Mount Earnslaw

Mount Earnslaw, painting by John Turnbull Thomson ( 1883)

Mount Earnslaw ( Māori Pikirakatahi ) is a 2819 m high mountain in the South Island of New Zealand.

History

Origin of the name

The mountain was by the surveyor John Turnbull Thomson after his grandfather's farm in the village Earnslaw (formerly Herneslawe ) in Eccles Parish named in Berwickshire. The mountain is named after the TSS Earnslaw, the trains running on Lake Wakatipu steamer.

First ascent

Reverend W.S. Green, who had actually come to the ascent of Mount Cook in New Zealand, undertook in March 1882, the leaders Emil Boss and Ulrich Kaufmann a first ascent attempt, but transport and weather problems forced them to 1500 m to repentance. The attempt at Mount Cook was unsuccessful.

After several failed attempts, a native of Glenorchy Leader Harry Birley 1890 reached the eastern summit of Mt Earnslaw. As proof, he left behind a bent together Schilling in a blank Irish Moss bottle in a pile of stones.

The higher western peak was in 1914 by H.F. Wright and J. Robertson first climbed.

Location

The mountain is located at the southern end of the Forbes Range in the New Zealand Southern Alps. It is part of Mount Aspiring National Park, located 25 kilometers north of lying at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu settlement Glenorchy. Administratively it is part of the Otago region.

Film

Mount Earnslaw and its surroundings were the backdrop for the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of use.