CORRESPONDENCE

Taranaki Daily News, 24 June 1931, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE

ACCIDENT-ON. MOUNT EGMONT. v (To the Editor.) Sir,—Concerning your report in. Monday’s issue of .the News on the above subject, I would be grateful if you would publish the following letter as showing the true facts, Evidently you were quite misinformed of the position by someone who neither knew the facts nor took the-trouble to ascertain them, and in common justice to Bly th and myself, a correction is necessary. In the first plq.ee, Blyth and myself had previously arranged with Mr, Rod Syme, the leader of the whole party, that we would get an early start and proceed to the skiing ground at Fantham’s Peak. This ararngement was made because the main party had no intention' of skiing in any case, there being only one other pair of ski besides Blyth’s and my own, at Dawson Falls. Secondly, we were well equipped, though we carried no rope and Blyth had not an axe, but since we had no intention of proceeding far up the peak if conditions proved bad, this hardly seemed necessary. lam certain that up to the point we reached and descended from no alpinist of any experience would have considered a rope necessary, and the fact that the advance party (with whom we were climbing) took the same view, bears this <y;t. Your report conveys the impression that we set out most inadequately equipped, and against the leader’s wishes. Both of these statements are absolutely inaccurate.—l am, etc., K. P. TOMPKINS. New Plymouth, June 23, 1931. [The report was checked from several quarters before it was published, and agreed in its main essentials with the official report to the Park Board.—Ed. Daily News.]