Monthly Quote;
"The bizarre trend in mountaineers is not the risk they take, but the large degree to which they value life. They are not crazy because they don't dare, they're crazy because they do. These people tend to enjoy life to the fullest, laugh the hardest, travel the most, and work the least." — Lisa Morgan.
A quick update - we recently finished a trip through the remote Rolawling Valley, crossing the Tashi Lapcha, climbing Pachermo (6273m) and then heading up into the Kyajo Ri Valley - located in a hidden hanging valley between Thame and Namche.
The trip through the Rolwaling was sinply amazing and one which is rarely done - which means that we didn't see anyother westerners for about 3 weeks. The trip over the Tashi Lapcha is a demanding route climbing to 5760m which is hard on the like of westerners and Nepali porters alike.
We were planing on doing this trip last year but were thwarted by a heavy snowfall prior to the expedition starting which made us change plans dramtically - however this year there was low snow fall and nothing to hold us back. The Kyajo Ri valley is another untouched spot in Solo Khumbu Region - a rare thing to find. It's a demanding valley with a very remote feeling however only being 1 1/2 days walk from Namche for well acclimatized groups.
Despite heavy snowfall a 3 day snow fall and conditions which saw it too dangerous for our porters to help us carry loads the crew pushed on up the valley to establish camp 2 at 5650m allow Dave Alderson and Mal Haskins to make an attempt to climb via the SW ridge to the summit at 6180m. The pair encountered hard mixed climbing at the base of the route with green/blue ice on the remainder. A combination of exhaustion from load carrying - no food remaining at high camps, approaching turn around times and threatening bad weather saw them make the decision to turn around at approx 6000m. They then were able to load carry back down to base camp with the welcome help from the expeditions head porter / porters who arrived at camp 1.
Images and more info will be uploaded after I get back to New Zealand
Posted by malrock on Monday, April 21 @ 02:42:18 EDT (31 reads) (comments? | Expeditions | Score: 0)
It's been a while since I've been behind a keyboard writting updates on the VR site. It's been a pretty busy summer season mixed with a bit of carnage in the mountains. Right now I'm sitting in Namche - Kathmandu.
Early this year we lost a friend and fellow guide - Anton Wopereis - after he fell on the summit rocks of Mt Cook whilst guiding a client. Antons death was felt heavily throughout the climbing and local communities - he's missed in many different areas of a wide variety of people's lives.
Climbing in general in New Zealand in the late summer season has shown what some of the effects of human accelerated climate change could be bringing about. The serious lack of snowfall in in winter and spring brought the glaciers to an early bare state with the Linda Glacier route on Mt Cook becoming much more dangerous to negotiate earlier in the season than usual. General glacial conditions were pretty dry with significant abalation being seen through out the southern alps. Access to routes were cut of early season with wide shrunds and rock fall was seen to increase with a lack of snow/ice holding the rocks in place.
The East Face of Vampire fell off ... Just to the left of the route - Far from the Madden Crowds and to the right of Not For Us 2 a headwall collapsed and blasted it's way down across the Muller glacier in a scene similar to that of the collapse of the East Face of Cook.
Vampire Rock Fall
In other news from Nepal - Ulie Steck is attempting a alpine style climb of the North Face of Big Phera Go Shar (7000m+) from the Thame Valley - this is a wall that has seen 7 expeditions fail on various attempts. Uli will try and make a line up the right hand side of the obvious splitting ridge line - trying to avoid the hazard presented by the overhanging seracs above ... In 2006 he soled the north face of Cholatse (6440m)
Big Phera Go Shar
Cholatse
Posted by malrock on Monday, April 21 @ 02:27:11 EDT (30 reads) (comments? | Website Updates | Score: 0)
This new info info is about 6 days old - however since we've had little new snow and lots of high freezing levels (click here to see freezing level forecasts) general conditions will not have changed much - although normal summer changing conditions can be expected. Bridges will continue to weaken earlier in the day - shrunds will get harder to cross and walking back to the hut / camp in the afternoon will be a plugging.
30th Nov - Marty Beare from Aspiring Guides Ramp - NW Ridge: Access to Ramp is via a bridge to looker's left, then a traverse to the right above a large bergschrund. It's getting tricky. Wet and settled snow conditions are making for a hard, slick surface after clear nights/freezes. Top-clip anchors are generally bomber in the morning, but beware of the sliding hazard. By mid-afternoon the crust has softened, and the top 50 cm is wet and loose. Beware weak snow, build multiple-point snow anchors, and do not overload anchors! The upper slopes are firm and icy, with short rock sections appearing. Ice cap has longer fingers of sastrugi. SW Ridge is easily accessed via foot of Ramp/West Face. The surface conditions are firm, icy crust, looser under-layers, with short fingers of sastrugi all the way to the couloir. The couloir is thin ice barely stuck to rock (no pro until ice melts).
Bevan Col and French Ridge look ok from the air. __________________________________
Posted by malrock on Thursday, December 06 @ 15:05:17 EST (263 reads) (comments? | Mountaineering | Score: 0)
We're still waiting in Punta Arenas, Chile, all ready to fly to the ice for another season on Antarctica's high mountains.
Camilo Rada, Pachi Ibarra and Jarmila Tyrril and I are attempting Mt Tyree and Mt Epperly. These peaks are currently the 2nd and 10th highest mountains in Antarctica, probably the most difficult, and the only high Sentinels that our Omega-supported expeditions have not climbed.
We'll probably do some other climbs but those are our main objectives. Re-measuring those will bring to a close six years of expeditions and mapping that resulted in the new Vinson Massif & Sentinel Range map that many of you have seen.
If you're receiving this then you will receive any dispatches of text and images that we send out from the ice. As usual you can also follow us and everyone else down South this year on www.thepoles.com. However this year you can also see us on Camilo's new website www.expenews.org A brief history of our past expeditions and some other information and updates can be seen on my personal site www.antarcticmountains.com
Best Wishes, Damien, Camilo, Pachi & Jarmila
Posted by malrock on Thursday, November 22 @ 20:12:39 EST (292 reads) (comments? | Expeditions | Score: 0)
A few weeks ago I was up working on Mt aspiring when I ran into Craig Wigglesworth and his climbing partner Dave Lilley (www.davelilley.co.uk) on the helicopter ride into Bevan Col. I was in with Tim, working for Aspiring Guides and planning on heading up the ramp the next morning. Colin Tod hut was reportably quite full already with about 15 trying to squeeze into the available 12 bunks ....
Craig and Dave shot off across the glacier being super keen and fit - When tim and I got to the hut the lads had found out they'd need to bivvy on the balcony - along with the 3 other climbers arriving via Bevan Col after leaving the road end that morning .. a long haul!
Craig and Tim shot off super early and solo'd the ramp in very firm conditions - the left the hut and 2:30 am and were back by 9:30 - a quick rest and then off they fired again back over the bonar and out via the Quater Deck / French Ridge. Craig has posted some videos on YouTube .... enjoy
Part 2 - The Climb
Part 3 - Out
Posted by malrock on Thursday, November 22 @ 17:48:26 EST (348 reads) (comments? | Mountaineering | Score: 0)
Conditions in the Mt Cook National Park have been fairly favorable for general mountaineering with a recent dump of snow settling out and being consolidated by the higher temperatures recently. The high temps have meant that the snow has been fairly deep and hard plugging has been the order of the day. Shrunds are still well covered and crevasses still well filled. A climber needed a pick up from Sefton bivvy after dislocating his shoulder due to a very small fall into a crevasse on the way up to climb the footstool.
The high freezing levels (about 3600m) has meant that the snow surface has not been freezing overnight. A party was turned back on the East ridge of Dixon due to heavy balling up on the crampons made it too dangerous to continue - a good set of anti- balling plates are key! The freezing level is not forcast to drop for a few days so expect more deep plugging and poor freezes ...
Gavin Lang and Dave Adlerson had an enjoyable if long trip up the East ridge of Cook and down the Linda - Gavin saya that the summit ridge was hard and blue - the lads did 8 pitches along the summit - exhausting work.
There is no ice on the central gulles of Hicks or the south face of Cook - Al Uren and Julian White report that Vampire (Barron Saddle) is also in poor condition with respect to ice.
Posted by malrock on Monday, November 19 @ 15:13:04 EST (414 reads) (comments? | Mountaineering | Score: 0)
Conditions on Mt aspiring have been superb recently. On the 10th of November 14 people summited with 10 ascending via the Ramp / NW ridge and 4 via the SW ridge (one of these a guided party from Aspiring Guides). Craig Wigglesworth (see video of Sefton Ascent below) and a buddy climbed the hill in quick time with a 3 hour ascent and back at the hut by about 9am.
The Quaterdeck
The Breakaway
In general all the shrunds are well filled in although the center of the shrund below the ramp is beginning to opening up. The Ramp itself has been very firm with snow anchors taking up to 30 solid hits to place - these conditions will change rapidly over the coming weeks. The QuaterDeck is well filled in and the Breakaway is also in moderately good nick - Mark and Celine Austin from Queenstown came up and over the Breakaway from French ridge to wander up the SW ridge.
South Face / SW ridge
Near the top
Base of Ramp
Bevan Col is also a fast approach / exit method at the moment with snow all the way to the floor at the head of the valley - be careful using this route later in the afternoon or after recent heavy rain as avalanche activity from the slopes of Mt Bevan is increasing. The south Face of Aspiring is looking a little black and blue at present - in marginal condition at best.
Posted by malrock on Wednesday, November 14 @ 19:26:54 EST (324 reads) (comments? | Mountaineering | Score: 0)
Expeditions: Antartica - A chilling omen or a freak event?
By Damien Gildea
www.antarcticmountains.com In early January my American climbing partner Jed Brown and I began climbing the north-west face of Mount Anderson, at that time the highest unclimbed mountain in the Sentinel Range, which is about 1200 kilometres north of the South Pole and home to Antarctica's highest peaks.
The sky was stunningly blue and clear and there was no wind; you only get a few days like this each summer on Antarctica's highest mountains. Where we expected to encounter snow between the bands of rock we found hard, clear "water ice" similar to that on the frozen waterfalls we had climbed in Europe and North America. As its name would suggest, such ice is formed directly from water, usually running water. It is not the compacted snow or hard blue glacial ice that is almost everywhere else in Antarctica.
On our descent from the summit, in temperatures hotter than I had experienced in five expeditions to these high peaks, we kept hearing a strange noise, like distant static. Following the noise over closer to the face, at an altitude of about 2600 metres, we were shocked to find actual water - running water, and not just an isolated trickle. We then realised that the whole face, thousands of square metres of rock and ice, was running with a thin sheet of water.
Here are a selection of Videos made by a couple of different climbers and hosted on Youtube. Aoraki, MtCook, Mt Sefton and Ice Climbing on Altered States, Remarkables. Enjoy.
Posted by malrock on Sunday, October 14 @ 04:53:37 EDT (402 reads) (comments? | Mountaineering | Score: 0)
Whilst not related to mountaineering or climbing - I am planning on doing some speed riding down off some of NZ's mountains this summer. Here are a collection of short clips I've made over winter whilst learning the crazy new sport of speed riding. A fair bit of the footage is taken at Treble Cone as it's got the best road for access and foot launching. Over the main ski season it's possible to spend most of the day flying down and hitching back up. Average run down is about 2 minutes and the ride up takes between 10 to 12 minutes.
The other fantastic area to learn and play in around wanaka is Cardrona Ski field. It has a series of blunt ridges, gullies and cliffs that are just fantastic to play on in winds from 30 km - 55 km / hour. It's also the best place to learn some advanced ground handling and ski handling techniques.
If your interested in learning or want some advice just drop me an email : m a l r o c k @ v e r t i c a l r e s o u r c e s . or g
Posted by malrock on Friday, October 12 @ 21:44:39 EDT (391 reads) (comments? | Wing Sports | Score: 0)
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It's been a while since I've been behind a keyboard writting updates on the VR site. It's been a pretty busy summer season mixed with a bit of carnage in the mountains. Right now I'm sitting in Namche - Kathmandu.
