ACCIDENT IN MOUNTAINS

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26967, 17 February 1953, Page 8

ACCIDENT IN MOUNTAINS

Two Men Injured In Falls RESCUE PARTY SETS OUT Two members of a party of four mountaineers were injured while climbing the Garden of Eden Glacier at the head of the Wee McGregor stream, in the upper Rangitata, on Friday. One of the men was able to return to Christchurch yesterday, but the other is still on the glacier awaiting the arrival of a rescue party.

The injured men are Graham Hencjerson, aged 22, of 45 Massey crescent, Christchurch, who is suffering from chest injuries, and David Dobson, aged 21, 169 Knowles street, St. Albans, Christchurch, who is suffering from a fractured arm and sprained ankles. He returned home yesterday. The other two members of the party are Donald MbKay, of Brenchley avenue, Christchurch, and Harold Ferguson, of Hari Hari, Westland. Details of the accident were received by the Ashburton police at 5.30 a.m. yesterday and preparations were made immediately to send a rescue party to the aid of the injured men. The rescue party will have to travel 60 miles from Ashburton to the Erewhon Station by truck and up the Clyde river, which feeds the Rangitata river, on foot. The first accident occurred when Mr Dobson lost his footing on the ice and fell on to some bouldbrs, breaking his left arm above the wrist and spraining both ankles. His three companions gave him first aid but he could not walk and so a stretcher was made out of a tent. The party then proceeded cautiously off the ice, moving 10 feet at a time till Mr Henderson slipped, falling into a crevasse where he hit a rock and injured his chest. He suffered a great deal of pain in being removed.

Leaving the two injured men in charge of Mr McKay, Mr Ferguson set out for help, and after a fast trip lasting five hours and a half reached the Erewhon Station, 15 miles away, at 11 p.m. on Saturday. Accompanied by Mr A. Urquhart, of Erewhon, he left on the return journey at 3.30 a.m. on Sunday. When they reached the two injured men they had great difficulty in moving them off the glacier to the Agnes bivouac, which was reached at 8.30 p.m. on Sunday. Mr Urquhart and one of the other members of the party returned to the Erewhon station, arriving at 1 a.m. yesterday. After a night’s rest at the bivouac, Mr Dobson was able to walk slowly yesterday from the bivouac to a horse, which he rode to the Erewhon station. From there he was taken by car to Ashburton, where he was attended by Dr. W. Guildford Todd at 5.45 p.m., and then taken by car to his at Christchurch. He arrived at his home at 8.30 p.m. yesterday in an exhausted condition, and after further medical attention he went to bed. Mr Henderson remained at the Agnes bivouac to be brought out by the rescue party. Dr. Todd went to the Erewhon station on Sunday afternoon expecting the injured men to arrive there, and he returned to Ashburton early yesterday morniry? after it’ was considered that further help to get them out would be necessary. The climbers had an excellent first aid kit and had plenty of food, some of which had been dropped to them by air earlier in the week. The food, together with hot drinks, had helped the injured men considerably. It was understood late last evening that Mr Henderson’s condition had improved. Rescue Party’s Task

The rescue party, headed by Mr C. J. Pattie, a member of the Erewhon ' (Ashburton) branch of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club, Dr. P. J. Dowcett, of Ashburton, and Constables G. Hillyer, of Ashburton, and G. Dunlop, of Methven, and seven other men, most of whom are experienced mountaineers, was not expected to readh the bivouac until midnight and further reports are not expected until tonight. To aid in the rescue of Mr Henderson, a Bren Gun carrier was taken five miles up the Clyde riverbed yesterday, and an ambulance from the Ashburton Public Hospital was sent to the Erewhon Station, where it is standing by. From Erewhon the party will travel along the Clyde river to get to the foot of the glacier where the Agnes bivouac, an Bft by 10ft hut, is located. Although it is expected to take a considerable time to reach the bivouac, the Clyde riverbed under normal conditions is not difficult to travel on and horses can go to within four miles of the bivouac. The Clyde is subject to sudden flooding from the melted ice and snow fields, in north-westerly weather. There are bluffs at several places in the riverbed, but the river can be forded. Erewhon Station is approximately .on a level with the junction of the Clyde and Havelock rivers, which feed the Rangitata, and is some miles above the Mesopotamia Station on the opposite side of the Rangitata.