2. Tramping
  3. Mt Aspiring Region

Olivine Ice Plateau 27 December 2010 - 5 January 2011

A nine day mission to the Olivine Ice Plateau via the Barrier Range and the Derivation Neve. We had 7/9 days rain but were always in a tent or rock bivvy when it started raining - lucky timing! Flooding had washed the Dart road at Paradise away, so we started with an extra 12km walk to Chinamen's Bluff- a slog with heavy packs on hard ground. Day 1: Paradise to Daley's Flat Hut. Day 2: Hut to Derivation Neve via Seal Col and Desperation Pass, tricky with heavy packs and whiteout. Day 3: Neve to Blockade Stream, in whiteout. Half pit-day (rest day) due to rain. Day 4: Stream to Olivine Ice Plateau, in whiteout. Half pit-day due to rain. Day 5: Ascended Mts Climax and Destiny before descending to the Forgotten River Rock Bivvy, a route made much harder by glacial recession. We had to lower packs with the rope several times. Day 6: Rest day - it didn't stop raining for 44 hours and we only left the rock overhang twice (for calls of nature). Day 7: Biv to Olivine Flats via Forgotten River Flats. Half pit-day due to rain. Day 8: Flats to Olivine Ledge Rock Bivvy - we screwed up the route in the bush and had a horrible grovel through bluffs and "scruffy bush." Day 9: Biv to Beans Burn via Fohn Saddle (in whiteout), and jetboat to Chinamen's Bluff. The team: Nina Dickerhof and Jaz Morris. With thanks to Geoff Spearpoint for route advice.
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Looking down to the Derivation Neve
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Looking down to the Derivation Neve

  • Looking down to the Derivation Neve
  • Descending off Watkins
  • On the Neve
  • Albert Peak and Possibility Col from campsite on Derivation Neve
  • Campsite
  • Possibility Col
  • Bluffs on Watkins which sheltered the tent
  • Nina on the neve, Mt Gates at rear. We climbed right up the middle of the enormous easy snowslope
  • Day 3: Nina crossing the Derivation
  • Nina on Mt Gates, Derivation Icefall at left
  • The Gates Ridge. Blockade Peak at left, and Climax in the clouds.
  • Blockade Peak. The route to the Plateau ascends the moraine ridge centre left follows the snowslope at far left under the bluffs of Blockade and follows the left-right ascending ramp to the obvious pass
  • Descending from Mt Gates
  • In the Blockade Stream
  • Lovely campsite in the Blockade
  • Day 4: climbing high above the Blockade Stream with Forgotten Flats and Bryneira Range at rear
  • The route down from Mt Gates takes the small snowpatch top left, bowls down the scree, then follows the central gully until sidling to the easy tussock spur on the true right of the gully. Easy!
  • Mt Gates from Blockade Stream. Either descend the snow (usually scree) centre right or the pass at left (this is much harder)
  • On the Plateau!
  • Olivine Ice Plateau from Blockade Col
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