Over the university break, I had the absolute privilege of spending ten days in paradise – the Darran
Mountains in Fiordland National Park.
Getting there was an adventure in itself: seven of us packed into my mum’s old van for the ten-hour
drive from Christchurch, which was pretty uncomfortable!
We spent five days cragging at Little Babylon. I love the approach to Lil Bab! It involves scrambling up
tree roots, waterfalls, and ladders, and has fantastic views of Mitre Peak. The climbing is even
better: steep, pumpy, exciting moves on fantastic sticky rock (which I have recently learned is not
granite).
I was especially excited to get back on Hercules (29), a powerful, dynamic line I’d tried right at the
end of last year’s trip. My first few days on it were promising – I did all the moves on day one, and by
the fourth day I was consistently one-hanging* it. On our final afternoon at the crag, I finally stuck the
crux from the ground… only to drop the very last move. Gutting, but I’ll be back!
We got lucky with the weather and managed some incredible multipitch days. I climbed Birdsong
(4p, 26), on the Left Wall of Babylon with Tom. It has a pretty epic top pitch that ends by climbing
right into a rātā tree!
Our final day was spent on Moir’s Mate. We started the steep 2-hour approach in the dark and
watched the sunrise from Homer Saddle. Jon, Anna and I climbed the Bowen-Allan Corner (8p, 17).
Trad multipitching** is still pretty new to me, and I found finding protection pretty tricky! The route is
notorious for difficult route-finding, and we were making great progress until the 7th pitch.
Somehow, instead of climbing the famous corner, we deviated off-route and climbed an unnamed,
mossy crack. The pitch was much longer than I expected, and I was quickly running low on gear and
pretty scared! Fortunately, we topped out without incident, and we watched a beautiful sunset on
the rappel down.
In all, the trip was fantastic. I’ve got some unfinished business and I’m super psyched to go back next
summer!
*climbing from the bottom to the top with only one fall or rest on the rope
**where you and a partner climb a route longer than the length of your rope in ‘pitches’ while placing your own protection along the way