KEY POINTS:
Doug Ball is one retiree who deserves to put his feet up.
The 79-year-old has climbed Mt Aspiring, after a 12-hour slog along the northwest ridge from the Colin Todd hut.
He is believed to be the oldest person to climb the 3033m peak.
Although no official records exist, 75-year-old Australian Jim Gardner climbed the mountain in 2003 and claimed what was thought to be the record.
However, at a time when most people Mr Ball's age are thinking about taking things easy, the sprightly New Plymouth man laughed aside any "record-holding"notions, because "there's always someone who's going to break it, sooner or later".
The experienced mountaineer has climbed New Zealand's highest peak, Mt Cook, three times, taking a different route each time, and has countless summits of his home peak and "training ground", Mt Taranaki.
He said he "only" made it up the 2518m volcano "about three or four times" a year now, preferring instead to spend four weeks a year climbing in the Swiss Alps and making annual South Island pilgrimages.
He also races yachts, and has run 28 marathons since he retired 24 years ago, aged 55.
He resumed "proper" mountain climbing after the death of wife Peggy in 2004, he said.
He once spent 14 days trapped in a snow cave in the remote Olivine Range, in the Mt Aspiring National Park.
It has taken the former secondary school maths and physics teacher three attempts to stand on top of Aspiring, or Tititea, after aborting efforts in 2004 and 2006 because of bad weather.
Mr Ball flew into the Bevan Col by helicopter on Monday with Wanaka mountain guide Gary Dickson and climbed to the summit the next day.
The pair sat down to a celebratory dinner last night but are not resting for long - their next adventure is a trip to the 2400m-high Centennial Hut at the head of the Franz Josef Glacier next week.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
