Himalayan Dining Club Will Meet To Hear Tall Stories

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27676, 4 June 1955, Page 6

Himalayan Dining Club Will Meet To Hear Tall Stories

What will probably be New Zealand’s most exclusive club will be formed at a dinner party in Christchurch on Saturday, September 10. The club will be called the Himalayan Dining Club and it will comprise men who have actually climbed in the Himalayas. Its objects are “to do nothing more strenuous than eating and telling tall stories.” It is thought that 28 men in the Dominion will be eligible to join.

The organising secretary is Mr L. V. (“Dan”) Bryant, of Pukekohe. Mr Bryant, who is headmaster of the Pukekohe High School, climbed on Mount Everest with Eric Shipton in 1935. He and Professor N. E. Odell, a veteran mountaineering geologist at the University of Otago, first discussed the idea of a club. Professor Odell climbed as far as 27,000 feet on Everest, and on June 8, 1924, saw Mallory and Irvine walk away to their death. He was also a member of the 1938 Everest expedition. Christchurch will be well repre-

sented in the club. One man is Mr W. P. Packard, of Cashmere, who was a geographer with the Tilman scientific expedition to the Himalayas in 1950. The expedition made a survey of a region in Nepal hitherto unmapped' and in parts not previously explored by Europeans. In 1951 the first all-New Zealand expedition to the Hamalayas climbed in the Garwhal. The highest of six peaks climbed was Mukut Parbat (23,760 ft The party, which was a private one. consisted of Messrs H. E. Riddiford of Wellington (leader), E. Cotter of Christchurch, E. P. (now Sir Edmund) Hillary, of Auckland, and W. G. Lowe of Hastings. A botanical expedition consisting of four climbers from Wellington went to the Himalayas two years later and climbed an unnamed peak of 23,545 ft 180 miles west of Mount Everest. The members were Messrs A. R. Roberts (leader). G. McCallum, T. C. Gardner and N. Bishop. In December, 1953, Hamish Mac--a. y° un g Spottish mountaineer, of Christchurch, and John Cunning: ham, another Scotsman, returned to New Zealand from the Himalayas? Their main feat was the climbing of Pingro, a difficult rock pinnacle 12 miles from Everest. Of the eight members of the New Zealand Alpine Club who went to th* Y^ ley -> ast 7 ear one - Mr Colin Todd, of Dunedin, died a few days ago from injuries suffered in a motor acrident Mr Todd was one of four who C^ be ?, Bar untse, a peak of 23,570 ft. Mr N. Hardie, of Timaru, was a S? er T? f the , pa ? ty ,ed by Dr. Charles Evans, of Liverpool, which climbed Mount Kancheniunsa (28,146 ft two weeks ago. He was also a member of the Barun Valiev exW d n°n other members were Messrs W. B. Beaven (Christchurch), C. J m.mtrtFnT ' lnyercar gilD. B. Wilkins "wdm. iP’J?n rr ° w 'Christchurch). oir Edmund Hillary, and Mr W G Lowe.

Another New Zealander in the Himalayas last year was Dr Tc Harrington. of Wellington. ' Dri! Harrington, who is a geological surd -.-eyor. led an Oxford University party’ News is expected within the next l W A.? a k 5 1? the 3 esult of an assault) on Masherbrum by members of thej Canterbury Mountaineering Club whb> are climbing in the Himalayas. The members tj- the expedition are Messrs S. Conway (leader), R. Chapman P« Bain. W. E. JJannah. L. R Hewitt A. S. Morgan** R. H. Watson, and' J Harrison. \ • Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Harrison who wd! take, up an appointment as military secretary and controller at Government House next iwth haj « th - e “ ma] ayas. UeSte’nantColonel. Harrison was a memberinf an expedition to the Karakoram when he 0097 With « the Indiat! An£' bite ' 3B) He suffered severe frost-.- * The club does not intend to start ua P another expedition to the Himalaya? i Its organisers wish to conduct b an entirely personal basis and thtok I b that, it will meet for dinner once a "d