Alpine sports boom takes mountaineers bv surprise

Press, 16 May 1985, Page 24

Alpine sports boom takes mountaineers bv surprise

By

GEOFF MEIN

in Timaru

A recent boom in apline sports has taken professional mountaineers by surprise.

Alpine Guides, Ltd, of Mount Cook, reports a sixfold increase in the number of heli-ski-ing clients since 1831. More than 1300 people went glacier ski-ing last year compared with just 360 four years earlier. It was not very many years ago that the company’s genera] manager, Mr Bryan Carter, was being paid ?8 a day to guide climbers in Mount Cook National Park. Three years ago he was living in a small hut with no power, water, or toilet.

The guide-turned-busi-nessman today manages a company employing up to 20 staff dealing with more than 100 clients on a good day.

A 5200,000 staff accommodation block was built at Mount Cook village last year, and another is planned for 1987. Builders are this week adding the finishing touches to the company’s new 5200,000 shop and reception centre beside the village post office.

The centre will be larger than the company’s present premises, and is designed to ensure a more efficient flow-through of clients.

Mr Carter said that trying to process 100 people was a “nightmare” in the present cramped shop beside the Hermitage. “People register for heli-ski-ing when they should be registering for glacier skiing, and you will get people who want to try on every pair of boots we have got.” Ski-ing has been respons-

ible for much of the company's growth, but not at the expense of its namesake activity, alpine guiding. The number of climbers hiring guides has remained static, although the trend is towards longer trips with more emphasis on instruction.

An American couple in their 50s recently hired a guide for three months. They scaled most of the region’s high peaks, including Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, and were so impressed that they have booked another three-month stint with the same guide. Mountain guiding has come a long way since the days when adventurous climbers stood atop Mount Cook in tweed jackets and hob-nailed boots. Guilding has a fine tradition in the region. The first person to attempt an ascent of Mount Cook, the Rev. W. S. Green, was accompanied by a Swiss guide. The attempt, in 1882, failed 100 metres short of the summit. The second ascent of Mount Cook was made by Mattias Zubriggen, a Swiss guide who is reputed to have drunk half a bottle of brandy on the summit. Guiding fell into decline

in the 19405. People returned from the war with little money, and many developed their own climbing skills. It was the same reaction against professionalism that, in the 19505, led New Zealanders to build their own houses and repair their own cars.

In 1967, four experienced climbers saw the need for professional instruction. Australian climbers were starting to cross the Tasman to tackle New Zealand’s peaks, and accidents were common.

The four men formed Alpine Instruction, Ltd, which became Alpine Guides, Ltd, in 1973. Guiding was always a part-time job, and those involved were often also employed as hotel porters, kitchen hands, or cleaners. It is only in the last few years that Alpine Guides has been able to provide a viable year-round service, and offer guides the chance to earn a reasonable living. Mr Carter said expansion had coincided with a growing acceptance that professional instruction was the best way to learn to climb. He does not believe mountaineering clubs fulfil the instruction role.

“They are absolutely abysmal. They don’t have

any idea how to instruct some of their techniques are outright dangerous,” he said. Many clubs were now hiring professional instructors to run courses for them.

“People realise that if they want to do a trip in safety and comfort they hire a guide. There are few professionals you can get for 5170 a day,” said Mr Carter.

Guiding rates in New Zealand are reasonable by world standards. A six-day guided climb of Mount Cook costs up to 5900, compared with about 5600 for a oneday guided climb in the Swiss Alps. However, it is glacier and heli-ski-ing that has caused the present boom, and Mr Carter believes his company’s activities have helped lure tourists and their money to Mount Cook. Ninety per cent of his winter customers and 75 per cent of summer clients come from overseas.

“People are realising that this is where the best skiing is. A lot of people find it remarkably addictive. After an amazing day’s ski-ing on powder snow, surrounded by incredible mountains, there is just no way they can go back to standing in a lift queue,” said Mr Carter.