Mt Spencer
(10 routes)
The main Divide ridges of Spencer, especially the south ridge, are notoriously rotten. The western aspects are comprised of excellent rock, however, and the South West Face offers plenty of scope for winter/spring ice routes.
Reference | Name | Grade | Quality | Length | Comments | Actions | |||||
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3
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0 |
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A route lies up the icefalls well north of the Grant Duff Glacier and then up a rib of steep shattered rock and snow directly to the summit. The rock on the Main Divide is notoriously loose in this area. Tim Barfoot, John Luxton, Richard Tornquist, Jan 1962. |
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1+
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0 |
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Ascend a mixture of good and bad rock just west of the northern Divide ridge. It is usually covered by snow through to mid-summer and serves as a good descent route (but watch the schrund). Ebenezer Teichelmann, Alex Graham, Mar 1914. |
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2+
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0 |
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The ridge rises steeply from the Franz Josef Névé with good rock and then eases back and leads up to the summit. Frank Alack, H K Douglas, Jan 1936. |
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2+ 15
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0 |
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A variation to the North West Ridge: climb the face to the right. The first pitch and a half is straightforward and is followed by five pitches of 14-15 on good rock, to where it meets the NW Ridge. Some small roofs provide the cruxes. Carol Nash, K Longhurst, Feb 1986. (B McKerrow and S Drake also climbed another variant in the general area in Apr 1991.) |
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4-
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0 |
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Between the North West Ridge and the West Buttress is a steep rib of excellent rock ending in a small pinnacle. Carol McDermott, Craig Stobo, Jan 1985. |
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II 4
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1.02 |
300m
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P1: Climb the snow ramp, pitching can begin out of the schrund. Up steep bulge then right leaning ice ramp over second bulge. The route and summit catches the sun by midday and hang fire can be a problem on descent if rappelling the route. Jon Tyler, Gavin Lang, 22/09/2016 |
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4- 15
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1.02 |
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A relatively long but not especially difficult route, on excellent quality and steep rock, which leads directly to the summit Phil Castle, Phil Grover, Jan 1981. |
Places
Actions | ||
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Face | South West Face (3 routes) |