Grade
V,4,14
Length
0m
0
Quality
First ascent
(Upper Buttress) Dick Irwin, Hamish MacInnes, Peter Robinson, February 1956
(Lower Buttress) Kobi Bosshard, Fritz Schaumberg, January 1962
Patrick Conaghan, Ron Cox, February 1962
Bill McLeod, Peter Dickson, July 1991
Located on
The full buttress is not recommended as a route to the summit unless you plan on bivouacking.
- P1
Climbed from its toe in the Linda Glacier, or from the névé below the Bowie Couloir. Not quite as difficult as the Upper Buttress.
- P2
- 14
- Alpine (Technical) 4
- Alpine (Commitment) V
Can be approached from either the upper Linda Glacier or from a subsidiary gully from Bowie Couloir. The upper buttress comprises good rock. Then traverse a spicy ridge with gendarmes to join the top of Zurbriggen's Ridge beneath the approach to the summit rocks.
Comments
UUID
143fe763-62cb-4615-a52f-964edcd31438
We did the upper Bowie buttress and the North ridge of Mt Cook on a single push, however before that we climbed the first Bowie buttress and went back down to the hut to rest and dry our socks because we were already exhausted from the walk in. So technically we did not climb the entire Bowie buttress from the lower Linda glacier and the North ridge of Mt Cook alpine style, we just did the best bits of it, but we did walk in.
Worth noting that Dickson and McLeod continued up the North Ridge after
Correction:
The lower buttress was first climbed by Fritz Schaumburg and Kobi Bosshard in January 1962. They climbed the ridge linking the buttresses, but descended from the base of the upper buttress, as Fritz was feeling ill.
The upper buttress first ascent details above are correct.
The first climb to the summit linking both buttresses was by Patrick Conaghan and Ron Cox in February 1962.
The first winter climb to the summit linking both buttresses was by Bill McLeod and Peter Dickson in July 1991.