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I’ve decided I want to go back and attempt Federation Peak in Tassie again very soon since gaining more experience in NZ. I’ve become quite comfortable with higher grade scrambling over the past couple of years and it was really fun to compare this with the recent mountaineering too.

I found this route pretty much as soon as I got home from NZ last week and it was a lot more straightforward (and warm 🫠) without having to tackle snow on top of the climbing!

Now to finally finish recording the new TSL album! by @jack_bolingbroke

This was by far one of the biggest solo climbs I’ve personally done unroped. It happened to be an amazing mixed face that I found off the side of a random ridge near Mt Crichton near Glenorchy in New Zealand.

There were some REALLY interesting sections that required an ice axe with some dry tooling movements along with very fun scrambling and rock climbing.

I recorded this whole climb on my @insta360.anz which clocked in at around 29 minutes of climbing, so I made this edit for it!

I might upload the full climb, but it’ll take me some time to reframe and edit the whole half an hour of footage.

But wow what an experience! Fresh snowfall the day before also made for some very interesting movements and positions to say the least 😅

#mountaineering #iceclimbing #newzealand #southernalpsnz #climbing by @jack_bolingbroke

Mt Crichton loop -> p1437 - Last climb of the trip.. There had been a lot of fresh snowfall in the South Island the past 2 nights. So was I met with the freshest snow I’ve ever seen personally. What a wonderland. Not so wonderful to navigate technical sections.

This did deter me from going higher, but what I was able to do was 2-3 mixed climbing lines. I took a lot of time and calm patience with these, as they were free solo without rope. I managed to capture an entire 30 minute climb on my 360 camera which was cool, so I’m looking forward to editing through the angles and framing of that soon. It could be cool to post the whole climb. A lot of decision went into it, I did not attempt it without an incredible amount of analysis. Although I didn’t go up to a summit, this made up for it big time.

Absolutely insane way to finish the trip both figuratively and literally haha.

-Slide 17 was one of the lines I climbed
-Slide 19 is Single Cone peeking over some clouds at 2319m. I climbed that the other day!!

#mountaineering #mixedclimbing #iceclimbing #newzealand #mountains by @jack_bolingbroke

Fresh Dust.
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#queenstownnz #newzealand #mountains #atmosphere #stormphotography by @jack_bolingbroke

The Fiordland in all its beauty a few weeks ago.

In the last slide is Mitre Peak in Milford Sound I’ll be climbing during my next visit soon. It’s only accessible by kayak haha!

I picked a good rainy day when I went, it’s definitely the best time to experience it. It’s an otherworldly place and one of my favourite places ever within one of my favourite places ever 🫠 by @jack_bolingbroke

Remarkables -> Single Cone -> P2040

This climb ended up being very inward. I found myself questioning and reflecting on my reasons for travelling and climbing mountains alone. There’s an incredibly beautiful peace to it but as with a lot of things, there’s the escapism of it as well.

There’s something freeing about spending days alone in such vast environments, with sustained challenge and risk wrapped in simple goals that quiet the mind and let you forget about everything for a while. It’s becoming a huge part of my life, and something that unexpectedly grew out of some of the hardest years I’ve had.

Mountains don’t care about your dreams, itinerary, investment, determination or ability. I think that’s what I find so alluring and compelling about them. And I found that out the hard way this trip navigating bad weather, avalanche terrain and deteriorating spring snow.

I was meters away from the summit for this climb, but the conditions had other plans. I found myself in a pretty scary spot that I had to fairly creatively find my way out of. It was disappointing to turn back again, especially after having to make similar decisions throughout the trip.

So upon a reflective descent down to the saddle, I was able to really appreciate simply where I was and not where I was trying to reach. Perfect visibility of the Southern Alps in a glow of sunset. I then spotted a ridge up to another peak at p2040 via a very fun ridge scramble.

I’m really looking forward to returning to NZ very soon again to take on a dream mountain. 3033..

Once again, thanks for reading if you got this far ❤️ by @jack_bolingbroke

I’m increasingly getting more and more addicted to mountain ridges..
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#alpinism #mountains #newzealand #theremarkables #rockclimbing by @jack_bolingbroke

Earnslaw Burn Overnight Hike

This is the second time I’ve been here (I day hiked it last time) and it just still doesn’t seem like a real place. Magical.

It was definitely about time for something a bit more inward and low key. I’ve had a difficult time finding weather windows for alpine climbs, due to a hot few spring days making for some less than ideal climbing conditions..

Pure peace here ❤️ by @jack_bolingbroke

Treble Cone Summit -> P1904 (Black Peak Attempt)

Isn’t it interesting that sometimes failure can produce the most beautiful and meaningful experiences?

I think it’s just as important, if not, more important to share the failures as it is the successful climbs. I don’t think I would have learnt anywhere near as much as I did this objective if it wasn’t for not completing the goal.

I had planned to make the ridge journey to Black Peak at 2289m via Treble Cone. The route has two crux points along the ridge with huge exposure and are very condition dependent. It just so happened the first one was the block point. Snow burying the ropes and seriously consequential terrain underneath me to move through on my own. You can see in slide 19 my attempt to bypass it on Strava… But what I found was the sidle to the left was the steepest snow I’d ever climbed on to get around. Whilst I was comfortable in my climbing abilities, I wasn’t comfortable in my experience across avalanche terrain. Id also have to navigate this on the return in slushy afternoon melted snow.

Slide 14 I actually managed to capture the exact moment I decided to go back on the 360 camera haha.

I caught myself being incredibly upset and defeated about it. I felt like I was way over my head with all this. But upon sitting back on the summit of Treble Cone on the way back, I realised the amount of information and lessons I had gained from that one point of terrain. I feel like I’ll look back after bigger and bigger objectives at these exact moments of progress.

I experienced the biggest sunrise I’ve ever witnessed, ice climbed the steepest ice in my journey; including mixed terrain on rock and ice (also in the dark!), a deer running past me and the huge amount of things I learnt about myself, my skill and most importantly my risk assessment and decision making under stress - alone.

For me, the summit is only a small percentage of the experience. It’s entirely about the journey and I was lucky to be on a great one!

Thanks for reading if you got this far. I really mainly post these for my own personal documentation. It’s cool to look back on progress, lessons and experiences. Im having fun. :-) by @jack_bolingbroke

This video needed its own reel because it is easily my favourite thing I’ve ever captured in the mountains. Summit of Treble Cone in Wānaka, NZ at 2088m around 6:50am.

The sky just exploded into this red and orange like velvet through the cloud burst. The glow of the sunrise on the ridge of Treble Cone and across Lake Wānaka had me tear up a bit to be honest. Absolutely awe inspiring.

#mountains #sunrise #wanaka #newzealand #treblecone by @jack_bolingbroke

Two tool alpine ice climbing this morning around 6:30am just off the summit of Treble Cone, Wānaka!

#alpinism #mountaineering #iceclimbing #iceclimb #mountains by @jack_bolingbroke

$Mt Alaska This overnight trek absolutely blew all expectations of an alpine journey away.. Overall it was around 21km all up and 1500m of elevation gain, I hiked up to Heather Jock hut in the evening and had the little hut to myself. The stars and Milky Way were by far the most spectacular and beautiful sight I’ve ever seen from the night sky. I was very happy to have captured the images I did. The next morning I was on my way by 5am to reach Mt Alaska summit by about sunrise. I had some very steep snow slopes to navigate as well as a bit of exhilarating ridge climbing surrounded by the band of the orange horizon of a new day. I also saw the pyramid shadow of the peak and some friendly Kea during a rest on the way down! I was incredibly fortunate and grateful to have had the conditions I did for this. Every fraction completed the whole for me here, what a ride! by @jack_bolingbroke$

Jack Bolingbroke

@jack_bolingbroke