Fooling Around in Arthur's Pass

It’s always the same. The size of the peak, the effort spent getting there or whether it’s on the ‘must climb’ peaks list doesn’t diminish the need to holler and dance a little jig, basically behave like a damn fool, when topping out or “running out of earth”.

I always prefer the most direct route (for the last few metres anyway). A short section of vertical is a good excuse to load the front points and pop onto the top, after enjoying a brief Kilroy moment.

Mt Damfool is no different. Many people say, with a wry smile, “you’d have to be a damn fool to climb it” but I prefer to think whoever named it was speaking in the positive, not the negative.

The peak stands at 2030m, above Fools Col, to the north of an easily navigable bowl at the head of the Anti Crow River.

Looking E, down Anti Crow Valley

The Anti Crow Hut is accessed, when the Waimakariri River is low, from the car park opposite Klondike Corner, in about an hour and a half. When we arrived, at around 2230 Friday night, it was full as is often the case. 

Bivvying outside is a good way to get an “early” start so by 0700 the next morning we were making our way SW, up the Anti Crow River.

The most arduous section of the trip is climbing the scree slope on the true right of the Anti Crow River to gain the top of the roughly 20 metre waterfall. A quick stop for a boil up and one of those soups that always tastes amazing in the mountains and terrible at home, then onwards up the snow slope to the top.

Looking W, up Anti Crow Valley

By 1400 the weather had clagged in, with just the occasional patch of blue, but the half hour fooling around on the summit was rewarded with snatches of views in all directions.

The original plan was to head out via the Mottram Peaks, and maybe biv at the bush line, but with rain threatening the hut had more appeal. Unfortunately, upon arriving at the hut, we discovered it was, once again, full, but this time of hunters and enough beer to sink a rather large battleship. Apparently, if you ask the right person, you can obtain permission to drive quad bikes up the river into the park. I guess the beer must have been Tui (yeah right!).

Unwilling to spend the night out in the rain or ford the Waimakariri River in the dark we opted to use the track and head over Turkey Flat to the road, finally arriving at the car at 0030. An 18 hour day wasn’t quite what we’d planned but, in the words of Charlie Chaplin, “It takes courage to make a fool of yourself”.