Blake Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Climb: Mt. Cook Ntl. Park-Sebastopol Bluffs Date of Climb: 3/5/2006 Trip Report: Friday and Saturday called for good weather across much of the South Island. I borrowed a car, and brought two buddies along for some scenic multipitch climbing near Mt. Cook. We climbed everything from 1 to 5 pitch routes, trad and bolted, from 5.6-5.11. Both of my friends got to do their first leads as well! I had to chase off some aggressive Kea parrots after they woke us up one morning and tried to eat some nearby rubber bicycle seats. These things put camp-robbers to shame! The scenery was great, rolling dry hills like Eastern Washington that suddenly turned into glaciated peaks 10-12,000' high. Gear Notes: Standard set of gear, lots of runners, as some pitches are quite long. Approach Notes: 5 mins through the field from the town of Mt. Cook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plexus Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 That last photo looks like from Lord of the Rings. Could've been filmed there. Took some great photos. Ironically we heard about the Kea parrots last week from a friend who visited there. They'll strip your windshield wippers off in a matter of seconds. Even more incentive to get down there. Thnx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalius Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 That first picture rocks. Polarizer? Also, I'm not familiar with the area. Is that Mt. Cook in the first photo, or just another big peak in the area? Beautiful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 The first photo is Mt. Sefton, and the second scenic "snowy mountain" photo is Mt. Cook. I couldn't believe how flat and open the valleys were, and how little forest there was on the sides of the peaks. Very different from the Cascades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 They cut down all the forests for sheep pasture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Looks like fun Blake. Made it out to the West Coast yet? They'll strip your windshield wippers off in a matter of seconds. I had one strip the skirack rubber, wipers and rubber weatherstripping, then as if that wasn't bad enough he unscrewed the radio antenna on a rental car and it threw it on the ground. Patient little fuckers. What's really bad is when they get sugar into them - one of the ski fields lunch hut was ransacked by them a few years back. Really, really bright, cool birds. Close to humans - the big problem is roving packs of juvenille males who get bored and hoped up on junk food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted March 7, 2006 Author Share Posted March 7, 2006 Have not yet been to the west coast. I'd love to get to the Darran Range, but I am at the whim on weather/cars/partners so I make the best of what I get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 If you're going to the Darrans bring an umbrella... man I was there for 21 days and it stopped raining for a total of 4 and no more than 12 hours in a row. Hike in to Phils Bivy, 3 days of rain, wade out... repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Post deleted by cj001f Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambataro Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 nice! I climbed up on Sebastopol when the avi conditions where too bad up on cook and we got weathered off of the strauchon face of dillema in april of 03, so we opted to freeze our hands on rock instead. i have some other reports at: http://isc.astro.cornell.edu/~don/pictures/New-Zealand have fun down there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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