ALPINE EVENING

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21239, 10 August 1934, Page 25

ALPINE EVENING

♦ ILLUSTRATED LECTURES BY CLIMBERS I The familiar and easily accessible ! mountain playgrounds of Canterbury !as well as the more remote regions i penetrated by enterprising mountaineers were dealt with by speakers at an "Alpine Evening," under the auspices of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club, at the Radiant Hall yester- ! day. There was a very large attendance of the public, and the proceeds will go toward the fund for the construction of a hut for climbers at Arthurs Pass. Mr B. A. Barrar, whose subject was ihe Arthurs Pass National Park, took the audience into many out-of-the-way spots seldom visited "by excursionists and others, whose visits to this popular winter sports centre are limited. The beauties of the national park were well illustrated by an excellent series 6f lantern slides. Mr Barrer dealt with the history of climbing in the Arthurs Pass region, and with *he aid of the slides illustrated the familiar and the not-so-familiar climbs in the Waimakariri and Bealey valleys and the watersheds of the Mingha, Edwards, and Hawdon streams, tributaries of the Waimakariri j Popular Climbing Centre Mr Barrer said that the improvement in transport facilities had enabled much climbing to be carried out in the pass district, which was now a popular resort each week-end during the winter. Mount Rolleston, a favourite with members of the club, presented an excellent opportunity for really good climbing within easy reach of Christchurch, and while not a technically difficult peak would always command the respect of mountaineers. Mr B. R. Turner described the trip of a party of four members of the club into the headwaters of th" river—virtually unknown country. The cameras of the party did full justice to the remarkable variety of rugged and picturesque scenery and, as ihe lecturer remarked, the photographs were of country never before recorded by the camera. One result of the visit of this party was that the area of Canterbury was enlarged and the area of Westland decreased, for it was found that the main divide was incorrectly plotted on the survey maps. The party also found three unmapped divide peaks, made several first ascents, and made the first crossing of an unnamed pass between Eric stream (Canterbury) and Prospector creek (Westland). Wild Country The Mathias and Whitcombe rivers were dealt with by Mr T. N. Robins, who. as he explained to his audience, had an unshaken belief that the shortest distance between two points was a straight line. In the process of moving from one point to another, therefore, he did not find It necessary to scramble over mountain tops, but found the lowest levels of the mountain ranges to afford the most satisfadory routes. Nevertheless his photographs were largely of wild and little-freauented country—"vpry pretty, but of little practical use for walking on." At the conclusion Mr Robins showed some cine filnrt dealing with some of the more diverting moments in mountain trips—diverting, that is. for the audience, but rather less amusing to those who were shown fording, or more often swimming, flooded mountain streams, or hacking their way through tangled bush.