Sir Donald and North Terminal

Sir Donald NW Ridge: Grade IV, 5.4

North Terminal: 4th Class

Kyle and I kind of got our asses handed to us on Sir Donald. It started snowing when we got to the col, so fair warning: we probably should've turned back at that point. And once we got part way up the ridge we had other opportunities to back out by getting onto the rap route, but neither of us had been to the summit so we continued (it was also cold, and the thought of starting down a 12-pitch rappel was not very appealing). It was slow going with fresh snow on the rock. I think it took us about 6hrs to get up; way too long, in any case. So by the time we got to the top (aprx 4pm) we really needed to hustle. We stuck to our original plan to descend the SE ridge, and wasted a bit more time looking for bolted anchors (they appear not to exist; I misunderstood the guidebook) before committing to a rat's nest of pre-placed stoppers and a chock-stone (we're not too proud to admit that these 4 or 5 rappels down the SE ridge terrified us). With the fear of a night out on the mountain spurring us on, we finally made it down to North Terminal at dusk. It was only at that point that I took off my climbing shoes to discover my toes were frozen and bloodied. A long, dark scramble down Terminal ensued, with much gnashing of teeth if not outright weeping. It was a proper epic. Eventually, inevitably, we got lost and had a hell of a time finding our way down to Pearly Rock, but we got there in the end. The final hike down 1,200m to the car was pure misery. Writing this 12 months later my toes still haven't recovered!!

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