THE ASCENT OF MOUNT COOK

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2475, 13 March 1882, Page 3

THE ASCENT OF MOUNT COOK

ACCOMPLISHED.

return of mountaineers to TIMASU.

[special tble&bam to thb ‘‘peebb.”J TIMARU, March 12.

A great deal of interest has been manifested in the fact that a member of the English Alpine Club, accompanied by two of the best Swiss guides, had arrived in New Zealand with the intention of ascending Mount Cook, if it was possible for man to reach the top, and this interest increased daily since the party who had come so many thousand miles to undertake a difficult and dangerous task bade farewell to the frontier settlement and entered upon the wildernes* of rock and ice which forms the outer defences of the monarch of the Southern Alps, Concurrently with this increasing interest there grow up more and more speculation as to the probable result of the expedition. Those who are acquainted with what has been done of late years in mountaineering feats and the increased skill and fertility of resource acquired by guides under the impetus afforded by the yearly excursions of members of the Alpine Club suspended their opinion or were inclined to anticipate that the hitherto trackless mountain top was destined to continue so no longer. Others, and particularly those, it may be said, who live in the locality and have some knowledge of the mountain, entertained the decided opinion, and gave that opinion decided expression, that the snowy summit would ever remain untrod by man. These were mistaken ; Mount Cook has been “done," and the conquest of the monarch of the Southern Alps has been added to the many mountaineering triumphs of the Alpine Club. The party who have won the honour of being the first to set foot on the top of Mount Cook consists of the Rev. W. P. Green, a clergyman of the Church of England, whose living is in the South of Ireland, a member of the English Alpine Club, and two Swiss mountaineers, Mr Ulrich Kaufman, one of the most skilful guides in the Bernese Oberland, and Mr Emil Boss, an enthusiastic mountaineer, noted for his success as a chamois hunter. These two men were specially engaged by Mr Green to assist him in bis expedition, and to their skill, industry, and bravery he attributes its success. They threw themselves heart and soul into the work, with a full determination to achieve the object of their voyage, if it lay in the power of man to compass it. On two occasions Mr Green was inclined to turn back from the route they were pursuing in order to avoid exposing bis men to great dangers, but they cheerfully, even anxiously faced the risk, and by so doing saved the expedition from failure in the main point. Mr Barclay, a yonng settler of Taranaki, accompanied Mr Green to the Tasman Glacier, and returned after the first day’s reconnoitring, as has already been published. The following aooonnt of the ascent is compiled from information kindly furnished by Mr Green on his return. An account has been already published of the upward journey until the party camped at the foot of the Tasman glacier, a point reached by driving to Birohhill station, and partly by driving and partly by packing tbenoe to the camping place. The camp arranged, and the stores secured from the weather, a day or two was spent in reoonnoitering, and it became apparent that the camp was too far away from Mount Oook proper, and the intervening ground was so terribly rough that this camp could not be successfully used as a base of operations. It was thereupon decided to move the camp as far as possible up the glacier, and the carrying into effect of this decision involved some of the hardest work of the whole trip. The route lay along the lateral moraine of theTasman glaoieralternately through scrub on the side of the spnr so dense that a person unencumbered with a load could scarcely make headway through it, and over boulders and angular fragments of rocks, varying in size from that of a sheep to that of a cottage. The immense labor of carrying heavy packs under such oiroamstances can scarcely be imagined by one who has not seen the wild confusion of a recent moraine, nor the almost solid density of the sub-alpine vegetation. The risk of broken limbs in scrambling over the huge boulders is very great, and the traveller needs to be ae surefooted as a chamois, and to have the grip of a vice to save himself from slips and falls. The distance through which the camp was shifted up the glacier was but short reckoned in miles, but awing to the Toughness of the ground, four days were consumed in doing it. The plan adopted was to shift the whole of the material taken as far as possible in one day, and there camp for the night. Tbe guides practically made two trips each day between the camping places. The stores and camp equipage were made up in five packs, of which Mr Green took one, and tbe guides two each; the latter carried one of their pair of packs some distance, and there set it down, and went back for the other, and so on throughout tbe day, in this way obtaining frequent intervals of comparative rest (only comparative rest, for to journey empty handed over such ground is m work hard enough.) Three wet days were experienced while making this transfer, daring which of course nothing could be done, and thus a week was spent in shifting tbe camp. This was finally pitched in the angle formed by the junction of a large glacier from the left with the Tasman glacier, and from this point the party sallied on their several attempts to scale the peak. On tbe 25th February an attempt was made to ascend by the southern ridge—the one which faces the traveller approaching the mountain by the Tasman valley—but inaccessible precipices were met with, end the attempt by this spur had to be given up. Observations made from various points indicating that better fortune might attend an attempt to ascend by the eastern spur, preparations were made to spend two or three days on this spur. On the 27th the party, heavily laden as on the previous day with necessaries for a bivouac, made their way to a height of 8000 feet, and then met with obstacles that could neither be surmounted nor turned, and after doing a hard day’s climbing they returned to camp, which they reached by moonlight after an absence of seventeen hours. A rest was required after this day’s toil, and the next day was spent in preparing for an attempt to reach the northern ridge. The distance of this ridge being plainly too great to permit of the ascent being made from the camp in one day, it was determined to approach as near as a safe bivouac could be made on the glacier and start next morning for the peak, with the advantage of so much ground gained. Accordingly on the Ist March they moved up the glacier, taking four days’ provisions, a waterproof sheet, blankets, &0., and camped that night at the foot of Mount Tasman, at an altitude of 7000 feet above the sea. At 6 a.m. on the morning of the 2nd, in beautiful weather, a start was made for the northern ridge, taking some previsions for the day, and the camera being carried with them. The journey was slow, even over the easier first portion of the glacier, as it was thickly orevasaed. As the peak was approached, to the danger from crevasses was added that of continual avalanches. Hanging glaciers presented themselves in nearly every hollow in the peak at greater or less elevations, from one or other of which masses of ice were almost continually falling, and the smaller pieces were rushing down the steep mountain sides with a whiz like a bullet, and the larger ones with a roar like thunder. To avoid those avalanche lines was the greatest difficulty of the ascent, and at one point this danger seemed so groat that the party were almost compelled to relinquish tbe undertaking, but they were fortunate enough to get safely over, and continued the ascent. About four in the afternoon they were still a considerable distance from the snmmif, and it was plain that if they went any further up the mountain they would be unable to regain their bivouac that night. The question wae debated ! whether they should proceed, with a certain prospect of having to spend the night on the ; j mountain without shelter and without food

(for the provision* they carried at starting had been left lower down, the climbing being difficult), or whether they should return without having accomplished the object of their journey. It was decided to proceed. Men, the guides pointed out, had been benighted in Alpine regions before and survived, end they would do the same. Upwards they slowly made their way, Kaufman cutting steps

in the ioa until his hand* were black with blisters. To add to the difficulty of the latter part of the ascent, the weather, which in the morning had been bright and clear, became dull and moist, and a thaw set in. The ioe above them disintegrating on the surface with the warmth, began to roll down the sharp slope in pellets like hail, which struck full in the faces and battered the hands of the party as they made their slow way up the peak. Though slow their progress was steady and sure, and at 6 20 p.m. they stood upon the summit of the main peak, only a small hnmp a short distance away standing higher than the spot they occupied. The air was now full of clouds, and as nothing could be seen the descent was commenced, not more than ten minutes being spent on the top. After descending about 2000 ft the darkness of night was coming on, and it was deemed prudent to accept the first shelter that offered itself. A rock projecting through the ioe cap was near, and steps were cut from j their upward track to this. The enow collected at the foot of the rock was scraped away, and here, on a ledge only a few inches wide, too narrow to sit upon, with the ioe sheet stretching thousands of feet sheer beneath them, the party passed the night, stamping their feet and beating their hands to keep them warm, each watching that his fellows did not go to sleep, for all were tied together, and to sleep or slip meant destruction to the whole party, there being nothing to obtain a good grip of. The night was a dreary one. The moon was at the full, but heavy clouds obscured it. Bain fell almost constantly through the night, but from this they were sheltered by the rook, except when the wind, as it frequently did, swirled round their insufficient shelter. The hours passed slowly. The patty were wet, and weary, and hungry, but they patiently counted the hours till midnight, and then congratulated themselves that half the term of their imprisonment was over. Wet and weary they must remain until they reached a drier climate, and a space large enough to rest upon, and their hunger they appeased, or fancied they did so, by sucking each three of Brand’s meat lozenges, which are about the size of a fourpenny piece and a qaarter of an inch thick. The descent was resumed at sunrise, and in three hours the bivouac on Mount Tasman was safely reached.

The peculiar danger of ascending Mount Cook, namely, the frequent occurrence of avalanches apparently over all portions of its steep sides, was fully illustrated by the way in which the track made by the party in the snow in ascending was found next morning to have been obliterated by avalanches that fell during the night. In one place on the glacier traversed by them on the 2nd there lay next morning the wreck of what would have made a respectable iceberg, which had fallen down in the night. The descent to the bivouac accomplished, the party proceeded at once down the glacier to their camp, which they reached at 7 p.m. They had thus been thirty-seven hours on their feet, from 6 a.m. on the 2nd to 7 p.m. on the 3rd, most of the time wet through, and for the last twentytwo hours without food. They enjoyed a well-earned day’s rest at the camp, and then packed up and descended to the foot of the glacier. There they waited two days for the horses, which it had been arranged should return to take them away on the day they got down. The horses not appearing and their provisions running short, the party started for Birch Hill Station, and had just forded the rough and dangerous Hooker by tying together and using their ice axes as supports when they saw the horses going up the opposite side, having crossed at a lower point. The mountaineers and the horses must have been in the water at the same time. The attention of the man in charge of the horses being obtained by lighting a fire, arrangements were soon made for packing the camp equipage to Barnett’s Station, and thence the party drove to Lake Tekapo on Friday evening, reaching Timaru on Saturday evening.

CRICKET.

ENGLAND V. AUSTRALIA. BY CABLE. fEEUTEE’S TELEGEAMS.I MELBOURNE, March 11. In the cricket match, England versus Australia, the Englishmen in. their first innings made a total of 309. The remaining scores to-day were-: Emmett, b - - - 27 Shaw, c ... 3 Peate, c and b - - 13 Pilling, not out - - 7 Extras - - - 16 The Australians then went in for their first innings, and when stumps were drawn for the day had put together 228 for the loss of only five wickets. The following are the scores: — Bannermann, c and b - 37 Murdoch, b - - - 82 Horan, c and b - - 20 Massie, c - - - 19 Giffen, c - 14 McDonnell, not out - 41 Sundries - - - 12 TJ.C.O. v, MIDLAND. This match was resumed on Saturday. On the previous Saturday the Midland had been all disposed of for their first innings for 130, while the U. 0.0. had made 58 with one wicket down. On the D. 0.0. again taking np the willow runs began to come very fast. Millton, one of the not outs, played with unusual freedom, finally making the fine score of 75. Ashby, tho other not out, only added 2 to his score, thus totting up 19. W. Gotterill and B. Ootterill each made 23 ; Wilding a very fast 22 ; Stevens, 13; E. D. Harman a very pretty 38, and Helmore 16. The fielding of the Midland was decidedly •lack. The match will be concluded next Saturday. BEEWBE3 v. WINE AND SPIEIT MKEOHANTS. A very enjoyable match was played on Friday between the Brewers and Wine and Spirit Merchants on the Hagloy Park ground, which resulted in a win for the latter by 44, the totals being Wine and Spirit Merchants, first innings, 156; second innings, 65. Browers, first innings, 120; second innings, 57. For the Wine and Spirit Merchants, Griffith played very well for 70 and 28. Tho principal other scorers on this side were Glen with 14, Williams with 35, and Augustus with 18 not out, and 12 not out. For the Brewers, the principal contributors were Pengelly with 50 and 20, Francis with 32, and Atkinson and Crowe with 10 each. “TIMES” r. “PEE3S.” Teams from tho above offices met on the Association ground on Saturday afternoon, and played an interesting game. The “ Times ” captain winning the toss, elected to Bend his men to the wicket, and they succeeded in putting together 90 runs, chiefly contributed by Atack, 29; Kitchen, 16; Davey 11 ; and Ludford, 9. The “ Press ” followed, being represented by Allardyoo and and Cant first at the wickets, about 60 rune being scored before a separation took place. The innings closed for 124—Allardyoe, 37 ; Cant, 33 ; B. Maurice. 15 ; Board, 13 ; and Buckland, 9; being the chief contributors. Davey bowled well for the “ Times,” and the same msy be said of Allardyca for tho “ Press.” SYDENHAM YOUTHS v.'HEOOND ELEVEN U.O.C. Tho above match was commenced last Saturday on the ground of the latter. Owing to the short notice given in the arrangement ; of tho match, only some half-dozen turned ■ up to represent the Youths. Eventually, however, by the enlistment of some outi riders, an cloven was got together. The Yontns were the first to bat, and the first few . wickets, comparatively speaking, produced > little, but the later bats succeeded in collaring i the bowling, and transformed what in the early part of the innings seemed a run away i affair into something respectable, the total i score being 143. Of thess Smith scored 28 ; 1 Johnson, 24 ; W. Ashby, 20 (not out) ; A. 1 Lawrence, 14 j and 8. Forsyth, 13. The ; U. 0.0., having a little over an hour to play, i sent in Oostelli and Baker. Oaatolli was unfortunate enough to be inn out very early, . whilst Baker hit out in a very determined manner, making 22 before being disposed of. i H. Fenwick and Pixley kept their wicket up ’ for some considerable time, the farmer i knocking up 44 very quickly. At the time

for drawing stumps the U.O.C. had lost four wickets for 93 runs. The game will be continued next Saturday. OHEISI’S COLLEGE t. M.O.C. SECOND ELEVEN. This match was commenced on Saturday, on the Midland ground. The M. 0.0. were the first to go to the wicket, and only put together 81, principally through the exertions of Lodge, who scored 53, the only other double figure being Grossman with 10. Tho College were more lucky, and scored 139 with nine wickets down before time was called. Of these H. B. Msthiss made 81, 0. Ootterill 14, Willis 11, end Barton 13, net out. JUNIOE LANCASTER PARK C.C. r. LATIMER 0.0. A match was played on Saturday between the Junior Lancaster Park 0.0, and Latimer 0.0., which resulted in a victory for the former by 36 runs. Tne scores were—lran* castor Park, 38 and 65; Latimer C. 0., 43 and 24. Tombs and Boss bowled well for the Latimer 0.0., and Oiarfc and Richardson for Lancaster Park. SOUTHERN CROSS LODGE T. PIONEER LODGE OF TEMPLARS. A cricket match came off on Saturday last, on the Addington ground, between teams picked from the Southern Cross Lodge and the Pioneer Lodge of Templars. ThePioneers went first to the wickets, and scored 36 in their first innings and 41 in their second. The Southern Cross scored 54 in their first innings and 24 in their second innings with the loss of two wickets, so they won the match by seven wickets. ME W. J. WALTERS’ EMPLOYES r. MB A, J. WHITE’S EMPLOYES. A match was played on Saturday last on the Addington ground between Messrs W. J. Walters and A. J. White’s employes, and resulted in an easy victory for tho latter by 62 runs to spare. For Mr Walters’ side J. Orooker, with 8 and 14, was the chief scorer, and the same player and Goodwood bowled very well. For Mr White’s men H. Ogier made 17, and W. Ogier 29 and 2. H. Ogicr’a bowling was very good, his analysis showing seven wickets for 10 runs. The scores were Walters 32 and 30, White 52 and 63. The match arranged for between the Kazapol and Lyttelton clubs on Saturday, on the ground of the former, did not take place, the Lyttelton men having sent word that they coaid not get all their team together.