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2272 Hits
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73.06% Score
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3 Votes
Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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42.97°S / 171.55299°E |
Route Type:
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Mountaineering, Scrambling |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
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Time Required:
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Half a day |
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Difficulty:
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Scramble |
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Rock Difficulty:
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Class 3 |
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Overview
Fun Class 3 scramble in a beautiful area. From whichever direction you climb to the start of the route it is a steep hike. Probably the most fun would be to do this as the finish on a loop starting from Avalanche Peak. But it can be done directly from the Bealey Track if you wanted to do it in a fraction of the time for a quick steep half day hike. The views up top are outstanding when clear, a sea of peaks surrounds you. Keas fly overhead and may try to untie your shoelaces if you sit for too long. Falcons fly in this area too, watch for them to dive bomb you if they are nesting.The route traverses the ridgeline in the photo below from left to right (north to south):
Getting There
To get to either trailhead, see the Getting There section of the main page. Whichever way you hike up, you will need to get to Point 1760 which is on the convergence of two ridges, one coming from the west on Mt. Bealey, the other coming from the south on Little Bealey. From this point, Point 1760, the Bealey Track descends to the Bealey Track Trailhead in a northeast direction.So, if coming from the Avalanche Peak way, you'd traverse south from Avalanche Peak to Lyell Peak to Mt. Bealey to Point 1760. If you are coming from the Bealey Track Trailhead, you would just ascend the Bealey Track until the Trail ends above treeline and then follow cairns up the obvious ridge.
Route Description
From Point 1760, head mostly south along the obvious ridge as pictured below.
Looking south to Little Bealey from Point 1760
You will scramble up the obvious ridge staying mostly on the right side of the ridge. If you encounter anything more than exposed Class 3, you should look again as the route shouldn't be harder than that. You may at times want to cross to the left side of the ridge but mostly look to stay right on the ridgeline or slightly right. Watch for loose rocks.
Once you attain the summit ridge, look south and slightly west (to the right) for a large cairn in the distance. Here is what the view looks like:
Other beta photos are below:
Looking down the north ridge from about halfway up.
Looking north from near the top of the ridge where it flattens out (behind me in this photo) over to the summit.
Looking up from the Bealey Track to Point 1760 (top of where the green vegetation is). Little Bealey is far left while Mt. Bealey is far right (looks lower in elevation but is really higher due to perspective).
Looking down from Mt. Bealey at Point 1760 upper right. Bealey Track can be seen descending to the left. Little Bealey would be off to the right here.