Mt Dampier Rakiroa

Type

Mountain

Altitude

3440m

Part of

Main Divide

Lat/lon

POINT (170.1399345 -43.5894493)

Topo50

BX15 691 697

Accessed from

La Perouse Glacier

Grand Plateau

Hooker Glacier

Routes

Reference	Title	Grade	Length	Quality
3.61	3.61 West Ridge (Hicks–Dampier Traverse), IV,3,4-	IV,3,4-	0m	0
Traverse from Mt Hicks via the ridge, avoiding two prominent towers on whichever side is best in the prevailing conditions. Then go up the ridge to a schrund. From here continue up steep snow, through rocks, to the summit. It is also possible to cross the north face to the north ridge and then up to the summit. The true summit maybe harder to attain than how it appears in the literature. (personal observation, Peter Dickson circa 1987). P1 Alpine (Technical) 3 Alpine (Commitment) IV Alpine (Mt Cook) 4-
3.62	3.62Hicks/Dampier Couloir, IV,4+,4-	IV,4+,4-	0m	1.02
P1 Alpine (Technical) 4+ Alpine (Commitment) IV Alpine (Mt Cook) 4- From the Sheila Glacier ascend the right diagonal couloir onto the upper Hicks/Dampier ridge. About 2/3rds up the couloir it is possible to break left and follow an ice slope to the ridge line that leads to Hicks.
3.63	3.63Fantini/Dignan, V,4+,5	V,4+,5	0m	0
P1 Alpine (Technical) 4+ Alpine (Commitment) V Alpine (Mt Cook) 5 Follow ice gullies left of the Maori Route which ultimately arrive on the Hicks/Dampier Ridge. This route is mostly out of the icecliff fall-line.
3.64	3.64Maori Route, V,4+,5	V,4+,5	0m	0
Ascend the gully in the centre of the face and connect with a snow ramp leading left. Then climb steep ice on the left edge of the icecliff to gain the upper west ridge. P1 Alpine (Technical) 4+ Alpine (Commitment) V Alpine (Mt Cook) 5
3.65	3.65Barcham-Waterhouse, IV,3+	IV,3+	0m	0
Climb towards Green Saddle, but before the Saddle is reached traverse left above the icecliffs to reach the top of the west ridge. P1 Alpine (Technical) 3+ Alpine (Commitment) IV
3.66	3.66South Ridge, IV,3+,3	IV,3+,3	0m	0
From Green Saddle, follow a ridge of rotten rock to the summit (good snow cover would help here).See also Route 4.34. A variant involves moving left from the Green Saddle route into a narrow ice couloir which leads to the upper south ridge. First ascent from Hooker Glacier unknown. P1 Alpine (Mt Cook) 3 Gained from the upper Linda Glacier either via the snowslope to Green Saddle or up a rib on the right. Thence up a steep rotten ridge. This route is possibly the best descent route off Dampier. P2 Alpine (Technical) 3+ Alpine (Commitment) IV
3.67	3.67Green Saddle - Original Route, IV,3,3+	IV,3,3+	0m	0
Tom Fyfe seems to have a lot of dodgy gullies named after him, many of which he never used himself. Fyfe’s Gut is the narrow couloir directly below Green Saddle. From the upper Sheila Glacier, climb up the rib to the climber’s left of Fyfe’s Gut. It is also possible to climb Fyfe’s Gut but this is extremely prone to rockfall. See also Route 4.33. P1 Alpine (Mt Cook) 3+ P2 Alpine (Technical) 3 Alpine (Commitment) IV
4.34	4.34East Face, IV,3+,3+	IV,3+,3+	0m	0
P1 Alpine (Mt Cook) 3+ From the Linda Glacier it is possible to head up various routes on sound rock to arrive either on the South Ridge or near the summit. There are no recorded ascents of gully routes on the left side of the face, or any routes at all on the right side of the face. P2 Alpine (Technical) 3+ Alpine (Commitment) IV
4.35	4.35North Ridge, via Mt Vancouver, V,3+,3+	V,3+,3+	0m	0
From the summit of Mt Vancouver, follow the ridge to a prominent rock step, which can be climbed via a hidden gully on the eastern side. Climbers wishing to avoid this ridge can traverse across the north face to the Hicks– Dampier Ridge. See Route 13.21. P1 Alpine (Technical) 3+ Alpine (Commitment) V Alpine (Mt Cook) 3+
13.21	13.21North West Flank, V,3+,3+	V,3+,3+	0m	0
P1 Alpine (Technical) 3+ Alpine (Commitment) V Alpine (Mt Cook) 3+ From the La Perouse neve. Start up the avalanche chute to the right of Vancouver’s West Buttress, trending right to gain the left edge of a large diamond buttress of rock. Climb up to gain a snow rib above the buttress, then traverse right, to gain the large snow apron surrounding the summit block of Dampier. The easiest route from here moves right to gain the Hicks-Dampier Ridge, which is followed up steep snow to the summit. Alternatively, head left to gain the north ridge, which involves rock slabs then a sharp ridge to reach the summit. The easiest descent route from Dampier lies down into the Grand Plateau via the south ridge (Route 4.33).

This place appears in

Aoraki Tai Poutini: a guide for mountaineers, 2018

Buy this guidebook

Attribution

Alex Palman

UUID

2bcea73f-2d99-44ca-b012-17bbac8b8d62