Note to My Readers: On this day, I forgot my phone in the car and could only take photos with my GoPro. I will describe the route here, but if you are more visual, please refer to the video.
When Elena and I started talking about coming to New Zealand, my natural inclination was to look up what mountains to climb. Enter Arthur's Pass National Park's Mount Rolleston. Though the peak is close to a road and the route is well documented, due to its location, the mountain's weather and snow conditions vary widely throughout the year. But, I enjoy nothing more than a good old game of cat and mouse with a peak and its climbing conditions. So, after over a month and a half of watching for the perfect day, the weather, avalanche conditions, snow depth, and free time requirements finally lined up, and it was go-time.
We started up the Coral Track at 4 am in the pitch dark to make our ascent. We were climbing primarily in silence until the first rays of the sun peeked over the distant horizon. There is something exceptional about the warm hug of an Alpine sunrise, right?
The main route up Mont Rolleston is via the Coral Track and a narrow ridgeline known as Rome Ridge. And after writing that sentence, I sat here for 10 minutes trying to come up with a way to describe how gorgeous of a walk the ridgeline is. From the base, the height of the Low Peak is visible all the way. Low peak lit up like fireworks with Alpenglow in the morning light. The ridge walking is a thin white line that any experienced climber will have difficulty not enjoying.
Since I genuinely cannot describe how incredible this walk is, here is some eye candy for just a little taste.
Though there are a few technical sections along the lower Rome Ridge on Mount Rolleston, the most technical sections came after reaching an infamous part of the ridge known simply as "The Gap." Depending on the year, climbing to the next section of the ridge that ascends Low Peak can involve a mix of skills, including abseiling down to pass some rocks, climbing ice, mixed climbing, or any combination of the above.
On this particular day, enough ice covered the rocks on the climber's left of "The Gap." So we made a rising traverse across the snow and ice (~ 40 degrees), a short mixed section over 2 meters of exposed rock, and one final section up a snow ramp (~ 40-50 degrees) to return to the ridgeline.
However, the technical climbing at this point still needs to be completed. The following section is a traverse below several Gendarmes that required being very comfortable with a lot of exposure (~150 meters/475 Feet). I was unable to capture photos of the traverse. However, I did my best to document it with a video, which can be viewed on my YouTube channel at this time stamp.
If the snow conditions are soft or mushy, I recommend not leaving The Gap to continue up Mount Rolleston. Any fall in this section would likely be fatal.
With the technical section behind us and our feet firmly back on the ground, all that remained to ascend Mount Rolleston's Low Peak is a long, delicate ridge with steep exposure off both sides and incredible views of the sea of mountains that make up New Zealand's Southern Alps. It is steep, and with no steps kicked, it was exhausting. Finally, reaching Low Peak was a relief and a chance for a quick respite before making our ascent to High Peak, the official summit of Mount Rolleston.
The traverse to High Peak looked far away from the top of Low Peak. But we made the trek to the base of the climb in only 30 minutes or so from the top of Low Peak.
To reach the high peak, you must climb straight up the ridge and around several rock outcroppings. The short section of climbing, while steep, went quickly, and before we knew it, we reached Mount Rolleston's summit.
To make our descent, we used the Otira slide route to work down the valley and then back to the highway. The worst part of climbing Mount Rolleston is the 3km walk back to the original parking area to pick up your vehicle. I offered to make the trek since I wanted to make it the entire circuit and then came back to pick up the rest of our crew and one other climber who needed a lift back to pick up their car. But for others out there, many people I see online choose to hitchhike to save their legs. Climber's choice, I suppose
