Tahr Ballot - Adams Range

The steep and rather scenic Adams Range towers above the Barlow river to the South and the Poerua River to the North, with the landing site about halfway up to the 2000 meter peaks above.

With an exposed campsite at 1350 meters above sea level the potential is there to get an absolute hammering if the wind gets up, which is exactly what we experienced on our last visit. We spent most of one night with our tents folding over and slapping our faces in the big gusts.

The steep face behind camp. Image @ Neil Kerr

Water is fairly handy with both a creek and a tarn if it’s not frozen over, and this is one of only two ballot blocks I know that gets a bit of phone reception here and there, whether you mention that to the boss or the better half or just turn your phone off is really the question.

The campsite provides some great glassing of the steep face above, just be aware if shooting from camp as much of what you’re looking at will result in a bull ending up in an irretrievable position.

Climbing the face behind camp. Image @ Neil Kerr

The ridge a short climb to the east also provides a great vantage point, but limited accessibility as the creek drops away steeply into the Poeurua below. Heading West you have nice low angle tussock slopes which is easy going, and if you’re a bit more ambitious you can get to the next terrace over. Just you do have to find a way through the steep creek to get there, here’s is where a rope would be quite helpful.

Looking back at camp from low on the face

Some of the steep face above camp can be accessed, but it does involve a couple of manoeuvrers through some very steep pinches. And given the elevation you will most likely have some snow to deal with, a certainty in those later periods. On our last visit we climbed up the face in nice firm snow conditions, only for the day to become a real scorcher, which made the thin snowpack deteriorate quickly given the solar aspect. Forcing us to stay on safe ridges high on the face all day, until just before dark when we had enough refreeze to be able to pick our way down through the steep sections again.

Particularly once we’ve had a good snowfall, I’d say that the Adams Range  landing site is better suited to those more comfortable in the steeper country and in crampons with an axe in hand, otherwise the scope can be a bit limited.