What a great country!

With Mount Aspiring being one of the most popular big peaks in the country, it could be a concern about overcrowding at Colin Todd Hut over the Christmas period.  Guide Aritza Monesterio and his client Deian flew in December 23rd to join the festivities at Colin Todd Hut.  What they found was an empty hut and the whole mountain to themselves.  With a Christmas Eve summit success on Aspiring, they sat out two days of bad weather and then walked out over French Ridge staying at French Ridge Hut before returning to Wanaka on day 5.  They did not see another person for the entire trip.  We had to reassure them on their return that no there had not been a nuclear holocaust or some other disaster, it's just New Zealand!

Humans vs Nature; Score One All

Nature struck first with a cruel blow when it sent an avalanche into the newly constructed bridge in the Upper West Matukituki Valley.  After having been in place for a decade the bridge was destroyed in 2011 in a once in a hundred year event.  In another once in a hundred year event this winter the bridge was again decimated.  Nature 1 : Humans 0

However in a cunning reply this week a tramper managed to light an out of control fire in the East Matukituki Valley that burned over 100ha of sub-alpine plant life.  This is no easy feat in a rain forest and the first fire in over 30 years of tramping in this area which we previously regarded as unburnable.  Nature 1: Humans 1

We are nervously awaiting nature's next move.

Interesting climbing at Mt Darby 2531m

It's not all about Aspiring & Cook!

Tim Steward, NZMGA Climbing Guide is our master at finding out of the way and interesting places to climb.  Mt Darby which is climbed from Barron Saddle Hut is an interesting mixed route on snow and rock.  Far enough east of the main divide, it can get quite different weather patterns than those peaks further west.  Getting out is a traverse of the Sladden & Metelille glaciers and then the Annette Plateau & Sealy Range back to Mueller Hut for a sweet glissade off the tops down to Mt Cook Village.   

Enjoy the photos from the trip.

 

What all the best dressed mountaineers are wearing this summer!

It's hot on the ice!

It's easy to be fooled into thinking that it's going to be cold if you're walking around on a glacier.  Often the reverse is true.  In fact, as Whit our chief guide likes to say...there's only 2 temperatures on a glacier, boiling and freezing.   And at this time of  the year if you add UV radiation off the scale and you have all the ingredients to be boiled like a lobster.  So what do all the best dressed mountaineers wear to combat this?

Take a look at our very attractive model for our Summer 2013/14 collection to see for yourself!

Stylish!  We call it the Bedouin Look!

Better Late Than Never

Click for Cascade Saddle Ski Tour September 2013

Guide Fabien Passaro just sent in a video from a tour we did in Sept..  This is a spectacular area, and guess what,  you don't have to ski to get there since it is a popular summer route.  Starting in Wanaka and ending in Glenorchy and Queenstown this is a great trip for people wanting to try a New Zealand hike on their own (with a little help)  Click for  Cascade Saddle Assist

Skip your Cafe Latte for a week and give this kid some money, he deserves it.

I was on the coast just south of Fiordland and I saw a guy walking with an enormous pack, but what caught my eye was the quiver of arrows.  With his huge pack, youth and general cleanliness,  I was tempted to pass him off as some adventurer who had no idea what he was getting into but I could not have been more wrong.

We started chatting and he told me that he was walking all the way around New Zealand. It took moment to sink in.  Not "walking the length of South Island" as many have done.  Not "walking the length of New Zealand" as a few have done. And following the coast?  No one does that.  And to circumnavigate the whole thing (quick google check 14,000 kilometres)?  Yeah, right.  And the arrows? "I am am trying to live off the land." We were clearly dealing with a delusional character here.  From the clean clothes and happy smile I was guessing that this was the first day of the trip and he would not make it to Invercargill.  "So when did you start" I asked.  "February, up at the top of the North Island".  So this cat just spent 9 months walking the west coast in winter, "living off the land", and he was only half way.  As my mind tried to process this I couldn't quite accept it.  "So what did you do about the rivers?" I mumbled searching for something to say. "I just use the raft I am carrying.  I'm Brando and here is my card". 

I see a lot of people in the mountains of New Zealand who pull off amazing feats. And if that was the end of the story it would be amazing enough.  But there is a lot more to Brando's story.  Check out his story here.  He said he was raising money for charity and that he had just graduated from high school in Cromwell, was at a bit of a loose end and thought he would do something he could sink his teeth into.  He said he had dyslexia and it made a lot of things hard to do for him but that this was something he thought he could do.

If you want to contribute to his charity (Ronald McDonald House) you can do it here.   DO IT!

First Aspiring trip of the season - mountain is still there!

Simon Howells and Nico Champey flew into Mount Aspiring for the fist ascents of the season.  Everyone was relieved to find that the mountain is right where we left it at the end of last summer.

A couple of photos to show the difference from the valley to the mountain.  It is an amazing contrast this time of year with the green of the valley compared to the heavy snow above.

Stunning day for staff field training day.

The nice thing about Wanaka is that if you want to check out a new route there is always something to to do.  This ridge over Lake Hawea has been calling for some time.  It was a real gem.

Introducing Nicolas Champey

An Interview with Nicolas Champey, IFMGA  France

Every season we get a number of guides from other countries stopping in for a visit.  Last summer Nico Champey contacted us but he was different from the usual guide on holiday.  Originally from Grenoble France, he was married to an Australian, he had a work permit and he was checking out Wanaka to move here permanently with his partner Kate and their two small children.  We hosted him on a few trips and the rest is history, they have moved to town and Nico is a valuable member of out team here at Aspiring Guides.

Tell us about yourself Nico, how does a guide from Grenoble end up living in Wanaka?
I was guiding climbing in Canada and I met Kate. She came to France for six years and then we move to Australia for one year, and then we moved to Wanaka.

Australia was no place for a mountain guide?
I was doing rope access work in Sydney but there are no mountains there!

So what’s it like moving to Wanaka?
It's difficult to move with a family but we knew people to share a house with before we found a place to live. Life in Wanaka is pretty good, lots of places for preschool and lots of parks.  Everyone here is very helpful.

What did you think of your first New Zealand winter?
I was surprised at how short it was, I expected more time for ice climbing.  Working on the Bow Glacier in Canada was very similar to guiding here.

Is it different guiding here than in Europe? 
The mountains are so far from the road, you go on bigger trips here, the other thing is the huts have custodians in France so you don’t have to cook.  The mountains here are quiet; there are much fewer people and tracks.  Also the animals, keas is have not eaten my gear so so far I am happy with them.

What peaks in France are similar to Mount Aspiring?  
It’s a classic summit like Les Bans or Les Ecrin or Aiguille du Tour.

And the Matterhorn?  
No, on the Matterhorn the hut is already on the mountain so there is no approach.  The Matterhorn is steeper and more consistent straight to the summit.

What was the guiding in Canada like?
I used to guide Assiniboine, Bow Glacier and Athabasca.  There the valleys are U shaped not V shaped like here, so the trails are easier.  The forest in Canada is very thick so it is much easier to get lost.  Assiniboine is a nice pyramiyd like Mnt. Aspiring, it is harder than Mnt. Aspiring but it’s only about 600m to climb.

In France your last job was Search and Rescue, which was run by the police, so you are a policeman?  
Yes we had to do all the same training as a policeman.

Did you carry a gun?
Not while I was working but we had to train with a gun three times a year which was a funny day for us, we were mountaineers so we all didn’t care much about shooting.

What was the work like?  
I work in the Mercantour National Park there were lots of canyons and cliffs so we did lots of canyon rescues, when it was busy we sometimes had six or seven rescues a day.

Do you have places in New Zealand you are looking forward to climb?
I haven’t really studied where I want to go yet I would like to climb around Milford Sound and the Mount Cook area.  One route I saw was Pope’s Nose, that looks nice.

Where do you think you will be in 10 years?
(laughing) Living between France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand I guess!

Jasper, Kate, Lauren and Nico.  Jasper is 3yrs old and speaks two languages

Flight up the Tasman Glacier

After waiting out the bad weather Guide Tim Steward catches a ski plane into Tasman Saddle Hut.  It is always a stunningly beautiful flight but this time in the pilot had a bit of a look around trying to work around the cloud making for a spectacular flight.

 Flying up the Tasman Glacier it is clear that the upper glacier is still covered in cloud

 Looking down at glacial morain

 Flying in under the cloud

 With the cloud thickening the pilot decides to have a look at a higher elevation to see if the top of the glacier may be above the cloud layer.

 A Brocken Specter created by the sun casting a shadow of the plane surouded by a halo of refracted light.

 Mount Cook clearly free of cloud.

 Mount Tasman

 Circling it is clear that the upper glacier is not clear of cloud.

 If you can't go over then it is time to go back under.

 Coming back under the cloud layer the Hochstetter Ice fall on Mnt. Cook is clearly visable.

 Coming in for a landing at Darwin Corner.

The team finally on the ground.

The kitchen gets bigger the longer the trip goes on when you are snow caving

Louden & Flockton - Black Peak and Heli Day

Photos from the end of August that just surfaced on my computer.  As the dog days of winter grind  down and the snow is frozen in the morning and soft in the after noon and the Americas Cup slowly saps all the joy from life....sorry I got off track there....anyway, here is some great snow to reflect back on.  In reality we get some pretty big dumps of snow in late Sept. and October so it's not over yet.