New Zealand Climbing

Mount Egmont, Taranaki, New Zealand was first climbed by Dr E Dieffenbach, with J Heberley, a whaler, both of whom were German on 23 December 1839. Mt Egmont is 2515 metres. Mount Ruapehu was first climbed in 1851 by a party which included Sir George Grey.

The first attempt by European mountaineers to reach the summit of Mount Cook was made by Rev W S Green and his companions Boss and Kaufmann in 1882. The party approached the mountain from teh Tasman Glacier and got to within 61 metres of the summit.

The first successful climb of Mt Cook was achieved by a party consisting of J M Clark, T C Fyfe and G Graham on 24 December 1894. Their path was up the northern face from the Hooker Glacier. This success followed seven other attempts to reach the summit by various parties.

When Christopher Timms, a Christchurch mountaineer, fell 2300 metres down an ice face into a crevasse on Mt Elie de Beaumont on 7 December 1966, he survived a longer fall than any other mountaineer in the world. His companion was killed, but Timms survived with concussion, bruises and an injury to his hand.