For over 70 years this area has been the focus of transalpine climbing parties. Routes through the area have often been as important as the climbing objectives. Many of the climbs from the plateaus are relatively easy, but more challenging routes exist such as the buttresses on Newton Peak from the Garden of Allah.
The Garden of Allah and its continuation in the Lambert Snowfields extend for 8km. They overlap north and south of each other, and access west and south to the Garden of Eden is via Adams and Angel cols. Newton Pk at 2543m is highest in the area, followed by Mt Tyndall at 2517m and Mt Lambert at 2430m. Rock is generally greywacke grading into schist of variable quality.
Across the Lambert Glacier, slabs lead up to Mt Stoddart. The east face of Mt Stoddart appears to be unclimbed, but broken rock doesn’t make it a particularly attractive looking proposition.
The main access to the Gardens from the east is Perth Col via the Clyde and Frances tributaries of the Rangitata River. This is the easiest overall access but is dependent on Clyde River conditions. The Clyde is often uncrossable, especially in spring with snowmelt. It has usually dropped to crossable levels by late January or February. From the west, there are two main approaches. One is via the Wanganui valley and Lambert Spur, sidling to the Lambert Glacier. The other is via the Perth branch of the Whataroa River.
Travel on the Garden of Allah snowfield is generally straightforward, though crevassed areas reduce easy travel to obvious lines. The névé at the head, connecting easily with the Lambert over two wide saddles, is more extensive than it first appears from lower down.
The Lambert névé remains a major snowfield, bounded by the Main Divide on one side and Mt Lambert on the other, split in the head by a ridge of reasonable greywacke rock. Travel down from Satans Saddle to Pt 1967m is normally fine, but expect crevasses. The other branch, south of the Pt 2220m ridge, also offers good travel and an alternative that can be linked back below the ridge to the Satans Saddle branch.
To continue down the small icefall between 1700m and 1800m, the least crevassed slopes are over on the true right side of the main Lambert Glacier.
Direct approaches to Lambert Col from here are normally easy.
Continuing on down, the O'Neil Glacier can usually be approached from the lower Lambert below here without too much trouble, but it is seasonally variable.
Places
in association with the Canterbury Mountaineering Club