The next weekend we met up again for a mission near Mount Cook village. Since it hadn’t snowed all week we decided to head for corn snow climbing Mount Dark and riding the North facing slopes. This time Ellie and Christine would be Yossi, Ryan, Wiggles and I.
It was a epic bushwhack up Bush Stream for 5kms. There was no trail and and some points were climbing up in the stream.
That night we slept at the base of Mount Dark in the shade. It was a long cold night as we listened for Kea’s not wanting to wake up to them destroying our gear.
Climbing up Mount Dark
The next morning we started around 5:00a.m. and dawned crampons the moment we hit the snow. It was firm and perfect for climbing and we were hoping by noon it would soften enough to be awesome skiing.
The sunrise was beautiful as we made our way up the lower slopes in the shade. It was a race against the sun as we didn’t want it so soften up while climbing the steep area above.
Soon we were in the steep upper section climbing with ice axes and crampons. It was a sustained pitch so I made sure not to look down to much making our way up to the summit ridge.
All of a sudden we were looking at Mount Cook, the McKenzie Basin and a huge section of the Southern Alps.
Looking to the North we had a clear view of the Mackenzie basin and Lake Tekapo in the distance.
To the south you could see right into the Ben Ohau Range.
We were surrounded by stunning mountains in every direction. Mount Dark was one of the more scenic peaks I had been on in the Southern Alps.
We made our way the final push up to the summit before waiting for the snow to soften up. The sun was warm and we knew we had a delicate balance not wanting the slopes to be too firm but not wanting the slopes to be too soft.
The line we were about to drop into was steep but nice looking. For a little while we would throw rocks onto the slope waiting for them to make a dent. Soon enough we felt confident with the snow and dropped in.
Descending the line
It was steep enough that we didn’t take any photos while riding down but once in the valley we were super happy with our choice of line.
With access to two separate lines Yossi and I took the line to the left while Ryan and Wiggles took the line to the right. Ellie and Christine had climbed back down the slopes so we waited as we packed up camp for the exit.
Once the crew was together it was time for our exit. For the next three hours we crawled back out the valley to our cars waiting below.
It was a great trip with a solid crew. We had made the best out of the conditions and were able to ride a steep line off of Mount Dark.
Thank you for reading and If you enjoyed reading this and want to see more ski tours within New Zealand check out this link