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DOC Land
Altitude: 996m to 2255m. Gain: 1156m. Loss: 1384m . Gradient: 17 deg (Steep)
Skills: Prolonged scrambles (4/7) - Streams (2/6)
From the Cass to the Murchinson, two options exist: Ailsa Pass or the Rutherford Pass. The route detailed here crosses the Rutherford from the Cass before sidling and descending ridges below the Ailsa to the Murchinson valley floor.
From the forks in the Cass (3km upstream from Memorial / Birdcage huts) head up the west branch of the Cass towards where the spectacular Faraday Glacier (we seem to have a run on physicists here) is visible descending from Mt Hutton. Follow the valley as it swings west past the foot of the Faraday and heads directly for the Rutherford Pass – going is moderately hard over moraine and scree, with a few scrambles required.
A steep creek is visible descending on the true left (your right) from the terminal lake of the Low Ridge Glacier. A clear scree ridge runs up to the far side (true right) of this creek to the plateau on which the glacier sits. Ascend this ridge, which is a moderate-difficult scramble up sometimes free-running rocky scree. Cutting to the left of the Low Ridge Glacier on rock or snow as required, it is easy to reach platforms leading west again to a point directly below the Rutherford Pass. From here the route is obvious, but tricky. Use the various scree chutes / scree faces to ascend to the pass, cutting left and right on the intermediate rocky platforms as required to reach good ascent routes. Rock/scree becomes increasingly larger and more stable as you ascend, but is sharp and abrasive stuff to scramble over.
The view from the pass is almost without equal: the broad post-glacial desert on the Murchinson valley floor with the sheer face of the Malta Brun Range (Brun Ridge Range) beyond, rising to a ridgeline of unbroken ice. Steep, tumbling glaciers descending vertically down numerous gullies and faces towards the Murchinson below. Mt.s Cook, Tasman, Sefton all visible on the skyline. Mt Cook, seen from this close, still towering above the 2270m Rutherford Pass and Malta Brun Range. Ice and rock as far as you can see.
From the 2270m summit of the Rutherford Pass it is necessary to descend into the tussock basin directly below. The initial steps of this can be tricky: from the pass descend to a small terrace some 20m below the summit, where bluffs block your descent. Sidle right, picking your way round huge boulders, for 50-100m until you find a good scree chute leading to the basin below. Though tricky for the first few yards, this can be descended with increasing ease as the gradient lessens towards the valley floor. Following the floor of the hanging valley down it emerges onto a broad, sloping tussock terrace on the main Murchinson valley-side. Continuing to following this valley beyond the terraces leads to sheer bluffs some 700m above the main valley floor, down which no route could be identified. Instead, upon reaching good terraces: sidle left along the true left of the Murchinson, choosing a route to keeping above the highest points of the bluffs but allowing visibility of the creeks and ridges dropping into the valley floor. Maintaining your altitude as required, pass three gullies dropping steeply into the Murchinson until you reach the clear, defined ridgeline immediately upriver of the Liebig Hut, and immediately below the marked Mt Tamaki.
This can be descended easily for about half it’s length to where a clear scree chute (shown on the map) drops off it’s left-hand (western) side to the side-creek above the hut. This chute in hard going – not free-running scree, but finer gravel and soil and makes for a slow, careful descent. However, from its base it is an easy walk down the creek for the remaining 200m to the Murchinson valley floor. Liebig Hut is about 500m downriver, hidden from view behind the large scree fan.