Olivine ice plateau/Marion plateau

The Olivine is possible via the Forgotten River Col. A small non-climbing party from the OTMC went up there last year. I think they went south to Mt Gates and dropped back down Blockade Stream (I went to a talk about it) but I've forgotten the details. No idea how you would get across the Joe.

Yeah I've been doing heaps of reading up on it and forgotten river col seems like the way forward. Is anyone aware if, once up on the plateau, it is possible as non climbers to get up any peaks? Blockade/key rock?

this episode of first crossings went to the plateau https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/first-crossings/series-2-episode-3null

yeah just finished the episode then. definitely wouldn't go up their route.

How about any info on a route from the forgotten biv up to the col? Don't quite have access to moirs at the moment.

Or is the better way coming from blockade stream up?

Get a hold of Moirs North when you can. Forgotten Flats to Olivine Ice Plateau is on pg 144-146 in the 8th edition. "It is not necessary to do any difficult or exposed climbing if on route, and it is not necessary to climb higher than the snow level at the top of the icefall, but it is rock scrambling, not tramping. Expect about rock grade 8, pack hauling and probably belaying people up short steps. Even in the leanest of snow years and at the end of the season this route is practical but it may be beyond the comfort zone of some parties."

Access to Forgotten River Col really definitely sounds like it has deteriorated over the last few years. We did the route about 10 years ago and from memory it was really pretty cruisy. At least compared with some other bits of the approach. Travel on the plateau - if you've got decent crampon/ice axe/glacier travel skills then you should be fine. We didn't do too much on the plateau itself so it's hard to comment on that, but on the way down to the Joe River we had to cross some big slots so you'd want to be pretty solid with glacier travel/rescue systems etc. As for crossing the Joe (as Yarmoss mentions) there are a couple of natural rock bridges mentioned in Moirs. We used one of these - had to jump across a ~1m gap but with passing packs it was fine. Of course this was some time ago and conditions change...

I think we've settled on the route from the Dart up to Seal Col, over to Mt Gates and dropping down to the head of Blockade and up to the plateau. As non climbers that route sounds the most suitable especially if Forgotten River Col has deteriorated like you said Jagungal