Circumnavigation of Aspiring, 20-27 December 2011

This year's Christmas trip was a true Aspiring appreciation trip with 8 days of fine weather, on which we circumnavigated the mountain. We reached the upper Volta from the East Matukituki via Ruth Ridge, sidled the northern flanks of Aspiring to the Therma Neve and Shipowner ridge, then travelled up to the head of the Bonar, dropped onto the Maude Francis Glacier via the Flightdeck, from which we accessed the Avalanche Glacier to reach Homestead Col and to drop down into Rob Roy Stream and the West Matukituki. Day 1: Up the East Matukituki from Cameron Flat to Ruth Flat. Day 2: From Ruth Flat to Pt 1521m on Ruth Ridge. Day 3: Up Ruth Ridge onto the Upper Volta. Afternoon climb of Glacier Dome and down the Upper Volta to where it drops down to the Lower Volta. Day 4: Down to the Lower Volta via the true left of the icefall, across the Volta Plateau towards the route through the rubble that brought us to the Volta Shelf near the North East Ridge of Aspiring. After negotiating some big crevasses near the toe of the ridge, we found ourselves sidling across to the Therma Neve crossing active avalanche tracks along the way. From the Therma Neve to our camp on the Shipowner Ridge. Day 5: Rest day and Skyline Traverse of Rolling Pin. Day 6: Travel to the head of the Bonar to the Flightdeck with climbs of Mts Bevan and Joffre along the way. Day 7: Descend of the Flightdeck to the Maude Francis Glacier and over the lowest point on the Maude Francis/Avalanche Glacier Ridge to gain the Avalanche Glacier, from where we reached Homestead Col via a ledge leading around the East Ridge of Rob Roy. Day 8: Down to Rob Roy Stream and the West Matukituki. Team: James Thornton and Nina Dickerhof