Tantalus Traverse

Trip Report

Tantalus Traverse

I’m writing this because someone asked, though I know to any seasoned mountaineer this is going to sound like a bit of a shit show.  Fresh off the bar exam, I showed up for this trip blissfully uninvolved in the planning. My friends handled all the logistics and beta, which means this report may not be the most “useful”—but it’s a pretty honest picture of how things went.

The approach was already a saga. One friend went in early Friday, canoed up from the lake to the river crossing, then floated miles back out on an air mattress so we wouldn’t have to trespass. The rest of the crew decided trespassing was fine and left a car down the road from the crossing.

The “plan” (if you could call it that) was a jumble of conflicting expectations. One friend envisioned a three-day trip with a 10+ pitch 5.11 thrown in, hence the full trad rack and monster rope. The rest of the group thought we were doing the traverse in 2 days/ one night out. Unsurprisingly, failing to reconcile these visions led to…chaos.

---

Day 1 – Late Start, Short Mileage

We started around 8:30–9:00am (my friends love sleep) and made it only as far as a lake before the Pelion–Tantalus Col, where we camped. Most parties either stop here or push to the snow before the col. By this point, the multi-pitch add-on climb idea was officially abandoned.

We got to the lake around late afternoon with plenty of time to keep going, but had been told there were not great bivy spots on the technical part of the ridge once you started. This is true and I am happy with our decision to camp at this protected spot with a water source. 

---

Day 2 – The Technical Traverse

We roped up for the col crossing (crampons+ ice axes).  Thankfully there were solid tracks from the previous day, so it went smoothly.

The dirt scramble from the col up to the first rappel was bad choss. Even with my high tolerance for sketchy dirt, it felt dicey with parties above and below. Lots of rocks were being dropped. Leaving lots of space was necessary, which meant parties waiting in the middle of the icey col traverse. The rappel itself off the top was straightforward, and the following snow traverse over to the ridge was mellow.

We hit the main rock section around 10:30am, just as the first “in-a-day” team cruised past. The ridge was the highlight of the trip: a full day of scrambling, rappels (probably 10), and delicate traverses. With heavy packs, we roped up for sections others might solo, which slowed us down further. Add in rappel traffic jams, and it became a very long day.

We finished the climbing and last rap in at sunset and walked the last mile to the hut in the dark—our unplanned second night out.

---

Night 2 – Not in the Plan

I’d packed for a one-night trip, so I was out of food. We pooled what we had, cowboy camped (everything soaked from dew the night before), and tried to stay warm in soggy sleeping bags.

One teammate without a good (feathered friends) down bag froze. She tried the hut’s emergency boot room (already full), then under the hut (rats), and eventually pitched her tent late at night. To top it off, I unexpectedly started my period that day—without any supplies. Hungry, wet, and bleeding, I was beyond ready to leave.

---

Day 3 – Out to Lake Lovely Water

I woke at sunrise ready to get the hell out of Dodge, but my friends wanted to linger for sunrise, so did not leave camp until around 10am. On the way out at Lake Lovely Water, we ran into the local SAR team, who had been helicoptered in for a retreat. They generously shared food, which was a lifesaver.

At the river crossing, one partner took the cables while I ferried the rest across by kayak. The first two crossings went fine, but the final run—with me tired and my partner inexperienced—was less successful. Crossing private land here is illegal and not recommended. The person on the cables nearly lost her pack when the friction from the wire cable almost cut through whatever she had attached it with. 

Once we all made it across and back to the road, we discovered our shuttle car had been towed (unlike all the other local cars). Honestly, it felt like the perfect ending. We hitchhiked back to the trailhead, then retrieved the car from the tow yard.

Overall:  10/10 adventure, but also a total cluster. Lessons learned.

Map