18-Day Mountaineering Trip In South Westland

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28489, 20 January 1958, Page 11

18-Day Mountaineering Trip In South Westland

Within sight of Bruce Bay, the Hooker range includes peaks such as Mount Strachan (8359 ft which are accessible either from the Landsborough or the Maitahi valleys. A party from the Canterbury Mountaineering Club comprising Messrs Stan Conway, Bill Hannah, Ray Chapman and John Pascoe, has returned from an 18-day trip on which bad weather made it inadvisable to persist with a

proposed trans-range crossing from the Maitahi to the Copland. Once established at the head of the Maitahi valley the party decided to sit out the weather in a natural rock cave in which the amenities were a reasonably dry stone bunk lined with snowgrass, a good fire-place and rock benches carpeted with thick moss. .The other inhabitants of this shelter were mice and keas, both being interested in the visitors’ food supplies. View of Zora Glacier

After a ffcw days of bad weather during which a visit to the Mueller Pass gave a good view of the Zora glacier in a few minutes break in the mist, the wpather cleared sufficently for the party to climb Crystal peak from the New Year glacier and col. A snow storm that changed to rain forced a descent after a reconnaissance of the upper snowfields of the Zora glac-

ier. Two days later during another temporary improvement in the weather the party was on top of Mount Doubtful at the head of the Zora gl&cier. The panorama of Westland and Divide peaks at 8 a.m. was completely clear of fog. The party -described the view 'as the finest they had seen in this country. Although well under 8000 ft, Mount Doubtful is poised above the head of the Makawhio (Jacobs) river, a mountain fastness seldom visited by mountaineers. Colour and black and -white cameras were kept busy recording unusual angles of the great 10,000 ft peaks Mount Tasman and Mount Cook, as well as fascinating shots of some inaccessable ranges. Inevitably mist rolled up from the Tasman sea and the party had to return to camp by .11.30 a.m.

On Mount Strachan After a further rest the party climbed Mount Strachan from the Mueller pass. The climbers left the rock cave at 2 a.m. and by dawn were high on the Hooker range listening to the roar of the Landsborough river thousands of feet below while the wintry looking snows of the Main Divide glistened across the valley. At 4.30 a.m. good crampon conditions

‘ led to the crevassed snowfields of i a mapped but unnamed glacier. i From the summit of Mount ‘ Strachan the party could clearly • see part of Lake Ohau through a gap in the Divide, while in the r opposite direction the coastline of f Bruce Bay was in view. Once • again north-west fog and drizzle • rolled up the valley and softened ' firm snow to slush. Lack of visi- • bility caused some loss of time i on the descent.

When the weather again resumed its routine of mist and rain, the party returned down the Maitahi valley where they appreciated hospitality from the Condon family, well-known settlers. The party was glad to add these further mountain journeys in South Westland to their experiences in the trails of early explorers such as Charles Douglas, Gerhard Mueller, and A. P. Harper. The peaks climbed by the party had previously been climbed by only a few parties, including the Australian mountaineer. Miss Marie Byles. Some rock Specimens were taken from the summits of the peaks for Dr. Brian Mason, a New Zealand-born geologist from New York who is visiting Westland this season and who appealed to one of the party for assistance.