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South East Face

Type
Face
Part of
Vampire

On Vampire’s South East Face and ‘Left Fang’ (the peak to the left of Far From The Madding Crowd) there have been at least two large rock fall events that have altered the shape of the mountain. These rockfall avalanches occurred in 2003 on the main face, and 2008 on the ‘Left Fang’. The 2003 event was only discovered after study of the 2008 event.
A report by GNS concludes: ‘The south [east] face of Vampire is still considered to be quite unstable … While specifically identified for this site, the hazard is not necessarily greater than beneath many other, steep, fractured slopes within Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park.’
Very little climbing has been recorded on the face since the rockfalls, so little information is available on its stability or difficulty. A climbing party who climbed Nosferatu after 2003 commented that it seemed harder than the published grade. This is due to the gully in the upper part of the route having fallen away, leaving a near vertical gully/headwall. Another party attempted a new route up the middle of the main face after the 2003 event and reported good climbing on steep ice.
The best way to descend from Vampire is probably via Bernard Col – scope out the best looking line from Barron Saddle Hut first.

External links
Link to pdf of geological report on Vampire rockfalls
South East Face of Vampire (circled areas denote rockfalls), December 2013
Aspect
South East
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Routes

Reference Title Grade Length Pro Quality Alert Operations
2.36 2.36Notforustwo, V,5 V,5 0m
1.02

Vampire’s left fang. This route starts beside a big block, then weaves through to a prominent pillar in a gully, and then straight up to the top of the South Peak. The route doesn’t appear to have been significantly affected by the rockfall events.

  • P1
  • Alpine (Commitment) V
  • Alpine (Technical) 5

Vampire’s left fang. The line starts beside a big block, then weaves through to a prominent pillar in a gully, then straight up to the top of the South Peak.

2.37 2.37Far from the Madding Crowd, VI,4+ VI,4+ 0m
0

Ascend the obvious deep, broad gully to the left of the summit for 12 pitches. A classic climb.

  • P1
  • Alpine (Commitment) VI
  • Alpine (Technical) 4+
 Single and Searching, V,6,WI5,M6 V,6,WI5,M6 500m
0

Start up 'Far from the maddening crowd' a few pitches, to where the angle kicks back, then at the first opportunity, break up the right hand wall, aiming for the obvious ice hose spilling down the steep cliffs near the summit. Climb initially thin curtains of ice to easier angle ground. Continue up past another crux (thin pillar), which on the FA was bypassed by tenuous mixed climbing on the right - with a dry tooling traverse back left to rejoin the gully just above the pillar - then continue up good WI2 - 3 to the base of the hanging crux pillar on the headwall. Mixed climbing to M6 for a few metres on the right, then step left onto the pillar and continue up with angle gradually easing to WI4. The first 10m of this pitch were rope soloed on the first ascent (otherwise ropeless). Continue up steep water ice then steep snow slopes to top out shortly SW of the summit. On FA, Descent was by downclimbing snow slopes/gullies on W face vampire, then walking to Bernard Col and downclimbing the couloir and snow slopes back to the base of Vampire. See NZAJ 2020 for details.

  • P1
  • Alpine (Commitment) V
  • Alpine (Technical) 6
  • Water Ice WI5
  • Mixed M6
  • 500m
2.38 2.38Nosferatu, VI,7 VI,7 0m
0

Follow the gully that starts on the left side of the lowest rock buttress beneath the summit. This gully eases back after five pitches. Further up an obvious snow ramp leads left to gain the main summit gully. It appears that since the 2003 rockfall the snow ramp has been replaced by a near-vertical headwall of about two pitches. (A couple of options are indicated in the topo photo.) After this the angle eases and the gully continues to exit 30m left of the summit. The first ascent took fifteen pitches in all.

  • P1
  • Alpine (Commitment) VI
  • Alpine (Technical) 7
2.39 2.39Bram Stoker, VI,4+ VI,4+ 0m
0

An obvious deep-cut gully that starts just right of the lowest point of rock beneath Vampire. Well up the face, the gully ends, but the route continues tending left. Exit on the ridge just beneath the summit tower. Eleven pitches.

  • P1
  • Alpine (Commitment) VI
  • Alpine (Technical) 4+
 Twilight, WI3 WI3 0m
0

7 pitchs to WI3, topping out on the ridge and rapping the route. Sometimes thin ice during the first ascent.

  • P1
  • Water Ice WI3
2.40 2.40Swiss Virgins, V,4+ V,4+ 0m
0

Ascend a couloir right of Bram Stoker for six rope lengths to reach the Main Divide north of the summit. If descending from here, it may be quicker to descend via Christopher Col than to continue over the summit to Bernard Col.

  • P1
  • Alpine (Commitment) V
  • Alpine (Technical) 4+

Images

Comments
Peter Dickson

By the way that corner route marked as #5 in the pic would make an outstanding modern mixed alpine climb.
Most of the corner gets enough ice to climb easily, but the top pitch is overhanging on the right hand side of the corner. The ice there is thin or relatively non-existant. But a modern climber interested in mixed, and hooking on rock, would find this route an absolute delight. The last pitch is the crux. Its probably an Alpine grade 5 depending on conditions.

Wed, 21/09/2011 - 01:26 Permalink
Peter Dickson

Check with Carol Nash or Rob Blackburne but I believe that corner marked on the pic as route 5 is still unclimbed.

Considering it was graded 4+ my best guess is that Swiss Virgins climbs easier ground to the LHS on that upper glacial shelf.

Thu, 15/09/2011 - 18:08 Permalink
This place appears in
Aoraki Tai Poutini: a guide for mountaineers, 2018
Buy this guidebook
Attribution
ATP 2018 (Rob Frost)
UUID
 
12ec2cea-3742-4eb4-b0e2-8b83e33f7dea