THREE KILLED

Grey River Argus, 29 March 1937, Page 5

THREE KILLED

IN SOUTHERN ALPS Otago Youths’ Fate ACCIDENT ON SNOW SLOPE. (Per Press Association.) DUNEDIN. March 28. A mountaineering tragedy winch resulted in the loss of three lives occurred at Mt. Trent near Lake Ohau yesterday. Those killed were:— SYMON D, DIVERS. of Dunedin, aged 24 years. GEORGE M. EDWARDS, of Dunedin, aged 21 years. ROY STEVENSON, of Oamaru, aged about 18 years Twenty-one climbers from Dunedin and Oamaru were in a party which had arranged to scale Mt. Trent during the holidays. The party left Oamaru on Thursday night by car and spent Friday packing their gear at the high camp at‘th e head of the north branch of the Huxley River, making ready for the ascent. Yesterday nineteen of the party set out on the expedition. The mountain carried many snow patches and the surface proved difficult to cut into with ice axes for. the making of steps. The party divided into five groups, each croup being roped together. Good progress was made, and the leading party in charge of Gordon Edwards brother of George Ed-( wards was the first to reach the top, realising their aim of making the first conquest of the peak. HURLED TO DEATH. t Almost immediately upon this success, news was flashed along the route of the climbers that three youths had been hurled to death. They were Divers, George Edwards and Stevenson, who formed the final party engaged in the ascent, Stevenson being the middle of the trio. When they were about 7000 feet up, Stevenson, in avoiding a falling stone, failed to get his foot into one of the steps cut by the leading climbers. The three young men were on a steep snow slope, on which small rocks scattered. Stevenson stumbled and jerked his two companions out of their steps, though George Edwards managed to delay the impending tragedy for a few seconds. The weight of his companions, however, pulled him off his feet, and the three young men were launched on a 1000-foot slide over the hard snow to their deaths. Two well known climbers, W. G. McClymont and Russell Edwards, brother of George Edwards, immediately started from the slope, reaching the bottom | an hour later to discover that the three vouths were dead.

Arrangements are being made to bring out the bodies, which arg on a glacier 6000 feet above sea level.