AN ALPINE CONQUEST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16041, 6 April 1914, Page 8

AN ALPINE CONQUEST

ASCENT OP MOUNT .SEFTON. HIGHEST PEAK SCALED. PARTY OUT FOR 35 HOURS. A pleasant sense of conquest;, and, more tangible—a magnificent collection of photographs— renrain with Mr T. Otto Frind, F.R.G.S., of Vancouver, to reward him for his exortions in scaling Mfcnt Sefton, ono of tho most diffioult the Southern Alps. On March 22 last Mr Frind and his private guide, Mr Conrad Kain (both of the Alpine Club of Canada), and tho Hermitage guide, Mr Robert Young, mado the ascent by a now route, up the face of the main divide, south of Mount Brunner, and up tho Douglas Glacier to tho main dividing range, between .the Copland and Karangarua Rivers, joining the western ridge, and leading over the western snow faco up to the highest peak of Mount Sefton (10,354 ft). A Daily Times reporter called on Mr Frind, who is at present in Dunedin, staying at tho Otago Club, and was shown by him a. number of photographs, taken by himself, which form, probably, a unique collection, and was given an interesting account, of the climb. A number of the photographs will, by the permission of Mr FrinaC be published in the Otagft Witness. Last February, when Mr Frind was on the ridgo of tho main divide of tho Moorhonso Range, south of Mount Sefton, he discussed with his guide, Mr Conrad Kain, the possibility of making a now route on the giant mountain by the south-eastern snow plateau, and the eastern snow slopes of the south-western arrete. After returning to tho Hermitage, in tho middle of March, from their explorations at the head' of the Murchison, Classen, and Godley Glaciers, in exceptionally fine and warm weather, which had been favouring them for some time, they set out on Saturday, March 21, for the Green Rook bivouac, on tho eastern sido of tho Mueller Glacier, about an hour and a-half from Kea Point, taking with them the Hermitage- guide Robert Yowg , . A gentleman visiting at the Hermitage kindly consented to accompany them to Kea Point and return with the horses, which brought •up the heavy swags that far, saving them the drudgery of the initial three or four miles. The luggage did not give great troublo onco the explorers had reached tho moraine and over the steep grass slopes up to the bivouac. The night, at the bivouac was warm. Dark-' ness eet in quickly, and all slept well, to tho accompaniment of the noisy glaciers, which, every few minutes, thundered down the side of the 'mountain '.. It was still dark when tho guide called them, at about halfpast 3, and a good hot breakfast eoon being eaten, the rucksacks were' packe'd,' and the other lanterns were lit, and out they went into . the darkness, feeling their way down . the stoep and ticklish grass-covered moraine slopes on to the Mueller Glacier. The time was 4.35 a:in., and an aneroid registered an elevation, of, 5375 ft. \ In quick time they, crossed the moraine- hills, and found their way across the' broken and ;moraine-covered glacier, past the free ico on its western side, to tho foot of the Noakanohi Glacier. The Bergschrund had opened up a good deal since they had been there last, but they had nb difficulty in finding a crossing. The first rays of the sun were catching the tops of the four peaks of Mount Sefton, lighting them up with a pinkish glow. The route now lay straight tip the rooks to a patch of avalanche snow coming on' the hanging glaciers between Maunga Ma ' and Unnamed Peak, marked . 8646 ft, north-west, on the main divide. They crossed , the moraines and ice to the Mueller Glacier, and thence went to the foot of the Noakanohi Glacier, and up the rock face to the junction of the two glaciers. Thence they went over from the eastern face to Unnamed Peak, and on to the main dividing range, south ■of Mount Sefton, the latter leading on to the snow plateau, which, apparently, continues unbroken under tho eastern face of Mount Brunner, r and, right across the Footstool. "Making their way up the broken snoW plateau, at times with great difficulty, they reached the rooks below the small peaksouth of Mount Brunner. After some trouble in finding the way, they crossed the Bergschrund. and continued up the rocks for about 800 ft or IOOOft, and reached the column to the north of the two peaks which have been called "The Shark's Teeth." Crossing the snow ever on the south-western side of tho main arrette, and traversing below and around Mount Brunner, they had to descend about 300 ft on to tho main snow neve of the Douglas Glacier. They lunched on an exposed rock, 7200 ft in altitude, and then proceeded up' the Douglas Glacier to the western reach leading up to the saddle of the Kararigarua. This led them to the western arrete., and under the western snow face to tho high peak,, thus linking up the southern approach to the final road of Captain Head and Mr Earle, which had already been twice successfully ascended. It was not until 4.15 p.m. that the difficulties of the glacier were surmounted but another hour , and a-quarter saw them on tho summit of the highest peak. A few snapshots were taken, and the descent had to be started. A cold wind was blowing up from the west, and the sun was already preparing for a gorgeous disappearance in the waters,of the western-ocean. At 6.30 p.m. the western reach was regained. They took a ehort cut down the glacier by going around the crevaese filled with aralanche debris, which they had, fortunately, not attempted on the way up. They reached the exposed rock, where thev had - lunched, just after darkness had overtaken them. Then followed a. fairly comfortable night, which they spent sleeping and smoking and .making the most of the rough stone shelter they had. They were glad to see the:first light of morning, and at 6 o'clock the return journey was continued, and the Douglas column on the main range was reached an. hour and a-half later. They decided to ascend tho lower, or northern, peak of the two " Shark's Teeth," and this took them less than half an hour of scrambling over rocks, and they arrived at the top, at an altitude of 8200 ft. The descent was mado by the old route. A miet, which they had seen rolling in from over the Mackenzie plains, and up the Hooker and Mueller Valleys, overtook them, and it was not until 3.30 p.m. that the Green Rock bivouac wa3 again reached. They had been absent about 35 hours. The explorers wero very glad of a hot meal, and then they continued on to the Hermitage, which they reached at 7 p.m. This is the fifth successful ascent of tho highest peak of Mount Sefton. Mr E. A. Fitzgerald and his Swiss guide, Mathias Zurbriggan, after going out to the Southern Alps to endeavour to be first on tho top of Mount Cook, found that they had been forestalled by a trio of Now Zealand amateur explorers—Messrs A. Graham, T. C. Fife, and J. Clarke. They then turned their attention to Mount Sefton, and, taking it from the northern, or Footstool, side, from a bivouac between the Huddlestonc and Stocking Glaciers they crossed tho enow neves of the former, and the rib of rock between the Huddlestone arid Tuckett > Glaciers, and arrived at Tuckett's column. Fitzgerald, in his book, gives a graphic description of the climb. They ascended from this point up steep and broken rocks to tho main arrete, which route led them to the summit of the highest peak of Mount Sefton. It was 14 years liter that the mountain was again attacked, this time from a new route, Mr C. M. Earle and Captain B. Head, with Guides J. M. Clarke and A. Graham, going from the-Copland Rrver up the tributary of Stony Creek to the saddle of the Karangarua Range dividing the Douglas and Copland Valleys. Crossing the Douglas Glacier, they reached the western ridge of Mount Sefton leading' to' the bottom of the Western snow face, which, under good snow conditions, ehould always prove the, easiest and safest roirto to the highest summit. In March, 1912, Mr S. Turner, with Guides Dave Thomson and George Bannister, made the second ascent by this route, and in February of the next year Mise Freda Du Faur, with Peter Graham and David Thomson, succeeded in making up the above described two routes and completing the first traverse of the mountain from the bivouac at tho Stocking Glacier, ascending- bv Zurbriggan's route, and reaching Copland Valley by Captain Head's route. From there they returned to the Hermitage bv Copland Pass.