PACKING FOR THE HIMALAYAS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27565, 24 January 1955, Page 8

PACKING FOR THE HIMALAYAS

Canterbury Men At Work

THREE TONS OF FOOD AND EQUIPMENT

When members of the main body of the Canterbury expedition to Masherbrum in the Karakoram Himalayas sail from Wellington in the Wanganella on February 24 on the fii*st stage of their journey to Kashmir they will have with them a little more than three tons of equipment and supplies. By comparision with some other Himalayan expeditions the Canterbury party’s baggage is modest in size—the Germans took nine tons to Nanga Parbat—but a great deal of careful planning and detail is still involved in its assembly and packing. Packing is now in full swing in a workshop in Sydenham, and expedition members are spending nearly, all their spare time at it On Saturday afternoon seven of the nine New,Zealanders in the party were on the job. They were the leader of the party, Mr Stan Conway, and Messrs J. Harrison, R. Chapman, W. E. Hannah, A. S. Morgan, Peter Bain and R. H. Watson. Helping them were fellow members of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club, Messrs G. Prior, S. C. V. Muirson and A. Hemmingsen. When a reporter called at the workshop some of the climbers were weighing out sugar into poly-tainers, which will be used as water bottles on the mountain. These light unbreakable plastic containers are being used to carry sugar to save space, but the bulk of the 7701 b of sugar, which will be taken to Pakistan by the expedition, is being packed in Polythene bags with three pounds to a bag. Sugar is but one item of a food list with 70 items weighing a little more than one and a half tons. Major items include 2101 b of milk powder, 4501 b of plain biscuits, 1161 b of cheese, 1051 b of corned beef, 1351 b of tongues, and 1681 b of chocolate. Tins of meat, tins of coffee, bottles of tomato sauce, packets of soups, chocolate, matches and candles and tins of salt were piled in the middle of the workshop’s floor as packing went on late on Saturday afternoon.

The expedition’s food supplies will allow European members of the party an average of two and a half pounds of food a day. In addition the expedition will supplement its rations by buying what fresh supplies it can on the way in to the mountain. The six Hunza high-altitude porters who will accompany the New Zealanders on the climb will take about, a third of their daily food supplies from the same rations as the Europeans. The rest of their food will be purchased by the expedition from local sources at Skardu on the way to the mountain. Arrangements have been made for the 130 Balti porters, who will carry the expedition’s supplies into Masherbrum, to draw their food supplies from villages on route. Load for Porters Great care is being take in packaging the food supplies, which are being made up into 601 b loads—the weights which will be carried by the porters on the 100 miles trek from Skardu to the base camp at 13.500 ft on Masherbrum glacier. The supplies for a load are packed in two cardboard containers which are sealed and given a coating of a waterproofing compound. Plywood strips cut out on a portable sawbench in the workshop are then secured by metal strips round the four sides of the two containers. The plywood for this purpose has been salvaged from 50 tea chests. Six such loads then go into a larger case again manufactured out of plywood on the premises, and these cases will go aboard the Wanganella at Wellington next month. At Rawalpindi, in Pakistan, these outer cases will be discarded for the air trip by Orient Airways DC-3’s to Skardu.

So that details of the baggage can be readily supplied to Customs officials, and the expedition itself can know exactly where to locate every item, a thorough inventory of cardboard containers and shipping cases is being made. Each container and case has a number stencilled on it and for each there is a card with details of its contents. A very important item of the expedition’s equipment is its primus units. There are seven of these and they are a copy of the primuses used by the successful 1953 British Everest expedition. The primuses, which are of Swedish design, have, with the helo of a Canterbury mountaineer, Mr Neil Hamilton, been fitted locally with a series of metal windshields so that they will be able to operate efficiently at high altiutdes in extreme cold and in high winds. Five pressure cookers will be used to cook the expedition’s food. Medical Supplies Medical supplies weighing about 1001 b and valued at £3OO to £4OO are to be carried by the party. They are being assembled from a list supplied by Dr. Michael Ball, a well-known English climber, who was with Sir Edmund Hillary in the Barun Valley last year.

A good deal of the expedition’s equipment is now ready for packing, but some items have still to come from England. Eight pairs of high altitude boots have just arrived. The air freight on them amounted to £53. The boots, which were made in London by an alpine specialist to individual measurements, have a layer of opossum fur between the outer and inner layer of leather. They have a very narrow welt and high toes so that warm air can circulate round the toes. Plastic mesh insole/s provide eitra insulation against the cold.

Army boots are being packed for the coolies and the high altitude porters will be fitted with boots which have been specially made in Christchurch on a ski last. On the trek into Masherbrum the New Zealanders will wear tennis boots and the Hunza porters sandshoes. Light tent boots, which have been designed and made by a Dunedin firm, have a layer of down covered with rubberised nylon. Socks made in Wellington out of greasy wool with nylon reinforcing are of a type that gave outstanding service to members of last year’s New Zealand Alpine Club expedition to the Himalayas. Silk gloves, which will be worn next to the skin, under woollen and windproof gloves, are like those used by the Royal Air Force. For the journey all clothing is being packed in canvas kit bags. Rayon Sleeping Bags Big colourful rayon bags in reds, blues, pinks and browns will be used by the climbers as sleeping bags during the warm journey across Pakistan. Afterwards they may be used as sheets inside the orthodox sleeping bags or as an outer cover for the bags. All down clothing and sleeping bags have been supplied by a Dunedin manufacturer, and sleeping bags have also been made available to the party by the New Zealand Alpine Club. A tent nine feet square with sixfoot walls, which has been given by a Christchurch firm, will be used by the expedition at its base camp. Three four-man and four two-man Meade tents and two two-man yak tents are also to be used on the mountain.

A green canvas bag bearing the words, “New Zealand Karakoram Expedition, 1f55,” will have great significance for the climbers. It will bring them tidings of the outside world and take out news of their progress. It is the mail bag, which will be carried by native runner over the 100 miles from the mountain to Skardu.

At Rawalpindi the expedition will take over a radio receiver with which it is hoped to pick up weather forecasts. It is probable that the party will be taking with them five handy talkie mter-camp communication radio sets. Scientific equipment for mapping and Glaciology is being sent to the party from England. For weather purposes they will also carry a barometer and minimum and maximum thermometer.

Each member of the party will carry a 35-millimetre camera for colour photography, and there will be several cameras for black and white work. About 100 slides of New Zealand scenes, including some of Christchurch and the Southern Alps, will be taken to show to people in Pakistan.