Single Cone

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Single cone is one of New Zealand’s rare ultra-prominent peaks (there are only 10). Among them, it’s one of the most accessible and also one of the most aesthetic. It sits just above the scenic Remarkables ski area, with the South-East Ridge being probably the easiest and most climbed route. The route is mostly a hike that culminates in a class 3/4 scramble through a gulley to the top. The rock quality is good.

I had the opportunity to do this climb with Kathleen Griffin and our friends Sebastian Gitt and Michelle Podrebersek. Sebastian and Michelle were visiting New Zealand to see us on a peakbagging trip through the South Island. Single Cone was an obvious choice for us, as they also wanted to visit the Queenstown area.

On the day of our climb (Mar. 21st, 2026), we got up fairly early and drove up to the Remarks resort parking lot. Our car was packed to the brim, so we had some gear faff as soon as we arrived. We also weren’t sure if there was going to be lingering snow in the gulley from unseasonal snowfall the previous week, so we packed ice axes and crampons. Eventually, after sorting our gear out, we started up the resort.

We quickly got a view of Single Cone, and saw that our snow gear was completely unnecessary. Rather than lug up extra gear, we found a set of boulders and stashed the extra kit. With our bags lighter by a fair bit, we made fast time up to lake Alta. This is a very pretty alpine lake and also where they filmed the exit from the Mines of Moria in LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring.

Past the lake, some route-finding is needed to work up the boulder / scree field and make the ridge. Overall, the rock isn’t too bad and there are lots of trails working their way up. Once we were on the ridge, we were rewarded with another view of Lake Alta while we had a snack break.

Lake Alta from the Ridge. PC: Anton Afanassiev

After our snack break, it was only about 20 more minutes to reach the gulley. We worked our way up on the right to try and enter, not noticing the easier route on the left ledges. Eventually, I reached an exposed step. We had brought a rope though, so I soloed it and planned to set up a belay at the anchor station. But once I had crossed into the gulley, I noticed that we had actually taken the hardest route to get into the gulley. I advised the others to just downclimb and climb directly up the gulley and I would set up a belay for them.

They downclimbed without much trouble while I set up. Unfortunately, it was quite cold in the gulley and I was losing feeling in my fingers. Just as I was about to clip the ATC, I dropped it… Thankfully, it landed near Sebastian, and he was able to send it back up with the rope. Embarrassing, but no harm done.

I belayed Sebastian and Michelle up, while Kat decided to solo. The rest of the gulley was fairly easy by comparison and we made it to the top in short order (see pic below).

Coming up the gulley PC: Kathleen Griffin

At the top, there was a minor exposed step which wasn’t difficult. Then, you come out on some ledges and can walk up to the summit. At the summit we paused to have lunch and take some pictures. We watched another party coming down Double Cone on the Remarkables Grand Traverse. Looked quite intense!

The group on the top! PC: Anton Afanassiev

Kathleen and I on the summit with a view of Double Cone. PC: Michelle Podrebersek

Eventually, we decided to work our way down. Since we had a rope, we chose to rappel the lower section of the gulley. No dropped ATCs this time, although it was a bit faffy. I was once again fairly cold by the time I made it down. Thankfully, the sun was still out and it was a warm day, so that undid itself quickly.

It was a fairly uneventful trip back down to the car where we had to do even more packing faff to fit all our gear back in the boot of the tiny sedan. Later on our trip, we would go on to hike Ben Lomond before working our way up the West Coast.

Mount Harvey North Ramp

Sun, 19 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This is a cross-post from the of the report on the UBC VOC website.

North ramp has been on my radar for a while, and this season I wanted to finally climb it. Luckily, in a car ride back from some other VOC trip, Thomas Morrissey also mentioned that he wanted to do it. It was only natural to join forces. It was still early December, so we needed to wait for the route to come in.

Naturally, we couldn’t wait very long, and on December 16th, we thought we had a shot at it. There had been some snow in the past few weeks, and the avy forecast was looking decent. Admittedly, it was very early season and nobody in the Facebook groups had reported being up there. But, we decided to have a go anyways and see how high we could safely get. When we got to the trailhead that day, there was a little bit of wet snow coming down. Enough to want to put on your shell, but not enough to actually do it. Not being too bothered by the snow, we made short work of the approach and geared up. The snowpack was a bit thin, but the important bits seemed to be covered.

Looking up the ramp in December. Coverage is borderline. PC: Thomas Morrissey

The lower part of the ramp was uneventful besides a short ice step. But the ice was good, and we got over it without too much trouble other than some cold fingers. The early season conditions really started showing when we got to a third of the way up though. We came to a fork with a rock band on the right, and a tighter, but filled in gulley on the left. Neither of us had actually climbed the ramp before, and the GPS track looked like it veered a touch left, so that’s where we went. Thomas broke trail at lightning pace and within 30 min he had reached a flat part near the top of the gulley. His observations were rather grim: cliffs on all sides. No other option but to downclimb. Once we reached the fork, we surmised that we should have gone right, over the rock band – a grim task in itself. After poking around for a few minutes, we couldn’t find an easy way up. Not being eager to practice our mixed climbing, the decision was to retreat for now.

Climbing up the wrong gulley… PC: Thomas Morrissey

By late January, the season was not so early. We saw a weekend where freezing levels were forecast to drop and avalanche conditions were green across the board. We decided to give it a shot that Sunday. This time the ramp looked much better.

Looking up the ramp in late January. Coverage is noticeably better. PC: Anton Afanassiev

Everything was filled in, and someone had already set a track the previous day. We geared up and started climbing. Conditions were perfect. There was no ice step anymore, and the rock band was well covered. We made fast progress with another party hot on our tail.

The ramp was in great condition. PC: Thomas Morrissey

We were in no rush though, so we took lunch on a flat step before the infamous traverse. We had brought a rope and were ready to protect the traverse. But, it didn’t look that bad when we got to it, so we decided to solo.

The traverse was also in great shape. PC: Thomas Morrissey

After that, there was only a short, partially treed section remaining. If anything, this was the crux for me because my picket got caught on a branch and I had to work to untangle it. The branch was quickly defeated and soon we were at the top, where we were treated to panoramic views of the north shore mountains.

Thomas at the summit. A real bluebird day. PC: Anton Afanassiev

We basked in the sun and had some snacks before working our way down the trail. The way down was mostly uneventful, but extremely icy near the snow line. This prompted me to put my crampons back on, only to take them off five minutes later. After that, we got back to the car without too much trouble. The conditions on our climb had been absolutely perfect. The day was an extremely satisfying conclusion to our North Ramp saga.

Mountaineering |

Single Cone

Mount Harvey North Ramp