Pioneers and Stay at Homes

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 52, 21 June 1940, Page 10

Pioneers and Stay at Homes

"T HERE is a theory that nature calls for a rest ‘" and therefore a generation of pioneers in a new country is often followed by a generation of stay-at-homes. This certainly seems to have been the case in New Zealand. The old pioneer generation of men and women cheerfully roughed it in a way which is almost unbelievable to-day. The next generation loved the fleshpots of civilisation more than adventure, so it only produced a few men ready to

face hardship and rough work, hence our difficulty in establishing mountaineering fifty years ago. The present generation, however, seems to have heard the call of the wild, and being tired of the fleshpots has turned to out-door adventure as a relief from the conventions of civilisation. Hence the wave of

mountaineering, tramping and winter sports, and indeed anything which will take them off the beaten track. The most marked characteristic of our mountaineering history is the amount of guideless work. When we started over fifty years ago there were no guides and, though these gradually developed few New Zealanders employed them. It has been very interesting to see how the present generation, which has revived mountaineering since 1923, have carried on the old traditions of guideless parties. I would add, however, that no matter how good an amateur is, it must help him to climb with a good guide once or twice---(A. P. Harper, "The Growth of Mountaineering: The Sport in New Zealand," 2YA, June 7,) * x *