We hiked in from Raspberry car lot and camped first night close to Scott's bivouac. If you plan to come back the same route it is wise to stash the tent. Walking out in one day is possible but then better bike first 9km. We found Strava heat map invaluable to find path as it is not well marked. When entering Waterfall wall stay close to water and that is also where you find bellay loops for the way back. Watch out for the "zag" to turn to the col. Getting up to Todd Collins hut also most parties were climbing steep snow way down glacier from the direct path.
Summit day we did snow slope left from cabin to gain ridge as "ramp" was in bad shape this season. There was no need for snow gear once on the NW ridge. Took us 14 hrs on summit day going slow and rappelling down. Approach and climb would have been way more difficult if conditions and visibility was not perfect
Matt Lemke - Dec 2, 2019 9:43 pm Date Climbed: Nov 30, 2019
SW ridge
Crux gully was in decent condition; not good enough for any screws though! Amazing route and position.
setrent - Dec 9, 2017 11:35 pm Date Climbed: Dec 1, 2017
SW Ride to West Face
Good weather, bony conditions. Had to pitch out rock step on the ridge. Exit gully no ice, all wet rock. Traversed the West Face to exit. Descended the ramp back to the Bonar. 13 hours RT from French Ridge hut.
tommyg - Feb 21, 2017 8:41 pm Date Climbed: Feb 18, 2017
NW Ridge
Walked in and out via Bevan Col. Went up NW Ridge from Colin Todd Hut, skirting around the buttress on exposed ledges on the Therma side. An enjoyable mix of rock and snow!
klaussbergen - Apr 29, 2009 7:37 am Date Climbed: Apr 14, 2009
Celebrate Coxcomb Ridge success!
My and my friend Hans, we climb the Coxcomb Ridge from Pope's Nose. It was very good but we got hungry when we are eating all our chips. Still, we got to top at 1pm (left 7am from snowcave on Pope's Nose) and have a good celebratory sex, very fun. Then we go down, this was not as good because my jeans were wet and I got the cold.
But very fun, New Zealand have some of the good climbing.
Nefsek - Nov 21, 2008 12:25 am Date Climbed: Nov 14, 2008
Great conditions
Climbed with Adv. Consultants. Up the NW Ridge via the Ramp. Summitted on second attempt after strong winds turned us around the first time. Ramp was in excellent shape.
radson - Aug 20, 2008 5:19 am Date Climbed: Feb 14, 2007
NW Ridge - Valentines Day
NW Ridge with Aspiring Guides. About 5 hours up and same down in very good weather.
ericandlucie - May 24, 2008 6:12 pm Date Climbed: Dec 19, 2007
Southwest Ridge
Fantastic route in great conditions when we did it: some rock, some water ice, some mixed, and a lot of styrofoam snow. Amazing! See our TR and pics here.
caputaka - May 21, 2008 3:55 pm Date Climbed: Jan 10, 2008
NW Ridge, via kangaroo patch
An excellent climb, including the stunning approach through Bevan Col. Started off with gale force winds in the morning, died down to perfect calm by the time we got to the summit. Definitely one of my favorite trips in New Zealand.
Late season climb, only route that was in. 90% rock route but finally some snow and ice right before the summit. Some difficulty route finding but otherwise nice climb as clouds opened up for about an hour as we were approaching the summit. 11hr round trip from Colin Todd hut. Fly in, walk out.
mzuri2 - Jan 6, 2007 11:06 pm Date Climbed: Feb 16, 2006
Route Climbed: NW Ridge; March '06
Climbed with Tibor, a guide from Adventure Consultants. Up French Ridge & down the Bonar glacier to Colin Todd. Then followed the top of the NW ridge from above the hut to the summit. The ramp was out of condition with 50m+ exposed rock at the bottom. Rapelled off the ridge & walked back down the Bonar glacier to the hut. Return to Rasberry Flat via Bevan Col. A week of excellent weather!
Route Climbed: SW Ridge Date Climbed: Jan. 20, 2006
Summit with T. Haines. Bivy right below ridge. Good amount of ice in the couloir, but crappy rime ice. Decended NW ridge. Avoided the Ramp and continued down buttress. Rock on Buttress sucks, the Ramp can't be as bad as that thing. See the TR HERE.
Route Climbed: NW Ridge via Shipowner Date Climbed: Dec. 10, 2005
Walked in via French Ridge....this time only one weather day there (last year 5) over Q-deck.
Superb day. 10.5 roundtrip hours from C-Todd via NW ridge all the way. Second to the last party to leave and second to summit that day after Brandon and Andruw. Convective lifting added to scenery and resulted in light snow showers in the early afternoon. With Pete J from Aspiring guides and Sir Henry from Wanaka.
Returned to Wanaka via Bevan Col and down Matukituki....left C-Todd at 5:30 arrived Raspberry flat around 3:30.
Climbed SW ridge with Al & Paddy after bivvying on the Bonar Glacier beneath Mt French. Soft conditions made for a long day out. Weather was absolutely magic. Spent the night in Colin Todd Hut on the way back down NW Ridge. Be very careful on the Ramp, it's pretty ugly after a sunny day.
we walked in to french ridge same old next day went over to nw ridge in good conditions and started up nw ridge we turened around at about 2800m just below top of ramp we desended down nw and back up boner glacier back to french ridge good trip 15 hours but no summit good job paul
Me and a friend walked in to french ridge with intention on climbing west face we wer stuckat french ridge for 2 days before being able to climb i soloed up to q deak to hav a look the conditions wer soft snow with clearing weather so with the short weather window we left french ridge at 9 pm on day 3 and climbed up to q deak on the way up i fell in a big cravase but managed to get out we went over to base of sw ridge by moon light conditions werevery scechy snoft snow briges with very fant light we turened around at base f face 2700m and desended to boner then back down to french ridge good but scary trip
Route Climbed: N.w ridge Date Climbed: 8 of feb 2000
I aranged to met my climbing parter at scott biv and then went up to beven col in cloudy weather and over to colin todd hut the next day we wet up the full nw ridge doing one 10 m pitch grade 10 n the way to the summit ridge then up ridge to summit.then back to colin todd the next day we woke up to a huge storm we toke a bering to beven col in bad weather then down to scott bivy and out great first 3000er
Route Climbed: S.W ridge Date Climbed: march 15 2002
I soloed in to french ridge and met ben the hut warden .we decided to climb the sw ridge. so at midnight we climbed up to Q deak in great clear weather and went over to the base of sw ridge we soloed up to the gully were we done 2 piches 65 0 great conditions a bit icey just right after that a little more soloing to the summit.We desended down the nw ridge back to french ridge it took 19 1/5 hours
We got a good attempt to summit Mt.Aspiring 19.1.2005, but there weather conditions were too risky. The ramp was blocked. The crevasses there were too wide to across, so we took the ridge earlier than normally. But end of the technical rock climbing part on the ridge the wind was too hard (80-100 km/h in peaks). We turned back for safety reason. Better luck next time..
itonix@hotmail.com - Feb 26, 2023 6:36 pm Date Climbed: Feb 15, 2023
NW ridge w/ approach via colWe hiked in from Raspberry car lot and camped first night close to Scott's bivouac. If you plan to come back the same route it is wise to stash the tent. Walking out in one day is possible but then better bike first 9km. We found Strava heat map invaluable to find path as it is not well marked. When entering Waterfall wall stay close to water and that is also where you find bellay loops for the way back. Watch out for the "zag" to turn to the col. Getting up to Todd Collins hut also most parties were climbing steep snow way down glacier from the direct path.
Summit day we did snow slope left from cabin to gain ridge as "ramp" was in bad shape this season. There was no need for snow gear once on the NW ridge. Took us 14 hrs on summit day going slow and rappelling down. Approach and climb would have been way more difficult if conditions and visibility was not perfect
Matt Lemke - Dec 2, 2019 9:43 pm Date Climbed: Nov 30, 2019
SW ridgeCrux gully was in decent condition; not good enough for any screws though! Amazing route and position.
setrent - Dec 9, 2017 11:35 pm Date Climbed: Dec 1, 2017
SW Ride to West FaceGood weather, bony conditions. Had to pitch out rock step on the ridge. Exit gully no ice, all wet rock. Traversed the West Face to exit. Descended the ramp back to the Bonar. 13 hours RT from French Ridge hut.
tommyg - Feb 21, 2017 8:41 pm Date Climbed: Feb 18, 2017
NW RidgeWalked in and out via Bevan Col. Went up NW Ridge from Colin Todd Hut, skirting around the buttress on exposed ledges on the Therma side. An enjoyable mix of rock and snow!
tdoughty - Aug 13, 2010 4:50 pm
Wow!incredible experience.
klaussbergen - Apr 29, 2009 7:37 am Date Climbed: Apr 14, 2009
Celebrate Coxcomb Ridge success!My and my friend Hans, we climb the Coxcomb Ridge from Pope's Nose. It was very good but we got hungry when we are eating all our chips. Still, we got to top at 1pm (left 7am from snowcave on Pope's Nose) and have a good celebratory sex, very fun. Then we go down, this was not as good because my jeans were wet and I got the cold.
But very fun, New Zealand have some of the good climbing.
Nefsek - Nov 21, 2008 12:25 am Date Climbed: Nov 14, 2008
Great conditionsClimbed with Adv. Consultants. Up the NW Ridge via the Ramp. Summitted on second attempt after strong winds turned us around the first time. Ramp was in excellent shape.
radson - Aug 20, 2008 5:19 am Date Climbed: Feb 14, 2007
NW Ridge - Valentines DayNW Ridge with Aspiring Guides. About 5 hours up and same down in very good weather.
ericandlucie - May 24, 2008 6:12 pm Date Climbed: Dec 19, 2007
Southwest RidgeFantastic route in great conditions when we did it: some rock, some water ice, some mixed, and a lot of styrofoam snow. Amazing! See our TR and pics here.
caputaka - May 21, 2008 3:55 pm Date Climbed: Jan 10, 2008
NW Ridge, via kangaroo patchAn excellent climb, including the stunning approach through Bevan Col. Started off with gale force winds in the morning, died down to perfect calm by the time we got to the summit. Definitely one of my favorite trips in New Zealand.
sdespins - Feb 24, 2008 8:20 am
NW RidgeLate season climb, only route that was in. 90% rock route but finally some snow and ice right before the summit. Some difficulty route finding but otherwise nice climb as clouds opened up for about an hour as we were approaching the summit. 11hr round trip from Colin Todd hut. Fly in, walk out.
mzuri2 - Jan 6, 2007 11:06 pm Date Climbed: Feb 16, 2006
Route Climbed: NW Ridge; March '06Climbed with Tibor, a guide from Adventure Consultants. Up French Ridge & down the Bonar glacier to Colin Todd. Then followed the top of the NW ridge from above the hut to the summit. The ramp was out of condition with 50m+ exposed rock at the bottom. Rapelled off the ridge & walked back down the Bonar glacier to the hut. Return to Rasberry Flat via Bevan Col. A week of excellent weather!
mtnman455 - Feb 7, 2006 2:48 am
Route Climbed: SW Ridge Date Climbed: Jan. 20, 2006Summit with T. Haines. Bivy right below ridge. Good amount of ice in the couloir, but crappy rime ice. Decended NW ridge. Avoided the Ramp and continued down buttress. Rock on Buttress sucks, the Ramp can't be as bad as that thing. See the TR HERE.
ktnbs - Dec 31, 2005 1:59 pm
Route Climbed: NW Ridge via Shipowner Date Climbed: Dec. 10, 2005Walked in via French Ridge....this time only one weather day there (last year 5) over Q-deck.
Superb day. 10.5 roundtrip hours from C-Todd via NW ridge all the way. Second to the last party to leave and second to summit that day after Brandon and Andruw. Convective lifting added to scenery and resulted in light snow showers in the early afternoon. With Pete J from Aspiring guides and Sir Henry from Wanaka.
Returned to Wanaka via Bevan Col and down Matukituki....left C-Todd at 5:30 arrived Raspberry flat around 3:30.
cptndet - Oct 6, 2005 10:58 pm
Route Climbed: SW Ridge Date Climbed: Dec 2003Climbed SW ridge with Al & Paddy after bivvying on the Bonar Glacier beneath Mt French. Soft conditions made for a long day out. Weather was absolutely magic. Spent the night in Colin Todd Hut on the way back down NW Ridge. Be very careful on the Ramp, it's pretty ugly after a sunny day.
aspiring - Apr 25, 2005 9:30 pm
Route Climbed: nw ridge Date Climbed: march 2004we walked in to french ridge same old next day went over to nw ridge in good conditions and started up nw ridge we turened around at about 2800m just below top of ramp we desended down nw and back up boner glacier back to french ridge good trip 15 hours but no summit good job paul
aspiring - Apr 25, 2005 9:19 pm
Date Climbed: november 2004Me and a friend walked in to french ridge with intention on climbing west face we wer stuckat french ridge for 2 days before being able to climb i soloed up to q deak to hav a look the conditions wer soft snow with clearing weather so with the short weather window we left french ridge at 9 pm on day 3 and climbed up to q deak on the way up i fell in a big cravase but managed to get out we went over to base of sw ridge by moon light conditions werevery scechy snoft snow briges with very fant light we turened around at base f face 2700m and desended to boner then back down to french ridge good but scary trip
aspiring - Apr 25, 2005 7:30 am
Route Climbed: N.w ridge Date Climbed: 8 of feb 2000I aranged to met my climbing parter at scott biv and then went up to beven col in cloudy weather and over to colin todd hut the next day we wet up the full nw ridge doing one 10 m pitch grade 10 n the way to the summit ridge then up ridge to summit.then back to colin todd the next day we woke up to a huge storm we toke a bering to beven col in bad weather then down to scott bivy and out great first 3000er
aspiring - Apr 25, 2005 7:19 am
Route Climbed: S.W ridge Date Climbed: march 15 2002I soloed in to french ridge and met ben the hut warden .we decided to climb the sw ridge. so at midnight we climbed up to Q deak in great clear weather and went over to the base of sw ridge we soloed up to the gully were we done 2 piches 65 0 great conditions a bit icey just right after that a little more soloing to the summit.We desended down the nw ridge back to french ridge it took 19 1/5 hours
jiiteepee - Jan 30, 2005 8:28 am
Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: 19 Jan 2005We got a good attempt to summit Mt.Aspiring 19.1.2005, but there weather conditions were too risky. The ramp was blocked. The crevasses there were too wide to across, so we took the ridge earlier than normally. But end of the technical rock climbing part on the ridge the wind was too hard (80-100 km/h in peaks). We turned back for safety reason. Better luck next time..