Mitre Peak In The Fjords
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About
The far southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand has an endless network of beautiful fjords.
For some reason, this area is called Milford Sound, even though it’s technically a fjord.
History
In 1911, Jim Dennistoun walked in to Milford from Lake Te Anau over Mackinnon Pass, and inquired among the track porters in the hope of finding someone to climb the peak with him. None of the porters had any climbing experience, but one of them, Joe Beaglehole (1875–1962), had read Scrambles among the Alps by noted climber Edward Whymper and was thus chosen by Dennistoun to accompany him.
Mitre Peak is difficult to reach and as a result ascent attempts are relatively infrequent. The first known attempt of the peak was in 1883 by Invercargill artist Samuel Mereton, and Donald Sutherland
The pair took a boat to Sinbad Bay on 6 February and camped at the head of the valley. The next day, with little equipment, no coats and one biscuit each they climbed to the crest of the Mitre Range, from where they could see Mitre Peak over 3 km away to the east.
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During a sea voyage in the area with brother George in HMS Pioneer in 1909, Dennistoun had identified what he thought was a possible route but as he was not able to reconnoitre it he instead decided to take a route recommended by Donald Sutherland. After rowing across in a boat to the mouth of Sinbad Gully at the base of the peak they starting climbing at 7.30am on 13 March 1911. Dennistoun and Beaglehole climbed via the south east-ridge through the bush until 300 metres short of the sum
mit Beaglehole decided it was too difficult to continue and stopped. Dennistoun contin
u
ed on alone up steep, smooth slabs of granite, to reach the summit at 1.15pm.
Fernwayer
Descending back down Dennistoun rejoined Beaglehole and they continued with the descent. To avoid climbing back over the Footstool, they decided to descend straight into Sinbad Gully, which meant they had to resort to using a rope to lower themselves down bluffs. They reached the valley floor in darkness, and it began to rain. With no camping equipment, they had no choice but to continue on until they reached the boat at 9.45pm. They then rowed back across to spend the night at the hotel operated by Elizabeth Sunderland.
Climbing
Mitre Peak is difficult to reach and as a result ascent attempts are relatively infrequent. The first known attempt of the peak was in 1883 by Invercargill artist Samuel Mereton, and Donald Sutherland. The pair took a boat to Sinbad Bay on 6 February and camped at the head of the valley. The next day, with little equipment, no coats and one biscuit each they climbed to the crest of the Mitre Range, from where they could see Mitre Peak over 3 km away to the east. With it being too late in the day to descend, they slept where they were overnight, before the next day abandoning the attempt to avoid an approaching storm. After a difficult descent they waited for two more days in bad weather at the head of Sinbad Gully before rowing back across Milford Sound to the hotel operated by Sunderland's wife
Mitre Peak is difficult to reach and as a result ascent attempts are relatively infrequent. The first known attempt of the peak was in 1883 by Invercargill artist Samuel Mereton, and Donald Sutherland
The pair took a boat to Sinbad Bay on 6 February and camped at the head of the valley. The next day, with little equipment, no coats and one biscuit each they climbed to the crest of the Mitre Range, from where they could see Mitre Peak over 3 km away to the east.
The pair took a boat to Sinbad Bay on 6 February and camped at the head of the valley. The next day, with little equipment, no coats and one biscuit each they climbed to the crest of the Mitre Range, from where they could see Mitre Peak over 3 km away to the east.
