Darran Mountains
To climb the South Face and Lippe Couloir routes you must first reach the upper hanging valley of Pembroke Creek. Follow Pembroke Creek from its junction with the Harrison River to the falls. From the falls climb up the true left of the gorge through steep but open bush to gain the upper valley and continue along the river until reaching the rock slabs at the head of the valley. There are possible bivvy sites on the lower slabs. To gain the upper cirque climb tussock slopes on the true right above the first cliff and then drop down to reach the snow in the cirque just below the south face.
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Ascend the bluffs at the head of Pembroke Creek and follow snowfields to the summit. Ray Slater, Murray Bolt, Nov 1974. |
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Early in the season it is possible to climb a large snow gully directly to the couloir from above the main waterfall and then continue to the East Ridge. Bluffs are exposed by the melting snowfields later in the season, after which it is possible to reach the couloir by climbing tussock slopes above the main waterfall on the true right and traversing across and down to the base of the couloir. From where the Lippe Couloir joins the East Ridge scramble through a few short rock steps to the summit. Bill Grave, Arthur Talbot, Jack Lippe, Dec 1913. |
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Climb the full length of the East Ridge from the confluence of the Harrison River and Pembroke Creek. Brian Wilkins, Graham Ellis, Davison, Sherwood, 1956. |
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Access to the east face is via the first unnamed valley beyond Wairereata Falls on the true right. No recorded ascent |
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Follow the ridge from Dale Point to the summit.
Dale Point, at the entrance to Milford Sound, can only be reached by boat with a landing onto rocks that can be tricky in a heavy swell. A trail was marked in the 1960's but has probably now disappeared. A long ascent requiring several attempts. Jack Ede, Brian Fineran, Colin Benton, Ron Chapman, Dec 1961. |
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Land at Thurso Creek. Ascend the West Face. Jack Murrell, Bev Noble, Mar 1978. The party made the first traverse of the peak, descending into Pembroke Creek. |
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Follow the rocky ridge up from the north col (lowest point in the range north from Mt Pembroke); mostly exposed scrambling but a couple of short rock steps (grade 12-13). Grant Dixon, Ian Brown, Feb 2016. On the first ascent, the north ridge was climbed as part of a traverse of the mountain, ascending to the north col from the Thurso River and descending the east ridge. |
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