ON TOP OF EARNSLAW

Evening Star, Issue 19843, 17 April 1928, Page 5

ON TOP OF EARNSLAW

A DUNEDIN MAN’S HOLIDAY CLIMB HO SWAG AND NO CHUM The waterworks for the _ dawdler. Queenstown Hill for the pleasureseeker. lien Lomond lor athletes. The Rem ark a hies for the adventurous. . , .. .. Earnslaw tor lovers ol the hazardous. Wakatipu excursions give option on a scale that brings in all the ablebodied who when out to get the air prefer to climb for tho sake of the views.

Earnslaw is mostly taken lor granted bv tourists. Its formidableness is not its height, though tho summit is 9,250 ft above sea Nor is its ascent 'peculiarly difficult. Da\ ul Aitkcn took .his* daughter with him when he went up. .But that was some years ago. What, then, the icason why so few essay the feat? Read this account of the scaling, as narrated to a ‘Star’ reporter ycstcidnv by Mr G. W. Massingham, ol Dunedin, who at the just-gone Easter travelled alone to the top and back. Perhaps it will help to explain why tho Wakntipu giant lies untrodden from year to year. Perhaps it will not. I'm Mr Massingham docs not claim that his climb was n wonderful font. Inis is how lie tells the story : TO THE HUT,

! went off from Glcnorchy on Eriday, March 39, and made a start up tho slope on the Saturday. No, there nas no guide, ft did not seem necessary. I have had considerable experience of mountain work, mostly in Switzerland, and could form a fair idea of what sort of a job it would be. But .1 took a boy with me as lar as the loot of the slope beyond the Lennox Falls, his engagement being fo fake hack tho hoiscs with which we started. _ “ What sort of swag did you carry? Why burden myself with a swag? I wanted te make it a pleasant tiip, flying light. All J had with me, after sending back the boy, was a camera, a tborjnos flusk, und mi ico :ixo. I placed reliance on what the Adams people (runholdors) told me when 1 rang them up before starting. They said that their mnstcrcrs used tho Governmeufc but, about 2.-50011 up, nud that it was all right. I took their word and found things as staled. Tho only trouble at that stage was to find the beginnings of the Government track. A 'heavy landslide had practically obliterated it, rocks being piled thereabout, and I bad to search awhile before finding it. When found the going was good, and I reached the hut before dark. On flic way 1 saw no birds or animals ol any kind. 'I ho lint is a, treat to a traveller, luxurious to a mountaineer. It is of corrugated iron and in good repair, with two hunks. To my surprise I saw all sorts of comforts —blankets, dry firewood, cooking utensils, and stores ol various sorts, such as rice, sugar, and tea everything that a man could ask for excepting tinned meat and bread, which were not indispensable in my ease, since 1 started out with a slock of sandwiches. 1 foci deeply indebted to Adams’s nmsterers for their tidiness and thoughtfulness. Evidently they have the ways ot the true hush dweller. My sleep that night in the hut was just the thing to fortify for the ascent on tho morrow.

ONLY ONE HAZARDOUS PLACE. Sunday morning 1 made ready early and was" breasting the ascent by fi.45, finding the wa\ as I went, for there is no track of any kind. Moreover, nobody could tcll me anything about the approach. But 1 had taken observations from below, and felt satisfied that the one approach was by the eastern spur—the spur to the right as one faces the mountain from the hut. Obviously it led well u;). So I went on confidently, steering to the right, away from the swampy chasm which one can sight as a dark space from the Jake. The going was over tussock grass and loose rock, in which fair progress could be made. Then the rocks became firmer, and patches of snow had to be crossed. A glacier presently barred me, and after observation I decided that the way to get over it would ho to cut steps in the terminal point. This 1 did. It was a slow task. About eighty steps had to be cut. Tims 1 reached the ridge. Then 1 worked to the lelt, over loose rock, and gradually made the eastern peak of (he mountain. Experience taught me not to climb that peak, but traverse it to the north, and this turned out to be the right, lead, for, without any retracing, I came to the dividing ridge between the eastern peak and the western peak. A brict rest and .1 tackled the pull up to the summit, keeping just to the north ot the ridge and using the north-cast lace for the final pinch, which was simply a hard job, hut without difficulty, tlio going being over firm rock. At, the actual summit there is a solid glacier topped by rock that gave no trouble.

A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW

It was 2.1-5 ii.in. when J <4O l my view I'rom the very pinnacle of Earnslaw, the climb from the hub having occupied seven hours and a-half. The only Jiazard I encountered was in rutting my way up the glacier. The rest ol the walk was simply hard work. I was glad that .1 kept clear ol : the main glacier. I did so because it looked dangerous, and others who may undertake the expedition can take my assurance that it is unnecessary. The course I took is, roughly speaking, a semicircle starting right-handed I'rom the hut. It gives good climbing for a man used to mountain work, and I. should say that it is slighlly less difficult than the average of Swiss mountains ol the' same height, but I would nob recommend the walk to a, new chum at mountaineering. .1 saw no threat of avalanches, but there arc perils of all kinds inseparable from mountaineering, and ! don’t want anyone to assume that hceansc I declare it good climbing it is safe for a beginner without a guide. The outlook up at the lop is indescribably magnificent. Pluto (8,1-57 ft) and Cerberus (7,4o011) arc (be nearest peaks. Cook stands out nobly. The ocean, somewhere about Big Hay, was well within view. I could not identify Aspiring, perhaps because of a haz.c in (lint direction; but there were wonderful peaks in the Barrier Mountains and all round, and a more impressive sight could not be imagined. It is because I was so thrilled that I am giving yon these particulars,, to encourage others to equip properly and go up and get their thrill. “ Worth while?” 1 should say so. Thanks to perfect weather, I was able to get some camera views which are at any rate rare. THE RETURN—A MARVELLOUS BIRCH FOREST.

The journey down was made by Lho same way as the journey up, except that 1 made a diversion to look at the glacier, the tip of which I had cut my steps over, and I got back to the hut on Sunday evening at 5.15, having another luxurious sleep there. On the Monday I walked all the way down from the hut to the bridge that crosses the Rees River below Paradise. When going up with the horses we took the left bank of the river for it. On the way down I chose the right bank, using a sheep track which, though rough in places, is not bad walking, and_ thus I had the felicity of passing beside the most delightful birch forest one could dream of. Fancy what a forest it must be when it took mo ‘from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to emerge. I call attention to this walk as one of the greatest delights in New. Zealand. Anybody who can walk at all may enjoy its marvellous beauty. I regard this unexpected treat as a discovery which everyone should know about. TIPS FOR OTHERS.

Mr Massingham concluded by referring to the assistance afforded him in

In's preparations h v Mr ■! ark A i tkc n, of Paradise, who provided horses for the approach journey, and as a hint, to others’ who mnv flunk of tackling Earnslaw Mr Massiugham suggested that information about the district may bo obtained bv applying cither to Air Aitkou or to Mr J. EM gar in Queenstown.