Copland Pass: The Modern Route
January 18-20th 2023
Route Description
Follow the Hooker track until you reach the last bridge, don’t cross it! Keep walking so you stay on the western side of the Hooker Lake. Stay close to the lake until you reach Hayter Stream. This is where you start heading up. Stay on the rocks near the stream to avoid unnecessary bush bashing. In NZ topo maps you will see Hayter Stream has a fork in it with one stream coming from the Hayter glacier and one coming Stewart glacier. At the fork head up the stream towards the Stewart glacier. The climbing begins at 1700 meters. You can climb true right to stay in the snow (snow could be gone at the end of January) or travel up the rock northeast of the snow route. This scramble is no harder than grade 8 and is really enjoyable. At 1900 - 2000 meters you will reach the permanent snow line. From here continue climbing until you find a spot to traverse over to Madonna Shoulder. In January 2023 we had to climb and traverse higher than what is described in Rob Frosts Aoraki guidebook because the glacier had little snow covering and we didn’t fancy any ice climbing on this trip! The video gives an idea of the route. Just before you reach the shoulder there is a hanging glacier above, that often sends down rock. Not a good spot for a cup of tea.
Once you have reached the shoulder you will be at about 2050 meters. Copland shelter is 1km northeast of the shoulder. Copland shelter is at about 1950 meters so you will lose some elevation as you traverse to Copland shelter. From Copland shelter allow roughly 40 minutes to the pass. Descent onto the western side of Copland pass may require an abseil.