ALPINE TRAGEDY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25427, 7 January 1944, Page 2

ALPINE TRAGEDY

TWO BODIES FOUND CLIMBERS LOST LAST MARCH (Special) OAMARU, Jan. 6. While making the descent _ after climbing the Mount Malte Brun in the Southern Alps on January 3, Messrs Bruce Gillies, of Oamaru, and H. Stevenson, of Weston, discovered the bodies of two men and a quantity of mountaineering gear. The bodies are believed to be those of Sergeant William Patrick Morton, of Auckland, and Leading Aircraftman Wilfred Frank Wallis, of Christchurch, who were reported missing in March of last year. Mr Gillies returned to Oamaru this morning, and the Timaru police, who were notified from the Hermitage of the discovery, have organised a party to go to the locality. Mr Stevenson remained at the Hermitage to assist the party in its task. Messrs Gillies and Stevenson had made a successful ascent of Mount Malte Brun and were returning when the former saw a rope lying on the slope. A little further on they found the body of a man in an exposed position, and still further on the body of another man buried under snow. Mountaineering gear was found higher up on the mountain, and a rucksack was also recovered. Sergeant Morton and Leading Aircraftman Wallis failed to return to the Hermitage, which they had left on Wednesday. March 17 last, on a projected trip to the Malte Brun hut. Search parties were sent out from the Hermitage and by the air force, while the police organised a party of experienced mountaineers of the South Canterbury Alpine Club. On Friday, March 26, the air force party discovered gear and other materials on top of a steep incline near the Malte Brun Glacier. All the articles were identified as the property of the missing men. From the nature of the slope, which was at a height of 8500 feet, it was presumed that the two climbers had either fallen into one of the deep crevasses nearby or had been swept away in a slide. The search was abandoned shortly after the discovery of the articles. Sergeant Morton was 24 years of age, and was the son of Mr W. A. B. Morton, of Auckland and formerly of Fairlie. Leading Aircraftman Wallis, who was aged 27, was the son of Mr F. L. Wallis, of Christchurch. Mount Malte Brun, rising to a height of 10,421 feet, is the main peak in the range of the same name, and is eight miles from Mount Cook. The range, a chain of rugged mountains, separates the Tasman and Murchison Valleys. The Malte Brun hut, which was erected in 1898, is situated at a height of 5500 feet.