COMPLETED 30-MILE MOUNTAIN TRAVERSE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30855, 14 September 1965, Page 19

COMPLETED 30-MILE MOUNTAIN TRAVERSE

Two of Canterbury’s leading ski-ing administrators, R. S. Copp and A. D. Coberger, became the first to complete the 30-mile traverse between Mount Hamilton and Mount Ennis recently.

They completed the journey in two days, leaving the Craigieburn car-park at 6.15 a.m., spending the night at Windwistle, and reaching the lime-pit on the West Coast road at 5.30 p.m.

After leaving the Craigie-, burn car-park, they walked to' the top of Mt. Hamilton and skied along the ridge to reach the North Canterbury ski field by 8.15 a.m. They then skied over Mt. Wall to the Cheeseman Basin in time for morning tea at 10.30 a.m.l They climbed the Hogsback, skied to Mt. Cloudesly and across the Wreighton Basin to the back of Mt. Olvmpus, arriving at W’indwhistle at 3.15 p.m. The remainder of the afternoon was spent ski-ing and they spent the night at the Windwhistle Winter Sports Club hut. Leaving at 8 a.m. the next dav they climbed to the summit of Mt. Olympus and ‘ skied from the summit around the Wreighton Basin to the Cockayne Gardens ridge. They climbed Mt. Izard and skied along the ridge before climbing Mt. Ennis (7100 ft the highest point of the journey. From here they could see about the top 4000 ft of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman to the south, Mt Tapuanuku in the Seaward Kaikouras to the north-east the Spencer Range at Lewis Pass to the

north, and over the Canterbury plains to the sea in the east. The two skiers lived mainly on fruit juice while on the slopes, consuming seven tins on the first day and six on the second. They carried a light climbing rope and an ice-axe but did not use them. They stayed on the ridges as much as possible as there appeared to be some slab snow on the faces. This reduced the number of downhill runs they could safely make but they had one good run from Mt. Olympus, 1500 ft down to the head of the Wreighton Basin,

Their chief memory of the trip was the endless number of cols between the Wreighton Basin and Mt. Ennis, which never seemed to get any closer. This traverse was made on the final afternoon and they reached the line-pit thankful it was all over.