IN MOUNTAIN RANGES CHRISTMAS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21355, 24 December 1934, Page 10 (Supplement)

IN MOUNTAIN RANGES CHRISTMAS

Peace on earth and goodwill towards men. Christmas in the New Zealand mountains is all the better for their companionship, but the peace does not last long in the teeth of a nor'-west gale. December conditions are seldom favourable to climbers. A casual glance at a list of first ascents will show that only three mountains have fallen for the first time on December 25, namely Mount Cook in 1894, The Priest's Cap in 1905, and Newton Peak in 1933. Fortunate were the climbers on Aorangi, who were able to record "At 1.30 on Christmas Day we exultantly stepped on to the highest pinnacles of the monarch of the Southern Alps." At the Hermitage, the season's festivities have been known to demand the attention of tourists. In the lesser known ranges the invadparties have usually just left their work in the cities and are watching the valleys narrow as the glaciers come into sight. Christmas Day is marked out on the climbing calendar as a day of toil. Let these extracts from the "Canterbury Mountaineer" relate typical experiences of December 25: 1931. in the Rakaia: "A stiff nor'wester was blowing and nobody was sorry when the hut came into view at 6 p-m.. 1 " In the Mingha: "We encountered a wonderful gorge and eventually had to return after getting really wet while wading waist high through pools and rapids." 1932. In the Arrowsmith Range: "In jagged stream in time to pitch our tent and have a look about before mist came down and rain set in." In the Rakaia: "An evening camp was made on a sub-alpine terrace in heavy rain. In the

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night, the river rose and began to dash against the terrace, carving out a pretty cornice. The tent occupants on the terrace heard the flood cutting in, but no one was keen to move camp." 1533. In the Rangitata: "Further down, the angle of the snow slope steepened and as we could not see whether or not there was an icefall we proceeded carefully. However, we encountered nothing more thrilling than soft snow on a patch of ice and soon reached the floor of the glacier." In the Rakaia: "The Ramsay morraine was tackled in the heat of the day; slow work with provisions for 18 days. Near the clear ice, the tent was pitched on a mosaic of crazy pavements. Pemmican stew and soup went down well." Also the Rakaia: "Tom and Geoff came along also to watch us all get swept down the river, but they were horribly disappointed for just above Cattle creek we found the river in several streams, and forded easily." What Christmas Day, 1934. will bring forth, remains to be seen. Certain it is that many mountaineering and tramping parties will be out in the backblocks. So if a nor'wester is sweeping the plains fore and aft on December 25, think of the river headwaters. And do not imagine that the hills on the Main Divide will be bathed in the same sunshine that warms the sunbakers at New Brighton. Each man to his sport, and if the tramper is growling at the rain on Christmas Day, perhaps the weather will improve for him as the New Year comes in.