DISCOVERY OF THE OLIVINE ICE PLATEAU

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 108, 8 May 1937, Page 1 (Supplement)

DISCOVERY OF THE OLIVINE ICE PLATEAU

EXPLORATION IN NEW ZEALAND IN 1937.

ForUhree months during the summer of this year a New ZeaSand Alpine Club party, comprising men from Dunedm, Oamaru and Timaru, was engaged in exploration and,climbing in the little known, and in many parts completely unknown, stretch of country lying in the extreme north-west corner of Otago, reaching northward to the boundary of Westland, south and west to the Hollyford the West Coast, and east and south-east to the Dart reiver and the northern end of Lake Wakatipu. The real objective of the party was the almost inaccessible Olivine Range, whose mighty snow peaks, Climax, Destiny and Ark, have attracted the attention of alpinists in the north-west of Otago for some time; but, owing partly to the extremely bad season and exceptional quantity of snow, and partly to the difficult nature of the country, it was not untfl three unsuccessful attempts had been made that two members of the party, Messrs. J. T. Holloway and E. H. Sealy, both of Dunedin, finally got through to the great Olivine ice plateau, which lies right in the midst of the Olive Range. The story is told on this page.

fßy E. H. SEALY.) r I'HE party travelled by train to King.X ston, at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu, and then by the picturesque little lake ferry to Queenstown, and the next day on to Kinloch at the very head of the lake. A permanent base camp •was established 12 or 15 miles up the Dart River, north of Kinloch, in the disused buildings of an old and ruined sawmill—a relic of the heyday of northern Otago in the old gold rush days when prospectors' huts were being built •11 along the banks of the Dart, Shotover and Kawarau Rivers, when men diligently panned the shingle in Skippers' Creek and Roaring Meg, when the Moonlight was a new and prospering mine, and Queenstown a busy rendezvous for the rough men of fortune who are ever attracted by the lure of gold. Three months' provisions were packed in and stored in the mill bunkhouse, which made an excellent camp and a comfortable resting place for the party during the days spent in the base —■ pleasant days of sunny idleness, in enjoyable contrast to the long weeks of toil, hardship and exposure, between which the short intervals at the mill came as very welcome rests from labour. Four attempts in all were made along different routes to reach the Olivine Mountains, the tributaries of the Dart River on the north-western side being tried one by one. Attempts That Failed. First thfc Beansburn, which promised to provide an almost direct route northward, and it was with high hopes of speedily reaching their goal that the party travelled up this valley; but the Beansburn flows steep-walled into the Dart through dense and tangled bush; heavy rain and floods made fords impassable; and after days of heavy going and very little progress the attempt was abandoned, but not before disaster had very nearly overtaken the party when caught in an avalanche on the slopes of Mount Cosmos. Little more success attended the second attempt. Several good peaks, however, were climbed during this part of the trip, from the tops of which routes were picked for a third attempt before cruel weather conditions drove the party back to the old mill for a few days' rest, which lengthened into ten days as storm after storm came raging down out of the mountains into the valley below. Their increasing knowledge of the country now enabled the party to reach without much difficulty a point further north than had been attained on either of the two previous occasions, and hopes of success again rose high as the distant Olivine Peaks- came nearer ami nearer. Heavy snow during the previous week had made travelling very difficult, but good climbing conditions might still have been produced by a day or two of fine weather. This, however, was not to be the case. Further storms were seen approaching from the sea, and the party had barely time to settle into a rock camp on a low saddle before all such hopes were completely destroyed by two days of the most appalling snow, rain, hail and sleet, while lightning flashed and thunder roared above the shriek of the wind which swept through the rock cave, freezing to the bone the men who lay there, huddled in their sleeping bags—small protection against such fury. High Camp Established. Towards evening on the second day of the storm the snow suddenly ceased, the clouds rolled away and the sun shone out on a scene of purest white from the high tops of the Bryneira Peaks to the very floor of the valley. The whole tussock flat, several hundred acres in extent, in which the camp was situated, lay deep in snow and the party found themselves almost walled up in their little rock shelter. In high spirits once more with the return of fine weather, they dug themselves out,- and, glad to stretch their legs again, wandered away down the valley, knee deep in the soft drift, and gazed back at those pure white slopes, as the slanting sun light crept up out of the valley and gilded the very tip of Fiery Peak, finally fading in a rosy blush on the mighty top of Sarpedon. Under such conditions the attempt which was made

during the days that followed to reach the Olivine by what, at any time, must have proved an extremely difficult route, was predoomed to iailure. However, a high camp was established a little further north and several fine peaks climbed, including the two southernmost mountains of the Dart-Barrier Range, before a sheer rock wall finally forced the party to admit defeat. A River and a Plan. It was from the top of one of the Dart-Barrier peaks that the first view was obtained of a large river running from the north through broad flats and then away to the west and out to sea. The presence of this river had previously remained completely unsuspected, but it was realised now, on seeing clearly its whole course, that if once those broad, grassy flats could be giiined they would make an easy road into the very heart of the elusive Olivine Mountains; and it was here, 8000 ft above sea level, with range upon range of giant snow-capped peaks stretching away in all directions until lost in the dim haze of distance, that a plan was formed and, a route picked whereby, from the head of the Margaret Glacier, which flows into the middle Dart, a traverse might be made of the Dart-Barrier Range, and thence a descent into the valley which would lead to the final realisation of the hopes of the party. "With this in view good time was made back to the old mill, and a few days later with three weeks' provisions the party, now reduced to two, set out on the fourth and final attempt to explore the wonders of an unknown land. "Arawata Bill." A day's march up the Dart River from the base camp brought them to the Dredge Huts—another relic of the old gold-dredging days—where they were again held up by bad weather; but three days were very pleasantly spent there in the company of the well-known veteran, Arawata Bill, who was also weatherbound at the huts on his return from an unsuccessful attempt to cross into the Joe River by means of O'Leary Pass. Many an interesting tale of early experience was told by this hardy old-timer of nearly 80 years of age as the three men sat round the fire and watched the billy boil, while outside the rain poured incessantly, and the Dart, which had to be forded before further progress could be made, rose steadily higher.

With the first break in the storm the Dart was forded and a camp pitched about midday above bush level on the slopes of Mount Hedin, the only virgin peak then left in the Southern DartBarrier Range. That afternoon Hedin was climbed, and a route picked along the Margaret Glacier to be followed next day. It had been the original intention of the two men to walk up the ice floor of the glacier using crampons, but further snow during the

previous three days had rendered this course impossible. The deeply-schrunded and crevasse-seamed floor of the glacier was completely covered by a foot or two of treacherous, soft, powder-snow, while from the walls above great avalanches roared continuously into that death trap below. The party was forced to travel, therefore, on steep, soft snow slopes round the edge of the glacier and 1500 ft above its bed. Here the going was fairly good until the increasing heat of the day softened the snow, and avalanches began to fall thick and fast before and behind the two men, who, roped together now and anchoring at every step, proceeded with the utmost caution and in a high state of nervous tension until about midday, when it was considered that further progress that dav was impossible. Nervous Night. The party was now nicely caugh*. Retreat along the avalanche-swept slopes just traversed was as equally impossible as further progress forward, so the erevassed floor of the glacier itself was the only hope of safety. Down, therefore, into the valley went the two men to pitch a camp on an island of floating rock- right on the glacier bed and protected by a broad rock ledge above from the avalanches which were now rolling down from all sides. It was hoped that, with an early start the next day, while the snow was still frozen hard, an escape would be made from the glacier; but in the meantime a long afternoon and night had to be spent in nervous anxiety, confined on that one small island of "safety while the thunderous roar of falling ice continued almost incessantly. Little sleep was had that night. The cold was intense; and many a time did the two men struggle from their sleeping bags and rush outside the tent as a particularly loud and ominous rumble announced the approach of a closer fall, than usual. However, with daylight the next morning, the snow still soft and very difficult, but avalanching less than before, the two men were threading their way through the maze of schrunds and crevasses at the head of the glacier to stand finally on top of a pass, at about 6500 ft in the Dart-Barrier Range, while in front, and now quite close, towered the mighty Olivine Peaks—so near, so very nearly within their grasp, and yet between the party and their goal still stood the precipitous descent into the broad flats of the newlv-discov-ered river—3ooo feet of steep snow and rock, an extremely difficult climb under the existing bad conditions. No Way of Retreat. At this point, so impossible did the descent appear, the two men might almost have turned back, to admit defeat once again, near as they were to their goal, but way of retreat there was none. The Margaret Glacier had become, with the heat of the day, quite out of the question, and the only other way off the col on which the men now stood was over Desperation Pass, a route well nigh as hazardous as that which lay in front. To make matters worse, in the western sky now began to appear the unmistakable "hog-backs" and long windstreaks which herald the sure approach of a nor'-wester at no very distant period. Faced, therefore, with the choice of pushing on or of attempting to weather a nor'-west storm on that exposed ridge at 6300 ft (a danger to be avoided at all costs), the party chose what seemed the lesser of the two evils; each shouldered once again his heavy pack, tightened the rope on his waist, gripped more firmlv the shaft of his ice axe, and, dropping down off the top of the pass, started on that perilous descent.

from the ridge above and decreasing the size of the dizzy fall below, until at length they found themselves once more on solid rock, and sat down to take the shake out or their knees while an avalanche swept across the very slops they had just traversed. Some rockwork, difficult with heavj packs, had still to -oe faced, but towards evening, as the setting sun was tinting with pink and gold the tall snow peaks which towered about them, the two men stood at last among the tussock in that lost valley and bathed in the waters of its forgotten river, well contented. "Forgotten River." And a beautiful river and a remarkable valley it is, but there is good cause for its presence having remained so long unknown to man. Steep, and in many places sheer, 3000 ft walls completely encircle it, the exit of the river being made through two gorges, the lower of which alone has stood for 70 years as impassable, while the existence of the upper had not even been suspected. Enclosed behind these barriers are up to 2000 acres of good, flat grassland, where deer have roamed for years in their hundreds, undisturbed by" the sight of man. It has been decided" to give to it the name Forgotten River, because it is thought that Barrington in 1864, during his famous exploration trip down the Olivine River, must have seen at least its mouth. No mention of it appears in his reports, however, and it has since been forgotten and omitted from the maps. # Some days later, when the nor*-west clouds once more rolled away, it was an easy matter to pitch a high camp at the head of Forgotten River and to gain from there the great Olivine Ice Plateau, from which several of the best of the Olivine peaks were climbed. The Olivine Plateau itself is of a most remarkable formation and deserves some special mention. A level and unbroken stretch of snow some five miles by three miles in extent, without so much as a wind ruffle on it. is completely encircled by 7000 ft and 8000 ft peaks. The height "of the plateau itself is about 6000 ft, and the sides everywhere slope gently upwards, gradually steepening as their height increases, so that they give a perfect "basin" effect. At the northern end only is there a hreak in the surrounding wall where the plateau spills over into the icefalls that feed a mighty glacier. Certainly nowhere in New Zealand is there to be found such an ideal spot for ski-ing. Even in February the long, even slopes were covered with good, dry powder snow, so that it would appear that skiing parties could enjoy ideal conditions there all the year round. The inaccessibility of this remarkable spot has now to' some extent been overcome by the finding of a way through the lower gorges of Forgotten River, where, with very little trouble, and with the aid of the already existing excellent deer trails, a track could be made which would bring the Olivine Plateau to within two days' march of the Hollyford, down which in the very near future the Martin's Bay Road will pass. When this is done a veritable paradise will be opened up for the tramper, the deer stalker, the ski runner and the climber—a paradise which in time is certain to become one of New Zealand's most popular holiday resorts. Desolate and Terrible. Having got into Forgotten River and attained their objective, the party was now confronted with the problem of getting out, and no easy problem it proved to be. Food was by this time running low and some 'way had to be found, and that without delay, through the deep gorges that guard the entrance to that hidden valley. But those two gorges had stood through countless ages untraversed by the foot of man. and had now no intention of submitting easily to such indignity. Deep down in that river bed are piled in awful confusion huge masses of jagged rode, wrenched and torn from the mountains above and hurled down long years ago into the narrow gut through which the river forces its way, completely lost at times, and at times gushing out again in a turmoil of whirling spray and seething foam, with here and there a stretch of deep, green, swift-flowing water—a desolate and terrible place, through which somehow or another the two men had'now to find their way. The bed of the gorge itself was soon found to be impassable, and several attempts higher up the steep walls were frustrated by huge bluffs that towered for hundreds of feet amidst almost impenetrable bush.

Soft, wet snow lay. ready to slip at any moment, up to a foot deep on steep slopes of hard ice, arid every step had to be securely anchored, the party moving only one at a time. For several hours they crept on foot by foot in this manner, gradually increasing the distance

Finally, however, by connecting up parts of deer tracks, shelves and ledges of rock, and a large earth fault running parallel to the gorge, quite an easy route was found not far above the river bed, and, tired and hungry (for rations had been pretty thin for several days), their clothes torn to ribbons, their beards unkempt, and their faces and hands scratched and torn with bush lawyer, the two men dropped at long last on to the track which runs along the banks of the Pyke River and Lake Alabaster to join the Hollyford not far from Martin's Bay. Once on the jrood. well-marked Hollyford track, two days' easy going brought them to the public works camp at Homer Saddle, whence bus and train speeded them back to Dunedin and civilisation—to a shave, clean clothes and a collar and tie once again.