Expeditions & Trips – Page 6 – Ross Hewitt Guiding

Alaska 2009

7th Jul 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

For this trip we based ourselves in Cordova, ski touring on the Heney Range and flying with Points North on primo weather days in the Chugach. I was joined by Paul van Lamsveerde, Pete Benson and Evan Cameron.

Alaska 2008 – Ruth Gorge

7th Jul 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

This was an amazing trip into the Ruth Gorge with the Benson twins and Nick Wallis. We were blessed with stable deep sluffy powder and enjoyed skiing in the Japanese couloir the West Face of Barille and some easier tours. We built a large snowhouse which was large enough for the 4 of us and made for a civilised dining. At nights the Northern lights shown brightly with orange, reds and greens, although with -30C temps we didnt hang around outside the tent for long. also snuck a couple heli runs in, be rude not to in AK!

En route towards the Moose’s Tooth

Trenching up Japanese Couloir

Rooster’s Comb

Getting steeper in Japanese Couloir Japanese Couloir

Orca Lodge, PNH Cordova

Kelly Gray looking after us

Our snowhouse in the Ruth Gorge

Me skiing a run called 'happiness'. Photo: Pete Benson — Me skiing a run called ‘happiness’. Photo: Pete Benson

Me skiing a run called ‘happiness’. Photo: Pete Benson

Ross. Ruth Gorge, with Barille and Mooses Tooth Behind, Picture by Pete Benson

Hunnadalen Norway 2007

7th Jul 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

Hunnadalen valley is situated a short drive from Stavanger in the southern tip of Norway and holds a lifetime’s worth of rock to climb. Pete Benson, Guy Robertson and myself flew from Aberdeen to Stavanger and hired a car for a few days climbing. Expat Nick Ashton kindly showed us a round for a few days and allowed us to sleep on his floor. The locals had already picked off the pure ice routes but coming from a Scottish mixed background we were like kiddies in a candy store looking around at the potential for icy mixed climbing. The highlight of the trip was trying a 500 m gully system on the final day. Being with 2 mixed masters I decided that my share of the work would be the ice pitches. It turned out to be quite a route with 9 meaty pitches of Scottish VI & VII. Half way through the day it started to snow heavily and topping out in the dark we abseiled down a rock buttress to avoid the unstable snow that had built up. In the early hours we made the airport and had an hours sleep before flying back to Aberdeen and making it into the office for a day’s work. The route was called Ergopower since Pete had bought some cheap and nasty ergo tools on ebay which had him squeeling for traction on anything steep!

The gully line of Ergopower, VII,7

The first ice pitch

A cave pitch took us passed the gigantic boulder at 1/3 height.

Guy leading a bold icy mixed pitch

Pete belaying and ready to run down the gully to take in the slack if Guy fell

At the top of the icicle

Thin ice on the gully wall to pass the next step

Snowing hard and arriving on thicker protectable ice, phew!

The guys looking at a bolted M venue

Rock and ice everywhere

New Zealand 2006

7th Jul 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

For this trip I hooked up with my friend and fellow Scot, Evan Cameron, who was living in Dunedin at the time. We travelled all round the South Island climbing in the mountains, sailing the fiords, swimming in rivers, sleeping on beaches, surfing, bouldering, walking. He had dislocated his shoulder a week before I arrived and carried a vial of morphine everywhere and gave me strict instructions on how to put his shoulder back in should it pop again.

The most vivd memory is getting caught in a storm sailing in the Marlborough Sounds and the boat getting knocked flat every five minutes with the mast in the water. I don’t think the boat owners ever sailed in bad weather because there was nothing to secure the drawers and pans were soon flying as the hull rolled 90 degrees. In the middle of the night one of the sail’s securing ropes wore through and the roller jenny sail got ripped open and immediately shredded. The next day dawned beautiful and calm and another yacht sailed past looking at our battered and tattered boat. Terrifying.

Bivi Site Below Malte Brune after Morraine Bashing up the Tasman Glacier

The Remarkables

The Lake at Queenstown from the Remarks

Traversing the Remarkables After a Multipitch Route

Bouldering Near Queenstown

A moments respite from the rain in our 1 man tent, Bevan Col, Aspiring

Camping Below Aspiring

On the summit of Aspiring

Descending Bevan Col in Heavy Rain

West Coast Fury, Charleston Crags Payne’s Ford – Sports Climbing and Swimming Pools

The calm before the storm, we spent the next night with the mast in the water every 5 minutes

Stunning Organ Pipes at Lover’s Leap

The Darrens

Waiting for the rock to dry, Darrens

Trying to avoid the seepage

View West from Hommer Tunnel

Darrens Rock Raining Again!

The Chasm

When it rains, it pours No Need to Wash Dishes, Just Put Them in the Rain Outside

Looking for Rock to Climb in the Jungle?

Mitre Peak

Wye Creek

The Weekly Wash Old Faithful, 1.0 Litre Ford Laser Estate Car

Siberia Flats, en Route to Mount Awful

Long walk on to find wet rock followed by a longer walk out

Frisby at Flock Hill Christchurch Peninsula

Alps 2005

7th Jul 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

This Alpine trip was fantastic and covered a few areas, starting out in Les Ecrins in January we ice climbed and ski toured before moving North to Chamonix. There we spent one cold day at the end of January climbing the Swiss route on Les Courtes on squeeky neve. Then we headed East into La Valais to ski tour on the Breithorn and Monte Rosa areas, finally finishing off in the Chamonix area skiing some classics like Col de Cristeaux and the Armencettes.