With axe and rope in the New Zealand Alps/Appendix
APPENDIX
It has been suggested to me that this work would be more complete if it contained at least a short record of Alpine expeditious undertaken by parties (other than those organised by the writer) to the glacier regions which have been under notice. The suggestion is one which the writer accepts with much pleasure.
The first recorded expedition to the Mount Cook district, as far as I am able to gather, is that of the late Sir Julius von Haast (then Dr. von Haast), the narrative of which may be found in his interesting and learned work 'The Geology of Canterbury and Westland,' published by the 'Times' office of Christchurch, now unfortunately out of print, and difficult of access to the majority.
His work was necessarily more that of exploration than of climbing, and although later surveys have corrected and modified many of his estimates of the sizes of glaciers and heights of mountains, it must be remembered that in the days when he visited the locality (in 1862 and 1870) the difficulties of travelling and of securing supplies were much greater than at the present time, and the work of exploration consequently much more difficult.
Of Alpine work (carried on in the sense of the word as understood by Alpine climbers) he did not effect much, his energies being chiefly confined to geological, botanical, and zoological observations whilst he was engaged in a geological survey of the province of Canterbury.
His excursions on the glaciers appear to have been confined to a short trip up the Tasman, probably to some six miles or so from the terminal face, and a short exploration of the lower portions of the Mueller and Hooker Glaciers.
His literary contributions are of greater value to science than to the domain of Alpine record; but naturally they are of the deepest interest to the latter class of literature, inasmuch as they tell the tale of the opening out of fresh Alpine fields which are destined to become—indeed they are now fast becoming—areas of great mountaineering importance.
Though Von Haast was perhaps the first man of science or literature to visit these great glaciers, yet their existence was well known to a few run-holders and early settlers who had penetrated even thus far into the mountains in the 'early days' of New Zealand.
It is to Mr. Edward Percy Sealy of Timaru, however, that we owe the first close acquaintance of the Mueller, Hooker, and Tasman Glaciers. Mr. Sealy was a surveyor by profession and a photographer of no mean ability, and to his energy and perseverance we are indebted for results which furnished Dr. von Haast with material for constructing his map of this part of our Alps.
Upon visiting the glaciers at the present time, and being impressed with the difficulties of transit, one cannot but be filled with admiration for the man who achieved such splendid results in photography, burdened as he was with all the necessary and cumbersome paraphernalia pertaining to the old wet-plate system then in vogue.
Mr. Sealy traversed nearly the whole length of the Mueller Glacier in 1867, and in 1869 pushed his way up the Hooker as far as the tributary Empress Glacier, and up the Tasman as far as the great turn at Mount De la Bêche.
To Mrs. Leonard Harper, of Ilam, belongs the honour of being the first lady to cross to the Aorangi side of the Tasman River.
On this occasion (in March 1873) the party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Harper, of Christchurch, Messrs. G. Dennistoun, G. Parker, Melville Gray, Wright, C. Smith, and Flint. They camped at Governor's Bush, close to where the Hermitage now stands, and went on to the Mueller Glacier and to the terminal face of the Tasman. Mr. and Mrs. Harper returned across the Tasman River, leaving the rest of the party to attempt the passage to the west coast by the Hooker Saddle, at the head of the glacier of the same name. In this, as may be easily conceived—considering that the members of the party were inexperienced and not properly equipped for such an expedition—the party was unsuccessful, only reaching a point just above where the clear ice merges into the moraine, and where the crevasses began to appear formidable.
For many years after this the glaciers were not traversed to any extent save by camping-out parties, who contented themselves with short excursions about the terminal faces, until, in 1882, a fresh interest was awakened in their existence by the visit of the Rev. W.S. Green with Herr Emil Boss, of Grindelwald, and Ulrich Kaufmann as guide. His advent was indeed an awakening, and the apathy of the Colonials regarding the scenic marvels of their own country was somewhat aroused. The sensation caused by his memorable ascent of Aorangi, after repeated struggles with flooded rivers and all those hindrances which seem to fall inevitably to the lot of men who first open out a new district, has become quite an event of history in the annals of the colony.
Full particulars of Mr. Green's doings will be found in his admirable book, 'The High Alps of New Zealand,' published by Macmillan & Co.
To Mr. Green undoubtedly belongs the honour of having first introduced into New Zealand the proper system of Alpine climbing, and he will ever be looked back to as the father of the noble sport in the colony.
Then, in 1883, followed the visit of Dr. R. von Lendenfeld, a mountaineer and scientific man of great attainments. He was accompanied by his plucky wife, and, aided by porters procured in the colony, during a stay of nineteen days on the Tasman Glacier completed a survey of the same, and finished up his work by ascending the Hochstetter Dome, whose higher and easternmost summit he attained in an expedition extending over a period of twenty-seven hours from his last camp under the Malte Brun range, accompanied by his wife and one porter.
Full particulars of his work were made public in Petermann's 'Mitteilungen,'[1] and a short English notice of the same may be found in the 'Alpine Journal,' vol. xii. page 163.
Shortly after this the Hermitage Company, Limited, was formed, and the Hermitage Hotel erected near the terminal face of the Mueller Glacier. This first Alpine hotel of New Zealand was not built without many serious difficulties, and the ultimate success of the undertaking speaks volumes for the perseverance of the enthusiastic manager, Mr. F.F.C. Huddleston. This gentleman has made various excursions on the Mueller and Hooker Glaciers since the building of the Hermitage, and possesses an intimate knowledge of the Alpine district around the hotel. He has, with a party of two others, penetrated, I understand, as far as the junction of the Empress Glacier on the Hooker, and has since effected the passage of the Ball Pass from the Tasman to the Hooker Glaciers.
In 1886 the author began his visits to the districts with properly equipped Alpine parties, the results of which expeditions have been given in the foregoing pages.
In 1889 the Government surveys were extended to the Mueller and Hooker Glaciers, under Mr. Brodrick, a gentleman whose capability and never-failing pluck in carrying out his work in such rough country is only equalled by his modesty concerning his Alpine achievements, which are necessarily incidental to his profession in the district.
Those of my readers who are acquainted with survey and topographical work amongst the Alps will appreciate the results of but two seasons' work in the map of the four great glaciers appended to this book. Climbers will be interested to know that amongst difficult points attained by Mr. Brodrick are the saddles at the head of the Mueller Glacier, that connecting the Murchison and Classen Glaciers, the lower summit of the Hochstetter Dome, and a peak of 8,015 feet on the Liebig Range.
In 1890, Mr. Malcolm Ross, of Dunedin, a gentleman who has done much travelling and some exploring in the Southern Lakes district, and had tried his 'prentice hand upon Mount Earnslaw, visited the Tasman Glacier in company with his wife. Bad weather frustrated his attempts at mountaineering, with the exception of an ascent of a peak of about 7,000 feet on the Mount Cook Range, and a partial ascent of Mount Sealy. He traversed the Tasman Glacier to a point some miles beyond the junction of the Hochstetter Glacier.
In December 1890 Messrs. A.P. Harper, R. Blakiston, and Beadel made an excursion to the Tasman Glacier, but bad weather kept them prisoners at camp nearly all the time of their stay. Messrs. Harper and Blakiston, after retreating from the Tasman, succeeded in reaching for the first time the saddle at the head of the Hooker Glacier (8,580 feet), after a trying expedition. This had been attempted several times before, but owing to numberless crevasses was found to be unattainable. Being early in the season and after a considerable snow-fall, however, the party in question found the crevasses mostly covered, and they were aided, moreover, by Mr. Harper's skill and knowledge of Alpine work.
Again, in January 1891, Messrs. Harper and Johnson visited the Tasman Glacier, and besides attaining a high saddle (about 7,500 feet) in the Malte Brun Range and making a nearly complete ascent of Mount Sealy, secured a fine collection of photographs.
Such, in brief, is a history of what Alpine work has been accomplished amongst the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Other glacier excursions, it is true, there have been, but they are few, and with the exception of the expeditions of Mr. Sealy and the Government Survey to the Godley and Classen Glaciers farther north, and of a few attempts to climb Mount Earnslaw in the Southern Lake district, are not worthy of much note as Alpine expeditions, undertaken in the orthodox manner with axe and rope.
As these lines are being penned the New Zealand Alpine Club is in process of formation, and the writer hears with pleasure of the probabilities of success which are likely to attend the efforts of the promoters of the club.
Letters of advice and encouragement from prominent members of the English Alpine Club have at various times come to hand, and the friendly interest of mountain explorers of the early days of the colony gives promise of an auspicious birth to one of those bodies of enthusiasts whose aims may not be mercenary and self-seeking, but whose operations may contribute their little unit to the art, literature, and scientific observation of the times.
Who can say what the future may bring forth in the matter of Alpine climbing in New Zealand? There is an immense field—magnificent glaciers and noble peaks without number, as yet practically untouched.
One can already see visions of parties of enthusiasts threading their way amongst intricate ice-falls, cutting steps up hard ice slopes, conquering by persistent effort splendid rock peaks, drinking in the glories of a new and fascinating world. Not climbing from a gymnast's point of view, but climbing because—why? They cannot tell you why; but because they feel and know the physical and spiritual benefits of a closer contact with Nature, with an Omnipotent and Ever-guiding Hand, which rules all things and creates a heaven even upon earth.
- ↑ Ergänzungsheft, No. 75. Dr. R. von Lendenfeld, Der Tasman-Gletscher und seine Umgebung.