By Terra Dumont, 09 November 2010
1st Ascent of Mt Aspiring, SW ridge by a pig (probably)
A text from Jonathon saying that he had just been up on the Bonar Glacier, everything was in mint condition and that the SW ridge looked on was all it took for me to get quite excited! We met in Queenstown where I had been living it up as a climbing bum out of my car for the past week and quickly sorted gear and had a fantastic picnic on the sidewalk. I made a trip to the Salvation Army for a glacier shirt as mine no longer had a back. The best I could find was this absolutely hideous women’s shirt with lace and flowers on it! I think at this point Jonathon was really wondering what he was getting himself into climbing with me! We got the 2 hour (quite beautiful) slog up to Aspiring Hut over with that night. We where most surprised to find out that we where the only people in the valley! With such amazing conditions we could not believe the place was not buzzing with climbers!
The following morning we headed up French Ridge, not complaining about the fact it was gently snowing, as that made the steep track much more manageable than it would have been in the heat. It took us a couple hours less then expected, so we munched down on the food Jonathon had left up there a few days before then had a fantastic 2 hours sleep. We then headed up and over the Quarterdeck, which was in perfect condition, without a single crevasse in it, and over onto the Bonar, which was the same. No ropes needed for the glacier crossing! We where getting a bit worried about if we would be able to find a place to bivvy that would be out of the wind (which was blowing at 40 – 50 kms) as there was not enough snow to dig a cave. Luckily we found a lovely wind slope on the lee side of the SW ridge, and dug into it enough to be comfortable, and managed a fairly decent sleep.
We awoke to a beautiful starry sky at 4 am. After melting enough water and stashing our bivvy gear we started the climb (5:30 am). We figured we would be able to solo it up until the crux pitch at the top. Soon after joining the ridge however we found that a small rock step we thought would not be a problem turned out to be full of loose snow and steeper than we had thought, and thus pulled out the rope. I led through it, placing two screws, half in and equalized… it made me feel better! A little higher on we found some wind slab, and thus decided to pitch through that as well, as even a small slide could cause a fatal fall. The last section before the crux was nice, solid, hard snow, so we put the rope away and soloed on. At the base of the ice we had a snack and rested our calves. I had not led ice in over a year, so had a ridiculous amount of fun in the couple meters of steep ice there was! I stretched out the pitch to the very end of my 70 m rope, which was a bit interesting with only 3 runners, but the climbing was easy after the 1st section. Since we where already roped up Jonathon led another pitch, though it turned out to be a gentler slope than what we had soloed before. We then put the rope away and walked to the summit (1:30 pm). By this time the 40-50 km winds had quit, and we enjoyed a cloudless view from our perch on the summit. It was a well deserved lunch! Palpagradi was very excited to have made it, as it was probably the 1st time a pig had stood on the summit! She got a bit freaked out by the look of the Coxcome ridge though.
We then wandered down the summit to the ramp. From what both of us had heard the ramp was suppose to be easy. It was damn steep!!! So we turned around and started front pointing down. Down climbing is something I definitely need to work on, so it was quite slow going for me. Especially when it is unrelentingly steep for 300 or so vertical meters. By the time I was nearing the bottom it was getting quite warm and thus it was turning into a bit of a bowling alley. I was extremely relieved to reach the glacier! Next time the kangaroo. All the way! Up or down, the ramp is just a slog!!
We collected our bivvy gear and decided to get to French Ridge hut for a good sleep. On the way out we met two guys who where going for the S face the next day. Was good to see others where out making the best of the good conditions! They where also complete legends and gave us parched plodders lovely massive cups of tea! J At the hut again cups of tea where placed in our hands. You guys are the best! J The hut had quite a few people in it, including two guys who where going to climb the SW ridge, and another party going for the NW ridge.
After a lovely sleep in we cooked a massive breakfast then started walking out to the car. About 50 m from the hut I managed to trip up and bash my head. Luckily just lots of blood and no damage. So we continued our way down with me looking like the muppet I was with gauze taped to my forehead and blood all over my white blouse (definitely added to the lace effect…). The rest of the walk out was fantastically uneventful, but very beautiful. All in all, a fantastic climb! Highly recommended J