Albatross WI3, Valley of The Birds, North Ghost River Valley

The Valley of The Birds lies in the northern Ghost River Valley, about 12 km from the Big Hill. It's a narrow, step-sided little valley accessed via a cleft that forms up as a series of short WI2 steps. On the day that I went there, it was pretty cold (maybe -27C or so) and the river crossings required to get to the valley produced instant armour plating on your boots - I was very glad I was wearing plastics that day.

There are several routes in the valley, pictured here. We did Albatross (WI3) which I found hard, as it was plating horribly and had thin sections and other parts where the ice was skinned so that you were climbing on a thin crust above a deep air pocket. This was certainly not my favourite route of the winter, but the setting is fantastic.