Ascent of Ben Lomond on 2019-10-12| Date: | Saturday, October 12, 2019 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Ski Lift | | Peak: | Ben Lomond | | Location: | New Zealand | | Elevation: | 5735 ft / 1748 m |
Ascent Trip ReportTravelled by gondola, to 'Bob's Peak' at the top of the 'Skyline Gondola'.
Departed Bob's Peak at 8:41am. Walked through some very dark woods before coming above the treeline. Mountain was covered in clouds as it had been for our whole stay in Queenstown and looked ominous ahead.
After a steady ascent, we arrived at the Ben Lomond Saddle at 10:04am for a quick morning tea.
The section from the saddle to summit followed the ridgeline, with strong winds whipping over the ridge which somewhat protected us.
As it was mid-October and we had no experience in real snowy/icy conditions, we were concerned about conditions near the summit and had previously decided to only go as far as we felt safe. However, a warmer than usual winter meant that it was not icy at all and there was only one isolated patches of shallow snow to walk through, which was a novelty to us as Australians.
We successfully arrived at the Summit at 11:18am, with our view being of low cloud around us and the peaks of nearby summits. Nervous about the large drop and the summit being a bit slippery, we didn't stay long, and started making our descent. After a small sprinkling of snow, we stopped for lunch partway between the Summit and Saddle from 11:39am to 11:55am and as we headed further down to the saddle, the low clouds cleared, giving us an awesome view of the mountain and Queenstown.
We returned back at the Saddle at 12:27pm and quickly descended the remaining part of the hike easily, arriving back at Bob's Peak at 1:31pm before taking the Gondola back down into Queenstown. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 3242 ft / 988 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 6.8 mi / 11 km | | Trailhead: | Bob's Peak (Gondola Top) 2493 ft / 759 m | | Quality: | 8 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Snow on Ground | | Weather: | Snowing, Cold, Windy, Low Clouds | | Ascent Statistics | | Time: | 2 Hours 37 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Time: | 2 Hours 13 Minutes |
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