MOUNTAIN DANGERS

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 8 June 1931, Page 7

MOUNTAIN DANGERS

J; PAST FATALITIES RECALLED, l' EXTHEAIE CAUTION URGED. "Am address of considerable interest t;c> mountain climbers, to whom the changers of Mount Egmont were presented in a new light, was given by Mj" Rod. Syme (captain) at the alpine dub social held in Hawera- on Friday evening. The social was referred to hrioflv hi -‘The Star’’ on Saturday. Mr H. AY. Swinburn presided and explained at the outset that the lecture previously arranged was to have been givetn by' Mr W. S. Rennie, of Wanganui. Mr Ronnie was unable to attend on tdiis occasion, however, and Air Syme had consented to give the address. . Quoting Airs Aubrey Le Blond from her book entitled “True Tales ot Alountain Adventure,” Mr Syme, m opening his address, said it was true that all the sports that Englishmen took part in were manly, but niomi- * taiueertng was different from others 'because it was sport purely for the (sake of snort. A mountaineer set his I skill and his strength against the difficulty of getting to the top of .a steep peak. Either he connuered the mountain, or it conquered him. “Mountaineering is extremeley dangerous,” he said, “in the case of incapable, imprudent or thoughtless men. Of all the accidents in our sad obituary there is hardly one that need have happened ; there is hardly one which could not have been easily prevented by proper caution. Alen get careless and too confident. This does not matter or the other does not matter, hut the fact is that everything matters and precautions should not only he ample but excessive. Air Syme said that the subject of bis address, past accidents and fatalities on Afount Egmont. was not a morbid investigation, but an ... analysis of the possible avoidable causes of those fatalities. Neither was it suggested that blame was attachable to anyone connected with the accidents. the address being intended to profit the young climbers from the sacrifices of others. Proceeding, he traced the historv of accidents on the J mountain from the time of that first recorded 40 years ago in April, 1891. when a Air W. IT. Southwood. of Wellington, set- out from Stratford and did not return. Search parties found his horse and a gun hut no trace of the climber, had weather preventing the parties from reaching the summit. Air Thomas Tlastie. of Hawera. the same clay that Southwood was lost reached a point within 1.50 feet of the top. and. he and his party; thought they heard a voice, and then I the sound of falling rock. Ten months ' : later Air West Hooker, of New Ply-j mouth, found deceased’s body near the crater, below a drop of 30 feet. The disclosure was made by the melting snow, and the body was in a perfect .state of preservation. A more serious accident in April, 1898, resulted in the loss of two lives. Alessrs G. R. Beaumont and J. T. AfcGoogh. of Hawera. Both men had slipped on the ice near the summit and their bodies were recovered 500 feet below the summit. Tu this instance the accident was due to lack of proper alpine equipment. I In January. 1900. a. solo climber l named King lost bis life and bis body was not recovered until the following November, and in January. 1013. the first lady climber to lose her life was recorded. This was Miss Evelyn Oxenham. who bad set out with a party of 10. The party broke up into smaller groups and Miss Oxenlmm and her companion. Air. Ernest Locke, were 1 c; ft to complete the ascent in their own time. Snow fell shortly after leaving the summit on the return trip and both climbers lost the track. Locke left the girl in the shelter of a rock. be himself becoming lost. Later lie was found by members of/ the original party at Humphries Castle. It was not until next day that the body of Aliss Oxcnham was found. She bad died from exposure and shock, the latter caused by the panic of loneliness. A man named Pearce climbed alone in April, 1915, and did not. return. Alessrs. Upson and Alurphy organised a search, the latter tracing the' missing man down the west side of Fantham’s PCak into the Kaupokonui Gorge. The body was found four days later by All-. E. C. Robinson, of Stratford, in the alpine scrub. Two lives were lost in June. 1918. when Alessrs. A. H. Ambury and AY. .T. Gourlay slid down an ice slope from the summit and over two pricipices into the gorge to the west of Humphries’ Castle. On this .occasion Gourlay was in a party of three, and all bad reached the summit from the New Plymouth side. Another party of three, including Air. Ambury, was ascending when Gourlay slipped and /Ambury made a. heroic attempt to intercept him. both men being carried over the precipices. Another instance of an accident to a solo climber was the complete disappearance of the Rev. AY. T'. Alurray. of Normanby. on January. 30. 1923. Rev. Alurray climbed to the summit with two companions and, being determined to do a round trip, started out for North Egmont bouse from the direction of Kahui but. He II was not seen again. Tn November, 1925. Rev. 0. Blundell expired as the result of an enforced 1 camp in the open in company with a Air. N. C. ATorgan. The improper use of mountain equipment was attributed as the cause of the deaths of Messrs. Latham and Baines on Alay 11. 1927. A party of four bad climbed the mountain and on tin' way down one man slipped. All were ■•oped together and. due to slackness in the rope between each man. the remaining three were -swept off their feet. The only fatality the result of mire misfortune was the accident on Kebruarv 4. 1929. when Air. A. AI. Moss, climbing in the early morning, was struck by a Hying rock and killed instantly. Brief reference was made ’•v the speaker to the two recent accidents resulting in tho deatli on Sc>ptember 8, 1929. of AVilliam Clement Allen, and on Alarcli 3 last year of Lance A”. Gibson, both from exposure. In both these instances there was evidence of the- lack of proper clothing. (“This concludes our somewhat formidi able list of 15 fatalities.” said Mr. [°"'ue. “and it is from an examinaI t ion of the circumstances which atj tended each that we can provide I mainst their occurrence in the future.” 1 ATc, ~yinc observed that on four in- | stances dcat.l) followed accidents to | solo climbers and to three injured or i exhausted climbers who had been left I tv a companion intent on 'procuring assistance. Solo climbing and parties of two climbers should' be discouraged, tin. speaker continued. There was. only one ease of pure accident and this ;•>. the result of a danger unforseen. In two instances the effect of the cold was hastened by lack ot pro tier “ clothing and six deaths were caused through the lack or the improper use ..c n.lfiipo equipment. ATr. S;vmc said 1 Mint tlic majority of the accidents on I ■GVojvmt. were duo to errors of iudg. l moot and clearly demonstrated the J ’iror] for climbers' to “stick: together.” I and on no account to leave n-n iniurec] 9 map alone. Any person might claim to bo courageous and fearless in the fa or

of danger, but- it was only those, who, had • been left alone in cl ire extremity - who knew tho meaning of the won! ••panic.” Referring to the roping ot mountain parties Air. Syme said that if a- step means an accident then all members should he roped and, what was most important, no “slack’ should 1 be- permitted between each man. Air. Syme concluded his address with an explanation of the alpine signal id distress. The signal was the repetition of a sound or a flash of a lamp at regular intervals at the rate <d six signals per minute, followed by a pause of a .f.inute and then repeated every alternate minute. The reply was three, instead of six. signals m a minute. , , . . , , ... The evening concluded with a lieaity vote of thanks to the lecturer, to Air. Swinburn for presiding and to the ladies whp provided supper.