Date: September 30, 2016
Distance: 10.1 km
Max Elevation: 2210 m
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1201 m
Time: 7.5 hours
Success: Yes
Summits: 1
Partners: Kyle Marr
Grade: 2- (NZ Grade)
I finally got to bust out my technical ice tools for the first time since June. Given what I have learned about New Zealand mountaineering, it will probably not be long before I use them again. Rome Ridge is one of the classic technical day trips for folks from Christchurch. I picked what appeared to be the best day of the week, and a friend from Christchurch drove out to meet me.
It turned out that Friday ended up being the worst day of the week. I am quickly learning that the weather forecast here is essentially useless, even more so than in the Rockies. We gained treeline under clear skies, but as soon as the sun rose, the clouds rolled in and stayed, getting heavier and darker.
We ran into another party of two at the snowline and all climbed together. Soon after we got into the snow, it started raining and did not let up. When we reached the gap we were in a complete whiteout. To cross the gap we dropped off the ridge on climber’s left and then found a rock line up on the other side of the gap on climbers right. I would have graded this as moderate scrambling, but the kiwi’s present were quite uncomfortable soloing the section. I had not brought any rock pro, so I soloed up with the rope attached, slung a boulder and brought my partner up.
From there, we climbed steep, wet snow to the low peak of Rolleston, the same place I had been last Saturday. Unfortunately, the fog was so thick that a push to the main summit would have been foolish. Luckily, I remembered some of the landmarks for the descent from last week, so I was able to navigate down, with only one minor mistake that almost put us onto the Goldney Glacier.
Once below the clouds, it was an easy walk out and we hitchhiked back to our cars with some American tourists. I am running out of routes on Rolleston and I still have not been to the main summit. Next up, Philistine traverse!
At Altitude 