HAAST RANGE PEAKS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25390, 13 January 1948, Page 3

HAAST RANGE PEAKS

Ascent By Canterbury Mountaineers . IGLOO USED AS BASE Operating from a snow cave 6500 feet above sea-level, four members of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club recently climbed Mount French (7500 feet), Mount Aspiring (9500 ft and Mount Rolling Pin (about 8000 ft) on the Haast Range. 'The mountaineers were Messrs A. Evans (Ashburton), P. Powell (Dunedin), G. Milne (Wellington), and J. Ede (Christchurch). ,Th e party travelled to lake Wanaka by bus on Christmas Day. and continued their journey by taxi as far as the junction of the east and west Matukituki rivers, where they established an overnight camp. Travelling in heavy rain and against a high wind they reached Cascade Hut early on Boxing Day morning, and then went up the West Matukituki river to the Alpine Club’s hut, which is in the process of erection.

The following night, 'the mountaineers tramped to the foot of French Ridge, where they camped for -the night in heavy rain. On December 29 they made an ascent through 1500 feet of bush and 2000 feet of snowgrass and rock to a height of 6500 feet. At 6 p.m they began excavating a snow cave on a slope of 30 degrees. By 10.30 they had completed it. The igloo was lift x 6ft wide, and 3ft 6in high. Alcoves were made for primus stoves and for personal equipment. Two “li-lows” were placed cross-ways on tarred paper on the floor for beds; packs were used as rests for the feet, and ropes for pillows. The igloo was completely dry and free from wind. Tunnel Blocked

The tunnel entrance, which was about four feet long, was blocked with a pack during the first evening. This might have been disastrous for the party. One of the mountaineers who awakened early in the mornis-g on December 30 struck a match to see the time. The match barely flickered before going out. When two more matches failed to light, the . striker thought that the box of matches was wet. Going to the entrance, he found it completely blocked by a fall of snow and realised then that the matches had not ignited because there was insufficient oxygen inside the hut. But for his timely awakening the experiment of making camp in an igloo might have cost the four members of the party thteir lives. The fall of snow prevented climbing expeditions for the next two days. On the morning of January 1, the party broke camp at 3 a.m. and climbed on to Bonar Glacier, sidled above the river of ice and climbed up steep rock outcrops to they summit of Mount French, which, like the snow cave, is in Otago territory. A further fall of snow forced the mountaineers to return to their base camp. Fine View From Summit Leaving at 3 a.m. on the morning of January 2 they cramponed down Bonar Glacier to the foot of the north-west ridge of Mount Aspiring. About one hour and a half was lost in travelling down the glacier, as many crevasses were very open. From the foot of the ridge they began working up a rock ridge about 8.30 a.m., and two hours later, when 9000 ft up, they had to wear crampons and cut steps up the final 500 ft of hard ice. They reached the summit at 12.30 p.m. This is the first time for a number of years that an ascent has been made of Mount Aspiring. The mountaineers could see many peaks from the summit, including Cook. Castor, Pollox and Totoko. They returned to camp at 8.30 p.m. A further ascent of Mount French was made by Messrs Powell and Ede, with two Australians, on January 4. The other two members .of the party, leaving at 3 a.m., travelled down Bonar Glacier and over the north-west ridge of Mount Aspiring on to the Haast Range between the Waiatoto and Waipara rivers. They traversed several bumps on the Haast Range before climbing to the top of Mount Rolling Pin (Westland), which they reached at 8.30 a.m. They started the descent half an hour later and reached the base at 12.30 p.m. The party prepared for an attempt on Mount Skyscraper early the following morning, but as a north-west storm was approaching, Messrs Ede and Evans set out to climb Mount Avalanche. They reached a point 200 feet from the summit before being driven back by a high wind. They reached camp at noon. The same afternoon the climbers broke camp, travelling down to Cascade Hut. As rain was approaching down the valley, the party left for Lake Wanaka.