ㅡ MT COOK CLIMBING TRIP– DECEMBER 2003

[곽노성(샛별)]

http://www.chockstone.org/nz/mtcook/mtcookjohnkdec03.htm

Climbing Mt Cook, New Zealand

** 린다 셀프 ㅡ 써밋 롹 노말 루트 진행기록 : 2003 : 2명이서 진행

    등반중  정상에서 하강하는 프랑스 산악인 2명을 만남.

MON DEC 22 – MT COOK VIA LINDA GLACIER (3754m)

Up at 1.15am and out of the hut by 2.00am. With head torches shinning we zigzag our way across the Linda Glacier crevasses which are deep enough to make multi storey buildings disappear. What we can’t see in the dark can’t hurt us! We cross tiny snow bridges and after 4 hrs we get to the bottom of the Linda Shelf where we dump our bivy gear, poles and some water. The sun is rising behind us and an orange glow begins to cover Mt Tasman and the peaks around us. In the soft deep orange glow of the morning sun, the snow and ice takes on the appearance of pink gelati. It is a surreal and beautiful scene.

1시 15분에 기상,  2시에 대피소 출발.

수개층의 건물들이 빠질 정도로 깊은 크레바스들이 즐비한 린다 빙하를 헤드 램프에 의지하여  지그재그로 크레바스를 피하며 작은 "눈 다리"를 지나며 진행했으며, 대피소를 출발한지 4시간만에 린타 셀프 밑에 도착했다.

그곳에서 비박 장비와 산 지팡이와 물을 내려 놓았다.

Right: Morning sunlight hitting Silberhorn and Mt Tasman from high on the upper part of the Linda Glacier.

We traverse up the icy Linda Shelf and we make it at the bottom of Summit Rocks in another two hours.

우리는 빙질의 린다 셀프를 가로 질러서 올라 갔으며, 2시간만에 "서밋 록"에 도착했다 

We then hear “hey” and “bonjour” from Johnny and Patrice who have flown up Zubbriggens Ridge. We then commence the first pitch of the climb up a steep gully with me leading and as soon as the rope runs out Steve starts simul climbing. I then reach the first of many rock belay stations on summit rocks and as Steve is the better climber on rock he commences a series of leads as we climb the Summit Rocks area. The climbing is awkward rather than difficult but we take extreme care. Although this section is rated only as a Grade 9/10, with plastic mountaineering boots, crampons and a pack, the most difficult sections which are rock bulges and small overhangs feel more like Grades 14/15. The route is littered with slings and accessory cords, and there are convenient steel cables belay/abseil stations at several of the crucial sections which increases safety.

 스티브는 바위에서 나보다  클라이밍을 잘해서 서빗 롹 지역에서  주로 선등을 했다. 등반은 어렵다기 보다는 어색(

awkward )( 손에 익숙치 않아서 ? )했는데, 우리는 엄청 조십스럽게 진행했다.

난이도는 9/10( 뉴질랜드 등급 ? 오스트리아 등급 ? ) 정도 였는데, 프라스틱 등산화에 크렘폰과 배낭 등으로 바위가 튀어

나오고 약간의 오버행 구간에서는 난이도가 14/ 15가 되는 것 같았다. 

Above Left: Looking up at the Linda Shelf and the Gunbarrel Ice Cliffs from high on the Linda Glacier. 

Above Right: John Kazanas climbing the very last part of summit rocks with the Grand Plateau and Hochstetter Glacier below. Below Right: Looking up to the Mt Cook ice cap from the top of summit rocks. Notice Middle Peak on the left and the summit Chandelier on the right

It takes us 5 pitches to get to the start of the ice cap where we meet Patrice and Johnny who are descending from the summit jubilant. We are still one hour away but we can clearly see the summit chandelier and the summit itself. The ice cap is 45 degrees and full of sustrugi with some reasonable steps into it. After one hour of careful crampon foot placements we skirt around the summit chandelier ice climb up a vertical section to set up a ledge right next to the prayer flags on the summit. It is now 11.30am. It has taken us 9.5 hrs to climb 1550 meters from Plateau hut. The view is amazing. The NZ west coast is revealed in its whole majesty from this height of 3745 meters (12,300 feet). The view resembles that from an aeroplane and no climbing book or photo can do the view justice. There is no wind and both Steve and I are just enjoying our view. The East Coast is covered by low cloud and in the distance we see the entire Southern Alps which looks like a jagged brown earth covered with brilliant icing sugar surrounded below by a green like carpet of the countryside. Behind us we can see the “magic mile” across to the middle peak. The West and East faces of Mt Cook fall away 1,500 meters and are a somewhat scary but a truly spectacular sight. I take out two small chocolate bars, take a small bite from one and offer the rest to the mountain gods of Mt Cook as a peace offering. Mysteriously one of the chocolate bars disappears and I look at Steve who has a grin on his face. He is keen to start moving down the mountain. As I munch hurriedly on my tuna sandwich on top of New Zealand, we look across to Mt Vancouver (3309 meters) and see David who has soloed up the summit and is having a break just beneath it in a crevasse.

Less than 20 mins on top and we commence our decent. For me this is the most intense part of the climb as we inch our way down the ice cap being extremely careful with our foot placements. My thoughts turn to the four Latvian climbers.

Above Left: John Kazanas on the summit of Mt Cook with the West Coast behind him. Above Right: John Kazanas standing on the first part of the Mt Cook ice cap above the summit rocks. Below Right: Steve Hunt on the summit of Mt Cook with Middle Peak and prayer flags behind him

After the summit cap it takes us 4 abseils to get off summit rocks. For our last abseil to the top part of the Linda Shelf we set up a rap station to the left of the icy gully we climbed using 7mm cord. Although on some questionable rock, we feel it will hold at least our two abseils. As I am here writing this report it obviously works ok and we then down climb to the worst part of our descent. This involved descending a rotten ice section at the top part of the Linda Shelf. It takes me 25 minutes to descend 30 meters of scary ice. It is ice that appears like loose hailstones stuck together. It takes a good 3-4 hits with each ice axe and crampon to secure a placement and even then I don’t feel safe. Half way down on the steepest part I attempt to put a snow stake between me and Steve. No good. The snow stake I am trying to pound in with both hands simply crumbles the ice into millions of bits of ice. So I continue down. As I reach the bergschrund/avalanche crevasse overhang, I step into thin air and place my foot on a weak/soft snow pedestal. Then the other foot. Bad move! I fall a meter up in the crevasse. I scream to Steve “tight” and pull myself out. As he can’t see me as he is over the lip and 30 meters above me he wonders what all the commotion is about. I descend a few meters and set up a belay for Steve. 

As he descends and bypasses the section I went through he sees the hole I fell into and grins nervously. In the mean time I am looking above me at the huge over hanging “Gunbarrel” ice cliffs which are getting the full heat of the sun. As small pieces of ice are streaming down I yell to Steve to hurry up and that we should get the hell out of here. We traverse the rest of the Linda Shelf and make our way down the steepest part of the Linda Glacier. As everything is now in the afternoon shade the snow is hardening up and is only ankle deep which is perfect for a quick decent. Suddenly to our left there is a whizzing sound of small rocks coming down from the top of a surrounding peak. We look at each other, pause, and begin a quick run down the slope! We make it to where we have left our bivvy gear and have a short break as we are in relative safety there (somewhat).

We then continue down the Linda Glacier jumping over crevasses which have begun to open up all over the place (or which we could not see at night!). Both Steve and I jump up to one meter across wide crevasses and my high school long jumping skills come in handy. We do not dare look inside the deep blue crevasse abysses beneath us.

Above Left: Mt Vancouver from the summit of Mt Cook. Above Right: Hope you don’t hate heights! – Looking 2700 meters straight down from the summit of Mt Cook to the Tasman Glacier. The summit Chandelier is on the left, then the ice cap, top part of summit rocks, Linda Glacier, Grand Plateau, Hochstetter Glacier(right) and finally Tasman Glacier (top right). Below Right: Top part of Boys Glacier during our walk out and our moraine rock surfing descent.

We make it back to the hut by 8pm (18 hrs after leaving) where Johnny and Patrice are outside with a warm cup of tea offering their congratulations. They made it back 6 hrs earlier! We share our stories and go to bed. They are planning to walk out at 2am and we at 7am.

DEC 23 – WALK OUT VIA CINERAME COL AND BOYS GLACIER

We pack our gear, have a quick chat to an American and Slovenian pair of climbers which arrived the evening before to climb Mt Cook and we are out of here by 7.00 am into a strong gusting wind. Half way to Anzac Peaks and Cinerama Col we are pelted by heavy rain that feels like hail. We then zig zag down and around the top of the Caroline and Boys Glaciers and begin a 500 metre rock surfing decent on loose rock/mud/moraine combination. It is fast and furious and before we know it we are putting our crampons on again to descend the very last part which is also the steepest part of the Boys and is thankfully covered in snow/ice. We get to the bottom of the Tasman Glacier and follow a moraine ridge across to Garbage Gully for the somewhat gruelling 100 meter scramble up the moraine wall to the walking track. Within one hour we have passed Ball Shelter and make it to the end of the 4WD track. Another hour and we have made it to the start of the normal 2WD road. It is now 4pm. As there are a number of cars in the car park I urge Steve to hang around so we can try and get a lift from someone, otherwise it is another 8km or two hrs walking back to Unwin hut and my feet that have been in my water logged plastic mountaineering boots for 9 hrs are yelling at me “don’t do it!”. As Steve looses patience and is just about to set off, a huge campervan pulls up, and an extremely nice Slovenian couple with their two children offer us a lift. These guys are great, and they even offer us a cold beer from their fridge! What a way to finish things off. At 4.30 pm we arrive at Unwin for the best hot shower you can ever have!

Above Left: Tasman Glacier viewed whilst descending the lower part of the Boys Glacier. Above Right: Rained out author resting on easier slopes of the Boys Glacier whilst walking out.

We spend the evening personally being served my famous NZ guide Charlie Hobbs at the Old Mountaineers where we devour a huge meal of steak, chips and salad washed down with a couple cold beers.