OTAIHAPE ALPINE CLUB

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 50, 1 March 1939, Page 10

OTAIHAPE ALPINE CLUB

ASCENT OF RUAPEHU FITNESS WEEK TRIP POPULAR (Own Correspondent.) A party of 15, under the auspices of the Otaihape Alpine Club, left Taihape at 10 p.m. on Saturday for the trip arranged as a fitting conclusion for the Fitness Week campaign. The party arrived at the Chateau at la.m. on Sunday, where accommodation had been reserved at the huts. Four male members of the party left the Chateau at 2 a.m. and climbed to 6000 feet to the R.S.C. hut, where they arrived as dawn was breaking about 5 a.m. The main party, under the leader-

ship of the club captain, Mr. D. M. Mac Kay, left the Chateau at 7.30 a.m. and arrived at the R.S.C. hut about 10.30 to join the other members. The top of the Whakapapa Glacier was reached about 12.30 p.m. and the party was treated to the wonderful sight of the pale green crater lake bathed in sunshine. Little or no difficulty was experienced in climbing the glacier since what crevasses there are have not widened enough to prevent walking or jumping over them. Four of the party made an ascent of the peak at Paretetaitonga, 9025 ft. and sat on the summit rock and admired the crater lake for about half an hour. Ski-ing on the glacier was out of the question owing to the uneven surface caused by thawing and water courses, and the ski-ing members of the party were sorely disappointed at not being able to get on their “boards.” The club is indebted to their captain, Mr. Mac Kay, for so capably leading the party. All fifteen members, half of which had not bee on Ruapehu before, reached the glacier summit to see the lake. The party had tea at the Chateau hut and reached Taihape on the return trip about 10 p.m. on Sunday.