Arthur’s Pass

Climb
18 Sep 2026

Arthur’s Pass National Park was established in 1929, and has been a centre for weekend mountaineering trips from Christchurch and Greymouth since 1891.

A group of 24 of us from the Wellington Section of the New Zealand Alpine Club flew down to Christchurch then jumped on a bus over to Arthur’s Pass. Walking up to Temple Basin lodge, sending our bags up the goods lift, we had four days to climb as much as possible. The weather forecast was typical NZ, could be anything. What we did know though, is that our first day would be the best of the four.

I’d imagined starting off with an easy objective and increasing gently, but with a clear sunny day we decided to go for it. I was in a group with Josh and Aiden, so we were a Kiwi, and Aussie and a Brit. I then took on easier routes as the trip progressed.

Phipps Peak 1965m
South Face. 4.3 km | 743 m+ | 9 hours

Grade 2

Away early and only one team ahead of us. In a group with a Kiwi and an Aussie. 

Josh who’d I’d just climbed with and also Aidan a vet from Sydney but living in Wellington. 

Picked our way through tussock and hit snow an hour in. Crampons on and up and over to a gully. Looked short and steep. 

Bloody hell it was steep and I got arm pump! Serious ice climbing, thankfully only for about 3-4 metres though. The a short mellow pitch and a walk to a clearing for lunch. One last steep pitch then another walk to the summit. 

Followed a ridgeline and down climbed the gully next to us. 

Steep and consequential enough to have me asking myself the question of which side to fall, which ice axe to ditch for self arrest and directions I definitely don’t want to slip in to. 

The most demanding and challenging climbing day I’ve had. 

A perfect level of enjoyment and pushing comfort zone to improve skills.

Felt like a combination of my learnt skills on rock climbing, backcountry skiing and mountaineering. 

Mount Temple 1913m
West Gully. 4.3 km | 692 m+ | 7 hours

Day two was a pause as rain fell hard and all day. Short day of dragging. Nice to recover properly from Phipps though and have time to line up a second objective.

Grade 1+

Lots of front pointing/cramponing 

In a bigger 8 person group so that was an experience making decisions and keeping everyone happy. Navigating was harder and figuring out where to go. 

Overshot the gully intially and then backtracked. Headed up some fairly solid ice, sustained until the summit. Paused for lunch, came back down then headed over to the backside. Traversed along to Temple Col then back down to the lodge. 

Blimit 1921m
Direct. 3.7 km | 667 m+ | 3 hours

Grade 1

ot a great forecast so went dry tooling. Hot lunch at the lodge then decided for a quick trip up Blimit. 

It was a slushy affair but no major signs of a slide so pushed on. 

Just a two person team with Curdain so we made good progress up and down, with a round trip in under 3 hours. 

It felt satisfying to round off the trio by hitting the three high points of the area - Phipps, Temple and Blimit. 

Group photos

Looking out of the lodge windows across the valley and whenever out climbing and looking back on yourself, the mighty Rolleston stands proud on the opposite side of the valley. It’s a local classic and looks fun, I hope to come back next year and head up that side of the Pass.

Tracks

Further info

Useful links: arthurspass.com, climbnz.org.nz, alpineclub.org.nz,

Short films: Enchainment.

Related reading:
- Arthur’s Pass, Graeme Kates, NZAC Guidebooks
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, Mark Sedon
- A Fine Line: Searching for Balance Among Mountains, Graham Zimmerman

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