Correspondence.

Otago Witness, Issue 1586, 15 April 1882, Page 13

Correspondence.

THB ASCENT OP MOONT COOK. TO THK EDITOR.

' Sir,— l have waited patiently, expecting to( see a review of the report from the Timaruj Herald given in your paper of date March:) 1 18 th, 1882, headed "The Ascent of Mount' i Cook." From the report I learn ■ " that those? who live in the locality, and have some know-; ledge of the mountain, entertained the decided) j opinion that the snowy summit would ever? remain untrod by man." After reading the. reports given by the Press my opinion is very decided that no one has set foot on the sum-, mit of Mount Cook j and, with your permission, will give liiy reasons for arriving at that conclusion, which I believe will convince allj who have a knowledge of the mountainous, country in New Zealand, and who are< ,not over-credulous, that my view ofj the subject is the moat consistent. In my, travels in the ' mountainous regions ofi New Zealand I have not seen scrub or dense^ vegetation of, ,any, description adjacent to glaciers or permanent snow-fields, and it seems that Mr Green • and' his^ guides had "great? trouble' in r ' carrying .their swags along .the] lateral moraine of the ; Tasman glacier on acj count of the, dense scrub and Ij have not' s?een the Tasman glacier, and will proceed (doubting, the accuracy of the state^ ment) to their, next and apparently greatest! trouble-r-namely, dodging avalanches. Theirstory would have been more easily believed ir it had been something .like the following:-* ," On the'mornirig of tho 2nd a start was' made for ; the, northern ridge, but even over the] easiest first portion the, journey was slow, the glacier being thickly creviced, and as thepeaK was approached the danger fr, opi crevices became greater, but here the, sight was terribly grand I I hanging glaciers presented themselves in nearly .every, hollow in the peak, at greater 'or less eleTation's, from one' or other of which masses of ice were almost continually 'falling and rushj , ing down the steep mountain side, the smaller piepes with a whip like a.bullet^ the larger pnea with anoiselike jbjmnder, only much louder ; but we were,' safe, being on the ridge of the 'spur.'? If they were not on the ridge of the spur how could they avoid avalanche lines, as they break up and scatter all over the place. Now you would think the main, body of ice would make 1 for one point, now for another ; in trying to dodge you would be as liablo to get into the avalanche line as not. Dodging avalanche lines is simply nonsense, thero bomg no given lines on which they travel. If you keep on the ridge of a leading spur you are comparatively safe. The report says :— " And at one point this danger from avalanches seemed so great that the party were almost compelled to relinquish the undertaking." Persons attempting to travel near avalanche lines ! Unlesp. they keep the ridgo of a spur their lifeless bodies would b° propelled downward. "To add to tho difficulties of tho latter part of tho ascent, the weather, which in the morning had beon bright and clear, became dull and moist, and a thaw set in." I haye frequently been on the, top of mountains in New i Zealand (Mounts Alta, Black Peak, &c), over 8000 feet above, , sea-level^ in the warmest month ia the year— 'February— the warmest days in the month, and when warm rain, was falling at an altitude of 6000 feet'; but a thaw I have not seen at an al-, titude of 8000 feet above sea-level, and cannot readily be made believe that rain ever 'fell on or near the top of Mount Cook. "At 6.20 p.m. they stood upon the summit of the main peak, only a small easily-accessible hump a short distance away standing higher than the spot they occupied." The air was full; nothing could be seen. The descent was at once commenced By' their own showing they wore not on the summit of Mount Cook, if 'the highest part be the summit. " About 150 yards from the top Mr Green buried his handkerchief and a tin match-box under a small heap of stones." I admit, if they had had a pick 'or a hammer and gad, they might have been able to split stones or wedge them out of the ioo, and build a small cairn • but in the absence of such appliance they could not. " About 2000 feet from tho top, on 'a ledge only a few inchos wide (too narrow to sit down upon), witli Hie ice-sheot stretching thousands of feet sheer beneath them, the party pawed the night, stamping j their feet and beating thoir hands to keep them warm ; eacli watching that \m fellows did not go to sleep, for all wore tied together, and to sleep or slip meant destruction to _ the whole party, they having nothing to obtain a good prip" of. fciin fell, &c" Rome may believe that rain fell 11,000 foot above «oa level in New Zealand, but J think lh;it all will si«vpo that if they had remained on the ledge, only a fow inches wide, all night, that they would be thero now— not pillar,? of salt but pillars of ice. The report goes on to state " that tho track they ' went up was obliterated by avalanches thai fell during the night. In one place on the glacier traversed by them on the 2nd, there lay next morning tho wreck of what would have made a respectable iceberg, &c. I won-

der what caused tho heavy wreck to stop on its downward course.

By inserting the abovo you would greatly oblige, as I would like well to hear the opinions of some of our New Zealand scientists on some of the points referred to. Dr Yon Haast, Dr tfectnr, or Mr M'Kay (Government geologist) who has had great experience in the Alpine regions of New Zealand, has made the attempt to scale Mount Cook, is a keen observer, capable of giving grand and accurate descriptions, has a wonderful retentive memory, and consequently could handle the Mount Cook hiibject in a practical and scientific manner. — I am, &c,

John M'Kersie.

Bannockburrij April 4th.