Elevation: 1978m
Distance: Roughly 30km return from the Routeburn shelter in Glenorchy
Elevation Gain: Roughly 1500m
Access: Routeburn Shelter in Glenorchy
Difficulty: Mostly 2nd Class Scrambling with sections of 3rd Class. Navigation and small segments of exposure will be the hardest.
Description:
Mt Erebus is the largest of the peaks above Lake Wilson. Ruby and I made plans to camp at the lake and reach the summit for sunrise. This report will only talk about Mt Erebus from lake Wilson.
It is hard to properly describe the route as we travelled in the dark. From the mouth of Lake Wilson you follow the long ridge that makes its way between Mt Erebus and Mt Xenicus. This is basically just a run of the mill, grassy slope. You will follow the ridge true until an obvious headwall stops you. If you look to your right, into the bowl under mt. Xenicus, you will find a ledge that gives you access to an open, alpine bowl. We followed this ledge and traversed toward the back of the bowl until we saw a series of rock steps that provides access to the peak. We had no idea how far this would take us when we climbed because it was still too early in the morning and we only had the light from our headlamps. Thankfully, these slabs led us to a flat area under the peak of Erebus with straightforward access to the final ridge. When we climbed in March, we had ice covering most of the rock. This made travel on what would normally be very simple terrain difficult.
You will walk across this large flat area until you are under the main ridge of the peak. From this aspect you can see a decaying glacier. Head climber’s left to the ridge and follow it up to a high point. There will be a narrow ridge that join where you are to the summit. This summit ridge is narrow and chossy. Work carefully across the narrow ridge until it meets the final summit block. The final summit broadens up and offers easy travel.
Our camp above Lake Wilson
Mt Xenicus at Sunrise. This peak is commonly linked with Erebus as a traverse.
Mt Tutoko – The highest mountain in Fjordland.
Ruby on the ridge, near the summit of Erebus.
The sketchy ridge with Mt Erebus in the background.