After lots more time poring over topo maps and gMaps, I’m confident that the pic titled “1665 Clouded Majesty” is Mount Aspiring. Here are more pix of it, approaching from the North and passing to the West.
1649 Glaciers & Mt. Aspiring
I haven’t found a name for that glacial lake, but apparently the peak is flanked on the left by Volta Glacier with Thermal Glacier on the right in this view toward the South. This next pic is like the one in the prior post but closer and with more detail.
1676 Mount Aspiring Peak
Approaching the West flank we got this view revealing how deep the snow is on top.
1732 West Flank
Further down that side where North West Ridge meets Shipowner Ridge we spotted the brave red Colin Todd Hut. It’s perched on a rock outcrop between the Bonar Glacier and what’s left of the Iso Glacier.
1739 Colin Todd Hut
It’s apparently used as a base camp for climbers headed to the summit from this side. In this last wider shot as we passed looking toward the East, you can barely make out that hut at the bottom. Makes the climb look truly daunting, and so different from the comparable elevation 8,847‘ Mount Pinos a mere 40-something miles away from KSBA. That distance is similar to flying direct from Wanaka to Mt. Aspiring, but the active and much more recent glaciers slice rugged terrain that argues for the indirect route we flew. Here in California that altitude looks like an easy hike even in Winter, but in NZ it looks like Everest.
1769 Aspiring Summer Climb
Christmas Eve on this peak in the Haast Range of New Zealand’s Southern Alps is their Summer, begging the question of what a Winter climb would be like. Anyway, in the next post I’ll share a few pix from the Milford Sound part of this flight.
John & Anne Wiley 
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