ONE OF MR KING’S FEATS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16486, 27 February 1914, Page 7

ONE OF MR KING’S FEATS.

A GREAT AL&INE JOURNEY. ~ Last month Ml w Sydney King, ont of the victims of: .ne Alpine tragedy, with Mr J. D. Dennistoun and Lieutenant G. Dennistoun made an interest, ing journey over tho icefields on th« eastern slopes of the Southern Alps, The party made its way from the head waters of the Randtata across several glaciers down to Alalte Brun hut, icnce to the Hermitage, having crossed the Winifred, Godley, Classen and Tasman Glaciers. . They claimed \ that theirs was tho longest high-level ; journey vet made in New; Zealand. J During tne earlier portion of the trip, 1

while traversing from the Winifred to j the'Godley Glaciers, a new pass about I 17000 feet was discovered. The party j named it Terra Nova. V THE FATAL CLIMB. I STORY OF THE START. , THE FAREWELL ON THE TASMAN. ! NARRATIVE BY MR E. R. WAITE. Mr E. R. Waite/ Curator of Canter- ' bury Museum, who returned from the j Hermitage last night, was asked if be j had come into touch with Mr King and ' his guides. He said that he was th.e last to bid them “ God-speed ” at 3.50 \| on Friday morning at Ball Hut, some fourteen miles from the Hermitage. On arriving at the Hostel the previous day,” Mr Waite said, “ I con--1 suited Chief Guide Graham as to the ! most profitable way of spending live ! days, and he suggested that, as the ; weather was good and likely to hold, ' a start should be made in the morning ! for the Malte Brun hut j the outward occupies two days, and the re--1 turn • is, usually accomplished in one day. Guido Cowling was assigned to j me, and, 6n making inquiries among the tourists at the Hermitage, it was found that Mr and Mrs Roberts and Miss Ruth K. Greenwell, of Sydney, were willing to join me, and our party therefore comprised, five, including the guide. 11 The Hermitage was left early next day,' a walk of four and a half miles - taking us to a point where _ the Tasman and Hooker Rivers join. The length of the walk is necessitated by the fact that a bridge which would materially shorten the distance was . swept away last year when _ nearing completion. The next ten miles were accomplished on horse-back j the route was along a succession of barren glacier moraines, a halt at the Blue Lake, a rentable oasis, for refreshments, was most welcome. We arrived at the Ball Hut, and were later joined by Mr S. L. King and Guides D. Thomson and J. Richmond, who also spent the night, or part of it, 'at the hut, for at three o’clock the . following morning they were afoot, and, after a hurriedly prepared breakfast, left on their adventurous and, as it has proved, fatal journey. THE PARTING WITH MR KING, v “Although Cook and neighbour,js ing peaks have been the scene of many adventurous climbs, not a single fatality had previously : occurred there, and when we bade Mr King and his two guides ‘ God-speed ’ it never entered Our thoughts that we should be the last, outside their own party, to speak with them. An hour later Mr King’s last words addressed to me were ‘ Good . morning, hope to see you Monday night.’ We commenced the second portion of otir own journey. We first crossed the Ball Glacier, then the Hochstotter, and after; some dreary moraines entered .on to the Tasman Glacier. During its traverse we frequently looked round and wondered how King and his guides were getting along, though at such great distance it Would have been as impossible to see them had we even known their precise position as to have deteoted a sandfly on the top of the Christchurch Cathedral. At this time of the Reason the glacier is? not at its best for tourists. The winter snows which' fill the crevasses and make the surface tolerably, even have melted, leaving huge chasms which severely try the nerves of novices. My previous experience of the Franz Josef Glacier stood me in good stead and it was interesting to m° te ’ the chart, that when on the Tasman Glacier we. were separated from, the West Coast 'glacier by a comparatively short distance. Towards ( j" l ® middle of the glacier the ice was hummocky and easy of traverse, but for ( a or so on either side, where the greatest friction and pressure is exerted the many and deep crevasses necessitated constant detours which must have added a mile or two to the ten miles , covered, as the kea flios. . Avalanches were constantly down the* mountain sides, the heat of the past few days having melted 1 the ice and swollen the streams. Water _ rapidly collected on the glacier , itself from the melting snow and ice and coursed along until it disappeared down a fathomless crevasse to join the Ice-river rushing some 2000 vertical feet below.

“Malte Brun hut was reached early in .the afternoon, and here the second night was . .spent; . Sunday morning, at 5.30,' saw us once more afoot, and good progress was made. Drfot only had the party become accustomed to the difhoulties of ice traverse, but the general trend was downward, though the crevassed and hummocky character of the ice made the course anything but a level or direct one. Having to accomplish the whole twenty-eight miles in one day our stay at the Ball Hut was short, and we returned to the Hermitage tired, but with a keen sense of the delightful experiences of Alpine travel. THE FATE OF MR KING’S PARTY.

“ Tk® Mount Cook parties were expected back on Monday evening, but it was not until Tuesday that we realised that anything was wrong. As far ns Rnown to the . time of my leaving the Hermitage oh Wednesday morning, the facts may be briefly stated as follows: t-Two parties left on Friday to ascend Mount Cook, which had thrice previously been attempted this season, though unsuccessfully. Mr H. Otto Frina, with his private guide, Conrad Kam and the service guide Brass going by way of the Hooker Valley’from the west, and Mr S. L. King, with Guides D. Thomson and ■ J.Richmond, attacking the mountain via the Tasman Valley from the east. It was suggested 'that each party-on reaching the summit of Mount Cook, 12,349 ft in height, might return by the other party’s route, thus making a , double traverse of the mountain on the same day. This was carried out ■ by Mr Frind’s party, but on reaching the summit at 5.15 p.m:„it was found that King and his guides had been there first, but had evidently retraced thoir , steps, intending to return by the route they had ascended. Frind followed King’s' tracks down the upper and middle rocks, and lost them in a huge avalanche of snow and ice, but afterwards found some steps leading :ifato two more avalanches;-,one of these appears to have, over whelmed the three hien, though this was not exactly realised at the time. j! “ Frind’s party arrived at the IJaast . Bivouac at 2.15 a.m., and worked about for five or six hours by means of lanterns, when J. Dennistoun and S. Turner appeared, preparatory to following King’s tracks to Mount Cook. The. -wind grew rapidly stronger, and Dennistoun and Turner proceeded to the head of the glacier only, that . day, returning in a wild storm. ■ ■ Frmd’s party left the Bivouac at 9.30 a.m., expecting to find King and his two guides at Ball Hut (this is where the -men left us early on Friday' morn--1 ing, as stated).. They continued thoir long tramp, and arrived at the Her,v mitage at 7.30 p.m. “ The chief., guide, Peter Graham, was absent, having started earlier with Mr B. M. Wilson and Mr Lawson, who intended to cross over tho Copland Pass to the West Coast, but as it was known that he would spend tho first night out at the Hooker Hut, two guides were immediately despatched to bring him back. One of these was our guide, Cowling, who told me that the night was a fearful one, a fact of which we, 6afely housed in the Hermitage, were well aware. There

was, however, no thought of evading the''storm- and the attendant dangers, and a relief party was formed by Graham, who took with him Conrad Kain, Frank Milne and William Brass. These • brave men left for the Haast Bivouac at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, and later in the day, as I was returning from the Mueller Glacier, I met Mr Dennistoun on his way down to telegraph reassuring news to his mother from the Hermitage. It was his intention to accompany King, but he arrived too late to start with him, though he had 'driven his own car from peel- Forest in an endeavour to keep his appointment. After sending the message lie at once set out again on a hasty journey to the Haast Bivouac, some nineteen miles up the Tasman, and Mr Lawson, who had returned with Guide Graham from the Hooker Hut, .also left to render assistance in the search. Mr Friiid with whom I had. some conversation on Tuesday evening, told me _ that Dennistoun and Turner saw King on the top of Mount Cook at noon on Sunday and were on the Glacier Dome at 4 p.m., looking for traces of their descent. _ . As we were leaving the Hormitage bn Wednesday morning _ for home I learned that Guides Cowling and Young were going to take horses up to Ball Hut, so as to establish as rapid communication as possible between the search parties and the Hermitage. A second strong relief was also formed and merely awaited news from the chief guide to start immediately if word was brought down that further assistance was required. “ The sad news grieved the whole company at the Hermitage which by close association and similar interests becomes like one large family. King was ail experienced climber and a member of the Alpine Club, while the guides, outside the chief, Graham, were the most experienced of the staff and quite used to high climbing.”

ALPINE MEMBERS AT BALL HUT. Mr Waite further said that not tlm least interesting objects to be seen at the Ball Hut are a number of relics associated with alpine climbing _ou the Mount Cook ranges. The various objects are carefully labelled. The following are copies of the descriptions attached to the more interesting relics : “Part of first ski used by Dixon and Mannering on the Grand Thitdau and left on the Glacier Dome, December, 1893. Found by Guide Thomson on Hochstetter Glacier, one mile above Ball Hut, March, 1910, four miles below where dropped.” “ Not to he burnt. Piece of tent pole used by Dr von Lendenfeld, in 1884.” Also a piece of the survey chain used by him. “ Cover of aneroid, lost by Fitzgerald on Silberhorn, February, 1895, and found by Guide Lippe on Hochstetter Glacier, November, 1911.” There is also an alpenstock left by the Rev W. S. Green at liis fifth camp (Ball Hut). He was one of tho first to attempt the ascent of Mount Cook, with two Swiss _ guides but failed to reach the summit by 300 feet only.