FATAL FALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 11

FATAL FALL.

i'OUTH ON RUAPEHU.

SUDDEN fainting attack?

jj-FOBTS to recover body.

1 Wall a"cd 19, only son of Dr. A. /Li and Mrs. Wall, of Wanganui, , killed by falling 100 ft over a 'rff to the e(1 S c o£ tllo Cratcr Lake at Mount Euapelni yesterday afternoon. A of IS are to-day making efforts Recover tlie body. It is anticipated , there will be considerable diffiur and the men are not expected back t [he Chateau until late this afternoon. Tie Tress Association reports that . Ti-gU accompanied by Mr. Blair, of ?Lera 'and Guide Taylor, had done Extensive tramp yesterday, including a -it to the summit. Tliey had lunch 9 JI commenced tlic return journey, call- ? to sec the lake, which is in the crater, about 500 ft below the summit. The three men bad baited near the cd „ e to look upon the view when Blair 1 Taylor were horrified to see Wall Eta a step forward and disappear. lie n nn to the pinnacles of ice which Sere the lake, from SOft to 100 ft iw. His position was quite inaccesC ,,i„ i]i s companions, who, could not oiibly roach him. They did all they could, h"t ifc was im P° sslble to r . eaclL 111111 with 'the rope in their possession. Messrs. Blair and Taylor describe the accident as inexplicable, but think that Mr Wall had a, seizure or fainting attack, as lie said nothing and did not call out as he fell.

On realising that it was impossible for them to resell Mr. Wall, Messrs. Blair and Taylor went with all speed back to tlie Chateau. It was too late to do anything yesterday. Botli Mr. Blair and Mr. Taylor believed that, from the position of the body, Mr. Wall's neck lad been broken in the fall.

Recovery Difficult. It is anticipated that recovery of the tody will be a most difficult job. A party of 18 picked men, including two policemen, and headed by Mr. J. Cobbe, manager of the Chateau, left at five o'clock this morning to recover the body. They are supplied with 1000 feet of rope supplied by the Taumarunui police. It will be impossible for the rescue party to reach the body from the spot where Mr, Wall fell over the cliff, because the glacier overhangs, and huge lumps of ice constantly break away and crash into the lake below.

It is thought by Mr. L. M. Lennard, a member of the Alpine Sports Club, that the party will get down into the crater from the Pyramid Peak side. It will take them at least an hour to get down the face of this 30 degree slope, which is nearly 300 feet high. The surface is a mixture of ice and rock, and steps will have to he cut.

Because of the bad ice conditions and the precipitous nature of the cliff, it is believed that it will be impossible to climb round the lake to the spot where the body lies. It is proposed to make a float of motor tyre tubes with a rope attached. Then one of the party will swim in the hot waters of the lake across to the spot, lift the body on to the rubber raft, and swim back. Then the raft will be pulled across the lake by other members of the party.

Treacherous Ice. , In the opinion of Air. Lennard, an experienced mountaineer who knows every inch of Ruapeliu, that is the only way to recover the body from the position in which it lies. Once the body has been recovered, it will have to be carried for three miles over treacherous ice, and then another four miles to the Chateau. The rescue party left at five this morning, and it was expected that they would be at the crater about nine. Recovery of the body would take at least the remainder of the morning, and it was thought that the party would start on the return journey about one or two o'clock this afternoon.

Educated at a model country school and Wanganui Collegiate School, Air. Wall was to have gone to Cambridge University next month. He left college at the end of last year, and was a prefect at Selwyn House,. He was regarded as a youth of marked ability. He had been staying at the Chateau for several days.