DART VALLEY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20073, 2 April 1935, Page 8

DART VALLEY

SEEKING UNKNOWN GLACIER

ADDRESS TO ROTARY CLUB

“Climbing in the Dart Valley" was the subject of an address given at the weekly luncheon of the Timaru Rotary Club yesterday by Mr A. Jackson. The speaker was introduced by Rotarian H. C. Romans. Mr Jackson gave a detailed account of the experiences which befell the three members of a party which spent 6 h weeks in the Lakes District, endeavouring to locate two unnamed glaciers. Part of the period was spent in the Upper Hollyford district and the remainder of the time in the Dart Valley district. He said that the party went in via Eglington Valley, climbing seven peaks on the way. Quite early in the trip, while attempting a difficult crossing, he had the misfortune to lose his ice axe. and this led to trouble later on. The Dart Valley, where the party spent most of their time, lies at the head of Lake Wakatipu. Two rivers feed into the lake, and about 30 miles to the east they take a sweep and find their source in close proximity. Mr Jackson said that three years before the war, Major Head, an English mountaineer, made a trip of exploration up the Dart Valley, and he spent most of his time at the head of the two rivers referred to. Between the two rivers lay the Eamslau range, and Mr Jackson said that he had previously noticed in the distance a ridge of snowfields and peaks, together with valley glaciers, which had attracted his attention. They were not marked on any map. and it was these the party set out to find. They reached the Dredge Huts, so called because of earlier mining activities, without difficulty, and pushed on to Cattle Flat, where they sought a ford across the river. Before reaching here, one member of the party injured a foot, and had to be left behind. Eventually the river was successfully crossed, a feat which had not previously been performed at that period of the year. The bush on the opposite side presented a problem, but eventually this was negotiated, and they came across a blazed trail, used by an old man aged 80. who had for years been seeking gold in the hills. Mr Jackson said that he and his companion managed to strike a high camp, and decided to set out early in the next morning but found the weather too bad. They made a start at 10.30, on a reconnaissance, and finally got on to a peak on the main range to the west of the rivers, and from here they had a most glorious view of the country. However, they saw no sign of their glaciers, which they knew were further south. In the course of further exploring, they struck undesirable ice-fields, but were still no nearer their objective. The next day they turned south, and from the top of a third peak climbed they saw a deep valley, and suspected the presence of the glaciers in that. Bad weather was then experienced for days, and the party had to sleep in wet bags, the tent having failed to keep out the elements. After several days the weather cleared sufficiently for a fresh start to be made, and eventually they reached huge snowfields. on which crampons had to be used. In fact, they had the crampons on for 11 hours, which gave some idea of the extent of the icefields, which were unmapped. Eventually they reached the valley and found the glacier. They climbed two peaks at the head of the glacier, both of which were unnamed, and they proposed naming them.

Mr Jackson went on to describe the return trip, which, apart from bad weather, provided no incidents of note. Photographs taken on the trip were handed round, and they gave members a good idea of the class of country explored by the party. On the motion of Rotarian C. Don. the speaker was accorded a vote of thanks.