Freedom & Fluidity in the Remarkables

Before arriving to New Zealand I had seen photos of a majestic mountain range aptly named “The Remarkables.” It looked like a place of grand scale and I wondered if I’d get time to head in there. Well, I quickly learned it’s actually not a very big place relative to the country’s larger alpine terrain and it’s by far the most accessible alpine area in that it’s right above Queenstown and features a road going halfway up the mountain! There’s even a ski resort in the high basin below the proper ridge! When I learned of this and how close it was to my homebase in Wanaka- I thought, Damn, I better get over there! An awesome playground! The peaks were small but very steep and not only were they stunningly shaped, they were prominent in the immediate area. I was disappointed I’d missed the Remarkables Ice & Mixed Festival as it looked like an awesome time sharing wonderful winter climbing with the local community. I ended up making two trips, one in October in wintery conditions for “Double Cone” and one in November in spring conditions for the full Grand Traverse. In this story I’ll talk about both outings.

In Mid-October, the weather in the upper alpine wasn’t cooperating and with high avalanche hazard, as well as a few unfortunate accidents in the Southern Alps, I set my sights on poking around in the “Remarks.” I got in touch with Kiwi Jamie Marr who lives in Queenstown working as a rock climbing guide and we were both pretty psyched to team up for a day out! I’d seen he’d recently done some really rad climbing in Chamonix and even spent time in my home mountains of New Hampshire. Similarly, avalanche hazard in the Remarks was notable at the time so our goal of the day was to just have fun and play it safe. We originally planned on doing the full Grand Traverse but a loaded couloir separating Single Cone and Double Cone had us decide to take the foot off the gas and just climb on Double Cone. It was quite chilly that day and I remember in the morning wishing I had long undies on as the wind ripped at my legs before the midday sun warmed us.

The mountain was a beautiful white- covered in rime ice and shedding bits of it as the sun rose higher. With the rock covered in a frozen sheet, it made for really fun and thought provoking climbing on what is normally really easy terrain. Once the sun was up, I was down to just my base layer and my Rab Alpha Flux fleece jacket- a very comfortable place to be. After enjoying the frozen ridge and it’s winter-like climbing, we retraced our steps back down, making one short rappel along the way. It was a stellar day and we walked away with some really cool photos to remember it by. Then it was back to Wanaka but I knew I wanted to come to this range again for the full Grand Traverse.

Alas! It was early November now and I was cruising up and over Crown Range pass to have at it in the Remarkables with Kiwi Ryan Colley and Los Angeles man Jack Schlinkert. All three of us had just met and we got along well right off the bat. After poking around in the Remarks on day one, we stayed at a hostel downtown to get started early for the Grand Traverse. The nightlife scene was happening in Queenstown, it didn’t help our hostel was in the center of downtown and admittedly we almost bailed on climbing the next day for going out and drinking a few too many beers! BUT we kept it together and tucked in for the night early. Good thing we didn’t let ourselves go out for “just one beer” ...we all know how that goes!

Some time before sunrise we woke up and with yawning stumbles, we walked to the car and set off. The sun was up as we drove the steep cliff-edged road to the carpark at the ski resort. After a few nibbles of food, some quick packing, and a bathroom break, we set off. It was sure to be a great day as the winds were calm and we saw two parties out in front of us. One was a guided team of two not far ahead and the other was our Kiwi friend Cameron Jardell and his buddies who were well on their way to the first summit when we first caught sight of them- they got an early start and first dibs on the ridge!

We made great time across the lower ridge, traversing the snow ledges under Telecom Tower and onward to the base of the proper traverse which leads you first up Double Cone. Having been here before, I had a general idea of where to go which meant faster travel and I knew we’d be fine to solo most of the way. However now the rock was bare, dry, and warm so there were much better and obvious options for cruising this ridge at a fast pace. OK- we did get a little off route at one point but Ryan found his way up a thinly iced and wet gully to the base of a nice crack which would take us onto the proper ridge that we’d been traversing under for a ways. “How do you know that’s the way?” I unsurely called up to him. And in a blunt tone he said simply, “Because the guide is here!” Jack and I looked at each other shrugging our shoulders and laughing. “Ok Mate that sure sounds like the way then!”

A short easy crack brought us up and we moved quickly along the ridge to the first summit. At this point we had fantastic exposure and the views were unbelievable! Perched over a fjord-like setting, the mountains met the lake with a steep grasp and the city of Queenstown lie below at the water’s edge surrounded by lush green vegetation. All around snowy rocky peaks bask in the sun and it was clear enough to see Tititea and the distant Aoraki. It’s really very easy climbing up there but you don’t want to fall off either side of the ridge- it’s a long way down! We could now see Cameron and his mates on the final summit- Single Cone and after exchanging waves from across the ridge, they disappeared off the other side on the descent.

Keeping up our pace, we gained the second summit of Double Cone quickly after rapping off the first summit to a col, climbing a short and cruiser steep flake followed by third class terrain to the peak. We kept moving and didn’t stop on the summit, though it was quite a place to hang out! Now descending the ridge on 3rd and 4th class terrain to the col between Double Cone and Single Cone, we strapped on our crampons for the first time since the morning to get us through snow slabs leading to the summit of Single Cone. By using these snow slabs, you cut off quite a bit of time in opposition to staying on the rock ridge.

Before long we were scratching our spikes up a final low angled rock slab to the summit. Here we actually took some summit photos together knowing it was the end of the Grand Traverse and right on cue, a cloud engulfed us making for a very alpine scene. We were pretty stoked as that was the most rewarding easy climbing you could ask for in the alpine- totally cruiser. Bumping into world-renowned guide Dean Staples on the summit, who was leading a client for Adventure Consultants, was helpful as he gave us some good insight into how easy the descent was from here- which I thought would take much longer! Side Note: I’d later share the Pioneer Hut with Dean in the Fox Neve. He’s an incredibly friendly and talented mountaineer who shared with me many stories of his Himalayan experiences- I rate this guy a 10 out of 10!

On the descent down, we were full of smiles and shared how this had been one of the more enjoyable alpine day trips any of us had ever had. What a beautiful range! Incredibly accessible, the ridge was easy climbing with huge views and exposure and the best part was we drove all the way above treeline! In the winter, the Remarkables offers exceptional ice and mixed cragging, which I unfortunately showed up too late for, but I hope to hang out there again one day and share the range with the locals because it really is such a fun place to be! If you’re reading this and considering making a day trip into the Remarks, I’d say- GO! While this was the only alpine climb Jack and I shared, we made plans for the future to crag ice in New Hampshire. Ryan and I would go on to spend some very memorable days in the mountains together including sharing the summit of “the Matterhorn of the South,” Tititea/Mt. Aspiring!