My first attempt at Sebastopol was about 12 years ago as part of a trip with the Methven and Districts Tramping Club. It was winter and at that time I had no winter tramping experience, including the use of ice axe and crampons. This time I have more years of tramping behind me, along with many winter trips including a seven day mountaineering course in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park.
This trip was done over ANZAC Weekend to make the most of a weather window and a few days away from home. We left Ashburton on Friday straight after work, and enjoyed dinner on the way in Tekapo. Arriving in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park our destination for the weekend was Wyn Irwin Lodge, owned and managed by the Canterbury Mountaineering Club.
Saturday dawned a nice looking day and Sebastopol was our objective. Now, we could have walked the additional 5 km from the lodge to the start of the track, but we decided to drive there instead.
he track begins as the eastern end of the village with a stair climb all the way to the Red Tarns. This part of the track is well worn, as this is a very popular half day trip for many people staying in the village. The Red Tarns is a magical place, the views encompass the park with Mt Cook dominating the skyline, you even get to see both the Hooker and Tasman Valleys. Information panels and tarns fill this basin.
From the Red Tarns there is no marked track and route finding skills are essential, in winter with snow and ice present even more challenges are present.
There are two obvious routes that you can see from the Red Tarns, one is to the left in the scrub the other in the shingle to the right. Taking the left hand to the saddle above it the best option as climbing the shingle is very hard work.
From this saddle, the McNulty Tarns are scattered to the left, and a worn cairned route to the right leading to the top of Sebastopol. We carried on to the right, with the other tarns visited on the descent.
The climb from here up is quite steep with some exposed sections in places. The final steep, exposed section leads to an easy traverse to Sebastopol. From the top the turquoise waters of Lake Pukaki stretch out as far as the eye can see, and the Sealy Range stretches out to the west. The effort of the climb is well worth it for the views, I glad to have finally completed this piece of unfinished business.
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