Grade
II,3
Length
200m
0
Quality
First ascent
Travis Holman and Graham Johnson, September 2008
Located on
Topo ref
8
- P1
- Alpine (Commitment) II
- Alpine (Technical) 3
- 200m
An excellent mixed route on the central buttress of the South East Face. Five pitches.
Comments
UUID
006c1e53-d7b9-4324-b0a8-0659e7b451be
Thanks Graham! Corrected a few things in main description.
this is a fantastic route - Actually 5 pitches. the first pitch is thin and mixed (M2 or so... easy but thin) to a good belay. The next pitch (the best of the route) goes directly right from the belay to gain the entrance to a WI3 couloir/corner. 40m of WI3 - the best on ruapehu - to a snowfield- belay on the crest. This is a rope stretcher, you may need to belay lower down if using a 50m rope. There is a walk-off option here, and the route really isn't that great after this. The next two pitches wind up some moderate snow slopes (45-60 degrees) to the base of a headwall. We went straight up (thin pro, very little ice) and then traversed right around a corner to gain the summit. In better snow years it may be possible to continue straight up. The first ascent was in september 2008 and the ice couloir was FAT. I would imagine that this route comes in early and stays late. Classic. Go do it.