The easy access to the Remarkables Alpine Area means great adventures daily…….
David says check this out, 2km vertical back to the lake and Queenstown
Alpine treks are suited to safe travel and our guests aspirations and fitness on the day, there is a lot to see and do!
David and Andrew check out the east face rock slabs ground smooth by past glaciation
Andrew embracing the stone, bound by ribbons of quartz
Rupert has been busy over the last week with three trips up Remarkables. Firstly he climbed the North ridge of Single with Yann. It was beautiful bluebird day. To finish off the day they both had a swim in Lake Alta, that is frozen for five months a year!
Climbing Double cone
On Sunday he took 65 year old Englishman John over the Grand Traverse which takes in all the highest points on the Remarkables Range. Though the weather was not fantastic, it was windy and little cloudy they still had a awesome day out. John has since been lapping the down hill trails on Skyline!
Finaly Rupert finished off a three day course with Yorkshireman Lee. They got an early start today and climbed the ultra classic 150m Grade 16 on the Alta slabs called ‘ It ain’t over til the fat lady sings’ This rang true for the day as the three abseil descent was done in howling wind and rain. It was a great chance fro Lee to show off his new rope management skills.
Jess was also caught out by the fast moving front up at Waterfall Wall on Gorge Road while doing one of the many half day trips that have been happening.
Hope everyone else has been able to out and about between the fronts!
Climbing Queenstown
Double Cone
Guide Rupert has finished running an alpine rock course high above Queenstown in the Remarkables mountains. He taught Joesee (from Prince George, Canada) natural pro and multi pitch climbing, then helped her put it all into practice by climbing Alpha on the east face of Single Cone and then DBeh on Double Cone. Dbeh was finished off by a Grand Traverse of Double and Single Cone. All up there was much learning, four summits, over twelve pitch’s of rock climbed and much exposed ridge travel!!
The girls.... nervous and excited.
All smiles over the edge
Ruby abseiling with style
The girls showing their leap of faith
Chris Prudden guided client, Rob up Single Cone via the standard south gully route. I (Jess) came along for a great day out. A perfect sunny day the snow proved stable and compact however quite deep leaving the Wye saddle. Plugging thigh deep it greatly slowed our approach however we didn’t let this phase us. Chris leading for most of the way kept on strong. Continuing on led to much easier terrain, a chilly ascent up the gully then up onto the summit. It was the perfect winters day for this trip, with light winds on top and clear skies. We greatly reccomend a Single Cone ascent in summer but on a day like this, its equally good this time of year.
Jess and Rob on summit
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!
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.
Phil a local of Queenstown who is partially blind has just done his first abseil with Climbing Queenstown. Now that’s inspirational and motivating to us all. Check the photo’s attached below. Legend Phil!!!
Phil abseiling
Phil trying to find the way
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!
Rupert relaxing in the North Wye.
Rupert & Dave have recently been up the Remarkables with slightly older clients (+50). Both trips were to climb the fantastic accessible alpine rock up there. If it’s been a while since you have been on the rock or wanting to step it up a notch in an alpine situation, the Remarkables is the perfect location for a day trip. The routes are generally of the long easy nature and get lots of sun at this time of year! Book your private trip on the alpine rock today (:
