FAMOUS MOUNTAINEER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 233, 3 October 1933, Page 13

FAMOUS MOUNTAINEER.

A visitor to Xew Zealand is Miss K. Gardiner, of London, who arrived in Auckland yesterday by the Monowai. Miss Gardiner is already well acquainted with the Dominion, this being her fifth visit in search of beauties and thrills in mountain scenery and sport. One of the—first women to climb Mount Cook, the visitor has had a great deal of experience in mountain climbing. After coming out to Xew Zealand last year with tile intention of spending some time in the Southern Alps and at the Chateau, she was forced to give up her climbing because of the bad weather, and went back to Canada, where she spent the summer, climbing in the Rockies and in the mountainous regions around Lake Louise. Miss Gardiner there made several first ascents, one of Mount Foster, and one of Mount Hanbury, as well as scaling two unnamed peaks about 10,500 ft high. One of her most interesting experiences was an expedition with a pack train into the Goodshires, in tho Rockies. The trip was full of interest and variety, while opportunities for climbing were ideal. IL'he scenery was remarkable for its strong, rugged grandeur, and the mode of travel, while not exactly the acme of comfort, was ; both amusing and practical as well as different. Miss Gardiner has climbed a j little in Switzerland, but she confessed that she had done more ski-ing than climbing there. Leaving Auckland on Thursday, the visitor will go to The Chateau, where she will spend a short time before continuing her journey to the Hermitage, Mount Cook. On lier last visit she spent most of her time at the Franz Josef Glacier and at the Hermitage, although she considered that The Chateau could compare most favourably with any 1 of the overseas resorts she had visited.' At . the Hermitage especially the huts were splendidly equipped, aijd arrangements and facilities for climbing were ideal. About Mount Cook the climbing seemed to bo concentrated more in the one area, and was rather more difficult than in Switzerland and Canada. After a stay of six months in the Dominion Miss Gardiner will leave on March C for Canada, where she hopes to do some ski-ing before returning to England. Incidentally, the visitor was particularly impressed with the Maori collection in the Auckland Museum, stating that she thought it must be the finest in the world.