In Retirement

Hello folks

We have retired our blog. Possibly forever.

With the growth of social media, and the nature of our updates, a blog has become less and less relevant for us.

If you would like to follow Alpine Guides you can find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Alpine Guides is Moving

We are exiting our location in the “basement” of the Hermitage at the end of May. We are all pretty excited about the change of scene for AGL. Our new location will be 98 Bowen Drive. This is right across the “street” from the DOC Visitor Centre.

We will be moving into what was the National Park H.Q. back in the 1960’s. It’s a fantastic location, with a great feel, and some of the best views of Mount Cook in the village. Once we get set up it will (of course) be the coolest pad in Mt Cook…

We have closed our store and rental facilities through May and June as we break down our current premises, and get to work on the improvements needed for the new location.

The new place will be perfect for running guided trips from. We will still provide our rental gear service, and retail, but with a much reduced focus on the shopfront.

TMC 15

What a week. Perfect weather for most of the week making great conditions for the TMC. After flying into Kelman hut on the 1st day we worked on skills to go and climb a peak. A East-West Traverse of Hochstetter Dome was the 1st objective.

Pitched climbing up the E ridge

Heading up the E ridge

Coming off the summit

Great day on out with calm, warm conditions on the summit. We climbed both peaks and returned back to Kelman on the track we had put in the day before.

Another climb the next day on Mt Alymer before an afternoon of self rescue in a cravasse.

How to get yourself out of a Cravasse

Next day was rescue day. The guys had asked for a big day on this to add to their rock and canyoning skills that they already had. The guys have done quite a few trips together out of Sydney and could adapt a lot of the rescue skills to other trips they are doing.

We did have one hut day but good timing after being out every day before that, so a rest day  was nice and good to catch up on other theory skills.

Ice climbing skills training in the Icefall

Climbing training on Steep ice

Ice climbing on the way back to Mt Cook village, always a good time and again perfect conditions with a good freeze after the small amount of rain the night before. What a great week in the hills and look forward to spending time in the hills with  Sam and Rick again.

 

Sefton Bivi in the sun

With summer here it was time to wander up to spend a night at the Sefton Bivi with Simon and Katie.

 

Magic

Mt Cook via the Linda Glacier

Mt Cook has been in great conditions this season with lots of snow in the last few week. We even got snow on the 1st day of this trip causing the Avalanche hazard to go up requiring a day for the new snow to settle out.

On the 1st fine day we flew into Plateau hut and went out for a short climb on Glacier Dome.

 

Warm up climb on Glacier Dome with the Tasman Glacier in the back ground

Great views up the Tasman Glacier from the summit of Glacier Dome, then back to the hut in prep of leaving at 1am for Mt Cook.

With the days getting shorter we got into the summit rocks before the sun came up.

 

Coming though the summit rock with the early morning light just coming on.

We made good time even with the soft snow and got the summit at 9am as the winds started to pick up.

Enjoying the summit views

The winds held off enough to make a hot walk down the Linda Glacier and glad we had snow shoes for the walk across to the hut.

Conditions are quickly changing in the Linda and expect that not to many more ascents before the cravasses get to large.

Time to start looking for other routes/mountains to climb.

 

 

Private MEC to Mt Annette via Mueller hut

Great weather and amazing views made for a great few days up on the Annette Plateau. With the weather forecast looking OK we decided to head straight from Mt Cook village to just below Mt Annette to bivi for the night.

Travelling through the mountains to our bivi spot

We spent some time on the way learning about navigation in the mountains plus cramponing, and other travel techniques to get up the Annette Plateau.

Our Bivi spot with Cook in the background

Arriving at the bivi spot we set up for the night and took advantage of the great views in all directions. We where lucky that most of the rock walls where already there and little work was required to get comfortable for the night. After dinner a quick ascent of Mt Annette was required to get the last of the light.

Evening ascent of Mt Annette with the bivi spot below

Next morning was more training with pitching and steeper climbing techniques covered.

Learning pitching techniques

 

Learning steeper climbing techniques

With the weather forecast not looking so good we headed for Mueller hut with the plan of more learning in the morning and then decent to the Village. The weather did start to change with winds increasing but still no rain.

Last day with morning light on Mueller hut and Mt Cook in the background

Made for a great start to the day and then descended as the wind really picked up. Now in Mt Cook village and have new snow on the hills overnight so a day of theory today and some rock climbing on Friday when the weather clears again.

 

 

Looking like great late season conditions

With the recent mid summer “winter” conditions, new snow and crazy weather the mountains and glaciers are looking in fantastic condition for a likely great, late, climbing season.

With snowfall to low levels at regular intervals right through December and now in January, many of the usual crevasse hazards that can affect climbing access are less daunting than normal for this time of year.

If you’ve been holding off till the last moment booking for a special ascent or training course, now might be the time to make the most of it. Give Dave or Art a call or email us and we’ll help you tailor a trip just for you.