UP IN THE CLOUDS

Cue (NZERS), Issue 10, 31 October 1944, Page 1

UP IN THE CLOUDS

ITrf AINEERING is a sport very dear to the hearts of a host ,of Rew Zealanders. In Italy, like our own country, there are heights : r -which represent an irresistible temptation to the ardent climber. This article, contributed by a well-known NZ alpine adventurer and sportsman, gives a background to the sport as Kiwis may expect- to experience it, if they remain in Italy this winter. N' ~ ■

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HE playground THE playground J of Europe includes Italy as well as Switzerland. In the east there are the 1 limestone pinnacles of the Tyrol shared with Austria and Germany. They offer x mountaineers most difficult rock climbs, and stalkers some of the ■ best chamois in the world.

Like their descendants in NZ, these chamois, which are more numerous in Austria, have ' epidemics of venereal disease. • ■ ;

Further' west are the Bernese Alps with'- endless snowfields and scores of peaks which are ice-climbs all the way. New Zealanders who have cut their way about the Mt. Cook district should be more at home there than in the Tyrol. West again there are some of the most famous mountains in the —Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn and. Mt. Blanc. Italy shares the first two with Switzerland and .the last with France. Just as the Southern Alps are usually simple from the West Coast, so these peaks are moderate climbs from the North and extremely difficult from the Italian side. Monte Rosa and Mt* Blanc illustrate this point perfectly. Seen from the

Swiss side they are like St. Peter's cathedral, impressive because of their great snow domes. But from Italy they have grace and beauty, the buttresses and pinnacles of some lovely Gothic cathedral. .' Courmayer is the best Italian valley from which to see the black ribs of Mt. Blanc ascending to broken glaciers and narrow ice ridges. From Macunagna, Monte Rosa is a<series of precipitous aretes separating narrow couloirs raked by avalanches and falling stones. The Division may see it from the hills above Milan—see it touched with the first faint flush of dawn. That restless genius, Leonardo da Vinci?saw it from there and was not satisfied until he had climbed the lower slopes. The Matterhorn is difficult from any angle but is exceedingly so from the Italian side. Therefore, wire ropes have

been fixed so that the less competent can make the more dangerous pitches. There are similar ropes on the Swiss side and by them any normal person with sufficient money to pay for the guides can reach the. top. It is surprising how many people wish to climb the Matterhorn.. The great mountain fascinates people who are normally quite satisfied ivith good flat ground. Perhaps it is because most mountains are a part of a ranger-in-dividual teeth in a great saw—whereas the- Matterhorn stands absolutely alone, a great spearhead in itself. Unlike the other peaks it can be recognised from any angle and’ at any distance. The only New Zealand peak with similar individuality is Mt. Aspiring. With such mountains close at hand, there have always been some Italians who went to the Alps in summer and climbed for the . fun of the game. They climb as they fight, less efficiently and less consistently than the Germans. But if there is any publicity, any honour and glory to be gained, they will climb with reckless abandon. The Hun, on the other hand, is always a systematic, iron-nerved mountaineer. He may take incredible risks but he first takes care to stack the cards as. far as possible in his own favour. Just as he mechanised warfare, so he has mechanised climbing, introducing the mechanical aidsiron spikes or pitons, the . steel rings or karabiners—familiar to those who went to the American School for Mountain Warfare. German mountain huts are . the best and cleanest in Europe. The Italian huts are the filthiest, and their guardians as rapacious as any Fascist. They had that unpleasant Italian system of two prices one for the locals and another for the visitor. It was just like old times to see the same trick applied in a Bari shop. \ ~ The writer remembers being fleeced by the Italian keeper of the Queen Margarita Hut on thfe slopes of Monte Rosa. It is the highest in Europe, but that was no reason why he should lose on the* exchange rate and be overcharged while waiting for a snow-storm to abate.

However, the Italians have produced some famous mountaineers. Their mountain peasantry are sound people, as many escaped prisoners of war found out. Their professional guides are not equal to the Swiss, although in the early days of mountaineering there was Antoine Carrel, who attempted to scale the Matterhorn before the Englishman, Whymper, ascended by the Swiss route. National honour came into the race, for Carrel had fought in the War of Liberation and wanted the first ascent to be by an Italian from the Italian side. It makes a good story and this explains the popularity of the film Matterhorn.

Pope Pius XI, who died in 1939, was another typethe intellectual who is fascinated by mountains; He found some famous and severe routes up the face of Monte Rosa. The writer will always remember his surprise to find a bronze plate set in the rock at 13,300 ft to record the fact ; that Achille Ratti (Pius XI) here reached the crest of the main ridge after two days' climbing from Macunagna. Down through the wisps of cloud there was just one precipice after another, until 7,000 ft below, the ridges sloped away into the high pastures of the valley. Mountain standards have improved since Pius XI was a young scholarpriest from Milan, but his climbs are still classed as most severe. To a sound Presbyterian, the old Pope, who had just been rating the Germans for their racial distinctions, appeared a still greater figure in the world. ‘ One story is that an Alpine Club notable from London, Lord Conway, asked for an

audience and was cordially invited, with the Pope’s regret that there was no climbing in the Vatican State, although he had seen some interesting routes round the walls of the Vatican buildings. Because of the passes into Germany and Austria there has often been most difficult fighting in the Eastern Alps. In 1914-18 heavy guns fired from caves cut in the ice, glaciers were wired like sectors on the Western front, trenches were dug in the snow and mountain guides took telephone wire up to observation posts' on the mountain tops. The mountain regiments recruited from the valleys moved about on skis, froze to death on the heights, and generally conducted warfare of a type not seen anywhere else in Europe. After The show was over it. seemed so romantic that continental writers had a good sale for their novels on the subject. The only British writer who deals with it is Cecil Roberts in Spears Against Us. Motion picture producers saw their chance and added a . little sex to the foundation of snow warfare and mountain scenery. The only film of this type which appeared in New Zealand was Lost Battalion. The Germans with their attention < to detail made this fighting on the Italian front a special feature of the Alpine Museum in Munich. In times of peace, the mountains provide the villages with* their means of livelihood. In spring the cattle are taken from the barns and pastured on the alps. • Incidentally, the word alps first meant pasture, but the English in their casual style have given the title to mountains in general. As summer develops the cowherd moves his herds up the mountain sides seeing that not one blade of grass is wasted. The snow level is very high and it is not uncommon to see stock at 7,000 ft. To prevent any wandering beasts from getting lost, they are belled, and it is pleasant 10,000 ft up to hear the cow bells tinkling on the slopes below. The alpine flowers are far more numerous than those in New Zealand". •• lhe slopes have life and colour not seen in our own mountains. ; The most common

is the eidelweiss which is the badge of the German mountain troops operating near Orsogna. . . The most popular occupation, however, is the taking of money from foreigners. In summer there are tourists who live in hotels and climbers who employ guides. If one has no money, one climbs guideless, using the magnificent maps of the country and generally finding much more amusement. In winter the lower slopes provide beautiful ski-ing grounds. European society may favour Murren in Switzerland, but thousands have equally good and much cheaper holidays in the alps of Italy and Austria. ' Ski-ing is a very modern development that has given the mountain people a more balanced existance. Before the sport was introduced from Norway the summer * season was the tourist year. Guides, after they were paid off by the last tourist, made sure there was enough hay for the cattle and then settled down, for a -long, dull winter in their snowbound chalets. Their chief interests were smuggling, drinking wine, and adding to the family. Now they provide ski schools for beginners and plot long runs for the Experts. Since winter is approaching the Division will have to be satisfied with ski-ing on the lower slopes. ", Equipment is cheap by New Zealand standards. Some Italians are interested in the ? sport, hence the gear left lying about the mansions on the route to Florence. Even if New Zealanders never see the. Alps, first-class ski-ing can be found in the Appenines, and no doubt many New Zealanders will find time, to indulge in this sport if the Division is still in Italy this winter.