FROM THE ARAWATA TO THE KARAKORAM

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 792, 24 September 1954, Page 6

FROM THE ARAWATA TO THE KARAKORAM

by

JOHN

PASCOE

ETWEEN Pakistan and Central Asia there lies a high range named the Karakoram in 1820 by an English traveller. This Turki word means "black splintered stones," but its native name of Muztagh means the Mountains of Ice. . The highest of the Karakoram peaks is Mount Godwin-Austen, better known as K2, the second highest in the world, and recently climbed by two members of an Italian expedition. Most spectacular on this range is the Muztagh Tower, the embodiment of inaccessibility and steepness. There are numerous major summits unclimbed and not even reconnoitred. The climate is rigorous, but although the monsoon affects it, the season when men can climb high is considerably longer than those brief periods of clear calm in Tibet or Nepal. The Karakoram is a sternly attractive testing ground for mountaineers. One climber trained" in New Zealand, Scott Russell, did valuable mapping and climbing in the Karakoram wéth Eric Shipton before the war, and described his experiences in his fine book Mountain Prospect. No expedition of New Zealanders as such has yet reached the Karakoram, but next year a group of at least eight members of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club will travel through Pakistan to attempt Masherbrum, whose highest peak reaches to 25,660 feet. It is expected that Stan Conway will be available to lead the party. In 1939 he had permission to attempt Kangchenjunga through Sikkim, but although he had picked his men and imported his high altitude equipment, nothing came of the expedi-tion-the war intervened. \ Conway was a gunner with 2 N.Z.E.F, and was awarded an M.M. in the Western Desert. In Italy he was severely wounded in one shoulder, but after being invalided back to New Zealand he

gradually recovered his strength. In recent years he has led some of the major trans-alpine trips in New Zealand, including the first high level crossings from the Godley to Wataroa, from the Rakaia to Wataroa by the Lambert, Garden of Eden, and Barlow snowfields, and from Lake Wanaka to Jackson’s Bay by a series of high passes between the Matukituki, Arawata, Olivine Ice

Plateau, Red Pyke, and Cascade valleys. Because of his wound he has specialised in reducing the weight of food and equipment, and has improved the designs of packs, tents and other gear. He will probably be supported by Bill Hannah and Ray Chapman, who have invariably accompanied him on _ recent trips, and Ed Cotter, who climbed Mukut Parbat in Garwhal with Erle Riddiford, Hillary and Lowe in 1951. Cotter would be the only member of the party with sustained Himalayan experience and the proved ability to acclimatise. Alan Morgan is another sterling high climber who has done many peaks in the Hermitage district. The three youngest will be John Harrison, Bob Watson and Peter Bain, who have several good seasons. behind them in the Southern Alps. Conway and Hannah are splendid colour photographers, and Watson has taken first-class black and white studies. The professions and occupations of the party are as mixed as one would expect from a New Zealand team, and include an accountant, three school teachers, two clerks, a commercial artist and a tradesman. The Canterbury mountaineers will probably be strengthened in Pakistan by Lieutenant-Colonel Maurice Brown, from the United Nations Observers, and a Pakistani doctor. In February next they expect to march from Skardu to their base a hundred miles away with a hundred local Balti porters. By the middle of April they should be at Hushe near their base on the Masherbrum Glacier, where the route begins. For the high camps six Hunza porters will help with the heavy swagging up the mountain, but the climbers themselves will also expect to work hard to establish and maintain camps. which’ will keep a

lifeline of shelter and supplies to the highest camp on the south-western face of the mountain, from which the assault men will make their final climb. The problems in the icefall of the Serac Glacier will be met by men who have encountered similar ones in the Southern Alps. They have climbed with each other and reached a high standard of team work necessary for such an enterprise. They hope the climb will be achieved between the middle of May and June. After they have attempted Masherbrum, and irrespective of success, the Canterbury men will continue the mapping and exploration of the Khondokoro Glacier region begun by a British party in 1938. On Masherbrum, as on other Himalayan peaks, any achievements will be made by virtue of the pioneer work of other parties..The greatest glacier in the region is forty-five miles long-the Siachen, which heads the Baltoro Glacier. The Baltoro, in turn, separates Masherbrum from K2, so there is some glorious mountain scenery awaiting Canterbury cameras. Masherbrum is on the southern axis of the great range. To the north of K2, rivers flow to the deserts

of Central Asia. The history of this vast terrain is complex. Of immediate importance to Conway’s party is that one of the British climbers of 1938 is Lt.-Colonel J. B. Harrison, now Military Secretary at Army Headquarters in Wellington. His help and goodwill have been most encouraging. His attempt on Masherbrum only failed when six hundred feet from the summit, and when misfortune came, his story became as eventful as any of the period. As there has been no account available in New Zealand, I now summarise t cat Jayan... ‘mal. (1939 article by J. O. uM "Roberts. This will make New Zealanders familiar with the objective of the Canterbury party and with the variation of conditions of storm and snow which they may meet; it will also stand as a reminder of their gratitude to men whose gallant attempt was in the high traditions of Himalayan climbing. Of this 1938 pa ono = : 4 m Ding, Roberts was beginning

a g00d Filmalayan’ career; ‘Graham Brown joined them from England with R. A. Hodgkin, who had experience in the Caucasus. Masherbrum had not been attempted before. While Harrison and Hodgkin reconnoitred the Masherbrum Glacier approach, the rest of the party found that the access from the Khondokoro was not feasible. Harrison reported that a route lay up the Serac Glacier (see Sketch map). After eighteen days of heavy work by the party and their Sherpas, the first assault pair, Harrison and Hodgkin, with Waller and others in support, were ready. The top camp (seven) was at 24,600 feet. On June 17 Harrison and Hodgkin made their bid, but luck was not with them. They kicked steps and then ploughed up snow, waist-deep, for four hundred feet. Only six hundred feet to go! But the floury snow made it impossible to stamp firm steps, still less to cut them. A high wind increased the risk of frost-bite. And the rocks on the east ridge were iced and very difficult. Exhausted, they retreated. Back at camp seven they rubbed their frozen hands and feet. That night a blizzard raged. At first light of the next morning a snowslide buried their camp. They struggled down from the abandoned tent, and as the weather became worse were unable to see the line of descent to camp six. They sheltered tentless in a crevasse. Below, Waller and his Sherpas could hear shouts but the soft snow and the storm prevented them from reaching their friends. Harrison and Hodgkin spent a terrible night in a crevasse at 24,000 feet. The next day they did reach camp six, but frost bite had taken too great a hold. The attempt on Masherbrum was off, and the first essential was to get the injured men down alive. Neither could use their hands and their feet had -no feeling.

After four days they were met by Dr. Teasdale and his wife, who, as Base Camp Medical relief did what they could. But no suitable drugs were available, and the daily dressings were very painful, Those who have read Hertzog’s Annapurna will know something of what the wounded men endured. It took nineteen days for them to reach Sringar and hospital. Harrison and Hodgkin suffered amputations to parts of the hands and feet. Thus Masherbrum guarded its defences with its natural weapons. It is

fitting that the Canterbury mountaineers have been encouraged in their enterprise by Colonel Harrison, and they will be happy men if they can exploit his route to a first ascent. "The Karakoram have been described as the ‘whitest’ of all ranges. They contain the greatest concentration of high peaks on the earth’s surface." This passage from Scott Russell’s book --

is a challenge to young New Zealanders. To make the trip will cost them their savings. They will face the routine monotonies as well as the exhilaration of high climbing. If the public of New Zealand is aware of the aims of the party, the expedition members will welcome the good wishes which will accompany them on their: adventures. And their friends and parent club will add material support. —