ON THE GLACIERS OF AORANGI.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume V, Issue 44, 1 November 1890, Page 3

ON THE GLACIERS OF AORANGI.

By

MALCOLM ROSS.

tNo. 111. E awoke next morning to find a cloudy sky and a falling barometer, but this latter fact I kept to myself, as we had planned an important ex|>edition, and I did not wish to abandon it without good cause. This contemplated expedition was no less than the ascent of the Hochstetter Dome, which Aman and I had resolved to accomplish, weather permitting. After breakfast we lost no time in packing the necessary provisions in our sleeping bags. We took enough for three days, and carried also our ice axes and the alpine rope, both of which we were likely to need before we got back. We decided to dispense with a tent, as there were no facilities for pitching it, and, rather than carry any greater weight, we agreed to sleep out on the rocks at De la Be'che. There were several miles of ice to be crossed before we got to the

difficult part, where the glacier is much crevassed at the turn between De la Beche and Malte Brun. Beyond that again there was an easy slope to the final pinch, which, at a distance, looked comparatively easy, but which in reality was a very stiff climb. We were not destined, however, to encounter any of these difficulties. Leaving the camp, we ■were soon on the clear ice which comes down from the Hochstetter Ice Fall, and preserves its identity for some miles farther down the Tasman Glacier. For the first mile 6r so the glacial phenomena proved very interesting, but as our time was limited, we paid little attention to it just then. The Hochstetter Ice Fall, however, forced itself on our attention at almost every step, and no wonder, for it is certainly the grandest sight in the Southern Alps, and will bear comparison with anything in the Swiss Alps. Issuing forth from the Great Ice Plateau at the foot of the highest precipices of Mount Cook, it descends with a fine sweep for four thousand feet—a wonderful cascade of broken ice rent into innumerable cubes, and spires, and pinnacles that defy description. Near the foot is a precipitous rock, and over this the avalanches come tumbling every ten or fifteen minutes with a roar like thunder. A small stream of ice is diverted under the shoulder of Mount Cook, but the main body’ of ice cuts into the Tasman at an angle of about 45 degrees, and flows on for a mile or two between the lateral moraines, which seem to keep it distinct from the clear ice of the Tasman. At first the two glaciers flow on side by side, and, not pressing very closely, a great chasm some 500 feet deep remains between them. This gradually closes up, till, lower down, the Hochstetter ice mingles with the parent stream. We meet with two distinct series of crevasses, the one formed by’ the pressure from the Hochstetter Glacier, causing the ice on the western side to move faster than on the side abutting on Malte Brun, while the other series is caused by the bending round of the ice of the Tasman between Malte Brun and De la Beche higher up. The latter deflection

forms long crevasses which run across the glacier on its con vex side. The sun was very bright for a time, and we had to keep oir our blue goggles, but it was not too hot for travelling, and we ma le good progress over hummocky ice. A little beyond the Hochstetter Ice Fall we crier! a halt to have a good look at the surroundings. The Great Tasman filled the valley below, long streaks of white ice alternating with great masses of moraine. The Ball Glacier came down above our. camp. Fartheron was the Hochstetter stream, while right in front of us lay the gleaming ice-slopes of Aorangi, towering up into the clouds, and culminating in the tent-shaped ridge 8,000 feet above us. Next there was the wonderful Hochstetter, pouring its beautifully coloured cascade in a fine sweep, ami, half a mile farther on, the Freshfield Glacier came down at right angles. Over the bold rocky spur on which it rested was the glistening ice cap of Mount Tasman. Still farther up the valley was the great mass of the Haast Glacier in sunshine and shade, while Ire{zond this the ‘square topped Mount Haldinger, 10,020 feet, ligh, stood as the next worthy member of this giant family.’ Glacier Peak, Mount Spencer, Mount Jervois, The Kron Prince Rudolf Peak with the Franz Joseph Glacier next met the gaze, and farther on still gleamed the white snows of the Minaret Peaks and the Glaciers of De la Beche—great masses of broken ice. A glimpse of Elie de Beaumont was also obtainable, but The Dome and the upper portion of

the Tasman were invisible. The view was certainly a wonderful one, and the Rev. Mr Green and his guides, large as was their experience, were compelled to admit that the scene surpassed anything they had ever beheld. We longed for the view from the dome, with all the great glaciers beneath our feet, and the Island visible from sea to sea, but we were to be doomed to disappointment. While we halted on a huge rock that was being slowly and imperceptibly carried down on the surface of the glacier, a chillywind sprang up, the higher peaks became obscured in the clouds, and it was plain that a severe storm was brewing. Under the circumstances it would have been next to madness to tackle the ascent of the Hochstetter Dome, so, leaving our swags behind, and taking only the ice axes and the rope, we made a bolt for De la Beene to see as much as we could of the upper portion of the Tasman, with the view of making further expeditions another time. The crisp ice crumpled under our feet, ami we were not long in putting another mile of theglacier behind us ami getting a glimpse of LendenfeldtSaddle,half hidden in the clouds. Before leaving, a fine unnamed glacier coming down from the shoulder of Mount Spencer attracted our attention, ami this I decided to name after my wife, whose pluck and endurance had brought her into this region or ice and snow where no Englishwoman had previously been. We took a last longing look at the glorious amphitheatre of mountains, ami, turning our faces campward, began to beat a hasty retreat. We made good progress to where we had left our swags, and then, moving at a more leisurely’ pace, we wended our way down the glacier, and reached our camp that same afternoon. My wife, who hail been left all alone, was glad to see us back, and soon had a savoury stew steaming at the tent door for oui delectation. The glass continued to fall, and soon the bad weather came upon us. Before dusk the wind rose from the north-west, and came sweeping down on the tents till every minute we thought they would be blown away. We strengthened them with

the spare ro|>e, which we fixed from the poles to some rocks on the side of the hill, and put heavy stones all round upon the canvas outside. Then, having made things inside as snug as we could, we crept under the opossum rug and prepared for the worst. Annan, to while away the time, sang snatches of songs, wonderful in number and variety, and when he had got to the end of his reiiertoire, he whiled away the time by reading aloud the labels on the jam tins. At last the dai kness came, but there was no cessation of the storm. On the contrary, it seemed to increase in violence. Hour after hour the gale roared furiously. Sleep was out of the question, and we simply lay and listened to the howling of the wind. High up on the spur of Mount Cook, at the back of our tents, we ■•ould hear it tearing the alpine vegetation in its fury ; then it would swoop down on our tent, and send the sides Happing with reports like pistol shots. Again it would cease for a moment, as if to catch breath, only to come swooping down upon us with still greater vengeance.--,-After what seemed a very long time 1 looked at my watch, and found that only two hours had gone by. The barometer still gave a low leading, and it was evident that we were in for a bad night of it. Just after midnight the rain came on, and the gieat force of the wind beat it through the tent in the form of line spray. Over my wife’s head I rigged up a kind of hood with the waterproof coat and the biscuit tin. Then tying our caps down over our ears, we coiled up in the ’possum rug, and onee more tried to sleep. But the wind howled and the rain beat through the tent worse than ever, so that sleep was impossible. For my own part I did not mind. In the unknown country up among the snows beyond the beautiful Manapouri, on a sad mission, I had pitched my tent on the wet fern beds with the birch trees dripping overhead, and had drank painkiller and whisky thirteen overproof to keep out the cold. Far up on the shoulder of Earnslaw, below the Birley Glacier, I had lain down under a tent-Hy when the night air was keen, and once, up on the rocky peaks of the Remarkables, near to the Double Cone, thoroughly tired with a long day’s climb, I had arranged the stones Hat sides upward for a bed ; so now it was not likely that I was going to mind either the wind or the rain for my own sake. But I must admit I felt anxious for my wife, who was unused to such strange situations. Her pluck and good spirits, however, were equal to the strain, ami although it was rather dismal at times, she bore up well under it all, and took her share of the hardships as a matter of course. The one thing that I congratulated myself about was that we had not persevered in our expedition to the Hochstetter Dome. Had we done so the tents would most certainly have long ere this have been razed to the ground, and Annan and I should have been endeavouring to keep ourselves warm on the bare wet rocks at De la Beche.

Several times during the night I had to get up and tighten the tent ropes, as well as put larger stones outside to prevent us being blown clean away. For twelve hours we lay listening to the fury of the storm, and at last the dawn came. Never was I more pleased to see the first streaks of daylight. During the day the weather improved somewhat, and in the afternoon we made a short expedition across the Ball Glacier and some distance up the Tasman, in order that my wife might not go away without seeing something of the wonders of the Hochstetter Ice Fall. Surface streams were rushing over the Tasman Glacier, and waterfalls came down from the precipices of Aorangi. The ice caves, crevasses, and other glacier phenomena were very beautiful. Some of the crevasses appeared to be of great depth, asstones which we threw into them went rumbling down for five or six seconds before the sounds died away. In one place we walked under an ice bridge, the arch of which was twenty or thirty feet above our heads. On the way back we got some splendid specimens of edelweis ami other alpine plants. On the morrow, the Weather being still threatening, and a good deal of fresh show lying on the hills near us, we decided to strike camp and return to the Hermitage. My wife succeeded in making the long journey down from Green’s Fifth Camp in the one day—a wonderful feat for a woman under the most advantageous circumstances. I shall not weary your readers with the adventures of the return journey nor with the details of my subsequent climbs on Mount Sealy and Mount Mabie. The scenery is wonderfully grand and beautiful, and some day, when the district is thoroughly opened up to the tourist, it will attiact a stream of tourists from all parts of the world.