ESSENTIALS IN ALPINE CLIMBING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18479, 22 January 1930, Page 8

ESSENTIALS IN ALPINE CLIMBING.

FITNESS AND GOOD CLOTHING. “It seems almost incredible that a storm should cause five persons to perish in such a short time,” said Mr K. G. Archer to a Christchurch newspaper reporter yesterday. "The blizzard must have been frightful.” Mr Archer, who ascended to the Malte Brun Hut with acting-Guide E. Blomfield at Cnristmas time, said that one had to be very fit to weather a storm in the Alps. A man could face the odds and survive, but a woman’s chances were slighter. Fitness and adequate clothing were .essential. The trip to Malte Brun Hut feemed to be so safe that it was probable that tourists set out without paying very great attention to clothes. They often donned adequate boots and trousers, but overlooked the importance of sufficient covering for the body.

Mr Archer knew of one woman climber who discarded her sweater on the journey up the Tasman Glacier and lost the garment. Although the four young women who perished were regarded as very fit, he had seen one woman completely “knocked up/* There is a rise of from 2000 ft to 3000 ft between the Ball Hut and the Malte Brun Hut.

The portents of a storm were usually obvious long before it happened, though, of course, there were times when terrific storms c'ame down with startling severity and suddenness. The climbers were bound to place reliance in the discretion of their guides. Mr Archer was weather-bound at Malte Brun Hut for one day. He was impressed by the phenomenal strength of the wind. The hut, which was moored by a cable to a huge rock, moved at times so that plates were dislodged from shelves. Acting-Guide Blomfield was a slightly-built, cheerful chap. It was his second period of guiding at Mount Cook. Excellent company, picturesque in his mountaineering habiliments, he liked the work, had the guide spirit and a full sense of his responsibility. It was a holiday for him combining experience and pocket money. From the Hermitage to Ball Hut it is 14 miles, and from 10 to 12 miles from there to Malte Brun Hut, up the Tasman Glacier all # the way.

If is comparatively easy going. From four to six hours are occupied in going from the Ball Hut to Malte Brun. and the journey back takes from three to four hours. If the weather were good De la Beche corner must have been reached in an hour from Malte Brun Hut.