Climbing steep frozen snow and ice at about 1650m, on Rome Ridge. Photo: Peter Laurenson

An alpine adventure at Arthur’s Pass

Features, Off the Beaten Track

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Peter Laurenson

A tramper, occasional climber, photographer, editor and writer, Peter has been adventuring for more than 30 years.

By Peter Laurenson

Climbing Rome Ridge and traversing to Avalanche Peak offers more challenging terrain and stunning views than the traditional summer routes up the mountain.

“Credit where it’s due, the Met Service was on the money today,” Joe said, as sleet surged towards us, shearing off the wall of cloud that engulfed Mt Rolleston to the north. We’d covered about two-thirds of our 10km route, and if we’d departed an hour earlier we’d have squeezed in a nice summit view […]

About the author

Peter Laurenson

Peter is a tramper, occasional climber, photographer, editor and writer. His adventures, spanning 30+ years, come together on his website ‘OccasionalClimber’. Richmond-based, Peter is editor of FMC’s Backcountry and has published three books: Occasional Climber (2013) and Khumbu (2021) and Aotearoa Light (2025).