Homer Hut Area, Moir and Moir's Mate, the Gertrude Valley

By Murray Judge

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Homer Hut

The hut is situated across the stream bed from the road and it is usually possible to drive right up to the hut. If heavy rain is forecast it is often safer to park on the road side of the stream as this can rise rapidly and cut off the hut.

Bouldering around Homer Hut

There are several routes on the 'Pebble' across the stream from the hut. Following up the stream towards Homer Saddle there are various problems on the left until the large clearing is reached, where on the left behind some beech trees are several boulders with good problems. Continue up the stream till it nears the road, on the tussock and beech flat on the right are a group of boulders with climbs.

On the Homer Saddle track there are two large boulders, the right hand (east) rock has several routes on the north side with top rope anchors at the top, (gained by climbing the route on the left side of this face).

Towards the Saddle about 100m is the Mount Cook Boulder with a corniced top, the arete and groove facing the tunnel have grade 25 problems Dave Vass and Colin Pohl March 1990. (Top rope anchors).

Belle 1975m

Ralph Millar, Godfrey Rieder, Bill Robson, Lloyd Warburton and Malcolm Imlay Dec 1957. To the left of the original Gilkison Davis route, working up the bluffs on the right of the main avalanche groove up a series of ledges to join the original route at the base of the summit rock, steep at the start.

First Ascent: Scott Gilkison, Norman Davis 1939. Opposite gravel road to Homer Hut, ascend the large tussock fan, then take right slanting tussock ledges to gain the crest of the ridge and the snow-field leading to the peak. (This is the normal route to the summit of Belle.)

Belle - South Face

First ascent of face: Calum Hudson, Barry Biggs 1974. Six pitches of good free climbing, taking a fairly direct line finishing just right of the summit. (16)

South Face: Richard Price, Barry Scott 1974. Climb down or abseil two pitches from the ridge between Belle and Moir to the snow-field. Climb from the middle of the face, taking a 5m dihedral (17) then easy free climbing to exit just east of the summit.

Orange Ripple: John Owen, Hugh Widdowson Jan 1989. Four pitches finishing left of the summit, up an arete covered with orange lichen (17).

Belle - North Face

: Bill Gordon, Ralph Miller, David Henderson March 1960. This face has three or four short routes on good compact rock.

Moir 2072m

First Ascent: Duncan Wilson, Lloyd Warburton, Bill Gordon Oct 1953. From the snow-field below the North Face of Belle.

Homer Tunnel Slabs

Follow tussock ledges above the tunnel portal for 100m to where the slabs begin.

Rock Busking: Sam Bosshard, John Dainty 20, 18, 17, 17. ** (Morning Glory: alternative first pitch 17 Jen Purdle, alternative 2nd pitch 'The Curvy Thing' 20 by Sam and John.)

Stage Fright: Sam Bosshard, John Dainty 16, 18, 20, 19. ***

Route from Homer Tunnel to Mt Belle:

From 200m left of the Tunnel take the dry creek-bed through the bluffs, then left to a large gut which is followed to the north east ridge of Belle. (The route used on the first ascent of Belle starting opposite the Homer Hut roadway is more popular and less steep.)

Route from Homer Tunnel to Homer Saddle:

From the far end of the car-park beside the Tunnel follow a track, passing to the right of the large rock. The track vanishes in the boulders and can be found again at the lower left side of the tussock slope leading up to the saddle. There are some good crack climbs on the wall beside the saddle, one can be followed through the rock to the other side of the ridge. (First ascent of Saddle: William Henry Homer, George Barber Jan 1889).

Moir 2072m

North Ridge from Homer Saddle: Bill Gordon, Ralph Miller, Oct 56. A pleasant ridge climb on large blocks of good rock. The steep step onto Moir's Mate may require a rope and is often abseiled on the descent. The routes on the North Face of Moir can be reached by climbing the ridge over Moir's Mate and descending into the upper cirque (the safest route early in the summer) or by sidling under Moir's Mate to the Cleddau Ledges. (Watch for avalanches from snow-fields under the North Face)

North face of Moir

Big Pink: Bill Denz, Calum Hudson March 1977. The largest blocky pillar onto the Moir ridge, directly behind the Little Brother. Two Pitches.(18)

Butterbeans in Hyperspace: Mike Rockell, Luke Newnham, Russell Braddock 1981. At the head of the cirque, a groove on the left side of a slab. (16, 16 A1, 15)

Bill Denz, Phil Herron 1974. Four pitches up a prominent corner, hard free climbing with a little aid through a small overhang.**

Bill Denz, Calum Hudson 1977. Takes the dominant corner left of the main pillar in the centre of the North Face, with some free climbing through overhangs. (18) (Variation on roof pitch, going left, (17).**

Geoff Wayatt, Bruce Clark, Dave Begg Jan 74. Climb 100m up slabs then 200m on a clean pillar to the top of the face. (9 pitches, 18, a few points of aid on the second pitch now goes free at 18.).**

Moir Slab Routes

The Scoop below the North Face has several slab routes:

Coming to Grips: Bruce Dowrick, Roger Thomson Jan 1990. (19)

No Razor Blades at the Bottom of This One: Roger Thomson, Bruce Dowrick Jan 1990. (22)

Vass Deferens: Alister Mark, Gary Gray (23) Feb 1990.

I Am The Fly: Dave Vass, Andrew Hollings Jan 1990. (20, 20)

Lapland: Dave Vass, Andrew Hollings, Murray Judge Feb 1990. (20, 22).***

(The above routes have not been climbable in recent years due to snow melt, they only dry out in late season)

Mise en Scene: Gwillym Griffith Jones, Pete Griffen, Poly Stupples, Ben from Australia, Brian Alder 18, 21, 23

Dave Vass, Richard Thomson, Pitches 1 and 2, Paul Rogers, Steve Eastwood, Kane Henderson pitches 3 and 4 23, 21.

Barry Biggs, Reg Marron Feb 1975. Six pitches of aid through the big roof near the Cleddau Buttress then up gullies to the ridge.

Cleddau Buttress of Moir:

Harold Jacobs, Murray Jones Jan 67. The lower wall from the tunnel was climbed to gain the foot of the Buttress, but the usual (Homer Saddle) route was used on the first ascent. The route starts at the toe of the Buttress and climbs the crest, a bit grassy on the lower half. (17)

Moir - West Face: Geoff Wyatt, Pete Gough 1974.

Moir - West Ridge: Godfrey Reider, Ron Webster, Dick Wood March 59. A 500m ridge of good rock.

Moir South Face: Don Bogie, Geoff Gabites 1978. This five pitch route follows the central rib on medium angled clean rock. (16)

Moir - South Ridge: Richard Price, Conway Powell 1976. Descend around the foot of the West Ridge (this is also the route to the South Face), sixteen pitches of good rock.

Moir - South East Face: Richard Price, Ken Hyslop Feb 1975. From the col between Belle and Moir descend to the face, four pitches.

Moir - South East Face: Richard Price, Judy Terpstra, Rob Blackburn, Nick Shearer March 1983. A crack line on the left of the original line.

Moir's Mate 1981m

Take the track to Homer Saddle and the ridge to Moir for about half an hour, to a broad scree slope which descends below the West Face of the Mate. Narrow rock ledges (The Cleddau Ledges) continue under the steep face of the Mate's Little Brother and across to the Cleddau Buttress and North face of Moir.

Rick McGregor, Peter McGregor, Judy Terpstra 1975. Follows a shallow groove just right of the ridge.

Strobe Light: John Dale, Nigel Perry 1982. The obvious crack system on the very left of the Mate. (21,19,17,15).*

Garden Trowel Route: Galen Rowell, John Barnett, Al Hay Jan 77. A steep first pitch through overhangs, then right up flakes past a large block to the start of the Bowen Allan corner. (19)* Al Uren climbed a direct finish up the R side of the diamond, with a grade 20 pitch R of the normal start: 20, 19, ?, 19, 18.

Snake Gully: Neal Mathieson, Hugh Widdowson Dec 1988. (17,13,18)

Bowen Allan Corner: Stu Allan, John Bowen. (16) From the bottom centre of the face climb up and left to finish up the wide crack. Alternative finishes are: Between the Lines, which takes the wall between the cracks Hugh Widdowson (18), and the crack on the left, Geoff's Crack (17).

Central Line: Murray Jones, Keith Nannery Jan 77. Takes the left side of the headwall, the crux pitch is an offwidth below the overhangs, then right past the roofs and finish up the split headwall crack.(19).

Fantini Coradine: John Fantini, Paul Coradine 1970. Originally done with a skyhook move (free at 21) and an abseil left to a slab then up a right slanting gully. There are several direct finishes above the skyhook move, including Orthopod: (18) Robin McNeill, Hugh Van Noorden 1985, and Red Zinger (19) Neal Mathieson, Hugh Widdowson 1988. A traversing finish to the top of the Jones Nannery was climbed by Merv English, Dave Fearnley and Calum Hudson 1983.

The Mate's Little Brother

The Milford Cruise: Murray Judge, Paul Rogers Feb 1989. (20,22,21) An excellent route through three overlaps. ** (Often wet in early season)

Brothers in Arms: Murray Judge, Paul Rogers Mar 1989. (20,23,17) A difficult start to the prominent white leaning corner.***

Cradock's Retreat: Guy Cotter, Nick Cradock Feb 1989. A direct start (20, 20) to the large white leaning corner. (20) - A magnificent pitch! ***

Second Coming: Mark Moorhead, Paul Aubrey Feb 1980. Originally an aid line. (16,A3,A3,A3+,19,19), this route was free climbed in Feb 1990 by Paul Rogers, Dave Vass and Colin Pohl, Giving the most sustained hard free route yet climbed in the Darrans.........

Geoff Wayatt, Pete Gough 1974. Five Pitches of aid, Two of free climbing on the right side of the wall.

Crystal Void: Hugh Widdowson 1989. *

Area Above the Little Brother

The Backside Route: Merv English, Graeme Dingle Feb 1990. A small (south west) face on the very top of the Mate, (13, 15) Good climbing especially the second pitch.

Face right of the top of the Mate.

English Breakfast: Merv English, Graeme Dingle, Mike de Leuw Feb 1990. (20 16) Starts up good cracks leading to a corner, fixed pin, move left to a wall and follow crack on the right of the bolt to belay. Shallow corner and slabs to top.

Black Girls: Merv English, Graeme Dingle, Mike de Leuw Feb 1990. (18, 14) Up the central corner of the crag.

Homer Saddle Routes

The best crag near Homer Hut, at the top of the Homer Saddle approach.

I Like Horses: Dave Vass, Andi the Swiss Dec 1989. (18) Climbs the face of the first block facing the Hut. Start at the metal stake, climb a short crack on the left, move right and climb up to the arete. Continue to a belay on the "horse". Pitch two climbs the crack system and right to finish up the arete. Not a route for short people with weak hearts.

The shady side of this block has a couple of chimney and crack lines and some face routes that are probably unclimbed. All the other routes are on the highest block on the right of the saddle. 50 m north of the saddle along the ridge is a short face with some easier crack and slab routes, good for beginners.

Henry: Dave Vass Dec 1989 (21)

Wide Cracks (16 and 19).

Black Steel in a World of Chaos: Colin Pohl (26) Feb 1991.

The Odyssey: Dave Vass March 1990. A steep wall, (25)

Macpherson 1936m

From Homer Saddle there is an easy route to Macpherson up the ridge, over a rock step known as Talbot's Ladder.

First Ascent: Bill Grave, Arthur Talbot Jan 1910.

The Grave Talbot Pass

The route crosses a snow-field from above Talbot's Ladder to a notch in the rock rib called Lyttle's Dip, then across another snow-field to a notch at about the same height, (the Grave-Talbot Pass). Descend steep snowgrass bluffs traversing left to above the De Lambert Falls. There are three abseils to a large grassy ledge. Bill Grave, Arthur Talbot in Jan 1910 made the first crossing from Wakatipu to Milford. The Grave Talbot Pass is the start of the ridge along to Mt Isolation and of the North West Ridge of Macpherson.

Gulliver Face of Macpherson:

Geoff Gabites, Mark Gabites 1980. Descend from the East ridge to a snow-field on the north side and climb a rib to the summit. Four pitches (15).

Macpherson - South Face: Calum Hudson, Nick Edge 1978. From above Talbots Ladder traverse to a rib over the Cleddau, four pitches.

Macpherson - Homer Face:

Nick Edge, Jill Kelman, John Begg, Calum Hudson 1978. Takes the big pillar out of the Homer Cirque finishing at the cables on Talbot's Ladder. A long grassy route.

Macpherson Cirque:

Bill Gordon, Gerry Hall-Jones Jan 1954. Climb the left hand end of the waterfall wall across from the tunnel, then snow basins to the summit. Avalanche danger early in the season. (A clean rock rib to the right offers pleasant easy scrambling and can overcome a break in the snow basin which can be a major obstacle when it opens up. The same rib is followed in the next route.)

Talbot 2117m

Macpherson Cirque: Ralph Miller, Lloyd Warburton, Dick Wood 1957. Climb the waterfall wall on the left, traverse right and up a rock rib to the snow-fields.

Talbot - South West Face: Ralph Miller, Ken Hamilton, Austin Brookes, Colin Dainty Oct 1965. Start in the cirque directly opposite Homer Saddle and take a direct line to the summit. Climb up the fan and follow steep rock with an ascending traverse to the right, up snowgrass slopes to some brittle rock, then a large rock corner (a classic dierdre to the left of and below the notch) and continue up parallel to the usual exit cracks behind the notch to the summit.

Notch Route: Bill Gordon, Gerry Hall-Jones 1954. From the top of the shingle fan behind Homer Hut the route zigzags out left to reach the ridge at the higher of two prominent notches, then up a crack around the corner to reach the upper South Ridge.

Notch Route Variation: Murray Jones, John Fantini Jan 1970. Up the Notch Route till it tends left, go up a crack in the wall (A1, but can be free climbed by traversing left) climb right for two ropelengths, then up and right to the large cleft to the South East Ridge.

Gertrude Valley

The track starts from the shingle pit just east of Homer Hut, across a wooden bridge and up a washed out road beside the stream. Cross the stream just before the last piece of forest and follow the track through tussock to the open valley. At the head of the valley is the large scoop of the Barrier Face with the stream from Black Lake descending on the left. Follow the track on the south side of the stream, crossing it after 200m to scree slopes and slabs leading to Black Lake. While it is a bit of a walk (one and a half hours), it is hard to imagine a nicer place for crag climbing, with swimming as another option on warm days. The Bog Farmer and Morning After slabs have excellent routes from 15 to 18. Other lines have been done on the slabs and walls between the Lake and Gertrude Saddle but tend to be mossy. Sickle Crag is the pick of the crags with routes from 18 to 22.

Cross the outlet of the lake to get to the Summit Pyramid, East Ridge of Talbot, Couloir Route on Talbot and the Bog Farmer Slabs.

To reach Gertrude Saddle take the steel cables to the terrace above the lake and traverse across and up to the Saddle. First ascent of Gertrude Saddle E H Wilmot, J Cockburn 1889.

Psychpath Wall Summer ascent near the line of the winter route on the lower wall of Mt Talbot, above the Gertrude Valley, Gordon Legge, Simon Parsons 1996. About eight pitches up to grade 22.

Summit Pyramid of Talbot

This is the triangular South Face above the snow-field, visible from Homer Hut.

J H Line: Murray Jones, George Harris Jan 1968.

Pharaoh: Marty Beare, Lindsay Main 1980.

Sphinx: Stu Allan, Bill Denz 1978. The right facing corner halfway up the face, contains a 40m corner. (19) **

Homegrown: Bill Denz, Calum Hudson 1978. (21) *** A bold and scary lead!

J-C Crack: Murray Jones, Andy Campbell. (15) The prominent crackline near the right side of the face. ** Damp at times.

East Ridge Corner. Usually climbed as an ice route in winter.

Talbot 2117m

East Ridge Buttress: Pete Moore. An aid route on the south side of the East Ridge.

East Ridge: Ralph Miller, Bill Blee Mar 1957. A 300m climb on good rock. **

Couloir Route: First ascent of Talbot: George Moir, Ken Roberts Harry Slater, Bob Sinclair 1924, descended Traverse Pass route. The gully on the north side of the East Ridge gives an easy ascent and descent early on the summer, but soon breaks up to expose steep slabby rock above the schrund. The rock on the East Ridge offers an alternative if the snow is broken.

Talbot North Face

Nowhere Man: Charlie Hobbs, Calum Hudson March 1985. Takes the obvious crackline directly right of the red wall into a niche at the top. Scramble up for one pitch and finish up Smithereens. Six pitches (18). *

Smithereens: Calum Hudson, Leigh Duncan, Barry Smith Feb 1985. The North East Pillar direct to the summit. Starts up a crackline to the right of the red wall, passing the large snow-field on its left side then follows cracks and chimneys to the summit. (17) *

Neal's Climb: Calum Hudson, Barry Smith Feb 1985. 500m to the right of the above route, follows a crack and groove up the centre of the sweep of grey slabs to the ridge. (18) * (There are one or two routes to the right of Neal's Climb)

Gully Left of Traverse Pass. This is a loose rock couloir to the ridge beyond the steps above Traverse pass, an early route still often used.

Traverse Pass:

From Gertrude Saddle follow slabs and snow-fields to the pass, an easy route to the summits of Talbot and Macpherson.

Slab Routes in the Gertrude Valley

Black Lake Slabs: Murray Judge, Richard Price 1984. The slab just to the left of the first stream crossing below Black Lake, eight pitches. (17)

Bog Farmer Slabs

Cross the Black Lake outlet to approach these slabs which are 200m above the Lake on the Talbot side.

Biting Sheep: Kathy Cutter, Calum Hudson 1988. (15)

Thibenzole: Merv English, Ian McDougal 1988. (18)

Drum: Merv English, Ian McDougal 1988. (17)

Panacure: Merv English, Ian McDougal 1988. (16)

Vegetarian Dogs: Merv English, Ian McDougal 1988. (17, 17)

Richard Thompson, Jenny Gallagher Jan 1991. Traverse around the small lake below Bog Farmer slabs for 20m, climb the slabs tending right to small roof (17) one fixed point at belay, second pitch (14), no runners, follows the arete, one bolt.

Sickle Crack Crag

150m above and left of the Bog Farmer slabs, with a sickle shaped crack in the centre. Cross the Black Lake outlet and continue up towards the East Ridge of Talbot.

The Pro-man: Dave Vass, Bruce Dowrick Jan 1990. (18)

The Hyper Set-up: Colin Pohl, Dave Vass Feb 1990. (14, 22, 20)

Sickle Crack: Richard Thompson, Jenny Gallagher Jan 1991. (17)

Searching for Klingons: Dave Vass, Mike Dunn Dec 1989. (19, 20)

Lost in Space: John Owen, Hugh Widdowson 1989. (18)

Morning After Slab

From the top of the cables leading up from Black Lake, this triangular slab is visible 150m higher and towards Gertrude Saddle.

The Purging of Liberal Assimilationist Optimism: Dave Vass Jan 1990.

Doing Your Bit for the Commonwealth Games: Dave Vass, Bruce Dowrick, Ros Goulding Jan 1990. (16 18).

Buying Kiwi Made: Dave Vass, Bruce Dowrick, Ros Goulding, Debbie from Canada, Simon Harris Jan 1990. (16 17)

From Gertrude Saddle to Lake Adelaide (Barrier Knob Traverse route)

Climb the ridge above the saddle for 200m to a large ledge on the left, follow the ledge left to a short rock step onto a scree slope. Step down and across some wet slabs (take care if icy or snow covered) and up a short gut to the skyline ridge. The track across the traverse descends slightly to the ridge above Adelaide Saddle, through a rocky col on the ridge.

The start of the traverse can be tricky in winter and early summer and the old route over the top of Barrier Knob may be safer.

Gifford's Crack descent into Lake Adelaide Basin

Descend the ridge to the lowest point of Adelaide Saddle and follow a faint track down a tussock ramp slanting right to a gully. At the base of the gully move across and over a small shoulder into the corner, descending this down a rocky gut to the scree above Lake South America.

An alternative to Gifford's Crack is to continue up the ridge past the saddle and over the Sentinel Shoulder, down slabs towards the lower end of Lake Adelaide to join the ledges around the lake.

Barrier Knob to summits of Barrier, Marian and Sabre

The Barrier Knob summit ridge leads east to the col with Barrier, which gives an easy descent to the North faces of these peaks. The blocky ridge continues over Barrier and Marian, very exposed but easy travel, with a short abseil to reach the Marian Sabre Col.

First Ascent of Barrier: George Moir, Bob Sinclair, Ken Roberts, Harry Slater 1924. First Ascent of Marian: A D Jackson (solo) 1934.

Barrier Bluffs (below Barrier Knob at the head of the Gertrude Valley)

The Joker: Nick Edge, Calum Hudson 1978. The well defined rib, nine pitches to the snow-field, easier run-out pitches lower down lead to an excellent top pitch. (20) **

Barrier 2051m

Barrier Face - Pillar Left of Central Gully: Merv English, Ian Brooks 1975. A meandering route with some pleasant climbing.

Barrier Face: Gerry Hall-Jones, Dal Ryan, Duncan Wilson Feb 1956. The broad gully in the centre of the face gives an easy route but is threatened by avalanche and rockfall.

Barrier Crosscut Col

There are two routes to the Col, up the Barrier Face gully or following the north side of the waterfall which descends from Crosscut below and to the right of the Col. The waterfall route is much safer and gives a moderately difficult packing route. First Ascent of the Col and the South Ridge of Barrier and first traverse of Barrier: Kurt Suter, C Ramsey, Jean McAuley, Dot Green, 1937.

The Barrier Crosscut Col leads to the South Ridge of Barrier and by traversing, to the terraces under the South Face of Barrier, (a difficult and little used route). The Upper Marian Valley is reached by traversing onto the Crosscut snow-fields and descending either of the two quartz bands diagonally down and right into the valley. The col offers easy routes across the snow-fields to the peaks of Crosscut.

Crosscut West Face

Orchasm: Dave Vass, Jenny Gallagher. Climb from the floor of the Gertrude Valley to the Crosscut snow-field following the right side of the waterfall cleft in the centre of the face, six pitches of good rock (16).

Crosscut Bluffs approach to Mt Crosscut

Just across from Homer Hut climb the tussock slopes to the left hand gully, moving up right to the second gully and the snow-fields above, the descent can be difficult in snow or at night.

Crosscut 2316m

West Peak: First Ascent: George Moir, Ken Roberts, Bob Sinclair, Jan 1923.

Middle Peak: First Ascent: Bart Challis, Lindsay Stewart Jan 1934.

West Peaks (2): A Jackson, J Holloway Dec 1934.

Second to East Peak: Jim McFarlane, LLoyd Warburton, Bill Gordon, Duncan Wilson Dec 1953.

East Peak: Gordon Speden, Hallum Smith, E Rich, T N Beckett Dec1936.

First traverse of all four peaks: Austin Brookes, Archie Simpson 1964.