NEAR SUMMIT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 228, 25 August 1938, Page 7

NEAR SUMMIT

ILL-EQUIPPED PAIR. MT. EGMONT ADVENTURE. NEW PLYMOUTH, Aug. 22. Two experienced Alpine Club members were amazed when 200 ft. from the summit of Mt. Egmont yesterday they met an ill-equipped pair of strangers, one a middle-aged Australian and the other a youth, who had followed their track up the treacherous winter slope. Ignoring the dangers of the hazardous climb oyer the slippery upper slopes, the two strangers had, against advice, started to climb to the top, using the steps cut by the Alpine Club members, both of whom gave the adventurers a piece of their mind for their foolhardy action. On the way down the pair were caught in the dense fog that frequently sweeps up suddenly on the mountain, and had to call for help. The Alpine members then returned, roped the pair in, and brought them to safety. “It is a miracle they reached the height they did without slipping,” stated a member of the Alpine Club. “The upper slopes were in a most dangerous condition for men without proper and if they had slipped they could not have stopped as they had no ice axe. In that case they would have gone 3000 ft. down the ice slope and/crashed oyer Ambury’s Bluff. Although’ they climbed safely, and might have gained the summit they would have met certain disaster on the way down.” It was stated that the action was most foolish and could easily have involved others in danger. The hope was expressed that the incident would illustrate to the public the danger of climbing on the mountain without equipment or expert advice.