LOST ON RUAPEHU.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1708, 27 March 1913, Page 5

LOST ON RUAPEHU.

MR. BINGHAM STILL MISSING, HOPE ABANDONED. / UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH. (By Telegraph.—Preen Association.) 1 Talhapo, March 20. Tlio search parly which set out fol, Ohakuno Inst night to look for Mr, Bingham journeyed a milo upstream and. camped till daylight'. Tho party was expected back about noon to-day, but at seven o'clock no word had been received from them. Messrs. Waters and Schubert are not \ much tho -worse for their experiences, and left for Auckland last, night. iMiss Coates is improving, and is well on tho road to recovery, but it will bo somo lime: before sho is ablo to get about . again, owing to injuries to her fa>t and legs, which are very badly swollen. Hopes of finding Mr. Bingham alive have been abandoned. 1 Cue search parly returned from ■ tho mountain this evening, but they report that they could find no trace of tho missing man. /'Tho party searching along tho stream' whero Miss Coates says f>ho last saw Mr, Bingham has not yet relumed. , Auckland; Mitreh 20. , Tho yonng men, Schubert mid "Waters, who were among' the party lost on Rua- • pehu, arriml back in Auckland to-day. Both aro still suffering from tho cfTccti of their misadventure. They aro nnablo 1 to" walk without much. pain, and httYO 1 - ; .contracted bad colds. ' .

, THE MOUNTAIN TRACKS'. (Dy Telegraph.—Special OorreßpondcnU 1 Auckland, March 26; Some particulars regarding Mount Rua« pehu, on. -which tho party oi tourists wero lost on Sunday, were given to a pressman by Dr. W. G. Scott,- of Onehunga, whohas nuulo the ascent several times, mid well acquainted with tho mountain, lluapehu, which is 8878 feet in height, and. the loftiest point of the. North Island, is generally reached from either Olmkuno cr Rangataua, at both' of which placed there arc climbers' clubs, which maintain permanent camps just above the bush hue. From Ohakunc the first eight or nine miles lio through extnwncly : densa bush by'a fairly good track. This is;usually' accomplished in one dai% and tho, ascent of the higher portion or tho moua-, tiiiri left till the next. In addition lo th»i two camps, there are several huts (in- , eluding'two Government ones) nbovo the bush limit on tho various places round' tho mountain. So far os the filial stages of the climb are concerned, Ruapelm i» not, in Dr. Scott's opinion, a difficult proportion to nnyono with an, elementary, knowledge- of mountaineering. From tho Ohakuno side the route is; up a! rocky., ridge, lying between livo glaciers, and thfy ridge in 6umnier timo is generally clear of' snow. At its top the climber eomes to tho big snow plateau, which fringes tho beautitul crater lake. It is only by extreme carelessness,,ho thinks, that a party* could lose their -way or become separated on tho -top of the mountain, since tlioro, i nro. numerous 1 well-defined landmarks. The real danger, it would seem, lies in! tho bush. It is by no means an easy,, matter to find; when descending, tho points where the various tracks emerge from tho bush into tho belt of sub-alpine scrub, i Thus ft' party may .very easily bo misled,, The bush .is so dense that persons missing iho track have been known to 12 or 11 hours in finding- it again.