Several broken sections – above Seddon Col, above the Ivory Glacier and along Sawtooth Ridge – make the Lange Range quite rugged in places. As on the Bloomfield Range, much of the crest is crushed schist, but in some places the rock is better. It’s a great place for those with some alpine confidence to play around. Hermann Henry Lange was a sailor, miner and shipwright who worked as a builder on the West Coast in 1867.
Places
| Type | Name |
|---|---|
| Pass | Seddon Col |
| Mountain | Mt Thorndike |
Routes
| Reference | Title | Grade | Length | Pro | Quality | Operations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price Basin Hut to Wilkinson Hut | ||||||
Cross the Price Basin stream and climb out east-south-east towards Pahlow Ridge, following tussock leads then passing through a boulder field at 1200–1300 metres. Sidle around the base of a shingle slip at about 1400 metres to a cairn on a rib, and continue to Pahlow Ridge. Descend to where the ridge flattens just before Johanson Peak and drop 40 metres off it to the south. Sidle in tussock across to a stream at the 1240-metre contour (J34 457835 / BW18 357 219). Follow this stream down to the Whitcombe River. There are several easy waterfalls to sidle on the true left in the lower stream. Follow the true left bank of the Whitcombe (and the old track, where you can find it) up to Wilkinson Hut. When travelling in reverse the stream does not look promising looking up from the Whitcombe, but it is marked by a cairn near the river. Remember to take the true left branch halfway up. Time : About 7 hrs |
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| Ivory Lake to Price Basin Hut | ||||||
From Ivory Lake Hut, cross a stream to the east and follow up the ridge at J34 406836 / BW18 305 221 to Pt 2056 metres on the Lange Range. (This point can also be approached from the head of Ivory Lake, up a gully and approaching from the west and north.) Descend the spur east off Pt 2056 metres. At about J34 419844 / BW18 319 228 the ridge is broad but broken and steep for 20 metres – negotiable with care through small bluffs on loose rock down to where the it flattens out. The ridge then narrows for a short distance, followed by easy travel to the rib that leads directly down to Price Basin Hut. There are tarns and a campsite at the saddle a few hundred metres south-west of Mt Wylde Brown. Time : 5–6 hrs |
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in association with the Canterbury Mountaineering Club