ASCENT OF MOUNT TASMAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22204, 6 March 1934, Page 9

ASCENT OF MOUNT TASMAN

NEW ZEALAND LADY’S FEAT

(Special to Daily Times.) WAIHO GORGE, March 5,

The first ascent of Mount Tasman, by a New Zealand lady climber was mad*; on March 3 by Miss Marjory Edgar Jones, New Zealand Alpine Club, of Timaru, with Guides Jack Cox and Mark Lysons, of the Franz Josef Glacier.’ The party, left the glacier hotel on February 23 for Aimer Hut, and on the 24th crossed Newton Pass, climbed Grey’s Peak and Tbie rock needle on the Gray and thence via Governor's Col and the Haast Ridge to the Haast hut. As the weather was unsuitable for climbing on the divide the. party moved over, to the Make Brun hut on the 27th, and on the 28th traversed Mount Make Bran, climb* ing *by the north-west arete. They reached the summit from the hut iOiaVe hours 10 minutes, just ahead of the northwest clouds, enveloped in which they made the descent by the north-east ridge and face. On March 1 the party arrived back at the Haast hut and crossed over the Pioneer Pass to the bivouac on March 2. At 1 a.m. on (he 3rd the world was blanketed in a, cold south-west fog, and after another hour’s sleep and an unhurried breakfast a start was made at 3.50. The fog cleared away, but from the time they reached Marcel Col at daybreak they were somewhat troubled by a gusty southerly traversing Liudenfeldl to Engineer Col, which they reached by 7.20 a.m. They pushed on up the Tasman and they had to cut out on to the east face to circumvent the shrund on the ridge leading-to the north shoulder. Cutting steeps alternately in the Canterbury and Westland up the final ridge they reached the summit at 10.45 a.m. As the wind was increasing and the Tog coming over they retraced their steps as fast as safety would permit, and traversing Lindenfeldt again reached Marcel Col at 12.45. With the afternoon still before them they climbed the high peak of Mount Haast and returned to the bivouac by 4.40 p.m. The next day the party returned to the Franz Josef.