Peaks attract more as standards rise

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 13

Peaks attract more as standards rise

THE 1980 s has been an exciting time for New Zealand mountaineers. Both in the Southern Alps and on the unprecedented number of overseas expeditions, New Zealand climbers have enjoyed considerable success. During the last decade, several important factors have combined, resulting in an over-all rise in standards with a correspondingly low accident rate.

Mountaineering in New Zealand does not feature as most people’s idea of “sport.” It has never enjoyed the image of a normal form of recreation nor has it received regular coverage in the sporting pages of newspapers or magazines. Perhaps the common misconception still lingers, that climbers are a fringe group of daredevils often as not endangering others who end up coming to the rescue. Rock climbing will be classified as a spectator sport at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Despite speed rock and ice climbing being highly developed in Eastern Bloc countries, few in New Zealand could ever imagine climbing gaining status as a competitive sport. Some mountaineers feel it should remain a tussle with one’s self and the natural elements than one of scorecards.

Even though the most widelyknown New Zealander of all, Sir Edmund Hillary, made his mark as a mountaineer, we as a nation do not live in the mountains, and we read and understand little of the exploits of mountaineers. Relatively few, compared with European countries, have been tempted to “give it a go.” But that is changing rapidly. Largely due to the dramatic increase in acceptance of the wide-ranging benefits from learning outdoor skills as part of the normal school and polytech system, a broad spectrum of New Zealand youth is now being introduced to the rudiments of mountain travel.

The Outdoor Pursuits Centre, near Turangi, is now firmly established as the national training centre in terms of standards and creative instruction methods. Like Cobham Outward Bound School, near Picton, O.P.C. is responsible for stimulating thousands of students and teachers who pass through their care each year. These centres have produced a great many who have become skilled white-water kayakers or mountaineers. Inter-nationally-known canoeist and all-round mountaineer, Mick Hopkinson, of Christchurch, has recently stepped down from managing St Andrew’s College’s outdoor programme to take on the directorship of O.P.C. While the two principal mountaineering clubs in New Zealand have failed to increase their membership in the 1980 s (New Zealand Alpine Club, 1800; Canterbury Mountaineering Club 400) this is not a true reflection of the numbers drawn to the high peaks. Although clubs still run attractive “club trip” programmes, many individuals no longer feel the need to rely on clubs to find climbing partners or to provide access to technical instruction. Increasingly, mountaineering is recruiting those that when they climb’, simply wish to escape from the complexity of modern society including the group activities that often go with clubs. For all that, New Zealand mountain clubs and the Mountain Safety Council are hardly stagnant. Wisely, they are now spending considerable funds on employing professional guides to run instruction programmes. This is having a marked effect on raising over-all standards of both rock and ice climbing. Edited by Lindsey Main, of Christchurch, the M.S.C. has also just produced the third edition of its “Mountaincraft,” a vastly improved instruction manual.

In recent years, mountain clubs have run excellent seminars to promote awareness of developments at the leading

By

COLIN MONTEATH

edge of various facets of the sport. These have also helped disseminate information on access, rules and suitable objectives in regions such as the Andes and Himalayas. The C.M.C. has been instrumental in importing international mountaineers such as Alan Rouse and Greg Mortimer to provide a colourful slant on major expeditions to the Himalayas and Antarctica.

The New Zealand Alpine Club ran the first international climbing meeting at Mount Cook in 1987, organised by Rob Hall, of Christchurch. Participants came from 12 countries with many of them climbing Mount Cook during their visit. Four Soviets attended as part of a reciprocal agreement resulting from a New Zealand expedition to their Pamir Range in 1986. This, in turn, sparked an exchange with French climbers in 1988, and there is a Canadian exchange in the wind. Two veterans’ meets have also been run, one in Fiordland and the other in Canterbury mountains. The N.Z.A.C. will celebrate its centenary in 1991 with a wide-ranging series of events from involvement of international lecturers to overseas expeditions.

14,000 members from 100 clubs

Constructing high-climbing huts throughout the Southern Alps, often involving carrying timber and roofing iron on climbers’ backs, used to be an important function of mountain clubs. While hut “work parties” are still a feature of a club’s calendar, an increasing number of the high-club huts have been relinquished to National Park control. Some argue park staff have the professional ability and helicopter support to efficiently maintain the huts while others feel loss of the huts means a reduction in the club’s ability to retain a political say in park policy. Fourteen thousand members of more than 100 clubs throughout New Zealand continue to look towards the Federation of Mountain Clubs, which was formed in

(story and photographs)

1931, to be an effective lobbying force on outdoor recreation and mountain land-use issues.

Following the dramatic 1970 s breakthroughs in summer alpine climbing in the Mount Cook region, this decade has been relatively quiet in terms of spectacular new routes. While new lines on the south faces of Mounts Hicks and Cook and on the Balfour Face of Mount Tasman have commanded attention, the really impressive aspect of the current alpine scene is the sheer number of New Zealand climbers confidently tackling the hard trade routes of the country’s premiere alpine region. Some of the hardest rock routes ever done in New; Zealand have also been climbed l in Fiordland’s Darran Mountains over the last two or three summers.

During the cold vicious winter months real progress has also been made. Winter is reserved for a small dedicated band of climbers who revel in the isolation and sheer wildness of high mountains. In the last five or six winters, however, most of the big alpine routes on Mounts Cook and Tasman have now received ascents, often solo. Perhaps surprisingly, despite having to deal with short day length, low temperatures and potential avalanche danger, snow conditions on many climbs are often better in winter.

In line with world trends, solo or unroped climbing has gained considerable appeal. Contrary to popular opinion, solo climbers are not deranged nor do they have a death wish. Soloing a hard climb becomes a logical and natural progression for climbers keen to blend mental and physical skills with finely tuned co-ordination of movement and pin-sharp concentration. Soloing in winter becomes the ultimate test. Very few solo climbers in New Zealand have had accidents.

Winter has also seen a steady growth in the popularity of ski mountaineering. New Zealand mountaineers have been slow to realise the benefits of developing ski-ing skills, and in the past often used to sneer at the fancy clothes and antics on commercial ski fields. This head-in-the-snow attitude had a real impact on the evolution of winter climbing. Today, an ability to ski

safely and effectively in almost any conditions is an essential requirement for the complete mountaineer.

Geoff Wayatt, of Wanaka, and John Blennerhassett skied roped together off the summit of Mount Cook in November 1982. In 1986, a ski guide, Mark Whetu, carved another cornerstone in New Zealand mountain history when he launched himself down the top of Mount Cook, and skied all the way to Plateau Hut down the famous Zurbriggen’s Ridge —- solo. New Zealanders have now clicked on to the benefits of lightweight boots and equipment designed for Nordic or crosscountry ski-ing. If you see skiers at Mount Hutt on skinny skis doing wild acrobatic turns in bendy boots because their heels are not anchored to the ski, then you’ve just seen a Nordic enthusiast. With practice, Nordic skiers are finding they can handle steep terrain in the Southern Alps that was once the sole preserve of the heavy mountain ski. The freedom of movement experienced with Nordic equipment is a real joy.

The Nordic revolution of recent winters has been fostered by groups such as Gottlieb Braun Elwert’s Alpine Recreation Canterbury, at Lake Tekapo, Whitney Thurlow’s Cardrona operation, near Wanaka, and a dedicated group of enthusiasts in Christchurch.

Strong support exists from several Christchurch retail shops and the city is also the national centre for the manufacture of mountain tents, sleeping bags and clothing. New Zealand-made mountain gear is as good and in many cases better than anything turned out overseas.

The most exciting revolution in New Zealand has centred on rock climbing. All over the country, on smaller crags rather than on rock faces in the Alps, "rock jocks” are finding small though steep outcrops to test their gymnastic skills. Every week-end they put up extreme new routes on seemingly blank walls. These are graded, according to severity, and given wild names such as “A Dish Called Rhonda” and “Even Corgies Get the Blues.”

Rock injuries but deaths rare

Rock climbing involves a strict code of ethics, strong elastic nylon ropes, highly specialised protection devices that can be jammed in hairline cracks, chalk to dry nervous sweaty fingers — and for the bold, neon-bright lycra tights. Tight-fitting friction rubber slippers are essential to keep contact with the. rock. Most wear helmets. Torn ligaments and broken ankles are relatively common rock-climbing injuries. But modem protection on rock is so good that deaths are almost unheard of. Rock enthusiasts are publishing guide books to favourite crags throughout New Zealand. Competitions are now firmly in vogue, such as the one over Easter on the limestone boulders at Castle Hill. Artificial climbing walls with strategically placed holds are being built in many places to strengthen city-bound fingertips. To stay in shape during winter months, aficionados slip away to the rock Meccas of the world in Arapiles, Victoria, Yosemite, California, and Europe. Rock climbers at the cutting edge of the game train with schedules equal to any Olympian. An increasing number of New Zealand women have now turned to mountaineering, climbing the fiercest of routes on either rock or ice. Young women launching into this once male-dominated sport can gain considerable support from the Women Climbing Incorporated groups throughout the country. Never before has it been cheaper, in terms of New Zea-

land earning power, to climb overseas. Political access to the great mountain ranges of the Karakoram in Pakistan, and the Himalayan Ranges of north-west India, Nepal and Tibet has also never been easier. Expeditions involving New Zealanders have attempted many of the famous 8000-metre peaks of Asia over the last decade including Makalu, Xixapangma, Gasherbrum, K2, Everest, Kangchenjunga, Cho Oyu, Lhotse and Annapurna. Although summits were only reached on two occasions — on Xixapangma and Gasherbrum — New Zealand now has climbers with a wealth of experience in both high-alti-tude climbing and, crucially, expedition organisation. This will, undoubtedly, reap benefits and predictably success as many of the ambitious expedition plans for the 1990 s unfold. There have been several notable successes on six and seven thousand-metre Himalayan peaks during the 1980 s such as Bhagirathi and Shivling in north-west India, Communizma in the Soviet Union, Ama Dablam, Numbur and Chobuje in Nepal, and Molamenqing in Tibet. In part, due to the lower costs involved, it is on these smaller though technically challenging mountains that New Zealand mountaineers should increasingly concentrate their efforts during the 1990 s to build confidence and consolidate experience. There is no question though that the magical pull of the 8000-metre peaks will remain. New Zealanders have traditionally climbed in the Andes of Peru since the mid-19605. This trend shows no sign of disappearing despite the current high interest in Himalayan peaks. Each June, two or three looseknit but highly effective teams do battle with overhanging mushrooms of ice on the corniced ridges that are as renowned in the Andes as flute music and llamas.

Valued roles in Antarctica

The brave go further south, to struggle in Patagonian wind on the orange-granite spires of Fitzroy and the notorious Cerro Torre in Argentina. Nick Cradock and Russell Braddock’s fast ascent of Cerro Torre in October, 1987, was a significant ‘step forward for New Zealand alpinists. Nick has stayed away from the 8000-metre game, preferring gripping technical routes on lower summits in between bouts of earning a living as a professional guide. In June this year he and a small team of South Island climbers reached, the summit of the impressive rock spire Uli Biaho in Pakistan. Mountaineers have always found a valued place on Antarctic expeditions since New Zealand first went south in the mid--19505. The New Zealand Antarctic research programme annually employs 10 mountaineers, both male and female, to run survival courses and to look after scientists in the field. They also operate as a first-call search and rescue team for any emergency in the Ross Dependency. For climbers leaning towards a professional career in mountaineering, a season or two at Scott Base is an essential part of their apprenticeship. The low accident rate enjoyed by the New Zealand Antarctic programme is, in part, the result of the safety consciousness and example set by our mountaineers. Other nations have taken notice of this with increasing numbers of New Zealand mountaineers now being employed by West German arid United States Antarctic expeditions which transit Christchurch

each spring. As access to the mountains of Antarctica opens up further, more New Zealand mountaineers will be drawn into the exciting realm of organising their own private adventure on the Seventh Continent. New Zealand mountain guiding companies, principally Alpine Guides, Ltd, Mount Cook; Mountain Recreation, Wanaka; Alpine Recreation Canterbury, Tekapo; and Harris Mountain Heliski, Wanaka; have gone from strength to strength during the 1980 s. The popularity of both glacier and helicopter ski-ing has played a large part in guaranteeing year-round income for guides, something that even in the early 1970 s was virtually unthinkable. This, in turn, has raised the professional standard of our 30 or so guides to the extent that the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association was accepted by the European-based international body U.I.A.G.M. in 1981. Both Alpine Guides, Ltd, Mount Cook, and Alpine Guides Westland, at Fox Glacier, have recently streamlined their operations with new administrationshop complexes. A.G.L. Mount Cook has doubled its staff accommodation near The Hermitage. The company has also had a

busy summer season completing a record number of more than 20 guided ascents of the high peak of Mount Cook. While city-based rescue teams run by volunteer amateur climbers remain active throughout the country, the Mount Cook National Park rescue team continues its good work as the best trained and equipped unit in New Zealand. Considering the numbers visiting the park they have had to deal with very few accidents. There were three fatalities last summer in the Mount Cook region.

Challenges for the 1990 s

If you are still not convinced that climbers are a zany bunch then consider those who prefer not to climb down again once they have reached their summit. They fly. Parapente it’s called. Launching off a peak with a specially-designed parachute, climbers can now make controlled descents, steering their canopy to the base of the mountain within a few minutes. Mount Cook has been flown twice now and most of the other principal

summits in the country, Aspiring, Rolleston, Sefton, Ngauruhoe and Taranaki have now been flown in this fashion. A.G.L. Mount Cook guides now run parapente instruction courses and there is professional instruction available in Christchurch on the Port Hills.

Despite the rise in standards and increase in spectacular solo climbs it is evident the Southern Alps will continue to hold fresh challenges during the 1990 s for young and old at whatever level they wish to play this game. It will continue to be important that newcomers are taught mountain travel is not solely about creating firsts or pushing limits. Developing self-control in a beautiful though hostile environment as well as appreciating our insignificance as creatures on this planet are crucial factors, too. One thing is certain. Mountaineers will always have a responsibility to make sure their impact on the hills is minimal. The mountains must remain uncluttered with the trappings of a society that increasingly leans on technology in the pursuit of recreation, physical comfort and peace of mind. The essence of mountaineering in New Zealand is to meet the mountains on their terms, not ours.