LOST ON MOUNT COOK

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16485, 26 February 1914, Page 7

LOST ON MOUNT COOK

SEARCH FOR THE MISSING v ALPINISTS. TWO PARTIES OUT. At 11 a.m. yesterday the Hon R. H. Rhodes received the following telegram from Mr B. M. Wilson, manager of "the Tourist Department,' at the Mount Cook Hermitage, regarding, the supposed disaster to Mr King and Guides Thomson and Richmond :<-- "No news from Graham's search party yet. ; Mr Cook, manager- at the "Hermitage, and another relief party left this morning for the . scene of the supposed acoident. . I expect some word to-day, and will wire you immediately." * v At ten o'clock last night Mr W. Crow, secretary to the Hon R. if. Rhodes, telegraphed to Mr Rhodes from the Hermitage: "There is no prospect of getting word from the relief parties to-night." NO/FURTHER NEWS. • \I , [Pis Press Association-] .i TIMARU, February 2s. (10.10 pim.) ;: There is no further news from th« Mt. Cook Hermitage regarding 'the thijse missing Alpinists supposed to have been overwhelmed by an avalanche^,, GUIDE THOMSON. ,".-/ HIS MOUNTAINEERING PLUCKINCIDENT OF A PREVIOUS' ; CLIMB. [From Our Correspondent.] #£j TIMARU, February A striking story which had not cqme to light before was told to-day by: a Timarn resident concerning Guide Thomson, one of the missing party''at Mount Cook. This young mountain' eer had a narrow'escape from death, on the slopes of Mount Cook last'year; A party consisting of Guides Graham and Thomson and Miss Dufaur had traversed the three peaks of the mountain and were descending roped together by, the same route in.which the present accident occurred when Graham dislodged a large: stone. He called but a warning £o those who were in,front. Miss Dufaur was narrowly missed by the stone and Thomson, seeing that he would be struck and carried over the. slope, took the only course open to him and leaped out off the ice-slope, with a sheer drop of thousands of feet below him. The others braced themselves for the shock of the rope and as. it was taut when he jumped they had little difficulty in holding him and eventually getting him back to., the track. By this action he undoubtedly saved the lives of the whole party, for had he been struck by the rock the three mountaineers would have-- been swept from the mountain side. Guide Thomson's action on this occasion l is considered to be one of the finest deeds of the Southern Alps guides. THE SIEGE OF MOUNT COOK. notable ascents. fitzgerald's accident on mt. sefton: > ", Mount Cook has had a fascination for climbers for many years. The first ►•complete ascent was made at the end o f 1894, by T. C. Fyfe, J. Clarke and G. Graham. It was about 1.80 p.m. on Christmas Day • when they reached the summit. After toiling all the "day, they saw the final top, about 400 feet above them, at midday. _" I am_ afraid that the reckless way in which we romped,over those last rocks,'.' Mr Fyfe said in his account of the ascent, " was very fool-hardy, but one would indeed need to be phlegmatic not_ to get a little excited on such an occasion. The slope of the final ice-cap was easy and only required about 100 steps, which were quickly'cut, and at 1.30 we. exultantly stepped on to the highest pinnacle of the monarch of the Southern Alps." The party of 'three men stayed only twenty minutes on the summit, and then, leaving an old ■sugar-bag spread on the ice-cap, with the idea of 6eeing it afterwards witt the aid of glasses, . they began the descent. The first. rocks were soon reached, and there they portioned out the remainder of their food. They also built a cairn, leaving, a tin on which Mr Graham had scratched their name* and the date.

In March of the next year, Mathias Zurbriggen, a Swiss guide, brought out to New Zealand by Mr E. A. FitzGeraid, set out with Mr Adamson, of the Hermitage, and reached the ascent alone, Adamson remaining on a p£ak where he could see the Swiss climbing to the summit. - ' < ■-.. .K-

Since that time, the summit has been reached by a fairly large number o{ climbers, including two Australian ladies, Mrs Lindon and Miss Dufaur.

The recent disaster is the first fatality in connection with the ascent of the Southern Alps, but in 1895 FitsGerald had a very narrow escape when he, with Zurbriggen, was making the ascent of Mt. Sefton. A large boulder upon which he placed his right hand gave way with a crash, and, striking him, hurled him down head first. He fell about eight feet, and then he felt the rope jerk and he struck against the side of the mountain with great force. He thought that Zurbriggen, who was tied to the rope, was being wrenched from his position. He begar to think how it would feel to dasli down 6000 feet and to calculate, how many times they would strike the rock on their way. He saw the rock he had dislodged bounding down. It seemed to 6trike the side three times, and it then took an enormous plunge of about 2000 feet and landed in a crevasse in the Tuckett Glacier. The rope stopped and pulled Fitz Gerald up short. Ht was swinging like a pendulum with his back to the mountain, hardly touching the rock face. At this critical' timej the rope between him and Zurbriggen was cut half through by a 6tone, and the position was made still more perilous. Fitz Gerald could have turned round and grasped the Tocks, but he was afraid that the strain on the' rope would dislodge the guide. Zurbriggen shouted to him to turn as soon as possible. He then kicked the rocks with one foot and swung himself round, and obtained some hand holds on a ledge. He scrambled a little way, and in about ten minutes both men were in safety. They sat for a minute and took a mouthful of brandy, as their nerves were badly shaken by the mishap, and then they continued their ascent.. s