THROUGH THE GALE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 8, 1 September 1931, Page 4

THROUGH THE GALE

THE CHATEAU, Monday. From hasty accounts given by Messrs Bell and MacDiarmid it appears that when the party commenced descending Ruapehu and while they were within only thirty feet of the summit the wind suddenly changed from north-west to north-east and a blizzard broke upon them. They continued to descend through a howling gale and driving sleet. Visibility was so bad that the leader, Mr Bell, could barely see past the man on the end of the rope sixty feet away. The compass used by Mr Bell was repeatedly frosted over, as were the goggles of members of the party- ' Although they were unaware of it the wind was gradually driving them away from Whakapapa Valley into Whakapapiti. They did not realise their mistake until they reached what they believed to be Scoria Flat. Mr Bell there left some of the members to travel on ahead, thinking that they were only an hour's journey from the Chateau. This was how the party became separated. , Found They Were Off Track. After discovering that they were off the track Mr Bell's party got on a rocky ridge, and found that they could not get off it before nightfall. It was decided to shelter behind a high rock for the night. The men .erected a breakwind, and kept the girls moving so that their blood would keep circulating. This was at a height of 7000 feet, and it was impossible to get a fire going. They managed to pull through the night, but in the morning Mr Bell found that the snow had covered all the rocky prominences, and he could pick out no landmarks. However they continued to try and make their way down the valley, and were doing so when they were met by Mr Macpherson's search party.