New Ski Descent Unlocked on New Zealand's Highest Peak

Lusti and Gee worked as a team prior in Chamonix, France, where they scaled alpine faces without skis. The pair realized they had synergy, and during the trip, shared a laugh about the fact that, as steep skiers, they were climbing together rather than relying on their preferred method of mountain transportation, skiing.

That changed when the pair met up in New Zealand this fall, marking the first time Lusti and Gee joined forces on skis. Gee admitted that this approach was a gamble—teaming up with the wrong person could hamstring a high alpine mission—but, with the gaping bergschrund and their notable first descent now behind them, it’s apparent the dice landed in just the right place.

“When you're trying to do things at a really high level, in your sport, and in the mountains, your partner is such a huge contributing factor to that,” said Lusti. “Gee has only elevated what's possible for me in the mountains and what's possible in this type of terrain.”

Separately, Lusti and Gee have monstrous steep skiing resumes. Gee is an International Federation of Guides Associations (IFMGA) guide and, in 2021, notched a first descent on the 26,362-foot Gasherbrum II in Pakistan. This past May, Lusti skied a first descent on the west side of the 20,623-foot Great Trango Tower—also in Pakistan—adding to an already impressive list of ski mountaineering accolades.

In New Zealand, Gee quickly made note of Lusti’s skiing technique and skill set. “I realized how good she was on skis,” he said, explaining that before working with Lusti, he’d already heard of her talents. “My mentor back in Chamonix, Vivian Bruchez, told me, ‘She's probably the best talented skier, the best mountaineer skier of this day in the world.’”

Lusti and Gee’s shared first descent of Hunter’s Moon took place on the jagged flanks of New Zealand’s highest peak, Mt. Cook (known in the local language, Maori, as Aoraki). The full moon hung overhead as the pair scrambled upwards in the wee hours of the morning, inspiring Lusti, who named the line. “That kind of made the ascent and the night travel really unique, having that full moon and the brightness,” she said. Afterward, Lusti did some research and discovered that in autumn—the pair notched the first descent on October 17th—one phase of the full moon is known as the Hunter’s Moon. It fit perfectly. Lusti and Gee went to New Zealand hunting for challenging skiing and found it.

Chamonix—Gee’s proving grounds—is a central character in the annals of steep skiing. Home to countless descents that force skiers to straddle a razor-thin margin between life and death, this alpine playground draws crowds of adventurers seeking classic test pieces. But nerve-fraying skiing can be found elsewhere, too. Thanks to the work of Kiwi skiers like Sam Smoothy and Will Rowntree, the profile of New Zealand’s Mt. Cook Range, where Lusti and Gee skied Hunter’s Moon, is growing.

“These guys have been really pushing their sport in New Zealand and opening up new ski descents,” said Lusti. “I think a lot of attention has been brought to this area because of them.” Still, Gee explained, the region houses some untapped skiing. “We were just really, really, really excited about that—opening new stuff,” he said.

Hunter’s Moon was one of those lines. Lusti initially spied the route after arriving in New Zealand in late September. She’d landed before Gee and, during a trip into the mountains with Smoothy, felt the gravitational pull of a snowy ramp that zig-zagged down the side of Mt. Cook. “Right away, I saw it and was like, ‘What's this line? Has it been skied?’” Lusti recalled asking Smoothy. He identified the Jones Route for her, a rarely-climbed avenue that runs looker’s right to the then-unnamed Hunter’s Moon. Lusti and Gee later used the Jones Route to access their line.

On October 11th, the pair made their first pass at Hunter’s Moon. Howling winds blasted Lusti and Gee, and part way through their ascent, they were forced to turn around. “Okay, we need to really focus and get off this thing safely,” Lusti thought. “If not, we're gonna fly into the ocean.”

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In New Zealand’s mountains, periods of violent, temperamental weather aren’t uncommon. At a hut the pair stayed at, a fixed line connected the structure to the toilet. “Otherwise, you get lost and blown away,” Gee laughed. The snow, too, proves variable. Lusti noted that on the slopes found in the Mt. Cook Range, a broader vocabulary than usual is required to describe the types of ice you’ll find: skiable ice, un-skiable ice, névé, glacier ice, and water ice.

Lusti and Gee returned to the mountains a few days later during a clear weather window and went on a first descent spree as they tackled three lines in a row. On October 14th, they climbed and skied a line on Mt. Dixon, calling it Mullet Direct in honor of Michael Gardner, a beloved member of the mountaineering community who, earlier this year, passed away while climbing in Nepal. Their following line, Uncle Pete, took place on Mt. Vancouver. One day later, it was time for the big show.

They set out around 2 a.m., joined by the Hunter’s Moon and the aurora australis, which lit up the sky above the two skiers. At the bergschrund, Lusti and Gee struggled and were forced to climb up and down as they sought a way forward. “It was kind of like a crux,” said Gee. After spending about an hour route-finding, they pushed ahead as they puzzled through the rest of the ascent’s technical challenges. Several hours later, they stood atop their chosen line. Flanked by spiny rocks and sheer cliffs, Hunter’s Moon yawned below them.

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Prior to attempting the line, Gee, despite his steep skiing experience, remembered being afraid. He felt this warranted fear in his stomach. Hunter’s Moon, from start to finish, is a true no-fall zone—mistakes or slips could prove fatal. “The exposure was relentless the whole way,” said Lusti. “You had to just trust each turn so much.” During the descent, Gee found himself sweating more than he had on the physically taxing climb because of the stress, so he removed one of his jackets. Turn by cautious turn, the pair bobbed downwards, their climbing gear rattling alongside the scratch of firm, frozen snow. “There was this freedom from any other outside thoughts or outside world,” said Lusti. “It was just complete focus and trust in your partner.”

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I reached the pair about two weeks after they skied Hunter’s Moon. They were in a car on the side of the road in New Zealand and considering another venture into the mountains, weather dependent. As I asked them questions, they alternated providing responses, occasionally sharing silent glances and laughter. They were clearly comfortable with one another.

“We are so similar,” said Gee, comparing their friendship to the unique camaraderie of sibling-hood. At this point, they’ve skied relatively little together, but all of that skiing has involved high-consequence lines. For the pair, shared experiences in exposed terrain seem to expedite the usually slow-forming amity people build as they make friends. “Every day has been pushing, pushing,” said Lusti. “It was a crash course in partnership.”

Arriving again at the bergschrund below Hunter’s Moon, Gee jumped first before calling upwards to Lusti. He told her that to clear the gap, she needed to ensure she had enough speed. Lusti remembered that she might have felt uncertain about jumping over the bergschrund, but by then, the pair’s mountaineering bond was firmly cemented. Gee believed she could do it—and she trusted his judgment—so she did it. Moments later, they were free.