One, two, three... Let's go!

2023 has begun and so has my goal of 52 peaks! Starting off with a traverse of the lower Mount Cook range in Aoraki national park...

Kaitiaki (2222m)

My first peak of the year was Kaitiaki, sitting just above our beautiful campsite this mountain provided a stunning view of the Caroline face of Aoraki and it was definitely an incredible way to begin the year. What made this even more special was being able to achieve this first peak with four other beautiful humans, Jason, Matt, Amy, and Matt.

Mt Rosa (2161)

The next peak in the range was Mt Rosa, after attempting a direct traverse from Kaitiaki we quickly abandoned that idea as the rock was dangerously loose and we instead backtracked down from ball pass before scrambling up a rib of solid rock up to the summit.

Mt Mabel (2091)

The last peak of this New Years trip was Mt Mabel, which (thankfully for our legs) was an easy traverse from Rosa.

Reflections

We set out on this trip with absolutely no idea where we'd end up actually going or if we'd climb anything. Our one goal was to spend New Years in the mountains, appreciating the views and our friends! I definitely felt very lucky to get to witness such spectacular scenery with such amazing people. Often for me New Years can have a lot of pressure to 'start the year right' and to turn over a fresh page, especially if the previous year has been tough. Just focusing on really enjoying the moment, the mountains, and the people I was with made this New Years truly special and relieved a lot of those typical expectations and anxiety for me.