The three km long west ridge provides a slow but achievable route to the
summit over ricketty stacks.
The first two kilometres of the West Ridge are straight forward, providing
enjoyable climbing over steepening slopes and ridges. From point 2200m,
there is an unpleasant downclimb, followed by increasingly loose rickety
stacks. This continues up to the summit headwall, which is reached after a
couple of easy pitches, and a terribly loose rap to the base of the headwall.
From here, two stellar pitches (16 & 14) go someway to redeeming what is
otherwise a terrible route. The first ascentionists do not recommend
repeating or descending this route, and instead recommend the South Ridge as
a better descent option if a route on the SW Face tops out near the summit.
- P1
- 16
- Alpine (Mt Cook) 4-