Adv 223 Yumpu

How to climb your first
6000 metre peak
By Suze Kelly, General Manager, Adventure Consultants
Climbing at high altitude is not on
everyone’s bucket list but it is a
very rewarding activity and physical
endurance achievement. There’s
something about being up high above
5000m, the air seems thinner, you can
somehow see further and that feeling
of being ‘on the edge’ is palpable.
Plus climbing above 6000m always
involves travel to the Himalaya chain of
mountains in Asia or the Andes in South
America so you have an adventure,
climbing and travel to explore a new
culture and land all rolled into one
journey. What could be more perfect!
Without being able to get to any of
these exotic destinations at present,
the best thing you can do is put the
time into preparing and training for your
future travel and high altitude climbing.
In New Zealand we are blessed with
Himalayan-like mountains, renowned
for their steepness, ruggedness and
glaciation but without the debilitating
breath sapping effects of high altitude
to deal with. When Kiwis go to climb at
high altitude overseas, they often do
very well as they have had such a good
base to train from.
A great place to start is to tackle some
of the Department of Conservation
Great Walks, carrying all your own
gear and generally getting yourself
what we call ‘pack fit’. Then, with some
experience in longer day walks there
are off trail or more rugged options
for routes to explore and access our
amazing network of backcountry huts.
Thus, doing what we call ‘mileage’ with
classic Kiwi tramping as a base for all
that is to come (why stop there!).
All the tramping that’s straightforward
in New Zealand is generally below
the snow line, so to gain experience
for skills that you need to safely move
around on snow, ice, rock and glaciers,
the wise choice is to then sign on to
a mountaineering course operated by
professional mountain guides. With
everything from 1 day to 12-day options
it’s more about time commitment than
anything as the cost is similar to what
you would spend on an overseas travel
holiday.
On a mountaineering course you start
with the basics and your guides ensure
you are confident with snowcraft and
rope skills applicable to alpine climbing,
before moving on to glacier travel and
self-rescue, navigation, route finding
and weather analysis. Along the way
you learn more about pacing, self-care,
planning and preparation and all the
while getting to know your gear, what
works and what doesn’t. Plus, you even
climb a mountain or two! Courses are
usually based in Westland or Aoraki Mt
Cook National Parks and your first peak
might be Hochstetter Dome at the head
of the Tasman Glacier or Aurora Peak
above Centennial Hut.
At the end of a mountaineering course,
the sense of accomplishment you feel
with your new-found alpine climbing
skills never leaves you. The investment
of time and learning is everything you
need to set you up for next steps in
the exciting world of mountaineering,
which might be climbing a substantial
New Zealand peak such as Mt Aspiring,
3,033m. An alpine start (3.00am) is
required on such a big climb and you
are well into the climb once dawn
arrives along with experiencing one
of your first alpine sunrises, let alone
the feeling of satisfaction of reaching
the summit and then a descent back
to the hut for that welcome cup of tea
and overall feeling of tiredness and
satisfaction that a big day out in the hills
provides.
How does all this matter for climbing
Island Peak 6,189m in Nepal, or
Aconcagua 6,962m in Argentina, both
great choices for a 6000m peak? Aren’t
these called non-technical ascents?
The thing with climbing at high altitude
is that it requires immense energy just
to put one foot in front of the other, due
to the lack of oxygen reaching your
muscles, so the climbing you tackle
needs to be straightforward. Fixed lines
are used for safety and the climbing is
certainly not as technical, but with your
experience gained in New Zealand on
a mountaineering course, everything
feels second nature and you can focus
on the altitude hurdle. A summit day on
Island Peak typically takes 12-15 hours,
since you start climbing in the dark
at midnight, and return back to Base
camp by mid-afternoon. Good fitness
and endurance is imperative but just as
important is the ability to move efficiently
whilst encased in mountaineering
gear, and any new challenges can be
overcome, as you will have done all this
before, albeit at lower altitudes in New
Zealand.
So whilst we might have a long time to
wait until we can explore the greater
ranges of the world again, you can
use this precious time to upskill and
experience the best that the Southern
Alps has to offer. We are so lucky
to have this training ground in our
backyard here, and it’s the perfect place
to hone your skills and fitness and put in
the preparation time required to build up
to climbing a 6000m peak.
Adventure Consultants is a mountain guiding outfitter based in Wanaka, New Zealand operating
mountaineering courses, guided ascents and trekking journeys in New Zealand, and world-wide.
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