Climax!

Paul Grimwood, Alison Stevenson, David Jewell and Sharron Came made a successful ascent of Climax on the Olivine Ice Plateau on 28th December 2007. The route taken was in via the Beans Burn, over Fohn Saddle to the Olivine Ledge, down to the Olivine-Forgotton confluence, and then up the Forgotton River. Up and down from the plateau via Forgotton Col. Out over 4 Brothers Pass to the Diorite, down to the Pyke, through the Black Swamp, and a 6 km wade along the shore of Lake Alabaster. And then after 11 days of no real track, a crowded motorway of the Hollyford track and the Routeburn (via Deadmans Track) back to Glenorchy. Total trip time 13 days with 1 bad weather day on the plateau, and 1 very short 2 hour day due to a very full Forgotton River.

Visceral and sensorial, a trip to the Olivine Ice Plateau cannot be truly described in words alone although a fair stab might be beef curry, beef curry, chicken curry, chicken curry, beef curry, beef curry, chicken curry, chicken curry, beef curry, beef curry, chicken curry, chicken curry (insert protein bar, 6 meal mates after every comma). But really the steady and continuous assault of body and mind over thirteen days has to be lived and experienced. Suffice to say we got a little beaten up by bush, buried by a blizzard, threatened by thunder crashing around the tent, and were wet, cold, hot, parched, tired and elated in some sort of repetitive 2 to 3 day cycle. Summitting climax the name seems fitting - after 7 days of walking and waiting peaks seem all that much sweeter. At no one point was the trip difficult or technical, but all added up to be quite a package. When we finished the trip we ate and ate and ate and swore never to touch another protein bar. Overall a great trip – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, two thumbs up….