Elevation: 2300m

Difficulty: Moderate scrambling with steeper snow at times.

I would allow a full day for this peak as it gains over 2000m.

Description:

This was my second time heading past the Heather Jock Hut. A year earlier Luke and I had hiked up Mt. Alaska, which is a pleasant and relatively easy scramble in itself. We hit the trail at around 6am and made our way up the easy track that skirts around Mt. Judah. There are many points of interest on the way up, including some old huts from the gold mining era. We moved through gentle switchbacks and were eventually passed by a due on e-bikes with skis on their backs. They were headed to the same place as us but with a different goal. The main face on Mt. Larkins offers great ski touring late into spring.

I wont get too in depth about our walk to Heather Jock as I barely remember it. We were there within 2 hours of starting. Note that this is the last easy to access toilet on your trip. Even at first light, the sun in New Zealand is harsh. From Heather Jock you can follow a road to the base of Mt. Alaska. Looking climbers left you will see a faint road work its way across the slope. We followed this road until an obvious pass showed itself maybe 50m above us. We worked up to this pass from the road. As we crested we could see the summit of Mt Larkins.

If I’m being honest, the ridge we were supposed to take looked a lot steeper than I was expected. We were also separated by a broad, snowy basin. To our left we could see a ridge that connected us to the main ridge of Mt. Larkins. It was still early morning and the snow had refrozen over the previous night. I pulled out my Petzl Leopard crampons. This was going to be my first time using them. With my crampons on I dropped into the basin only to realize that I hadn’t done the dyneema cord tight enough. The crampons were sliding around on my feet and almost fell off. I was forced to perch down on the icy slope and re-adjust them.

Once they were tight on my feet I proceeded to travel across the snow. We made our way to the ridge with little difficulty. Sitting ahead of us was a slope of dirt with patches of snow. My partners had steel crampons so they were able to ascend with the crampons on. My crampons were aluminum so I was forced to constantly take them on and off as the ridge changed from dirt to snow. This ridge was far less steep than I had thought when staring at it across the basin. We moved pretty effortlessly up the ridge and crested on a flat area beneath the final summit ridge of the mountain. I sat back and took a few photos before finally following my partners to the summit.

Walking to the final summit ridge of Mt. Larkins

We enjoyed the view for a few minutes before making our way back down. It was shocking just how soft the snow had gotten in the hour and a bit since first ascending the main ridge. I was sinking down to my thigh. Eager to get away from the steep surrounding snow we scurried across the ridge. After just over an hour from leaving the summit, we had reached to snowline. We began the long walk back to the car.

No shortage of good views as we descend the mountain.

Descending the upper slopes of Mt. Larkins

 

A short stop at the pub in Glenorchy for a beer and we were on our way back to Queenstown.

Mt. Earnslaw dominates the backdrop.