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Darran Pass

Type
Altitude
1600m

The first crossing of Darran Pass from west to east was made by Russell Bernstone, Jim Milne and Richard Stewart in February 1962. The pass is shown incorrectly on topomaps. It is north of Pt 1644 metres (incorrectly marked as Mihj). It is possible to cross at the marked point (Pt 1563 metres, the lowest point on the ridge) but there is steep climbing on both sides that is not recommended.

Lat/lon
POINT (168.02134 -44.705663)
Topo50
CB09 056 377
Access

From the Donne River
From the tributary at CB08 0394 3809, the pass is a long climb on rock slabs and then tussock, following a rising line from south to north to the wide basin below Mihj Peak. From the pass, climb a short way along the South Ridge of Mihj to where broad ledges lead down to the slabs above Moraine Creek.
From Moraine Creek
From Moraine Creek climb slabs below Mihj Peak, angling left across the narrowing shelf to gain the ridge just north of Darran Pass. Descend across the wide basin below Mihj to about 1250 metres, then angle across and down rock slabs all the way to the valley floor.

Accessed from
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Comments
Richard Thomson

From the Donne it's a bush free route if you head up the side creek to the avalanche-cleared slabs. The pass marked on the map is probably not the best crossing point (tricky bits on both sides). From Moraine Ck it's probably better to climb the rib below Pt 1870 (the real Mihj Pk) to slabs that lead up left (southwest) to the ridge, and then descend a short way to the pass just north of Pk 1644 (which is not Mihj Pk) – I didn't go that way, but the first party did.

Tue, 25/10/2011 - 13:00 Permalink
Attribution
Craig Jefferies
UUID
 
d62e470d-b024-437f-8a54-9b9b80f2603a