When Jono and I decided to climb Mt Rolleston in February 2006, comments in the ascents book suggested the descent from the High Peak might have been difficult because of 'schrunds (bergschrunds are the deep crevasses between a glacier and the adjacent rock). We’d wanted to climb the Otira Face, a route that leads directly to the High Peak, but didn’t want to find ourselves faced with descending the route we’d just climbed. So, we decided to check out the standard route (via the Otira Slide) to the Low Peak to see whether we’d be able to descend that way. This is the view from the Low Peak of Rolleston, looking west along the summit ridge towards the High Peak.
Having got this far, we decided we might as well carry on, and we found the route to the High Peak was straightforward, with only a few sections of moderate difficulty. We returned to the High Peak three days later, climbing via the Otira Face and descending this route.
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4 comments:
Kia ora Pete,
I love the way my eyes trace the route ahead, or what I imagine the route to be, and leads off into the cloud and grey blue sky. I feel that mixture of excitement and trepidation.
Cheers,
Robb
That is land that would kill you if you aren't careful, or even if you are. Not intentionally, mind, it just doesn't care if you are there or not.
I've been catching up on your past few posts and the trip has been stunning! I know nothing about mountain climbing and I'm no better informed, other than, it's very high, rocky and breathtaking.. One day maybe I'll get near enough to a proper mountain to find out :0)
Robb: "excitement and trepidation" — that sums it up perfectly. :^)
Zhoen, sadly, that's exactly what's happened all too often on Rolleston. It's claimed the lives of some very experienced climbers, not just the gung ho.
Watercats, plenty of wonderful mountains here in Aotearoa. If you guys ever make it over here, I'll show you the real thing :^)
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