Madeline, Talbot, Moir's Mate and other New Years Darrans Adventures
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| Maddy on the summit of Talbot (Conor Vaessen) |
Madeline:
Party: Maddy Whittaker, Tom Hadley, Andy Longman, Lottie Armstrong, Anna Murdoch, Conor Vaessen, Alex Nicolle
This story starts with forgetting Tom. We arrived at the Tutuko Valley and realised he was not in either car (we both had left thinking he was in the other car rip). So we were off to a great start.
After picking up Tom (who was found walking along the road), we headed off. It was a beautiful day and we made quick progress despite the gang factor (the way things instantly slow when you have a large group). We got slightly off route on the way up to Turners Biv and enjoyed some slimy slabs before finding the fixed ropes through the scrub and getting on our way again.
Turners Biv is a rad place. We arrived at around 5pmish. Surrounded by immense granite walls in all directions, we basked in the sun, watching avalanches crash into the valley and the distant silhouettes of Sooji and Ben as they summited Tutuko. Life was exceptionally good.
We noticed another pair of climbers downclimbing off Tutuko. They looked like they were swimming through thigh-deep snow. Eventually, they made it to the biv and told us that that was exactly what they were doing! Jono Squire and Dave Kelbe - climbing friends from Dunedin. What a day for this corner of the Darrans!
The next morning we got up early. There hadn't really been a freeze but it was firm enough that if we moved quickly it'd be fine. We moved in two rope teams for the glacier and progress was relatively quick. As we moved higher, so did the sun, washing the mountains around us in a beautiful glow.
On the way down, we had time to explore the beautiful valleys and hidden lakes that could be seen from notches in the ridge. The Central Darrans - what a place.
After a quick lunch at Turners Biv, we headed back down and out the Tutuko Valley. In the last few kms, I broke away from the others and ran the last bit out to the road. As the last of the light faded, I stood in the middle of the Milford Road, watched the stars come out and said goodbye to 2019 - what was perhaps the best year yet.
We made it back to Homer Hut at about 11pm. Sam, Olivia, Fraser, Quinn, and whole bunch of others were there. It was awesome to see everyone returning from a full day of adventures in the perfect weather. Exhausted, most of the 50 or so people at Homer that night were in bed not long after midnight.
Moir's Mate:
Party: Lottie Armstrong, Torea Scott Fyfe, Maddy Whittaker
Our rather large crew at Homer didn't have enough trad gear and half ropes for everyone to go climbing a full-scale route at the same time. So while Tom, Conor and Olivia headed up Lucky Strike, Torea, Lottie and I headed up Moir's mate, just for a fun scramble up the abseil route.
We did two 10m ish pitches where the scrambling became very smeary with big exposure, but the rest was straightforward.
Just as we topped out it started snowing, and so we had a fun abseil and descent off the mate in full whiteout. Overall a great day out on some gorgeous granite.
East Ridge of Talbot:
Party: Conor Vaessen, Maddy Whittaker, Torea Scott Fyfe, Lottie Armstrong
Today was our turn with the full trad gear and ropes. Four of us headed up Gertrude Saddle and to the base of the East Ridge of Talbot where we'd climb as two teams of two - Torea and Lottie, and Conor and myself.
Conor and I started up first. It was a bluebird day. The granite was warm. Conor was incredibly patient, letting me lead most of the simuling, checking my placements. This was my first alpine multi pitch and I was falling head over heels in love.
I clearly remember the first moment I'd had in snow, up on the Bonar Glacier, clambering over the top of the Quarterdeck at sunrise to a golden and pink glowing Aspiring. That had been my turning point moment when I knew I wanted to climb snowy mountains.
But this, this was my turning point for alpine rock. It was a high like no other I'd felt before. The ridge flowed into one. Placing a piece, lots at first and then running them further and further out (to a healthy amount) as my confidence grew. Hands on granite, a jug there, a plam there, a small overhang there - oooo a delightful chimney.
At some point the sun vanished, I climbed the rest of the way in my puffer. There was snow on the route and ice in the cracks. Lottie and Torea were really cold, so we left them some layers and continued climbing. I was in a mad flow state. Life was good, so so very good.
At the top we found Sam and Olivia's fresh tat from two days earlier. We abseiled back down and headed down from Gertrude Saddle as it started to get dark. It clagged in as we headed down, my head torch died, we accidentally lost the track and had to backtrack to make sure we crossed the stream on the way from Gertrude Saddle at the right point. It was late by the time we got back to Homer, and the sore throat I had was evidently not just from the ashy water we'd all been drinking (thanks to the Australian bushfires) but a cold or virus. But none of that mattered. I fell asleep ridiculously happy that night.
Lyttle Falls and Lake Mariana:
The rest of the crew were going cragging - to the Chasm or Little Babs, but Torea and I wanted to run. We decided to run up the popular track to Lake Marion, packraft across Lake Marion and attempt to scramble the route on the true right of Lyttle Falls to Lake Mariana and that valley, just below Sabre.
Challenge number 1: We had a packraft and no paddles
Solution: Sooji and Ben lent us their kmart paddles for the day wehoo!
Challenge number 2: There was a hole in the packraft.
Solution: We found some glue and a patch yay!
Torea's packraft is not large. But it fitted the two of us and two day packs fine. Paddling with kmart paddles that bend in the water made for not hugely efficient paddling, but progress was made, and we found ourselves on the far side of the lake.
This story starts with forgetting Tom. We arrived at the Tutuko Valley and realised he was not in either car (we both had left thinking he was in the other car rip). So we were off to a great start.
After picking up Tom (who was found walking along the road), we headed off. It was a beautiful day and we made quick progress despite the gang factor (the way things instantly slow when you have a large group). We got slightly off route on the way up to Turners Biv and enjoyed some slimy slabs before finding the fixed ropes through the scrub and getting on our way again.
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| Slimy slabs on the way to Turners Biv (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Alex going up one of the fixed rope sections (Lottie Armstrong) |
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| Gaining height, Tutuko coming into view (Maddy Whittaker) |
Turners Biv is a rad place. We arrived at around 5pmish. Surrounded by immense granite walls in all directions, we basked in the sun, watching avalanches crash into the valley and the distant silhouettes of Sooji and Ben as they summited Tutuko. Life was exceptionally good.
We noticed another pair of climbers downclimbing off Tutuko. They looked like they were swimming through thigh-deep snow. Eventually, they made it to the biv and told us that that was exactly what they were doing! Jono Squire and Dave Kelbe - climbing friends from Dunedin. What a day for this corner of the Darrans!
 |
| Tom and Conor basking in the sun (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Maddy and Anna yarning (Andy Longman) |
The next morning we got up early. There hadn't really been a freeze but it was firm enough that if we moved quickly it'd be fine. We moved in two rope teams for the glacier and progress was relatively quick. As we moved higher, so did the sun, washing the mountains around us in a beautiful glow.
 |
| Moving quickly through the dark (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Approaching the summit (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Summit photo (Maddy Whittaker) |
On the way down, we had time to explore the beautiful valleys and hidden lakes that could be seen from notches in the ridge. The Central Darrans - what a place.
 |
| Admiring Lake Turner (Maddy Whittaker) |
After a quick lunch at Turners Biv, we headed back down and out the Tutuko Valley. In the last few kms, I broke away from the others and ran the last bit out to the road. As the last of the light faded, I stood in the middle of the Milford Road, watched the stars come out and said goodbye to 2019 - what was perhaps the best year yet.
 |
| Walking back towards Turners Biv (Maddy Whittaker) |
We made it back to Homer Hut at about 11pm. Sam, Olivia, Fraser, Quinn, and whole bunch of others were there. It was awesome to see everyone returning from a full day of adventures in the perfect weather. Exhausted, most of the 50 or so people at Homer that night were in bed not long after midnight.
Moir's Mate:
Party: Lottie Armstrong, Torea Scott Fyfe, Maddy Whittaker
Our rather large crew at Homer didn't have enough trad gear and half ropes for everyone to go climbing a full-scale route at the same time. So while Tom, Conor and Olivia headed up Lucky Strike, Torea, Lottie and I headed up Moir's mate, just for a fun scramble up the abseil route.
 |
| Torea on the Homer Ridge (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Scramba-lamba-ling (Maddy Whittaker) |
We did two 10m ish pitches where the scrambling became very smeary with big exposure, but the rest was straightforward.
 |
| Lottie and Torea at an anchor (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Lottie scrambling an interesting crack (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| On the summit (Maddy Whittaker) |
Just as we topped out it started snowing, and so we had a fun abseil and descent off the mate in full whiteout. Overall a great day out on some gorgeous granite.
East Ridge of Talbot:
Party: Conor Vaessen, Maddy Whittaker, Torea Scott Fyfe, Lottie Armstrong
Today was our turn with the full trad gear and ropes. Four of us headed up Gertrude Saddle and to the base of the East Ridge of Talbot where we'd climb as two teams of two - Torea and Lottie, and Conor and myself.
 |
| Maddy, Lottie and Torea heading to the base of the ridge (Conor Vaessen) |
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| Conor leading the first pitch (Maddy Whittaker) |
Conor and I started up first. It was a bluebird day. The granite was warm. Conor was incredibly patient, letting me lead most of the simuling, checking my placements. This was my first alpine multi pitch and I was falling head over heels in love.
I clearly remember the first moment I'd had in snow, up on the Bonar Glacier, clambering over the top of the Quarterdeck at sunrise to a golden and pink glowing Aspiring. That had been my turning point moment when I knew I wanted to climb snowy mountains.
But this, this was my turning point for alpine rock. It was a high like no other I'd felt before. The ridge flowed into one. Placing a piece, lots at first and then running them further and further out (to a healthy amount) as my confidence grew. Hands on granite, a jug there, a plam there, a small overhang there - oooo a delightful chimney.
 |
| Maddy downclimbing a chimney (Conor Vaessen) |
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| Maddy approaching the final bit before the summit (Conor Vaessen) |
At some point the sun vanished, I climbed the rest of the way in my puffer. There was snow on the route and ice in the cracks. Lottie and Torea were really cold, so we left them some layers and continued climbing. I was in a mad flow state. Life was good, so so very good.
At the top we found Sam and Olivia's fresh tat from two days earlier. We abseiled back down and headed down from Gertrude Saddle as it started to get dark. It clagged in as we headed down, my head torch died, we accidentally lost the track and had to backtrack to make sure we crossed the stream on the way from Gertrude Saddle at the right point. It was late by the time we got back to Homer, and the sore throat I had was evidently not just from the ashy water we'd all been drinking (thanks to the Australian bushfires) but a cold or virus. But none of that mattered. I fell asleep ridiculously happy that night.
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| Maddy about to abseil (Conor Vaessen) |
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| Maddy with an icicle abseiling (Conor Vaessen) |
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| Conor, Maddy and Torea looking like coal miners at dusk on Gertrude Saddle (Lottie Armstrong) |
Lyttle Falls and Lake Mariana:
The rest of the crew were going cragging - to the Chasm or Little Babs, but Torea and I wanted to run. We decided to run up the popular track to Lake Marion, packraft across Lake Marion and attempt to scramble the route on the true right of Lyttle Falls to Lake Mariana and that valley, just below Sabre.
Challenge number 1: We had a packraft and no paddles
Solution: Sooji and Ben lent us their kmart paddles for the day wehoo!
Challenge number 2: There was a hole in the packraft.
Solution: We found some glue and a patch yay!
Torea's packraft is not large. But it fitted the two of us and two day packs fine. Paddling with kmart paddles that bend in the water made for not hugely efficient paddling, but progress was made, and we found ourselves on the far side of the lake.
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| (Maddy Whittaker) |
The valley was incredible. There were rock wren everywhere and an awe-inspiring waterfall, with rainbow spray. We pranced our way up to the start of the route. It was exactly what I needed for that day. Life was once again good. It tends to be that way in the Darrans.
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| Torea scrambling up the gully at the start of the route (Maddy Whittaker) |
The route involved going up a gully and then traversing a series of benches. Unfortunately for us, the gully was full of hard snow and we were in running shoes. We attempted to skirt around the edge of the snow, and almost made it above it, but the progress was slow and slimy and eventually, we reached our turn around time and headed for home.
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| Torea crawling up some slimy granite, trying to ignore the gaping hole that disappeared under the snow below her (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Time to go home (Maddy Whittaker) |
Overall New Years 2019/2020 was an awesome time with some awesome people. Thanks to everyone who made it what it was.
I still think the greatest achievement of the week was fitting five people and their packs, ropes and racks in the car from Dunedin to Homer. Conor you're a packing legend.
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| The boot. Once closed, it was not allowed to be re-opened until we arrived at our destination (Conor Vaessen) |
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