MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19891, 21 May 1936, Page 8

MOUNTAIN TRAGEDY

FALL INTO CRATER LAI\E. __ 13".: ;~ WELL-KNOWN soLlcl'ron's In". A —_'_ . ' If A SLIDE TO DEATH. ‘ 1 THE CHATEAU, Wednesday. ‘ Mr James Alexander Gordon. a resi‘dent of Taumarunui. and a well-kno“u solicitor. being the senior partner ill the legal firm of Gordon, Nicholson and Rennie. met a tragic rate on Mount Ruapehu to-day. when he slipped on the ice, slid down a slope for 200 feet. and then after clinging to a rock for three hours, dropped nearly 300 feet into the Crater Lake below. ills companions, five adults and three boys \two or the latter beins deceased‘s own sons). were helpless in render assistance. and though Mr Gordon hung on to a rock for so long it was impossible to reach him or render any aid. The body was later observed floating in the lake. but no eiYort could be made to recover it, as the descent to the lake's edge was a sheer ice wall. which could not be negotiated The guide, )lr Btsberg. who was summoned to the scene made ever.v effort to get down and steps were cut for 100 yards, but the \\ould-be res—cuers were then confronted by another wall of ice, and the attempt had to be abandoned. Attempts were made In other directions, in all or which insurmountable obstacles were encoun« tered.

The party had set out to make a traverSe of Parctelaitonga and were unaccompanied by a guide. but most of the men had had previous Climbing experience and no difficulty was anticipaled. They had reached the fool of a glacier, and found the lee so slippery that they deemed it dangerous and decided to turn back. They retraced thelr steps only ten or twelve yards when Mr Gordon sllpped. lost his footing. and began his fatal descent.

The accident. occurred at. about 11.30 am. and at 2 pm. he was sun clinging to a rock at the side of the lake, and he then called out he would not hold out much longer. Shortly after that he disappeared. Mr Gordon is survived by his wife and three sons. He served in (ht Gallipoli campaign, being bad]; wounded. ,