Climbing Queenstown – New Zealand Climbing Experiences

Dave moving on…

Dave Bolger the Operations Manager for Climbing Queenstown is moving on after working for the company for 6 years. Dave will continue to be involved and work as a contract guide from time to time and he looks forward to making some cameo appearances.

Posted in | Posted by Dave

Remarkables 29/05/10

The Snow continues to fall on the Remarkables with some large wind drifts of 70cm +.  Certainly has been a large turn around from two weeks ago when we were experiencing some warm temperatures for May. The forecast for Monday and Tuesday looks great and we should get a better idea on conditions and how any ice is forming up. Keep ya posted.

Posted in Mountaineering | Posted by Dave

Single Cone Conditions 16/05/10

Rupert reports nice travel up the north ridge of Single Cone. There was minimal snow/ice cover on the actual ridge to the summit. The standard gully route on the eastern aspect has a reasonable amount of snow packed in the gully and crampons are advised. A word of caution that the fixed ropes on the bolted anchors down the gully are unsafe and should not be used. A real contrast currently between northern and southern aspects!

Posted in Mountaineering | Posted by Dave

Conditions on the Remarkables 3/5/10

The days of alpine rock and approach shoes to the top of Single Cone are over for the season. Again new snow over night and the southern aspects are holding reasonable amounts of snow at higher elevations ( above 2000m ).

Rupert and Client David found a little ice on the decent ramp to the south face of Single Cone on Saturday.  He also made a comment the standard gully route on Single Cone is filling up. Therefore time to brush of those crampons and ice axe and get into the hills for some early training.

Posted in Mountaineering | Posted by Dave

Camping Wye Creek

10 am on a Sunday morning, the sun hasn’t quite made it through the clouds and there is a cool breeze whipping off the lake, 19 sleepy looking kids pile out of their mini buses and look up the Wye Valley with bleary eyes…. “We’re hiking all the way up there?!”

After a quick gear check and a few instructions, Rupert and Rose set off leading the ‘Little Brown Kiwi’ group up the 4×4 track to gain the path that would lead them up the North branch of the Wye Valley. The kids are fast and fit and pretty soon everyone is warmed up.

A leisurely lunch was followed by a few more hours of tramping through the beech forest and a couple of river crossings to reach our campsite. Space was a little tight with all eleven tents but after some careful maneuvering we were all squeezed in and the kids promptly fell asleep for an afternoon nap! After a rest we were keen to do some more hiking and continued up the valley, alongside the waterfall above our campsite. Some tricky moves were required to avoid the spiky spear grass and we soon had fantastic views of Single and Double cone to our right (the highest peaks on the Remarkable Mountains) and Lake Wakatipu on our left. There was an impromptu stone-statue building competition and then we all headed back to camp for tea and medals.

Dinner was followed by a few rounds of group juggling and catching last few rays before watching the sunset. It was an early night for most of the team – wiped out after carrying their heavy packs up the valley.

After a good nights kip we woke to sunny skies and a gentle meander back across the river and down the valley. We were really impressed by the positive attitude of the group throughout the two days; we didn’t hear one single complaint! Special mentions go to ‘Shazza’ for making it all the way up the valley, James for taking a two minute bath in the (very cold) river and to Mr Hay and J-Lo for making it all the way down the valley with surprise rocks in their packs – sorry fellas, karma!

Posted in Hiking, Home | Posted by Dave