WEST OF THE WORLD

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 11, 28 January 1918, Page 4

WEST OF THE WORLD

A DAY AT THE HERMITAGE

THE SUNFIELDS NEAR MOUNT COOK (By Will Larson.) Between the time when the rough! peaks of Mount Sefton are reddened and tinted and gilded bv the dawn, and the hour when the sunset makes the regular slopes of Mount Cook look, liko walls of gold, much happens at the Hermitage. Many feet become weary, many hearts are delighted, anil many complexions would be ruined tab for the free use of zinc ointment, llie average day in tlia season is a busy day, guests are always coining or going". —the motor service to Fairlie arriving one day and departing on the next and parties of climbers of high or low degree are always setting out to or coming in from the various mountain huts, which are used as bases for excursions on the Mueller, Hooker, and Jasmin Glaciers and on the peaks and ridges adjacent. The Hermitage looks straight up the Hooker Valley, with the base oF Cook, 20 miles away, as the limit ot vision, save, where the eye wanders to the left over the high Copland l'ass that leads to Westland. To tho left, below Sefton, the STiieller moraino leads up to the glacier of that name, at the head of which is a vast snowfield, with alluring peaks to cnaca , the climber. The third and West valley is that of tho Tasman. It lies to the light, and passes on the ether sido of Cook, with a multitude of splendid sights and daring climbs. To these three goals people set out from tlio Hermitage every day ; each party in the charge of an experienced giuue, wno is allotted by'the chief guide according to tho nature of the climb to be made. For Mount Cook the chief guide usually goes himself, tliougu several of tho others have made tbe famed ascout. These arrangements for outings ara made on. the night before, when tim chief guide, moving from group t« group in the long, lighted lounge o the hostel, look's up the trips, ofttn making arrangements for some days ahead, though nothing very detinue is arranged in this way, owing to tlic .uncertainties of the weather iiud tho time of return of the guides. If it is the day for the moiot to Jepart, the first duty, before even taking: broakfast. is to speed the departing guests. This is done most thoroughly, and when the motors move '.ill tne tluttcring handkerchiefs and vrcwng hands arri farewells shouted are something to see and hear and remember. Breakfast is at half-past eight; and afterwards .the boot-room is a msy place. No one may climb without proper boots, and those are provided at. a moderate rate. Hnge hoots, they appear to be, all studded with enormous nails. But thoy are made of excellent leather, and with two pairs of sookß or stockings on the wearer finds them comfortable. After the boots have bieu chosen, amid a running fire ot cl.aK and banter with the guides, putties have to be put on by men and women alike. For tho latter a short skirt, reaching very littlo below the knees, is a necessary item of luggage, wlulo men should bring takers and Refitting, warm, light coat. The aii in summer is never very cold at the Her mitage, but on the higher levels of the huts it can be quite icy at nights and ' mornings. A light coat can be carried when walking over the hot moraina and worn when the colder temperatures F tts and putties being on and proved comfortable, the next thing i to select a suitable alpenstock—a ligh ash handle with a steel spike on the end for use when on rough and slippery - places. Then comes the zinc ointment. Men. as well as. women-even cruides—smear their faces with tho white ointment till they look like members of ihe Ku-Klux Klan or Sioux m their war-paint. By about 11 ° clock . tho parties are ready. They could bo ready long before that, ftiui it Tiould ; ho better, really, to get away early ■ ere the sun had heated the rocky , moraines. But it is an "ig . form of speculation among the non i climbers, the unabashed gyonndlnigs, at the Hermitage as to how longjt will . take any given party to detach itself from the house. One runs back tor a f camera, one for another hat or handkerchief. And the patient guides, used [ to these procrastinations, have come l to regard it as tbe usual thing to staib about 11. For the Ball Hut party, on 1 the Tasman Glacier, horsesare proI vided, there being a ride ■ of 13J to the Ball Hut at the foot of the " glacier. This departing cavalcade is the " Wst interesting to watch. Jhe steeds are blase hut sturdy , 1 they take their time if allowed 1 to and thus the caravan often ' tails out over a distance of lialf a mile. ? But each rider is happy at the 1 of standing in ice and snow,Jind. no • body minds what he or she looks like. e When the last of the mountain parties has gone the picnickers, who go out I to any of the nearby beaut f creek or moraine, are supplied wth s hampers—free of extra cost, b> tne - wav f-and thoy too saunter oft, leaving II the Hermitage and the few who remain t dream through tho sunny day. f ove'iing the wanderejs wo a set out on the day before to visit lugh - nkces drift in. They are tired, but r proud and happy; and tbe Pikers ■ come home too, usual y m liuna J tor afternoon tea. There is a hiatus, as it - were from about five o clock till se\en, i tho dinner hour. Everyone iy est ™[| i before dressing for thaV me F >• dinner dress is not worn, but r especially the fairer sex, who Near e ST clothes, are transformed fom a +v,o nainted mountaineers into city • ing ranges. Dnmei at , from the drawing-room and may lie a ' is like an '• ei c plant which has been transplant[l ed from the coasts and grows m a 0 sheltered place among the snows, the I, Ice being the Hermitage. Hiat a building stands in a treeless, houseless wilderness of bills, with the world long leagues away—literally.