It’s 5:30am, the street is dark and train rumbles through Arthur’s Pass village as I turn off towards the Mount Aicken track. Half hour later I emerge from the bushline in a cold sweat, the atmosphere is so clear & crisp. Across the valley, Mount Rolleston catches red glow from the coming dawn. Soon I’m on Mount Aicken, the first of today’s 9 summits. This is the Arthur’s Pass Round.
It had been a 3 year project of mine to complete this skyline traverse of Arthur’s Pass in summer, ticking off all the peaks either side of the road. Over the years I have loved the super accessible mountain running on offer here. There is so much scope for single peak VK efforts (Avalanche, Bealey, Aicken), to multi-peak traverses (Cassidy-Blimit, Phipps-Temple) or all day epics, such as today’s mega 40km 4600m+ round.
From Aicken I head north towards Blimit. There are some legitimate sections of rock scrambling along here especially nearing Blimit, it’s not for the faint hearted I will be honest. Today is definitely blurring the lines between running and mountaineering though no climbing gear is needed, it’s exposed and climbing skill is required. The reward is the beauty of traversing this delicate ridgeline, continuing onwards over Mt Temple and Mt Phipps.
I take a direct line down Phipps west ridge to avoid the dusty Temple Basin ski field, this ends with some steep bush bashing which pops out at Otira carpark. Kate M meets me with snacks & recovery drink to fuel up for the second half, the bigger half.
Up Philistine and into the traverse towards Rolleston. This is where the most spectacular scrambling is found, up a proud buttress to the high peak, on perfect greywacke. Even some good hand jams!
The Crow glacier below is dry and crevassed but fortunately you can avoid it by sidling Middle Peak staying on rock the whole way to Low Peak. Unfortunately, the only way to carry on to Avalanche Peak is down the ultra-chossy Rome Ridge. While a splendid winter climb in the snow, in summer it is an absolute quarry, big caution here. I teeter my way down, trying to avoid sending dustclouds of loose rock into the Otira valley.
I make it to the Rome Ridge Gap with relief and soon I’m drinking from a stream flowing off the back of Avalanche peak, weary from a long hot day on the tops. All I have left to keep me going over Lyell peak is one more caffeine gel, it works its magic. In the distance I spot a figure: it’s Kate M patiently waiting on Bealey. I reach her semi-delirious for the final descent back into the village.
The Arthur’s Pass Round is an excellent alpine running challenge for anyone who enjoys a bit of exposure mixed in with their running, and some of the best mountain running in the South Island at that.
If you’re new to AP, start small and slowly build up adding new peaks to your traverses, before long you will be putting together some incredible mountain running outings.
