Imp Grotto
16th January 2022
v4a3II***
Haast Pass / Tioripātea,
Mount Aspiring National Park
Descent with Paul du Temple and Rachel Jones.
The final descent of an epic weekend, after Falls Creek on Friday and Wilson Creek on Saturday. Imp Grotto gives great bang for your buck, as the walk-in is only 20 mins. The first drop can be jumped as long as you clear the log in the pool, but we decided to abseil and play it safe. Further down, the largest pitch is 40m down a narrow gap, before a final jump-slide into the pool beneath the road bridge.
Paul abseils into the first drop. The jammed log is visible at the bottom of the waterfall. If you jump this pitch, you’ve got to clear that!
The second abseil is “The Corkscrew”. It would make an amazing slide if it weren’t for the rock wall on the left, and the shallow pool
All smiles from Rachel after one of the jumps
Paul descends the final abseil…
…shortly followed by Rachel
Paul commits to the final jump-slide