Seattle mountaineers keen to conquer Cook

Press, 7 March 1984, Page 20

Seattle mountaineers keen to conquer Cook

Ed Boulton an insulation contractor from Washington state, and five other climbers want to get to the top of Mount Cook in the next week, but they won’t be too surprised or disappointed if they are turned back.

Mr Boulton leads a tour party of 28 members from the Seattle Mountaineers Club. The group arrived in Christchurch on Monday at the start of a South Island tramping and climbing trip. If the weather at Mount Cook is favourable six climbers will start on the mountain today.

The Mountaineers come from the home of Mount Rainier, a Cascade Range volcano higher then Mount Cook but without a lot of its dangers.

Thousands of people climb the easy routes on Mount Rainier, said Mr Boulton, “but we have been told there are no easy routes, wimpy routes up Mount Cook.

“We are here to give it a try. We know it is a tough mountain.”

Although he took part in the first ascents of some mountains in Alaska’s Wrangell and St Elias ranges 15 years ago, Mr Boulton said that most of his group were “just Sunday climbers.”

They were impressed by the number of mountains in the Mount Cook region and if the “big one” was not available perhaps another would be.

If an attempt is possible the six will be led by a guide arranged by Mr Neil Hamilton, the former guide from Christchurch who established Snowline Sport Centre.

A trip to the United States by Mr Hamilton last year was the inspiration for Mr Boulton’s party coming to New Zealand. Mr Hamilton gave some lectures and showed films about the South Island high country.

Mr Boulton had heard about the Japanese party of deaf-mute climbers who came to climb Mount Cook, but the story had been gar-

bled by the time it reached Seattle. It said the climbers, instead of being kept off the mountain by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, had climbed it without any equipment at all — no crampons, rope or ice axes. “I was dubious about the story,” he said. He would not be too putout if Mount Cook’s summit was not on the tour schedule. He knew that many tourists never even got a glimpse of the mountain, much less climbed it. “I have tried plenty of mountains I have not made,” he said. ‘We are here for fun, mainly,” said Mrs Boulton. She and her husband were married on a Washington mountain in 1973. They did not quite make it to the top that time “because it was raining cats and dogs,” she said, a common occurrence in the Pacific north-west. Mr Boulton had not realised that Christchurch was a sister city of Seattle until he was on his way here. When the party arrived, they were greeted by Mr H. J. Walker, president of the South Island Promotion Association, and received certificates.

The Mountaineers is a club catering for a wide range of outdoor pursuits, he said. It has about 11,000 members.