Bushwalk Australia

by **Vern** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 2:48 pm

Hi, not sure how many replies I'll get here but thought I'd try. I'm looking to head out to the Mt Cook Region for my first climb after doing the TMC. Looking at Elie De Beaumont, Hamilton, Dixon, or similar. Does anybody know about egress from these. I'm really wondering about the walk down the Tasman Glacier; how long, how rough, track/no track etc. If we did Elie De Beaumont and or Hamilton I'd probably fly to Tasman Saddle Hut and walk out. If Dixon then I'm wondering about acess/egress from the Grand Plateau. What the normal route is and a possible estimated travel time. Any info would be appreciated. Still plenty of planning time to go. Can't wait!

by **wayno** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 2:54 pm

heres maps of the area if thats any help
http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz26 ... Canterbury

by **wayno** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 3:03 pm

theres information here about access around the park
mt dixon you'll be looking to get to plateau hut, descriptions here on accessing that, search the site for more access info regarding your other climbs

http://climbnz.org.nz/nz/si/aoraki/tasm ... nd-plateau

by **roysta** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 8:41 pm

When are you looking at going?

by **ninjapuppet** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 9:15 pm

Ellie de Beaumont is a really beautiful climb however we could not summit due to the anna glacier being too chopped up in Jan last year. from the log books looked like no one made it either in early 2012. We then tried an alternative route the next day via mt walter/ mt green. That route looked a lot more promising however weather closed in on us as we were ascending Elle de Beaumont so we had to abandon our trip. 20 Hour non stop climbing. One of my longest epics ever, and I have unfinished business there.

It's a relatively easy hike back down to the village over 2 days. No nav issues but your boots may getaway real good workout so if you can get a chopper back flight, do it. Cost me$80 back last year on chopper, and $350 for 3 of us back on the ski plane 3 years ago.

by **ninjapuppet** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 9:31 pm

This chopper price list may help your planning for nz too.

prices are from that cook village airport, and a big tip, is to join up with the NZAC as you get a pretty good discount. Any cash saved on these chopper flights and backcountry.com discount coupons pretty much covers the cost of membership pretty quickly.

The chopper from Mt Cook generally carries 5 passengers + 1 pilot but the weight limit is 550kg. we had 6 people in our group and after dumping all our beer and whisky, got our weights under 550kg so the pilot agreed to carry all 6 of us up. When I went from Fox glacier into pioneer hut, they also had a smaller 3 person chopper so it was abit cheaper for us.
If you're needing another climber for Ellie De Beaumont, and help split chopper fees up to tasman, i'm always keen.

by **Vern** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 2:38 pm

Thanks for all the info Wayno and Ninja! We only have a small window to do it due to my commitments at home so have a total of 7 days to fly over and do it and get back home. Hopefully there are some good weather days when we are there. These are my thoughts...

1. Fly to Christchurch, travel and gear up at Mt Cook Village.
2. Fly up to Tasman Saddle Hut.
3. Elie day
4. Elie day
5. Elie day
6. Elie day possible fly out. (Think with the time restriction a flight out is the way to go)
7. Fly out and drive back to Christchurch and fly home.

Heading over in November somewhere between 14-23. Not sure how it will be though with the crevasses. Dependant on weather I guess. Last year a couple of parties got up there about the 20th Nov with no issues but it's obviously variable. They did have alot of snow there at that time.

If you're keen Ninja given what I've proposed then just let me know. Just note though that we are relatively inexperienced at mountaineering itself. We have other general navigation/climbing skills and last year did the TMC from Kelman Hut. At this stage there are just the 2 of us but the other 2 are maybe's at this stage.

by **wayno** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 2:59 pm

november the weather is getting consistently bad, late snow dumps, fronts coming through, last year was just crap through to january.... near record snowfalls already this winter.

by **roysta** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 4:23 pm

wayno wrote:november the weather is getting consistently bad, late snow dumps, fronts coming through, last year was just crap through to january.... near record snowfalls already this winter.

Well, I simply hope this November is a cracker of a month because I'll be at Tekapo and Elie de B will likely be on the agenda.

by **Vern** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 4:44 pm

Out of 10 days there last Nov we had only one snow day and a couple of cloudy days and the rest was perfect. Maybe I stole all the good weather! I did notice the cloud stayed consistantly over the western side of the Mt Cook Range though.

by **wayno** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 4:53 pm

almost every time i've ventured to the south island before mid jan in recent years the weather has clobbered me.... I must be cursed.....

by **Vern** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 4:56 pm

You're not heading over there this November are you!?

by **wayno** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 5:00 pm

depends,,,, how much will you pay me not to???
he's got several days there, so he's got to have some good weather while he's there....

by **Vern** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 5:20 pm

Well I won't have much left in the bank after those chopper flights by the looks of things so I'll shout you a beer! Montieths...

by **ninjapuppet** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 5:23 pm

Vern wrote:
If you're keen Ninja given what I've proposed then just let me know. Just note though that we are relatively inexperienced at mountaineering itself..

But you're obviously a very talented photographer and I always love climbing with photographers. Navigation is easy for Ellie and it's not overly technical for a grade 3. It's just a long day.

Here's a Pic of the central spur up Ellie. There's only one way, and it's up.

: uploadfromtaptalk1371799196165.jpg (84.65 KiB) Viewed 14746 times

I've got some actuarial exams in early November but not sure on dates yet. Keep me posted

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

by **wayno** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 5:34 pm

by **wayno** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 5:35 pm

by **Vern** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 5:44 pm

Sounds good mate. Probably going to be around 16th when we leave. I haven't seen many photos from near the top so it's good to see that one.
Nice clip Wayno, I was thinking about Dixon and one of the guys showed me this clip as well. Impressive!
Here's a link to some pics of my TMC course last year... http://www.flickr.com/photos/taspicsvns ... 225879404/
Note the good weather

by **wayno** » Fri 21 Jun, 2013 6:07 pm

i reckon they had eleven good days weather there last year, what a miracle..... :shock:

Bushwalk Australia

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