ALPINE CLIMBING.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7737, 17 December 1890, Page 5

ALPINE CLIMBING.

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AN IMTERViSW WITH MB UaM-

I ' 4 (^;CiI33.SFMJIAI.BIiyonXKB.) [ Mr 6. E; Manaeriog, who* has. already ! achieved some conalderable amdbnt'of~ I fame, for ,bis- attempt to vanquish the monarch oi Hew Zealand mountains, [retOTned last night from as extended, tonx in the Alpine segroa%e-*t'eadinqlrQm the las iastv During the Whole of the*. trip, -the Salient points ot which wererelated, to a paesobetX o& on*? staff 1 -in an tate-rrte-— lost ntght, Mr Manneririg, wip wsi accompanied by Mr Di*_on,. had a-,., very ex>cltin» time, not oaly In the attack; on Mount Cook, * which they ascended to' within 'IM> <te«t r or ,so pt tho, summit, imt a|sa daring A subsequent canoe trip. ;"do%^A^ : - 4 Pa3kaM ; ; tfrJfltoA Walt-ski;-; a-'jc-axaey whidh was fraught with; danger' .alnaoafe every step of the' way. The [■Pakaki,*id. full of boulders sad as a conaa!f^otig^.: i the' -one' ol the *i gceatsest possible difficulty sued,. danger, j J-SbSjrmSes of eleveh hoorsjia, eapeciaUy'when the water j wascs© ditfifiuifc, to navigate. .-..-:•.,,.---*' ,-di J 'ai «*WetefrC r^sechor_b,', said Mr Manner-, ing, who,by*; the looks hbae "the-j worse fo*?_tfsA irlp, **ott ! the Ist, aa& jonfjithfios&id crossed the Xa&luahr at; G -#Msf we* vary e_*eltlflg wbt% -aa' ■we both'-shlpped water in,our canoes, the, eurrerifc and roaghv' Oh. the -Tho:f%d^. : -**t>e -dide the Ball glacier camp,; wentr up the rigot side of the; and 'foaad : -several glacier-; S ! <*-*t€li-d D s«meß, bitt they were' all too, -HekW'tib- Bring do#h. We coda ted twenty. dirt? bands ou the Hochsteteef glacier, aad srav*- a remarkable f ice of ice-worn rock ia ; the tlritt of the Ball gfaCier, from 70ffe to lOWfc WeAtfot a grand View. of the- Ball and Tasman glaciers, x the-Dome and surrounding peaks being * quite Aclear. We left' the camp on; -PHdSy, December sefc; at S -Am., aad reached the other side of the Mochstetter ice. at We climbed to the bivouac, 7400 ft- and found'the snow in a, condition,', the.; slopes-, beiag aUve.witnAsnow and rockjavalanches.• The last year'sLCßwhe £ pf, provisions,was. found to be in good condition under -ft, otsnow andlßlu ice. On Saturday, Decent-, berdth, the bivouac for the peak at 4 a.m.", the'snbw being soft and ia bad condition. ~We reached the plateau over I the jEUastfepiir in two hours, the climbing being s*,eep and dangerous. The wind,, which -#ib from the 3.W-V blew on the plateau with great violence,. and it was . Intensely cold. We did not think it; tw/se'i'tb proceed, so made back to the bjTvbuac 1 , and remained la camp. Oa the: '7th we made a second start at 3.-5 a. io.. ;f6'r'the''_>9'ak,' the snow, beliag,'soft, and w'Mktftk yexy arduous.A "An immehse,> 'a*vSaacne* coveriag frohi: forty td sixty•_cres v , was seeh coming from Tis-. man. We crossed the plateau at "Ira foot aad proceeded - up- to Ui© X-iada glacier, - crossing.^many, snow bridges and ere-. vaases.---'Phere'was no'windvahd the heat: of the sun reflected from the snow was, soniething dreadful. "The vteweoa-'every hand were superb. , We reachediha head., of tlrfr-Ltoda glacier right under the peak; iaiOOUft-—at; >lnp-m., aad left the Canowv-fdrAhard ice./ We-cut; about 200. steps up to Aa mass of -rock • With ice couloi*-6 between icet cliffs overhang-, AEinding this> Very impracticable, we*. -eufcioutf way up the side of a couloir oh. then left, blocks coming doV#U, : ■—osslng.the couloir as its head, as Mr•Sraen did* i-.We-made some good climbing fon'the roctes to the secoadicooiot-e throukE • hard icei At about i> .p.m. we had reached an -altitude oi The. raps Mas •f hardf and .we were vety much eat-. hausted.' We were :aow l«s_.thaa 2(K)£t from »the : Ali-the* difficulties Wer& overeojne*:-and ifc only -*£mali_«£i/t£>< cut -step's i for ,4n ; hoes - Aij.3Mo3f.iT to reach' the stopped—: that *.**i hoar,t'* i.dweVe£, • d'JWp. should .have ,-,-been compelled to.-s*e-. niain all Anight, and' as that probkbly meant leaving,our- boaes. de-i cided to return and attempt to reach our. tricks atthe head of the Linda glacier before, dark, most dangerous do'wnVaya slip anywhere meant certaindeath to both.. ■ However, we nianapced to crbss the-large cref asse, oa to'the Linda in time3hdlightiQg..oo!r lantern we-got to outsteps ox thejnor-aihg., As the eight woireon fh© sndw got-harder, and we plodded da crawling over the enow :'Jbrfilges, AcA, until we jreachetl ibarbivouac at ?#.a*m,/ .having beeA-twenby-tHwie hduvS going without a halt... Wefemaiaed .collecting, &c, nutil Wednesday,:. Dt*-. .^mberr.lQth., when w& started for, , T |. survey camp ,on the MoK' «£dsQik AvGlacier, we. Xii&B&he&i Mr Cooper, the photographer, from 'Messrs Wheeler and Son, was &t the camp,, and-we wen* with hiaMn'the afternoon to The tee fallAof >!the' Oaalow Glacier."" .|I secured fbtir. photoar ahd' Mr, Cooper also got some* good dnes. On the llth we'"-left camp for, tho Ball Gmclereamp,: and then," after packing swags, made Brod-ricj-'s'lovrer Tastnancamp at dusk,lntendlitg, to go'dowo the Tasmania our canoes. W- rea"Bhe<- the bnPriday, 12th,: aad left there qa !3tb„at 9 Am. Our canoes were at Birch Hill, and we got Sunder weigh on A the Tasman at I" p.m., ;bo'tn canoes leaking badly. The first part of tneAriver, is very bad and rough, .and, we; shipped. a great deal:of water.. :We Lake Pukasi-—twenty-seven, rodea—at. s|K.i3a., havina; to stop and bale but every half hpar. She lake was, veryrough, and We could" just keep afloat by constant baliag, making, Pukaki ferry at" 8 p.*m. quite; done up. Oa Suhday,"Hth, ; after patching bur canoes, we started at l,3o«p.mv>down the Pokaki rivfei-, which was desperate dangerous work, the river being a-lon-? sacces&iorr of rapids over large boulders. Over six miles ol it we r only paddled about half a mile, having to walk alongside the river and take the-c-j-bes. We walked back to Pukaki -ferry, leaving our canoes'* and on Mon-day,-15 th t made another start and ran the Pukaki. We shot a number of rapids*, all very bad, and got throagh the Waitaki' Gtorge at making Bugged Ridge, thirty-dye miles from Pukaki Ferry, ar W e spent the night at Mr Butherford*9* ianjr left this morning- at to catch the express at Waitaki, sixty miles by 3.30 p.m* 'The river waa grand going for the canoes,; and-we averaged eight miles an hour all through, reaching Waitaki atlp.m., and reaciaing Chrisechdrch by the express co*night, glad. enough to gethom-.r'?'-- -■.-■:..■-.-".-.■-■' .;-.-....;.)