STORY OF ALPINE TRAGEDY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 65, 3 April 1937, Page 6

STORY OF ALPINE TRAGEDY

i— Press Assooiation.i

Men Jumped to Avoid Falling Boulder A PURE ACCIDENT

(By Telegraph

OAMARU, Last Night. After an unenvijable experienee, a party of alpinists and helpers succeeded in the task of bringing out the bodies of the late Messrs S. D. Divers, G. M. Edwards artd Roy Stevenson from the scene of the Mt. Trent- fatality. fn atrocious weather and after four days' strenuous effort through most difficult country while every member of the party was. soaked to the skin all the ' time, their achievement can only be described as heroic. An inquest was held this morning before the coroner, Mr W. H. Firth. Walter Scott Gilkison, accountant, of Dunedin, gave evidence that there were 21 men in the party, including the deceased. On Saturdiay 19 oi the party began from the camp below Br'odrick Pass to climb to the peak of Mt. Trent. The approaeh was made over a considerable glacier, the courso of the Huxley River. The' party divided into five groups, each of which was roped and in the charge of a leader. The head of the glacier at 6500ft. was reached just before noon and about 2 p.m. the first party reaehed the summit. Witness .was the fourth man. Galled Out a Warning. The second party was about- 15ft. from the summit, when witness . saw . a boulder • run down the slope, -hit a' rock, and bound - '* in the direction of the fifth party. 80ft. below. ..Witness called out a warning., The stone went just in front of 'the second man of the 'party, comprising 'Divers,* in the lbad, Stevenson, and Edwards. - Stevenson appeared to move back out of ' tM way and must have jerked' Divers' out of his step, for both began to slide. Edwards drove his ice axe in deep and attempted to steady them, but • apparently was wrenched from his hold and the axe remaincd firnfiy inbedded. The three nien, ' continued witness, slid rapidly down the slope a distance of 200ft., hitting outcropping rocks, and came to rest on the snowfield at the end of the glacier. Two men, W. G. McClymont and R. ~R. Edwards, went down the slope immediately, but the victims " of the 'accid'ent were dead. Divers and Edwards were very experienced climbers. . In witness' opinion every precaution that could be ' taken was taken. It was a pure accident, caused by the eccentrie course taken by the falling boulder. -There was.no rock- above that party and they. should have been quite clear of such stoue. Climb not a Severe One. - -• • ; James Hogg Gilkison, accountant, of Dunedin, said that teehnically speaking the climb was not a severe one. He corroborated the evidence, of the circumstances of the aceident. Divers and Edwards had done considerable elimbing, including on Mounts Cook and Hardinger. All the parties were properly equipped. Francis Newmarch Clark, Dunedin, gave similar evidence. . He said he considered the climb not difficult or dangerous. , - The coroner found that the deatKs of the three men were due to the injuries received in a full down the slope of Mt. Trent, the aceident being a pure misad venture. He congratulated the party on the heroic efforts to get the bodies out, and also praised the police. Mr Firth expressed his deepest rympathy with the xelatives.