Full Steam Ahead on Douglas

After two days of waiting for the clouds to clear to hop in the helicopter and fly to the Fox Neve, Cam McAlpine, Julien Poncet and myself were finally situated at the Pioneer Hut on November 11th.  An awesome location! We were a French, Kiwi and American team of three. From here we had plenty options for stellar alpine climbing and opted to start with the beautiful and steep South Face of Douglas Peak (3088m) which was 600+ meters. The same day we flew up to the hut, we took a walk to the bottom of the South Face to look at our line- Right Hand Gully to Central Gully. (600m AI4 NZ Grade 5). It was a striking line straight up the center of the wall to the summit. Even better, it was in fantastic shape and the approach took less than an hour. We headed back to the hut for some R&R on our snow couch before crawling into bed. There were pillows and wool blankets at this hut and I slept like a lamb.

Setting off just before sunrise, the snow was firm and crampons bit right away. I wore my Rab Latok hardshell jacket over the Rab Alpha Flux Hoody and Rab Sharp Edge hardshell pants over Rab Torque softshell pants the whole day, adding on Rab Microlight Summit Jacket at the belays. We carried just two packs on the climb which included the CiloGear 30L W/NWD Worksack- a trusty member of the team! With the glacier in good shape and a bootpack to follow that we put in the day before, we made good time to the base of the wall and racked up for a grand adventure!

Taking the lead on pitches 1 to 3, I found the first pitch to be in rather ugly condition but knowing the wall got colder farther up- I ventured on in varying terrain and after two short steep steps, we made good time up the ice runnels to one pitch below the traverse that would bring us from Right Hand Gully to Central Gully. Cam took to the sharp end leading us up fantastic steep ice to the base of the traverse. Here we would move left across moderate angled ice slabs to the base of Central Gully. Onward we climbed a steep crux pitch of stellar ice and now being far off the deck, the exposure was superb!

The weather had changed, as expected, and our bomber blue skies were now a thick grey. Snow began to fall and spindrift swept down the Gully. The wind was light and the temperature not too cold making for a special setting. For many more pitches we swapped leads and worked up high-quality AI3 terrain until we gained the top of the wall. For the most part, everything had gone smoothly and the collective stoke was high. We were on top of the south face of Douglas Peak. Since first researching New Zealand from my home in Alaska, this was a line I was really fired up about. Now, months later, I was on the opposite side of the world on a fabled island in the middle of nowhere and this dream route, lying in the center of New Zealand’s tallest peaks- was in the bag.

With the snow falling hard and gloves & boots getting wet, we quickly started our way down, which would require 10 rappels on V Threads. The route had bad been in almost entirely enjoyable shape but when rapping a long way through varying ice qualities, we knew it was important to remember the good “patches” on the way up. Moving from good ice to good ice, we moved efficiently and just above the crux, the spindrift funneling down the Gully really picked up. While Cam & Julien were below getting ready with a new thread for the next rap, I was half way down the steep crux pitch getting pounded by spindrift avalanches. One particular wave had quite the weight to it and with my head down, I locked my ATC to let it pass. While it was rather uncomfortable and not ideal, I was thinking to myself “Wow! This is kind of badass!”

On the lower wall, with 4 or 5 rappels to go, the weather bloomed open and we all had a good laugh at our misfortune in topping out during the only small storm of the week- that WOULD happen! In the latter rappels the sun was out and all kinds of icicles and small rocks were coming down the wall. This was to be expected as the face is known for that in the later hours of the day- better move quick!

Stepping back onto the glacier, laying in the evening light eating and drinking and staring up at the beautiful South Face of Douglas Peak, now basking in a golden sunset glow- the climb came full circle. It was the most spectacular ice climb I’ve ever done and my first NZ Grade 5 line. Truly a badass and scenic route! With achy feet and smiles, we strolled back across the glacier in the sunset, each of us caught in our thoughts and relishing on the joy of the day. A great experience that was fully enjoyed. Some rest at the hut and then back out for another climb…