I laughed when I saw Graham Kates' pic of the "Mottram Peaks" on his Arthurs Pass Mountaineering website.
The real Mottrams, of course, are on the ridge on the south side of the upper Waimakariri valley between the AntiCrow River and Greenlaw Creek. Both the 1789 m and the 1751 m summits are fantastic viewpoints.
They can be climbed as a day trip from the Klondyke Corner carpark just past the Waimakariri River bridge on SH73. Just go up the AntiCrow to its head and ascend the scree direct to the ridge (Take care in winter and spring as that slope would be avalanche suspect if loaded with snow from the nor'west).
But when I saw Graham's photo I knew instantly he'd got it wrong. I think I'd be able to place most summer ridgeline photos taken in the park fairly quickly and most, like this one, without consulting the map.
Have a look for yourself.
It's easy to recognise the terrain in the photo on the map of the western side of the Jordan Stream valley.
But I am a bit puzzled how Graham could have been confused about what he was looking at because he seems to have been right about where he said he was when he took the photo (above Jordan Saddle).
I'm delighted to have this opportunity though, especially when I think of all the people who've suffered misfortune in the Arthurs Pass area and had it added to by one of Graham's public kickings.
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