CAMPING IN THE ALPS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 14 March 1927, Page 8

CAMPING IN THE ALPS.

AN EXHILARATING HOLIDAY. *• Clvistmais holidays aqd New Year, from December 19 until January 26; were spent by Mr Rod. Syane, of Hauer a, and two friends, Air W. 6. Mace (Wellington) and Air H. F. Allaiy (Nelson) in and, around the Southerif Alps, and the record of achievement is■one of which anyone might well be proud. Six peaks were climbed —De laBeche, 10,058 ft; Elie-- de Beaumont; 10,200 ft; Alalte Brun, 10,421 ft; Alt. Green, 9325 ft; Alt. Walter, 9507 ft; Twins, 7600 ft; and in addition, as the.; climax, Mt. Cook to a height of TT,2Ootft- It is worth notice that they were all climbed without a guide, anc} that the ascents were the first of the season and in four cases the first for several years 1 . Some extracts taken from the dairy of the expedition will no doubt prove of interest to climbers and to many o#ier readers. The outfit, it may be mentioned at once, comprised a: formidable ax-ray of food, clothing and equipment, and of special interest was a tent given to the party by Air S. Turner, Which; had been’ used* I>V one of Sliaokteton’si party to the Antarctic. The total of impedimenta bought and packed on the car;— a two-seater Ford —took the three tourists 1 And! all gear from Lyttelton to the Hermitage, and from there to the. Hooker bridge on the Tasman river. There , after crossing several fords, the ear was left about a mile below the terminal face of the ' Taismani Glacier. There, unfortunate- to relate also, the car had to be left when the tour was over, because a change in the river bed inode it quite im,possible to move, and there she stayed' and was finally abandoned; to whatever offer was available. ■lt was a sad end to a gallant' little bsxs which had done yeoman service. v FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

The first day or Wo among the? mountains were full of tense interest;; for the piarty, .because they were naturally speculating as to the ruti they! were to have and the conditions they; •would strike. Actually the weather on* the wholeT proved:- very favourable, enabled them to make a number of m- ; teresting ascents. The base camp, containing the main -supplies, was located near the -welL,known Ball Hut, and actually just olose to the site o.f the old hut destroyed by an avalanche in August, 1025. The first conveying of supplies to this location proved the value of the rucksacks imported from Norway, and similar to those used on the Everest expedition. The diarist notes that “the frame places much of the weight oh the hips instead of on the shoulders, s and. also keeps the pack clear of the back, thus preventing sweating over the kidneys. ’ * *_\A ;< H , U ; ’ i De la Beche, the first peak to be'at-i tacked, was' ’ carefully studied rrem| photographs, and,a bivouac was estafe, lished eight l miles further . up the glacier. There they had their first experience with; glacier moraines, and found 1 them very rough going. The bivvy tent was- pitched against a -stone wall, an ideal! -spot except that water wals scarce," but this was overcome by melting ice" and snow on the -sunwarmed rocks. The height was about 4810 feet. All round there was much activity among the avalanches, -and' “under the influence of a> week’s fine hot weather the season for avalanches was in full swing. Off some of tie faces there were large avalanches eveiy 15 minutes, while late in the afternoon there was an almost continued thunder of avalanches from the slopes /of Bardinger, Glacier Peak, Douglas Peak and AXount Conway.” THE FIRST PEAK.

At 2 a.m. on December 23 they woke to- prepare for the attack oni De la Beene, and left‘camp at 3.30 a.m., but so difficult was the first part of tie going that it was 1.30 p.m. before they reached 8400 feet, when mist and -sleet so enveloped them that they were forced to descend, and reached camp at 4 o’clock. <

On Christmas Day they had- decided to go down to the Hermitage,, but wet weather prevented this, and they spent it instead in the base camp, witl? “duff” for Christmas dinner.

Boxing Day was spent at the Hermitage, in spit-e-,of the rain', and after two days spent in bringing up Supplies of fresh bread and meat, two of the party-—the other not feeling fit —- crossed it he glacier to Malte Brun range and then climbed* the Twins) 7600 1 feet, getting good l l-oek climbing and excellent glissading on the way day. This was the opening, of the climbing campaign. - 5 The next peak attacked was De'a Beche, for the second time, and by choosing a better route, much difficult rock - climbing was avoidted 1 . After; going round •by way, of. Graham’si Saddle, whence a great> view of the; Franz Josef and West Coast was obtained - - climber® decided to ascendi from- the .south-east ridge. It was a; narrow snow ridge, but,.;was success—fullv negotiated and the summit was reached- after ten hours from the camp. The height is- 10,058 feet, and it was interestin'/ to know the peak had not been- climbed- f-or, several years. Gireat care was necessary in descending, because the snow was soft, and in. consequence the route taken- was down the rocks for a good portion of the- way. SECOND 4SCENT.

Bad weather persisted over the New Year, and in consequence it wag January ' before more climbing y could be done. On the day previous, heavy supplies of food were l taken to a “bivvy” on Malt© Brun, and from there the attack was made on Elie dei Beaumont. By candle light the first part through the crevasses on the glacier was made, but bad conditions farced the climbers to turn back. On the fifth another start was made, and despite difficulty in the crevasses, necessitating a roundabout route and a delay of two hours through heavy mist, good progress was made round the ,southern face. By good luck the isch round, which often completely cuts off the summit, was bridged in two places, and after some hard cutting up the final slops the summit was reached, 10,200 ft, after Sihours’ climbing. From there a- wonderful view was obtained of the East Coast, the .West being heavily obscured. The descent,, unluckily, was made harder and longer because of the collapse of some, . of ,the -snow bridges over orOva.se s which were in some cases 100 feet - deep . - MALTE BRdJN CONQUERED. , •Bfalter Brun, 10>42.1fty'is considered the finest rock climb on the mountains, and this was climbed on the day follow-* . ing. After crossing the glacier to the Col, 8500 ft, the alpinists commenced the climb of the North West Arete. The rock there was largely ice cover-. : ed and, having to cut it away, progress was very slow. A climb of IOOOff took over four hours to negotiate and there apparently was the summit. But the aneroid proved it was not so, and an ascent of sonic hundred feet of sharp ice ridge had to be made; at 3.10- p.m. they wore definitely on the highest point. An- immediate descent was madeij some good snow helping to save time;‘but; the" crossing. of the crevasses on the glacier necessitated, slows Careful going. After eighteen' hours!

continuous going the liut was reachedat 10 p.m.—-a very strenuous day. The following three days were spent in a trip to the Hermitage and to the ear for a fresll supply of food:; which had run low. INTERESTING MEETING. Ou the 9th tliey made a journey up to Ball Hut, where they met Professor Algie and party, just off for a week at the Alurehison Glacier. And just afterwards an interesting rencontre occurred when they met Dr. Bradshaw,, of Christchurch, with a guide after an unsuccessful attempt on Blip. The guide had with him a leg and foot found below the Hochstetter leefall, “a grim reminder of the fatal accident of the Linda in 1914, when three lives were lost and only one body recovered. ” GREEN AND WALTER CLIMBED. After thrCe days, in which heavy wind forced them back When the as-, cent of Green looked likely, conditions so much improved that on the 14th a second attempt was altogether successful. and both peaks were taken in one day. The .climb ,frp to iSSOOfIf was fairly good going, as far as the ridge saddle-.-between-the two peaks. -Then the last 500 ft of Green provided what is considered - to be the steepest snow climbing in the Alps, and step-cutting was slow. However, three and a half hours saw the summit reached and returning to the ridge, an hour and a quarter saw them on top of Walter. A tiring journey after sunset, but helped by a bright moon, brought them back to the camp after a very successful day. /A note of interest is that from Aft. Green “chamois* were seen at the head of the Tasman Glacier, miles from any feed and they seemed to be increasing.” PREPARATIONS FOR COOK. Food was again, short, and - after a trip to the Hermitage and the car, preparations weare'begun for the climax of tho^ui;-the attack on Mi. Cook. Sf The first item was the taking" of three?big paekS: of food to Haast Hut, 6600 ft, .’the highest in the Alps, and affording •a great view up and down Tasman ‘Glacier. The hilt was named 5 King Me--moria’l, a tribute to the English tourist and ihje guides, Darby Thomson- and Jock Richmond, who were overwhelmed by an avalanche in 1914.' It is always used as the base for a climb of Mt. Cook, via Linda. After two stormy days, the 20th broke a perfect ...day. From 6 a.m. until 3.30 p.m. the climbers were exploring the lower reaches in readiness for “the grand attempt to-morrow.” They climbed 7500 feet over Glacier Dome and on to the Grand Plateau, a giant snowfield 24 miles by f-mile wide, fed by the Linda Glacier, and draining into the Tasman, 2000 ft below, via the Hochstetter leefall. After an inspection of Zurbriggen ! s .Route—riiot used since the 1895 aseent |by that* great climber —and the disco'v‘ery of unfavourable conditions, “all have now decided! to risk the’ Linda Glacier route to-morrow.” i THE ASCENT.

“Breakfast at 10.30 p.m. the previous day, and the hut left at midnight, the Grand Plateau was soon crossed and the Srlberliorn corner turned an 1 they were - into the Linda - Glacier. A bright moon enabled theme to find -a route • through the -crevasses, and with the first rays of daylight we were round the bend- of the; -Linda. With all possible haste they went through the danger zones of the Upper Linda and across to the summit rocks of Mt. Cooky and at 6 a.m. they were; at a height i 10,200 ft, with just over '2oooft to climb. Visions of a double distinc-tion—-the only amateur party to' make the ascent and the, quickest time up this route, Bhrs 55mins being the re-; cord—flitted before their eyes. Then the first check was received, the rocks being found to be glazed with fee. Between that and the steep ice and the continual fall of showers- of ice- from above., so tnireh time was taken that it was 11 a.m. before they reached 11,200 ft, where there was a snoiv conv toir leading straight up to the ice . cap' of Cook. However, by this time a heavj' - wind, which had been rising steadily, developed into a southerly gale, and as the last portion led up a narrow knife-like ridge “it was soon apparent that this would be unclimbable and at 11.30 we were forced to acknowledge defeat, and very reluctantly turned back, when only 1000 ft from tfte ? summit.” Without delay they hurried down and through the danger zone of the avalanches and reached “home’.’ at 5 p.m. From the point reached the ocean could be clearly seen on both sides of the Island, while the peaks of the Alps were visible, many* unclimbed -and unnamed. A nor-wester next day settled all chance of further climbing, andreamn was struck and the locality of the car reached. But, where was five weeks ago a small stream, was now a ragingtorrent, and it was easily seen that there- was’ no hope of moving the car. The water was rising and the current flowing at least at 12knots -an hour. After inspection daily for four days, and an attempt by horses —-varied by a trip to the- source' of the Tasman River, in the wide face- of the Hooker and Mueller Glaciers, where a huge spring came out with great force like u geyser—it was- clearly evident that the river- had changed its bed, and that the ear would have to be left where she lay. Reluctantly the decision was forced upon them, and after a day or two spent very pleasantly at the Hermitage, the first part, of the journey homewards was made. At Wellington their ways parted, and on January 27 by tr ain the Hawera man ortec more- reached home, after a thrilling and interesting few weeks spent in one of the most fascinating regions of the Dominion.