Issue 99 of the Climber Magazine, the New Zealand Alpine Club flagship publication, features the full story of a trans-alpine trip completed with Penny Brothers, the Alpine Club representative, across the Harper, Mannering, and Ross glaciers in the Southern Alps.
The Harper-Mannering-Ross Challenge
The Harper-Mannering-Ross traverse is a classic multi-day mountaineering route through the central Southern Alps of New Zealand. The route crosses three major glacier systems and demands competence in navigation, crevasse rescue, and self-sufficient mountain travel.
Routes like this represent the best of New Zealand mountaineering — big, committing, and far from help. The Southern Alps offer this kind of adventure at a scale that’s accessible without the logistics burden of a Himalayan expedition.
Publication in The Climber
Getting a story into New Zealand’s premier mountaineering publication is both a privilege and a responsibility. The account needs to be honest — about the conditions, the decisions made, and the moments where the outcome was uncertain.
The story in Issue 99 covers the full traverse: preparation, the approach to the neve, travel across the glaciers, route-finding challenges, and the satisfaction of completing a genuine alpine objective.