The Tramping Report

Ed Hillary on Everest

The Christchurch Press printed this photo of Ed Hillary on its front page on 12 Jan. It was taken by Alfred Greg high on Everest, when Ed and Tenzing were going for the summit. I like it because it features Ed in dynamic mode. (click it to see a larger version) I hadn't come across this image before. I hope it gets made available in a better medium than newsprint sometime.

I was thinking today when it was that I first learned about Ed Hillary and Everest. For my tweIth birthday, a few months after my father died, I was given The Ascent of Everest. This was the book written by expedition leader Colonel John Hunt. I read it through and I can remember studying the photos intently trying to understand what it was like being there. I can't remember the text giving what I needed.

Here's another link to a particularly good obit article from Time: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/siredmundhillarytopoftheworld;_ylt=AuqDxlx0q4O8wnnf6R9QuTd34T0D

Ed's funeral was today. The country will be back to its routine again tomorrow.

Ed's gone

 

'Big Ed' Hillary, the man that raised the bar for heroes, is gone.

The mainstream newsmedia obituary that appealed most to me was on Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,321906,00.html

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also says it well:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0801/S00074.htm

Tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand icon Friday, 11 January 2008, 11:43 am Press Release: New Zealand Government

Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime Minister of New Zealand

Prime Minister Helen Clark said today that the passing of Sir Edmund Hillary is a profound loss to New Zealand.

“My thoughts are with Lady Hillary, Sir Edmund’s children, wider family, and close friends at this sad time,” Helen Clark said.

“Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only ‘knocked off’ Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity.

“The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived. But most of all he was a quintessential Kiwi. He was ours - from his craggy appearance and laconic style to his directness and honesty. All New Zealanders will deeply mourn his passing.

“Sir Ed’s 1953 ascent of Mt Everest brought him world-wide fame. Thereafter he set out to support development for the Sherpa people of the Himalayas. His lifetime’s humanitarian work there is of huge significance and lasting benefit.

“Sir Ed was not one to bask idly in celebrity. He drew on his international prestige to highlight issues and values which he held dear. His enduring commitment to and respect for the Sherpa people reflects the best of what we as New Zealanders can contribute, from our small developed nation helping another less privileged one.

“Sir Edmund established the Himalayan Trust in the early 1960s and worked tirelessly until his death to raise funds and build schools and hospitals in the mountains.

“The legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary will live on. His exploits continue to inspire new generations of New Zealanders, as they have for more than half a century already,” Helen Clark said.

Hawdon hut replaced

The new Hawdon hut has been complete for a few months now. DoC hadn't formally announced it before now as they were waiting for their office people to complete the paperwork.

However it's now been announced. See this article in the Christchurch Press : http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4336534a6047.html

Do take care of this one folks. Remember the previous one was burned down by a fool dumping hot ash from the wood burner under the side of the hut.

See this map for the new hut's location.

A new Mt Somers Hut

Mt Somers is a favourite tramping area for Honora and me. It's not usually our first choice though. We usually save it for when the Nor'wester brings heavy rain in the main ranges.

And because the Nor'wester is a fairly regular occurrence in Canterbury, it's just as well the Mt Somers area can take a lot of exploring.

To give us more time we prefer to drive down from Christchurch on the Friday night and walk straight in to the hut. It only takes us an hour to walk in there in the dark.

The anticipation of lighting the open fire and bunking down in the old musterer's hut was always a big part of the attraction.

Sadly we won't have this to look forward to now. DoC have just completed construction of a large new building to replace the lovely historic old hut.

I've got to admit I was surprised to see the scale of the new building when we last went in there. It's sure going to take a bit of getting used to.

And new trampers won't have any idea of the historic experience they've missed when the old one's gone.

You can read this article in the Ashburton Guardian if you want a more positive rah-rah-rah PR report on the benefits of tourist quality infrastructure.

54 days into Fiordland

Dreams don't come easy.

Honora and Janet Macnab were 54 days into Fiordland, after leaving the south coast just before Xmas 1994. For a 32 day stretch they saw no track or other people. Two days after this Janet's badly infected leg meant an emergency evacuation, and the end of the dream.

Honora told the story of their incredible journey in a presentation at the Christchurch Tramping Club the other night.

In '94 Janet had asked me to join her on a South-North traverse of the Southern Alps. I couldn't take 6 months off work and said no. That was such a stupid thing to do. When Honora was asked she didn't need to think about it.

Janet planned right from the start to do it complete. That meant going through the centre of Fiordland. Very few have got through there.

Honora and Janet faced up to the steep and jumbled terrain, the heinous scrub, the atrocious weather, the horrendous loads, the scanty route information and got to within a week or so of reaching the Milford Track.

A year later they both went back to the Glaisnock Wilderness to complete that short section. Janet fell and died while climbing steep slopes to a pass out of Taheke Creek.

Routeburn Rage

This email came around on the Christchurch Tramping Club mailing list:

Southland Tramping Club
PO Box 41
Invercargill

The Routeburn Classic Adventure Run has been granted a four year concession and will be held in the second week in May each year. This year it will be held on Saturday the 13th of May with the 14th being used in the case poor weather forces postponement from the original date.

Runners like walkers enjoy this amazing track and this is their one chance during the year to run it. The running community is very excited and grateful for. We would like to hear from any walkers or clubs that would like to be involved in the marshalling of the event. This would give your club members the chance to get on the track while having your food, hut fees subsidised by the management for the event. Please contact me if there are any members interested. It is always a lot of fun and we would enjoy having those who truly enjoy the outdoors and keen to share their enthusiasm with the runners.

Sincerely,
Evan McWhirter
EMAIL: evan@goodtimesevents.net
WEB: www.goodtimesevents.net
PHONE: 027 420 4313

I've got to admit I'm not personally interested in these runs myself, but I recognise that a lot of people are (good mate Trevor Scott is going down to marshall on this one). But I also know there are people who would be happier if DoC didn't permit them.

A friend of Honora's, and mine, Simon Johnson opposed the initial concession for the run over the Routeburn. On his website, Soft DoC, Simon has documented the rather loose procedure DoC followed in issuing the concession for the first running of this race. I can't fault his case, even if I still don't have an opinion one way or another on the merits of the run.

However, even though Simon wasn't able to convince DoC not to issue the concession, he still gained far more than those who brought rancour and division to the Christchurch Tramping Club in their attempt to end its support for the Avalanche Peak Challenge.

Sadly that rancour and unpleasantness is still being played out in the CTC two years later.

I guess, unlike Simon, some people are not just in it for the love of tramping.

Death on Mt Aicken

Murray Cullen told the Coroner that if there had been a marked route leading to Mt Aicken in Arthurs Pass then Elizabeth Thomson would not have died.

See this article from the Christchurch Press in Stuff News:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,3605104a6009,00.html

Of course this puts DoC on the back foot. But let's be fair. There are reasons DoC hasn't marked the route on Mt Aicken. The same reasons apply to why the route is not marked on Mt Cassidy, where another visiting tramper died. The same reasons apply to the lack of marking that resulted in the death of a local tramper who went down the wrong scree from Avalanche Peak to the Crow valley. I would even go back to the death of young Nigel Popplewell in the Otehake, only a short distance from a perfectly useable swingbridge.

There are so many examples.

However it's difficult to pull them all together because in each case there's an attempt to put the blame on the unfortunate victim. So we tend to just see them all as one-offs.

I've been collecting information on every back-country 'incident' I've seen reported in the media for the past fifteen years. I'm identifying some clear patterns.

A lot of people get off course on popular routes because of a lack of marking. Some of them die.

DoC isn't to blame however. DoC can only do what it's funded for. And there are some people arguing against DoC being funded to do this work.

I've even heard some old crusties in the Christchurch Tramping Club complaining about the route DoC marked to Avalanche Peak from the Arthurs Pass village. And this is despite them knowing that people had gone off route and died there before it was done.

Big Tops Hut roofing repair

Ronan Grew, who's responsible for managing DoC's huts etc in Waimak area, has told Simon Lewis he will have the Big Tops Hut roof repaired some time in March.

I'm glad to hear that. I've seen Ronan as someone that can be trusted to follow through. If he says it'll be done I expect he'll make sure it does happen.

Actually this sheet tearing loose on the roof of Big Tops Hut reminded me of something Ray Forsyth told me. Ray was in charge of hut building for the old Forest Service in that area and, with generosity that was typical of him, gave me access to his work books from those years.

Ray had tramped into the Koropuku and selected the site for the Big Tops hut and was then involved in its building in March 1964. The hut kit that was dropped in included a fireplace and chimney. However Ray decided to build the hut without the fireplace as he believed strong wind would be a problem in the area and likely to cause damage to the chimney.

Now I've no idea what Ray saw that alerted him to that possibility. The weather was fine on his trips in there so maybe he recognised it from the vegetation or valley angle. I've no doubt he was right though.

I wonder how that sort of instinctive, yet sound, judgement would fit in with how DoC works.

Ray was one of the finest of the golden years of the NZ Forest Service and his feeling for the back country was an inseperable part of him. He and others like him, are sorely missed in NZ's hills.

Big Tops Hut repairs needed

Simon Lewis was in at Big Tops Hut this weekend with Mauricio Lloreda.

He sent me these pics of damage to the clearlight in the roof. The damaged clearlight is letting rain get down into the wall.

It seems the clearlight had only one nail holding the bottom end of the sheet. The wind has flapped the sheet until its solitary nail has torn through.

Simon and Mauricio tried improvising some repairs to reduce subsequent damage. If this isn't successful it's likely the whole sheet will be torn of in the next big blow.

DoC have been notified. But my question is: Should we hold our breath til they get there?

Tenure Review a farmer's rort

Need I say more than this article in the Christchurch Press?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/0,2106,3582473a6009,00.html

Isn't this what everyone knew all along?