Typical New Zealand!

November started with fears of flooding, then everyone was worried about drought, and now we are just recovering from floods in the Golden Bay. Living between the extremes is what New Zealand is all about with rain and snow one week and scorching sun the next. 

We have had so many great trips going out these last few months that I really don’t know where to start. Here are a few of the highlights that pop into my head. Sorry to the folks I fail to mention!

Pioneer Ski Tour

Whit Thurlow and Paul Harrison hit amazing snow conditions on an end of season ski tour. This a photo of the hill right next to Pioneer Hut, why go any further? Glacier Ski Touring

Minarets

Sam Mann and Gavin Lang managed to pull off a bit of a coup. The goal was to climb the Minarets but the west coast was socked in with an extended period of low cloud which prevented and helicopter access. In a stroke of genius they drove to Mt. Cook Village on the eastern side of the mountains where the weather was clear and hitched a ride with a ski plane to the Geikie Glacier on the western side but above the clouds. From there they had access to Centennial Hut from where they based the climb Here are some photos of the climb with Sam and the clouded in west coast below. Four day climbing expeditions

Goats !

I am pretty dubious about any photos portayed as “real” on the internet but when I saw this I just had to look into it. According to National Geographic the Ibex goats pictured have evolved a specialized split hoof that allows them to climb rock faces. In these photos the goats are on the Cingino dam in Italy where they like to lick the salt that accumulated on the rock. Next time you want your belayer to hold you tight just think of these guys!

Avalanche takes out bridge

The bridge below Scotts Bivi at the head of the Matukituki Valley was destroyed by a massive avalanche coming of the south side of the valley. For those of you familiar with the area the debris stopped just short of burying Scotts Bivi rock. DOC hopes to have the bridge rebuilt this summer, in the mean time the river can be crossed about 50m above the old bridge location.

Wild Women on Top

Wild Women on Top is an Australian based organization dedicated to women’s adventure and fitness. They recently completed our Gillespie Pass with flying colors! In fact a few even mentioned that they wanted it longer! I don’t know how they train them at WWOT but it was great to see such a fit and dynamic group of Wild Women! Here they are at the top of Gillespie Pass with Mt. Awful in the background.

Dan Turner had a Blast with Aspiring Guides!

Dan Turner recently went to Plateau Hut with Stefan Sporli and summited Mt Dixon. As you can see from the video pasted on our facebook page... he had a blast! http://www.facebook.com/aspiring.guides#!/aspiring.guides

That's all from us at Aspiring Guides. Have a very happy and safe New Year. And... to those of you who have made a New Year's resolution to stand on the top of a 3000m peak, to reach a higher grade of rock climbing, to spend 8 days trekking in the Wild ... or to ski on the Southern Alps in 2011... then please get in touch.

Whit Thurlow

Chief Guide / Director