Decision time. We all knew this moment was coming. Jacob, Pet and I had all been thinking about it as we pushed on, far behind schedule. Now we finally stopped at a belay to make a plan. We had just joined the main line of the Casorotto route on the Goretta Pillar of Fitzroy. Above us soared a tower of golden granite and splitter cracks, glowing in the evening sun. The climbing looked absolutely delightful. The weather was perfect, the views incredible. THIS is what we had co

When multipitch climbing, having the ability to carry food and extra layers is a significant factor to an enjoyable send or a suffer fest, but so is the importance and approach to carrying them. Different systems will be amazing in one application, but inefficient and slow in another. Identifying your situation of use is important to determining what style is appropriate for your climb. Using the Big Wall grading system, each system has an ideal application Grade I–III: Half

The Darrans is an epicenter of alpine rock climbing, boasting amazing granite faces in arguably New Zealand’s best backdrop, providing everything for a successful summer. As I (Reon) was descending from Mt Chaos on a trip prior, our inreach pinged with a message from Dan, “Tell Reon, Imogen is in Milford with food and gear to climb tomorrow on Charismatic Wall”, well there goes my rest day… As I arrived at Homer Hut, a quick introduction with Imogen and pack had us heading up

Dunedin has grown many great New Zealand alpinists. The Otago University Tramping Club is a key part of this, often launching keen...

Back in January 2022, Jonty Francis and I had an aspirational conversation about climbing in the Darrans; “There's just so much to do...

Falling backwards head first. Never a good situation to find yourself in. My helmet splits as my head slams into solid granite. My...

Free at last, free at last. I could sense James summoning the words of Martin Luther king as he dreamed of finally leaving the hanging...

Yosemite here we come. Yosemite was the second of the NZ Alpine Team's training trips, the first being Canadian Rockies in 2020. Well,...

Short approach, many pitches, interesting and challenging climbing. Personally when it came to climbing in NZ I had always hoped I could...

Over two trips to Copper Point in Fiordland Merry and Daniel established a great new crack climb. Straight out of lock down is 175m long...

In 2018 I was standing around on top of El Capitan with Jon Seddon a fellow Kiwi and my climbing partner for that particular trip. It was...

Ben Mangan, Lionel Clay, James Hobson With the freezing level rapidly rising all over the Southern Alps - it was time to grab the...