THE RUAPEHU TRAGEDY FALL OVER ICE CLIFF

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18951, 22 May 1933, Page 7

THE RUAPEHU TRAGEDY

FALL OVER ICE CLIFF

DEATH OF JOHN WALL.

RECOVERY OF THE BODY,

TAUMARUNUI, Sunday

On Mount Ruapehu yesterday five men descended into the crater to recover the body of Mr. John Wall, aged 19, of Wanganui, who accidentally fell ,200 ft. over an ice cliff on the" edge of the Crater Lake on Friday and was killed. Only w-lth the greatest difficulty was the body recovered from the posijtlon in which it lay under the crumbling ice cliffs, and it was not until this evening that it could be brought to the Chateau. A party of 16 set out from the Chateau on Saturday morning, but when they reached the summit they found that a direct descent to the spot where the body was lying was imposible. The party went round to the other side of the crater and five members, Mr. R. Cobbe, manager of the Chateau, Mr. C. Taylor, chief guide, Mr. Clark, an engineer in the Public Works Department, Mr. Stevens, of the Tourist Department staff, and Mr. T. Jack, of the Chateau staff, made the hazardous descent of 200 ft.

Up to Waists In Water.

Mr. Cobbe and Guide Taylor, using a rope, set out to edge their way round the lake to the spot where the body was lying. They had to w-alk at a snail’s pace on the narrow ledge of Ice, which in places was covered by the water of the -crater lake. At -times they were up-to their waists in water. “ Finally we reached the body," Mr. Cobbe said. “At the spot where the body was lying it was anything but pleasant. Above us there was a bad overhang of rotten ice, and we both realised‘that even to utter a word might mean death, as the vibrations of voices could have brought a mass of ice on top of us. We had carried with us four deflated motor tubes, and we managed to blow them up and fix them together to make a raft for the body. Then we had the painstaking task of floating -it for a quarter of a mile round the edge of the lake back -to the spot where the other three were waiting." The live men next essayed another arduous task —that of getting the body to the top of the -crater. The greatest care had to be taken and, with dusk falling, the body was -still ■soft. from the top. There it was left for the night. Another party set out from the Chateau this morning. Mr. S. A. Mannering, -of Taumarunui, descended by a rope, but after reaching the projecting overhang had to swing -out In mid-air in order to reaoh the ledge beneath. -It was a perilous undertaking. Mr. Mannering gained the ledge in safety and then made the body fast to the repe. The party above hauled it to the top of the crater.

Verdiot at the Inquest,

An.inquest was held at the Chateau this evening. The -coroner, Mr. A. S. Laird, expressed his opinion that deceased met his death through a sudden attack of vertigo. A verdict of accidental death was returned.