My week of alpine climbing in New Zealand is easily summed: one very windy day; one very rainy, cold, cloudy day; and three days spent in a -10 degree C alpine hut praying the weather would break long enough for us to walk out. It never did. And as avalanche and crevasse hazard increased steadily throughout the 60-hour storm we decided it best to jump ship a day early and fly out in a helicopter during the first break in the clouds in days.
Great fun. (And, as an added bonus, I now know what it feels like to pee in 110 km/hour "severe gale force" winds.)
My schedule over the next couple days is quite hectic: rock climbing in Wanaka then off to Aussie. So a full description of the trip will have to wait. Until then here I am descending the fox glacier back to our hut after an attempt at Grey Peak. Blue skys, mountains swimming in cloud, the crystal white snow of the glacier broken only by the icy glare of its deadly cracks. And our footsteps. Classic New Zealand.
Follow @Conquests