Dorsal Arete

Day 2 with Hein, and he wanted something more to show him that winter mountaineering can be fun. We headed up to Dorsal arete. Luckily we slotted in behind the first team up - so we benefited from their track in the deep soft snow - thank you, saved me a lot of work...

We had poor visibility for most of the day - it did come and go at times. It added to the atmosphere - but made it more difficult for me to show Hein where we were going!

I didn't know I had a spot of rain on the lens.. Here is Hein approaching the last belay before the Arete.

It was on this belay that, when talking to Hein and holding his attention, over his shoulder I watched Forked Gully avalanche - a boom and a whoosh. This weekend is about building his confidence - so I told him about it at the end of the route.

The last moves off of the arete..

With confidence Hein walked along the snow.. This is when poor visibility helps!

Hein near the top... Another great day with Hein. Tomorrow is his last day, so lets see what we can achieve. About 10 people climbed up or down Broad Gully today. There were about 4 teams on Dorsal Arete. 2 solo climbers went up the first third of Forked Gully, before heading left (about 1.5 hours after I saw an avalanche head down it)... There was a large slide from a point source from the Pinnacle area.