Page:Du Faur - The Conquest of Mount Cook.djvu/29

Rh Graham made the first ascents of Mount Green (9,305 feet) and Mount Walter (9,507 feet).

Mr. L. M. Earle, A.C, made the ascent of Mount Cook with A. and P. Graham and Jack Clark, the first ascent of Aiguille Rouge (9,731 feet) with guide Peter Graham, and the first ascent of Mount Sefton from the West Coast. He was accompanied in the last expedition by Captain B. Head.

Mrs. Lindon, of Geelong, Victoria, was the first woman to do any climbing in the Mount Cook district. With her husband she made the ascent of the Nun's Veil. They also crossed over Graham's Saddle to the west coast and returned via the Copland Pass.

At the end of the same year 1909 I also ascended the Nun's Veil and traversed Mount Sealy.

When you come to study this list of climbs, it is curious to note how few of them have been accomplished by New Zealanders. If you except the New Zealand professional guides, who up to date (1913) number five, and turn to the amateur high climbers you will find at the present moment they can be counted on the fingers of one hand; and that as compared to English and foreign climbers, and English and foreigners resident for the time being in New Zealand, their climbs both in number and difficulty rank lower. When one considers how great were (and are) proportionately their chances, and how the way has been opened up for them by the New Zealand pioneers, and later by the assistance of professional guides, their want of enthusiasm and enterprise seems rather extraordinary. The want of money is often brought forward as the reason, but I am sure that this alone would never account for the little interest displayed. If we take it for granted that there are many men debarred by want of money and physical fitness who would climb if they could, what about the men who have these requisites, the men who play polo and go deer-stalking,