"CLOTHING INADEQUATE" DECLARES DOCTOR

NZ Truth, Issue 1261, 30 January 1930, Page 5

"CLOTHING INADEQUATE" DECLARES DOCTOR

LESSON OF THE ALPINE TRAGEDY

Reckless and Thoughtless Tourists Must Be Saved From Themselves

Are adequate precautions taken at New Zealand's alpine resorts to ensure that visitors are properly equipped m the matter of clothing against the fierce and icy blasts of th c snow-clad region? This very important question is raised by the recent tragedy at Mount Cook, when Guide John Edward Eldridge Blomfield and four women tourists, Misses Doris Herbert Brown, of Rangiora; Dorothy M. Smith, of Auckland;- Helena Keane, of Christchurch, and Mary Monteath, of Christchurch, perished m an unexpected blizzard that swept the exposed point of De La Beche "corner;" > At the inquest, evidence was given that the clothing of most of the dead girls was totally inadequate m suoh a blizzard, and it is just possible that had they been properly equipped for mountaineering .the dreadful tragedy would never have occurred. The verdict returned was of death from exposure, through being caught m a blizzard.

MANAGEMENT MUST TAKE STERN STAND (From "N.Z. Truth's" Timaru Representative.)

rview . of all the circumstances, the Hermitage management .would be well advised to insist that all visitors should be .properly equipped as .regards clothing, and to authorise its Igruide's1 gruide's to refuse to allow tourists not properly equipped to accompany expeditions. Too many visitors to alpine resorts, not realizing the dangers arising from 'blizzards, are reckless and indifferent, ■and never stop to think of taking what are obvious precautions. Tbe. majority certainly are amenable to the suggestions of the'management, but there are always a few who think that they know more than the men who have lived for years m the snow-clad Alps. Care is Needed It is the management's duty to protect these people from 'themseH-es, pven though it means that, for a time, the Hermitage authorities make themselves decidedly-, unpopular. v .- ;.** Every. . precaution should ';.-. be? arid if visitors refuse to take these, precautions of their own accord, then "the Hermitage officials should force them to do so. In othfir words, it should be made a condition of residence at the Hermitage that every visitor agrees to place himself entirely under the control of the officials, and to agree to .obey them in -allsuch., matters' as' these. Possibly, iri this particular case, warmer and thicker clothing would not have saved the "lives of the. four women, but there Is just the chance that it would have, and the evidence flven at the inquest makes it clear

as were all women who visited, the huts." : Each of the deceased wore the customary alpine ' boots and riding breeches, but their underclothing, with one exception, was inadequate for I such an excursion. - "I have examined the bodies of the five victims," said Dr. Fraser. "The clothes on ' all the deceased were wet, but did not display any great amount of damage. ■'. . . Miss Brown was wearing light

doctor proves conclusively, that rhe biggest problem facing the management at the Hermitage is the visitor who has to be protected against his or her own recklessness and refusal to take ordinary commonsense precautions." "The blizzard which, caused the disaster sprang up with tragic suddenness. The weather was comparatively fine when the unfortunate party left the Malte Brun Hut,' but within the short space; of two hours De La Beche "corner" — the scene of the tragedy — was the concentration point of a cyclone, which swept over the Main Divide, down the Rudolph glacier, thence to the ice-fields of the Tasman. Guide's Search There, about 2.30 p.m., Guide Hilgendorf, of the Hermitage staff, stumbled across a woman lying on the ice. She was dead. About 30 yards away lay another woman, and a little fur-; ther down the glacier,' two others lay huddled together. All were dead. "The lightning was terrible," Hilgendorf told "Truth." "I could not see very far ahead. There was no sign of. 'Teddy' Blomfield, who guided the party." ':••". Hilgendorf searched for the dead guide, but with no success, > and notwithstanding that the blizzard was increasing m violence, and that the De j La Beche bivouac was less than a mile away, he dashed on through the storm to the Ball Hut for assistance. He arrived at his destination an hour or so later m the last stages of

that Blomfleld left a message for the assistant-manager of the Hermitage (Mr. G. G. Woolley) asking if arrangements could be made for one of the other guides to lead the party to Malte Brun on the Satuz-day' prior to the tragedy. Hand of Fate At any rate the hand of Fate did not intervene. The message was not received by Mr. Woolley until it was too late to make an alteration, m the guides' programme for the Saturday. And so Blomfleld set out on a journey from which he was destined never to return. On the day following the tragedy an unsuccessful attempt was made to recover the bodies, of the four young women and the dead guide, but the weather continued unfavorable, and the search party, led by Chief Guide Vie. Williams, of the Hermitage, was compelled to abandon the effort, an electrical storm ■ endangering the lives of the party. ■ "The next day, however, saw a re-' | turn to more favorable, conditions, and a strong party guides and men from the Public Works Department's road camp at the Ball Hut made Hie joui'ney over the Ice to be La-Iteehe, successfully recovering the bodies. 7 Leaving De La Beche, the search .party followed the Husky Trail — uaed by Byrd's dogs — down the • glaci jr. The "going" was laboriously slow, the stretchers being exceedingly difficult to handle on the treacherous ice, while

that stricter regulations should be adopted and enforced at the Hermitage, j Fatal Journey On the day preceding the disaster, which took place on a Sunday, Guide Blomfield's little party arrived at Malte Brun Hut from the Ball Hut. They spent the night there. On the way Up the Tasman glacier, Dr. J. C,- Brad- ; shaw, accompanied by Guide Mentz Englestaad, met the young travellers, who then appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. Guide Hilgendorf, who originally was with the Bradshaw party, remained behind at Malte Brun to make ' preparations for the Blomfleld party, i The night was spent at Malte Brun, | arid Guide Blomfleld and the four girls left at 10.30 the following morning for the Ball Hut— a journey which they were destined not to accomplish ali"e. The fact that he stayed .behind undoubtedly saved the life of Hilgendorf, -who made the gruesome discovery of the bodies of the victims of the tragedy. After having cleaned up the hut at Malte Brun. Hilgendorf set out on the •lone-trek to the Ball Hut, and it was.

drill trousers, with a silk-wool combination. She was well protected about the chest with three light woollen vests and a blouse. * * * "Miss Monteath's clothing did not provide adequate protection for the chest.- . .. . Miss Smith wore riding trousers and a jersey, with insufficient underclothes. . . . Miss Keane was clothed m a suede lumber jacket and khaki riding trousers; her underclothing was inadequate. ... [Biggest Problem / -'i ! "Blomfield's chest was bare of cloth- [ ing - , and he was wearing a pair of flight grey slacks and- airtex underpants. I understand that Blomfleld gave some of his outer garments to the girls, and that his shirt had beeri removed when reuuscitation was, attempted. ..." » The evidence of Dr. Fraser reveals that the Hermitage management should take some action. As one experienced alpine climber remarked to "Truth's" representative at the Hermitage, "The evidence of the

exhaustion, having covered a distance of some six miles. Terrors of Storm When the storm was at. its zenith, Hilgendorf was menaced by lightning. He was compelled to tie a couple of crampon straps to his ice-axe and drag ;it behind him, otherwise he would have been forcetl to discard this valuable portion of his equipment. It is also significant that Blomfield's ice-axe was found some , distance from his body, as if he had thrown it away. Soon after Hilgendorf had arrived with the news of his tragic discovery, Guide M. Bowie led a search party to De La Beche "corner," . where the j bodies were found. I Blomfleld lay face downwards on the Ice. Apparently he was making for Malte Brun' when life departed from a body battered by the storm beyond all limit- of Human. endurance. /' Did Guide Blomfleld have a-premon-ition' that he would not. return from Sunday's journe* over the ice? . It has subsequently been disclosed

considerable care was required m negotiating the crevasses which gaped on all sides. • ■ At Pine Apple Rock — three miles from the Ball Hut — the party was met by a relief party, under Guide (A. Dewar, and the. bodies were conveyed to tC point within a mile of the Ball Plut, darkness compelling the men to abandon their task, for the night. Early Search A The men were out again at 5 a.m. next day, and shortly before noon anxious watchers at the Hermitage saw % a pathetic funeral procession crossing* the bridge which spans . the leaping foam of the Tasman River, that springs from the foot of the glacier. The tragedy ■ has shown y the necessity for alpine tourists being protected against their own recklessness arid lack of experience, : and it constitutes a lesson which, m, the future, should make tourists to Mount Cook adopt all commonsense precautions that the Hermitage managenient may suggest.

at the exposed point of De . La Beche "corner" that he stumbled across the bodies of Blomfleld's party. , At first it was thought -that the victims were struck down by lightning, but this theory has .now been disproved. The fact that the ill-fated party perished m such an incredibly short space of time unquestionably supports the opinion of Dr. C. S. Fraser, of

Timaru, that they were inadequately clothed to meet a blizzard. "I am forced to the conclusion," said tlie doctor, m evidence at- the inquest, "that the clothing of the deceased w a s totally inadequate m such a bliz- i zard." The girls, when found by Guide' •C. Hilgendorf,. m his own -words, were clothed much