ON THE TARARUAS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2007, 26 July 1919, Page 1

ON THE TARARUAS.

A MOUNTAINEERING PARTY. The party, comprising Messrs H. E. von Haast ami F. AV. Vosseler and a youth named Claude Tucker, for whose safely anxiety was expressed, returned safely to AA’ellington on AA r edncsday night, after an attempt to cross the Tararua Range. The intention of the party, which left AA T ellington on Saturday morning, was to cross (ho range from Woodside by way of Mount Reeves, the Tauherenikau River, Mount Alpha, and Mount Hector, coming out at Otaki, and returning to Wellington by Monday night. The party had been delayed by a snowstorm, and had taken refuge in the upper hut on Mount Alpha. Describing the experiences of the party, Mr von Haast said: “We got to the Tauherenikau hut on Saturday night, and reached the hut on Mount Alpha on Sunday night. In the ordinary course we would have crossed to Mount Hector on' Monday. The weather was very bad, and il was raining hard, but we started to go off to Mount Hector on Monday, and got half-way between Mount Alpha and Mount Hector —• to what is called the ‘Dress Circle.’ The wind was then blowing a blizzard, so icy that it almost numbed the limbs. So strong did it blow that once or twice it-lifted us off our feet and blew ns over (he slope, and as it would have been folly to go on, we simply went back to the Alpha hut, which we reached at 2 p.m. on Monday. There we stayed finite comfortably on Monday afternoon and evening, and the whole of Tuesday, because we knew the river would be up on account of the snow having melted. AA T e left the hut in a snowstorm about 9 o’clock this morning, and came right through to AAModside, which we reached a little after 3 o’clock. AVe were quite safe and quite comfortable, and we had plenty of food. In fact, we could have held out for another week, it it had been necessary. Our only concern was that the people in Wellington might have been ,anxious about us.” Mr von Haast added that that was his first experience in crossing the range from the AA'airarapa side, but he had previously negotiated the journey from the other direction. Mr Vosseler had crossed the ranges nine times or so, and was quite familiar with the conditions to be met with. If the track were going to be opened up/however, he thought there ought to be a bridge across the Tauherenikau River, or else a hut should be erected on the Mount Hector side for the accommodation of people who found that they could not cross the river. Mr von Haast concluded by expressing the thanks of the party to Mr AA r . H. Field, M.P., who had announced his intention of organising a search if no word of their safety was received. —Post.