EXPEDITION TO PA TAGONIA

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33653, 1 October 1974, Page 3

EXPEDITION TO PA TAGONIA

The main objective of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club’s jubilee expedition next year will be the unclimbed Torre Egger (the Egger Tower), the second highest peak in the Cerro Torre Range in Patagonia.

Details of the expedition were announced last evening by the president of the club, Mr R. S. Newton, and the expedition’s leader, Peter Gough.

Torre Egger had defeated a strong British expedition in 1973, said Mr Gough, and was regarded as the most difficult unclimbed mountain in Patagonia. 12 MEN The expedition’s secondary objective is the nearby Torre Stanhard. Both mountains are on the main divide separating Chile from Argentina. The expedition will approach the mountains through Argentina, and will be in Patagonia from November, 1975, until February, 1976. The leader nf the 12-tnan

expedition, Peter Gough, is one of New Zealand’s outstanding younger climbers. In 1970 he made the first ascent of the Caroline face of Mount Cook with another member of the expedition, John Glasgow. Three members have already climbed outside New Zealand. Gough and Glasgow were members of the 1970 New Zealand Andean expedition. PIONEERS The members of the expedition come from all parts of New Zealand. They have pioneered every major new route in the Southern Alps in the last few years. Some have worked in recent seasons as professional guides at Mount Cook. They range in age from 18. to 29. Eight members of the expedition will concentrate on Torre Egger. Four will

attempt Torre Stanhard, unless they are needed to support the attempt on Torre Egger. The rock-climbing on Torre Egger would be extremely difficult, said Gough. Some of the climbing would be on ice in gullies and cracks. New Zealand climbers had traditionally shown proficiency in ice climbing. LEADERS The members of the expedition had all been selected for their present climbing form. On their return to New Zealand, the climbers would become leaders of Search and Rescue face-rescue organisations and mountaineering instruction courses. Their experience on the expedition would be invaluable to the development of mountaineering in New Zealand, Gough said.

The expedition has a bud-

get of $34,000. Almost half of this will come from expedition members. The Canterbury Mountaineering Club has promised $BOOO, as the expedition is one of the main ways the club will mark its 50th anniversary. CHINA The club had originally hoped to send its jubilee expedition to China, but it would have taken too long to get permission from the Chinese, said Mr Newton. There were no problems about entering Patagonia to climb. Gough said that it would cause a stir especially among European mountaineers if a New Zealand expedition climbed a peak that had already defeated a very strong British team.