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.