Random reminder

Press, 26 April 1988, Page 20

Random reminder

DOWN THE HATCH [ George was always a keen tramper going back to the days of the pre-war Railway Mystery Hikes. He was delighted when he was invited by three of his mountaineering friends to journey to, the Mt Cook District to use Maltebrun and Haast huts as base climbing huts. He didn’t enjoy the struggle up to the latter in the moonlight, but was content to tidy up the hut and prepare meals for his barmy mates who had left their bunks at some ungodly hour to climb Mt Cook.

His subsequent call-up and (the three years in North Africa and Italy would fill many pages, but his Kiwi instinct enabled him to survive many incidents including the unwelcome attention of an enemy sniper —jhe still has two holes in his beret to prove it. When he returned home, he eagerly accepted an invitation from his pal to attend the Canterbury Mountaineering Club's first post-war instruction course, based at Carrington Hut. It so happened that this pal of his had to leave, early for a hut on the White Glacier as a member of the instruction team, so George agreed-to bring some sandwiches along later for them both. (The trainees could see the instructors way ahead, of them as they moved up the glacier at a more leisurely pace. The ice at the bottom of the glacier presented few problems, until

they reached a wider crevasse which required each person to jump. (Unfortunately for our budding alpinist his snow-goggles fogged up: as he leapt !so consequently he misjudged his landing and slithered back with a yell, promptly descending to the bottom of this shallow crevasse, where he became wedged in a very uncomfortable position. In fact, [he commented about his dilemma in loud, clear, tones. With such a large experiparty available, he was soon extricated.

Wijth only a sore chest and a bruised dignity to show for it, he was soon escortedlo a safe level place for lunch. His instructor pal had 1 been warned about George's incident, so he came bounding down hungrily to check his ruffled friend at lunch time.

He appeared to pay scant attention to George's story of his mishap. Winking at the others, he commented that not everybody is lucky enough to be hauled out "of a crevasse in time to enjoy a sunny, flat spot to eat lunch. When he opened George's pack, he blamed George for squashing the sandwiches. The!former occupant of the crevass was so indignant that he temporarily forgot his bruises.

That was his last trip to the mountain tops: He returned to competition hockey, where the surface is crevasse-free. ;