Mid March had Gary and American client Paul head into Bevan Col and glacier trek across to Collin Todd Hut to spend the night in preparation for a guided ascent of Mt Aspiring.  The weather was a little tricky in the morning, but after  1 hr delay for the mist to clear, the climbing day commenced. The full shipowner ridge and full NW ridge was the route( and standard at this time of year).  It was an 11 hr day , successfully summited and great satisfaction for this climb of one of NZ’s classic and moderately challenging peaks. Pauls previous climbing experience over the years in the USA was evident and added alot to the enjoyment and success of the climb. Well done Paul. What a great thing to do in your early days of retirement..

The team then flew out and next day did some local rock climbing – Paul rekindling his passion and skills for this, and then followed up the next day with  a traverse of the remarkables – a super classic alpine rock traverse, before Gary dropped Paul off in Queenstown.

Great Autumn non busy climbing conditions. A great 5 days of Alpinism

Summit pose on Mt Aspiring, Autumn 2019 NZ Southern Alps

Lunch time on Single Cone, classic NZ alpine rock climbing traverse