vertebrae. All of these peaks offer a variety of terrain including straight-forward snow slopes and other more dramatic aspects. In our case it was a series of steep couloirs on the western aspects of Kensington that had first enticed us this way, as seen on the cover of an old FMC Bulletin. When we finally arrived at the summit we had only time to sample the shortest of the couloirs but we were suitably impressed by the poten-tial. If only we had had more time! The summit itself sits on the end of a short winding ridge, which is easily accessed from the broad east face, this also offers a steep but straight-forward ski descent. From here the east faces of Hulka and Farrar lie in a convenient line back towards the Garden of Eden, which in our case was the direction of camp. Both faces offer solid moderate angle runs in a brilliant location.

The final twist on any trip to this area involves the potential exit routes. For a touring trip there are some great options for long runs into the surrounding valleys. The standard route via the Wee McGregor Glacier from Perth Col was in great shape for a long valley run during our visit but we passed this up in favour of an adventure down the next valley over. This is home to the Colin Campbell Glacier which begins with a short icefall section opening into a massive valley run into the Francis, complete with a field of crazy ice features to weave around on the way. There’s certainly potential for many more innovative ways in and out of the area too.

Across the way from Pioneer Hut lies Paschendale Ridge and the upper Fox Range, extending west from the foot of Torres Peak. Without the comforts of a home base hut the area sees

far less visits than many other parts of the Fox and Franz névés. From Pioneer Hut the access can be difficult, with broken and glaciated ter-rain to navigate. However, the landing strip beneath Big Mac is the best option and is situated close to Katies Col, which is also the access route into the Balfour.

A camp in the vicinty of Katies Col provides an ideal base for a tour-ing trip and has a decidely remote feel about it. On the main ridgeline are several excellent steep lines. The first of these are two solid snow leads on the west face of Torres offering steep terrain above an icefall. There are also a couple of lines through this icefall bringing one to a flat area beneath Katies Col. As we discovered, this is not a place to be hanging around for long due to the numerous menancing seracs in the area and the tightness of the valley. Anywhere in this area finds one exposed to various avalanche paths from the slopes above.

The next peak west of Katies Col is Le Receveur. Its north-east face is obvious from Pioneer Hut and offers a brilliant ski descent. The line right off the summit enters a wide bowl which narrows slightly before steepening up into the crux section with a shrund below. The route up from Katies Col is a classic snow arête. The next peak over is the unmistakable Big Mac. From the Katies Col side there is an excellent descent from the base of the thumb-like summit rock. This leads down the east face via a broad chute, exiting out to the névé below. There are lots of other ways to ski Big Mac and on our trip we sampled the first of the north facing snow pockets on the skier’s right of the plateau area. This rolls into a fairly steep run down onto the lower névé. We then retraced our steps to the summit slope of Big Mac to camp for a final night in preparation for one of our main objectives: a descent of Paschendale Ridge.

As it turned out this is definitely a classic ski exit route, though it comes with a word of warning, which is well described in the guide-book. Our day began with two great runs: one from Big Mac and the other from Mt Du Fresne, which is a quick side trip further down val-ley. From above, Du Fresne scarcely looks like a peak, but the view from the west reveals an appealing triangular face above the Castries Glacier. From the obvious bench under Du Fresne we sidled skier’s right to gain Point 2133 and from there another classic ski run begins which can be clearly seen from the Fox Glacier carpark. The snow face and gully system leads all the way into Boyd Creek, 900m below. This

Topo50 map BX15 Fox Glacier

a p p r o a c hthe best approach is to fly to the big mac landing strip or travel overland from pioneer hut. For a descent of paschendale ridge take care on the lower slopes if your plan involves an exit out to the lower Fox.

a S p E c twide range of terrain with several skiable aspects, especially to the north and west.

the fox range and paschendale ridgemt kensington

top The unmistakabe profiles of Big Mac and Le receveur Peak as seen from Pioneer hut.

bottom Taking a break on the west face of Torres, above the Balfour Glacier, Mts drake and La Perouse behind.

top Mt Kensington’s eastern aspects as seen from Mt hulka. In the foreground ruari MacFarlane skins his way up the west ridge of hulka, which provides a conve-nient route between the two peaks.

mIddlE nick sutcliffe approaching the summit of Mt Farrar. The Garden of eden is the large snowfield on the right and on the left is the Garden of allah.

bottom ruari MacFarlane riding the west face of Mt Kensington.

Topo50 map BW17 harihari

a p p r o a c hVery remote, it’s about a three day walk each way to reach mt Kensington, although you can also fly some of the way.

a S p E c topen slopes to the east with radical and steep faces on all other aspects.