ATTEMPT TO CONQUER MT HARPER FAILS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18468, 21 May 1928, Page 4

ATTEMPT TO CONQUER MT HARPER FAILS.

BUTTRESS OF ROCK CAUSES CLINfeERS ' TO RETRACE STEPS. (Written for the Star.”) For some time past members of the Christchurch Tramping Club have been casting longing ey&s on the summit of Mt Harper, an unclimbed peak, about 7500 feet high, at the head waters of the Waimakariri in National Park. Two members attempted to climb it last week, but failed to negotiate the last three hundred feet. Though unsuccessful, the efforts of the party were well repaid by the information brought back, and the photos and compass bearings obtained—all have proved of great value on clearing up the unsettled topography of the region. The climb was one of the most interesting yet made, and a short description of the route may be of interest here. For the first 2500 feet the Camp Spur creek was followed; the track rose that height in a mile and a quarter. From here the ridge was followed for five miles, the first two of which were easy going, alternately flat and steep. The last three miles, however, proved much more difficult. The spur became rocky, serrated and narrow,"being seldom more than five feet wide on top, and dropping steeply on both sides for some 3000 feet. Slow progress was made, and in one place the ridge became really razorbacked, just six inches wide. The party made slow and undignified progress by straddling the top for fifteen feet and greeted the far side of the “ mauvais pas ” great relief. Finally direct progress was barred by a 30 foot buttress, flanked on one hand by a deep schrund or crevasse, and on the other by an unstable looking snowface. It was deemed advisable not to risk the falling rocks which’are inevitable as the sun moves off a rock face, and, as a traverse involved crossing an ice face obviously subject to avalanches, the climb was abandoned. From this point the prospect was magnificent—the sea on the West Coast could easily be seen, and the country to the east. Many land marks were distinguished Mounts Rosamund, Campbell, Davie, Isobel Carrington, Armstrong, Rolleston, Temple, etc., and other points more inviting, such as the Bealey Hotel. A cairn was built in the approved fashion. The descent was made as quickly as possible. In spite of the haste darkness fell before the Camp Spur creek was reached, and an exceed ing painful and exciting descent of this portion of the route had to be made in the dark.