Bollard Pass

Thanks Ghaznavid!

We did the route you mentioned above(in a very leisurely way)until we reached a point up the main pass valley. Running on a couple hours sleep and feeling properly kieshed out we decided it was better to set up camp near the river and have lunch.

Neither of the two of us could remember if this was the same pass in the pics on this thread(which I can now see it is). Anyway, there was a lot of iced up snow still in the pass and it looked to be steep beyond our capabilities. I was not keen to be slipping around on the ice that high up with no rope and a heavy pack.

We decided it was wiser to not attempt it and rather pitched the tent and got stuck into some wine, thinking we would maybe have a crack at it in the morning on fresh legs and with no packs.

That night, shortly after dinner, the wind picked up to gale force and stayed that way all night. Neither of us got much sleep with the tent shaking like it was possessed. In the morning the wind continued to howl and we decided to bail and head back down the way we came.

Maybe we'll have another crack at it when there's no snow.

Pic of our wind ravaged camp attached.

Hey elinda

Nice pics. Looks like you guys gals;) stuck to the gully.
I have tacked an overtrace of your pic showing our route. The yellow/red dotted area is the 'open book' scramble, the steep bank above heads up to the cave complex behind the gendarme with the route out being a scramble back down the bank, cutting over the slab and up through another scramble to the bank above, with a steep but easy grass slope to the top.

The first waterfall, requiring a left/right zig-zag traverse on the south bank is just below and out of picture..

Glad you enjoyed. What a view from that cave !

pic attached ????? freakin technology !

Thats about how far up I got earlier this year. A bit brave to sleep in a river bed, in the event of a flash flood you could have been in an interesting predicament...

@ST2: do you have a pic of the turnoff to Stealth Cave? I hope to do it in Oct/Nov this year and would like to sleep in the cave. Alternatively, do you have the GPS co-ords?

Nah. No signs for turnoff sorry.

The cave 'complex' is tucked in the scoop behind the freestanding gendarme, above the prominent block.
ie: you cannot see it easily from below, but have to follow on up the steep bank behind the block. It is marked in blue spotted thing on the pic.

No GPS sorry. Not that Hi Tech.

Lol, I know there are no signs


How do I know when to turn off to the cave?

We were on a grassy bank just out of the riverbed. With clear skies and icy winds I was pretty confident flash floods were not on the cards that night.

Interesting to see the route you took, ST2. Yes - we did stick to the gully and climbed out just below the cave and then a scramble up - not sure whether we did the 'open book' scramble - there was a steep section where we pulled packs up and then on and upwards to the cave. I will attach a tracklog of our route. The gully was doable with the snow and ice, albeit tricky and slippery - crampons would have helped. Do you think it is possible in Summer conditions, or too wet?

Burn that pic into your retina buddy, or onto your BB screen

Pass is fairly narrow, and there is only one such feature. You shouldn't miss it.

Provided it is not: Dark. Misty. Snowstorm. Hailstorm etc.