North East Face

Climbs the first five pitches of God’s Zone and (due to warm conditions on the day) another seven pitches initially via ice further right and then a traverse left to a rock buttress on the upper half of the face.

A steep sustained route packed full of quality technical climbing. The ice runnels are hard to spot from the glacier, so it may require a ‘we’ll go and see’ attitude. The rock is good, and retreat would be possible off rock gear. Start at the top of the snowfield in the middle of the face. There were two bivvies on the first ascent. The route is longer and more sustained than most routes on the south face of Hicks. There is a lot of good-looking unclimbed terrain further left.

From the Abel Janszoon Glacier, ascend steep, loose rock and steep snowfields (which may not exist later in summer) to reach the ridge 200m west of the summit.

A relatively straightforward route involving 200m of snow, a 70m leftward traverse, and then a couloir to the summit ridge. Bill Denz commented it was one of the best and quickest ways up or down Torres. A good descent route, usually involving two abseils and downclimbing. The first party on the route used it as a descent.

Start up the low ridge that separates the north-east face and the north face, up the rib above, then cross the gully to the left to finish up the Red Rib – next to the North East Couloir. Both rock sections consist of good rock, with a 20m gendarme a third of the way up.