I could find very little info for this climb before heading out. I had seen the mountain from our previous run on the mount guy loop, and it looked exciting enough that I thought we should give it a go.
The trailhead is almost directly across from the Mount Sunday track — a famous Lord of the Rings filming location here in New Zealand. Unfortunately, there’s a fairly big washout in the road that we couldn’t pass in our small hybrid. Other hikers had parked in the same small grass patch next to the washout that we ended up using.
To start the climb up Mount Potts, we tried to contour across the face of the hill to where the climb seemed to begin, based on other sources like this one. Our adventure did not begin well. We found ourselves battling through matagouri — a large, thorned native bush of the South Island. Personally, I’d rename it devil shrub. It hurts to walk through and left a few holes in my clothing. The tussock and grass were also filled with spear grass, which jabbed at us almost maliciously.
After navigating through the maze of matagouri and spear grass, we began heading up the west side of Mount Potts. At first, it was a very steep trek through tussock, but it quickly turned into a field of loose scree sitting on mud. Further up the mountain we could see snow, which encouraged me to slog upward through the scree toward the snowline.
Once at the snow, progress was much faster. With our microspikes we were moving at about 400 m of elevation gain per hour. While the climb itself wasn’t technical, the views of the surrounding Two Thumb Range were incredible. The west ridge of Potts really did offer some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve seen in New Zealand. One of the highlights was a clear view of the south ridge of Alma — a climb I’ll need to do soon before the snow disappears.
We made good progress up the mountain until reaching an area about 100 m below the summit, where all the snow suddenly turned to hard ice. With only microspikes and no crampons, cutting steps was possible but slow, and daylight was fading. Reluctantly, we stopped short of the summit. While disappointing, we still enjoyed our sandwiches and the sweeping views before beginning the descent.
On the way down, we were able to puzzle out a route that minimized exposure to matagouri and spear grass, which was a relief. Arriving back at the car, we both agreed: “fuck this mountain.” Neither of us felt the need to return for another attempt.
All in all, it was a rewarding day out, but there are plenty of other summits with more interesting terrain and far less matagouri waiting to be climbed — even just across the valley.
