Trip Report

Awesome turn-out this past week to the CMC Empress trip organised by Ben Mangan. 5 days of fine weather saw Empress almost full with 8 people in the hut at one time. Thanks to good snow coverage on the Hooker, access was relatively quick via true-right of the icefall, 9 hours from Wyn Irwin to Empress. Both ice & rock routes were in simultaneous good condition, with the following ascents during the week:- Hicks, South Face, Neo-Curver (James Hobson, Lionel Clay)- Hicks, South Face, Dingle-Button + Curtain (Tom Stone, Byron Harvey)- Aoraki/Mt Cook, West Ridge (Ben Mangan, Roi Gapuzan, Tom Stone)- Hicks, South Face, Dingle-Button (Tom Stone, Ivan Andrews)- Aoraki/Mt Cook, Sheila Face, Central Buttress (Andrew Longman, Alastair McDowell) – Tasman, Syme-Silberhorn (Andrew Longman, Alastair McDowell)

Trip Details

It would be fantastic to get a group up to the impressive Empress Hut, and make it the base for a weekend of climbing and mountaineering. The general idea will be head down Friday evening, stay in Wyn Irwin and then head off up the Hooker Saturday through to Monday. We can arrange car sharing between us from CH.CH. There is no specific climbing objective for this trip – that can be up for you and your partner(s) to discuss!

We have lots of beta to share on route access up to Empress Hut – flick [email protected] an email for more details from Ben Mangan or read the trip reports below. Feel free to reach out if you are looking for a climbing partner or any more information . Check these links for previous winter trip reports – 2016 and 2020

If your interested fill in the form below. Make sure you have read the trips policy page.

To see whos attending – click here