So during the tramping club meeting one of the officers announced that there was a trip going out to Mt. Sealy in Cook National Park. I was supposed to go back to Castle Hills for a weekend of bouldering with the climbing club...but I quickly gave it up for a chance to hit the mountains. As it turns out this was not a club trip, but simply one of the many trips that members open up to other members who are interested. Alex, a 2nd year here at uni from Canada who's lived in NZ for over 10 years, was heading the trip. Another girl, Melanie, on exchange from the states, joined the trip as well as Carl, a dude I met through the climbing guys. We met up with Alex's boyfriend, Josh, and his crew from the Otago Tramping Club: Jono, David (both kiwis), and Magnus the massive Norweigan. He is now the 2nd person I've ever met named Magnus, and i gotta say both Magni (plural?) rock my world.
Anywho, so we left around 3pm on Friday and drove 4.5 metric hours to Mt. Cook National Park. Yes, this is the Mount Cook that mountaineers train on for Everest and is also sometimes dubbed the Monte Blanc of the Southern Hemisphere (seriously I read that in a book, and yes I read, seriously). We signed in our form of intention at this hotel which makes a fair bit of business cause its the only thing in the park and it is quite nice looking. Its a lot like a mini resort. Then we made dinner and made camp in this field with really tall grass which turned my bivy sac into more or less a water bed. I slept incredibly well and woke up occassionally to the magnificent sound of glaciers falling off Mt. Sefton as it glowed in the moonlight. The next day we headed up the track towards the Mueller Hut where we stopped to eat lunch. Then continued on for another 2 hours or so to our bivy site for the evening. Throughout the day we stopped to check out the views, socialize, and of course play in the snow fields. We found the Otago tramping club bivy spot on a nice flat ground which already had some rock walls for wind protection. We turned it into our own resort and then ate dinner as the sun set behind the mountains.
The next morning we got up at 5am for an alpine start and summit bid but made it out of camp a bit behind schedule. After a descent down the rocks we roped up with crampons for our slog up our first snow field: 2-three man teams (Josh, David, & Carl and Magnus, Jono, & myself). Then we traversed over the glaciers to Sladden's Saddle on the western side of Mt. Sealy so we could approach it from the South/South West. At saddle we encountered 2 massive crevasses. We switched off leads making running belays with our snow stakes on the slope. At the top of the saddle we traverssed around a massive plateau avoiding only one other threatening crevase. We then stopped to grab some food and water before unroping to solo the last 300m or so to the ridge. Once toping out on the ridge we had to take off our crampons and drop our ice tools to climb the rock scramble up to the summit. Then a short walk around top and bam!!! 10:30am four of us sat at the summit of Mt. Sealy. We didn't spend much time at the top because some clouds started to roll in.
The descent was a bit slow going but at this point we knew what to expect. We kept on our toes as the snow had already turned to slush (a full foot in some places). On our ascent we experienced some relatively hard neve which made the Sladden's Saddle and last summit push a pleasure. Now as we retreated down the saddle snow stakes went in like butter for our running belays which Josh set up, leaving them for Magnus to pull. We safely cross the snow bridges and hauled ass back to base where we ate just about everything we had left. The girls were waiting for us and had already packed up their stuff. We cruised back to the Mueller Hut where we took another well deserved food/bathroom break. By 7:30ish we straggled into the campground and immediately began eatting more food. After disposing of our effluent materials in the proper bins, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. Alex and Carl switched driving all the way back to uni and stayed awake thanks to Mel's ipod.
All in all this was an amazing trip. It was by far the most technical climb I've ever done. Our approach was steady-moderate day with Sunday ending up being over a 14 hour day. The views were incredible and everyone on the team did an amazing job. I have to come back to this park, there is so much to explore. This trip was definitely another stepping stone for more adventures to come (sorry Mom, I promise I'll make you proud though).
Friday:
Mel and Carl practicing their prusiks. i think that's actually a bowline?
an icon of NZ: one way bridges. **fun fact: there are 10,772 bridges in NZ (I read it under a Tui cap).
the flat city slowly turned into sweeping hills...and finally into mountains (scroll down).
Carl switches up the driving for Alex.
sweet hills.
sweet camper. this company rents out vans which are painted with crazy themes, I see them everywhere (that's my plug for 'wicked campers.com').
we stopped by this tourist spot: 'the church of the good shepherd' on Lake Tekapo. apparently a lot of people get married here. if you take a look around you can understand why. the front of the church has a giant glass window which is sure to distract any practicing individual.
click on the pic to enlarge and read the inscription.
beautiful lake. careful where you step on the shallow rocks however, they are covered in slimy diatoms (kind of like algae but simpler organisms).
i'd like to live here.
Carl and Alex jump in for a dip.
a little further down the road is Lake Pukaki which is filled by glacial run-off from the mountains of Mt. Cook National Park.
sweet.
mel.
tough man Carl.
Carl and Alex showing the rest of us how its done.
turn the corner and Cook looms ahead.Saturday:
let's play a game: what did you wake up to this morning? answer: i woke up to Mt. Sefton towering over me.
these would scientists studying the Keas, a rare alpine parrot, one of the largest in the world. they are also one of the smartest creatures on the planet and yet hardly nothing is known about them. they are incredibly playful with each other and curious as all hell about everything. just watch them tear at the rubber lining in your car doors. yah, not so cute anymore after they take off with your favorite shirt you left lying on ground, either. still they are incredibly entertaining to observe.
Keas and Mt. Sefton, a match made in heaven.
up on the ridge, our first good shot of Mt. Cook and the glacial moraines from Mt. Sefton.
looking back down into the valley. you can see the campground in the bottom left and the resort mid-way up on the right side.
one way to gain elevation really quickly: 3 hours of stairs, no joke.
the Sebastopol ridge in the distance (one of the ways we could have come down on Sunday).
panning up to Mt. Oliver.
the boys & Cook.
the boys & Sefton.
we are awesome.
me, myself, and Cook.
taking a breather before topping out on the ridge.
this is the view you are instantly blessed with upon reaching the ridge.
don't mess with Carl.
hiya!
Mueller Hut: one of the nicest huts you can find. also one of the most accessible in the entire system. about $35 a night. wicked nice outhouses.
inside is roomie and holds a fair about of space for guests. stoves already set out for use and fresh rain water, fill-em up!
from this shot you can actually see the summit of Sealy and the snow fields we will cross to reach it.
the Mueller Glacier which wraps around the sealy range and eventually drains into Lake Pukaki. it is a dirty glacier because of all the debris which falls off the surrounding mountains its eroding.
you can actually see Mt. Sealy from here (highest peak on the horizon directly above Mel with the red pack on)
you can also see the entire rest of the approach to our bivy site up near where the snow fields get denser.
this is the snow field we played on. josh taught mel how to self-arrest which is an essential skill in mountaineering.
mel standing below my glissading* tracks.*glissading is a fancy french term which simply means sliding on your ass. very fun stuff.
alex and mt. sefton.
check out my 'oh' face!
more snowfields.
mt. olivier is somewhere on this ridge...
this is carl. let's just say kiwis do it a bit differently down here...
slogging up the snow.
self-portrait of my arm.
me and Sefton.
Sefton and Cook.
snowline meets horizon.
a look back at whence we came from.
happy we're almost there.
mel is happy as well.
we slept at bivy site used by friends of the Otago guys. we split up into 2 teams to look for it (you can see a small flattened area below the middle pile of rock).
looking up a the glacier.
josh pondering our route to sealy.
mt. sealy is the ridge cut off in the picture on the top-right hand side. this rock slide is what we would descend in the morning to hit the glacier (and then traverse up and right to the next one).
panning clockwise (south).
a look into base camp.
relaxing after dinner.
repeat after me...
the sun sets on Cook (north).
clouds pouring over the western ridge.
i swear this has got to be Paramount Picture's inspiration.Sunday:
after a tricky descent in the dark with headlamps we make it on the glacier and regain some elevation.
stripping layers in the sunrise.
7am
looking back at Mt. Cook.
Sefton and Cook.
alex and magnus topping out on the glacier.
pretty clouds.
regrouping.
sun shining on the western ridge (the Mueller Glacier rests in the valley).
sometimes you gotta go down, to go up...again.
crossing the glacier to Mt. Sealy. we're headed for Sladden's Saddle on the western side of the mountain (top right).
crossing crevases on the saddle using running belays (josh, david, & carl near the top).
switching leads as i top out on the saddle looking down at alex.
Sladdlen's Saddle landed us between the two ridges in the middle. we then followed the semi circle shape of the glacier to ascend the southern face of Mt. Sealy.
panning left on top of the glacier.
still panning left...
unroping and refueling.
the final 300m of snowfield before topping out on Mt. Sealy's ridgeline.
turning around to look at my foot and axe prints down. our packs and ropes are down where the shadows meet the rocks.
after toping out on the ridge and waiting for everyone to regroup.
Mt. Sefton.
i'm looking for words but nothing comes out but a big smile.
one more rock scramble to the summit. we took our crampons off and dropped our ice tools. luckily for us we found a protected chimney which goes diagonly left and up from the rocks in the shadows.
looking south...
and panning right...
panning more (this is the table top we reached after the first saddle)...
panning right...
panning right (Mt. Sealy & Cook).
carl, magnus, and josh at the summit.
looking south east at Lake Pukaki (glacial meltwater).
we could vaguely see a guy soloing the ridge below.
10:30am: sitting on "the thrown" and subsequently blocking Mt. Cook.
this is looking back where we came from after climbing the rock scramble, more rocks and snow. the guys retreating as we watching more clouds pouring in from the western ridge.
the clouds envelope us as we down climb the snowfield (magus in the blue in the bottom of the pic and alex in the grey further up).
hauling ass back to base camp.
looking back at Mt. Sealy.
me staring off at mt. cook.
a beautiful sunrise.
part of Alex's hike around the glacier at sunrise.
looking back at base camp with mt. sefton looming in the back.
probably one of the most incredible shots taken. this is the 6 of us descending sladen's saddle around mid-day. i'm the 3rd one down from the top, leading my team.
mel is tough.
mel leading the pack back to mueller hut.
