Memorial on the track near Mangaturuturu Hut remembers explorer

Wanganui Tramping Club member Allan Loader at the memorial for Horace Holl who drowned crossing a stream in 1927.

Memorials can be found in all sorts of places in the outdoors. In Tongariro National Park the Wanganui Tramping Club has made a number of trips to the Stanton Memorial which is on a large rock off the around the mountain track near Iwikau Village.

The origin of that memorial is a well-documented tragedy. Another memorial on the “around the mountain” track near the Wanganui Tramping Club’s Mangaturuturu Hut is less well-known.

This is the memorial to Horace Arthur Holl, an early mountain explorer who drowned on May 27, 1927, at a nearby stream in the Mangaturuturu Valley.

He was leading a pack horse across the flooded stream and carrying a heavy rucksack when he lost his footing on the rocky bed and was swept away.

Holl was a Cambridge University mathematician who did much serious climbing on Ruapehu. He made the first traverse of the Pinnacle Ridge and later made the first ascent of the southeast ridge of Girdlestone.

He was one of the original officeholders of the Ruapehu Ski Club. Holl was a capable man and as a pioneer in the national park he perhaps deserves more than just a name and a date on a large rock cairn.

Two WTC members, Catherine Woodcock and Jude Harrison, repainted the memorial’s lettering in 2007.

The club’s weekend programme for September is:

2 or 3 Saturday or Sunday, Tongariro River Trail, leader Allan

9 or 10 Saturday or Sunday, Mt Tongariro Circuit, leader Esther

13-17 Wednesday-Sunday, Matemateaonga Track, leader Dorothy

23 Saturday, Whanganui Riverbank Wander, leaders Linda and Marilyn

23-24 Saturday-Sunday Kelly Knights Hut, leader Shane

30 Saturday, Wilkies Pools-Kapuni Lodge, leader Shane

Make all enquiries about trips to Terry phone 021 262 7066 or Dorothy phone 345 7039 or email membership@whanganuitramping.org.nz.

The midweekers have a full programme of interesting trips every Wednesday.

Those who get out on Thursday are in two groups, with a longer walk on September 7 and 21 for the TT1 group and shorter ones for the TT2 group on September 14 and 28.

The Wednesday contact is Trish, phone 021 127 3862, and the Thursday contact is Anne, phone 345 4776. Call both by 6pm the night before for day trips.

To join weekend trips call the leader by the previous Tuesday at the latest. Call by the night before for day trips. As some trips have limited numbers, leaders have the final say about who to take as they are responsible for the safety and well-being of everyone on their trips. For further information visit our website www.whanganuitramping.org.nz

■ The next club meeting on Tuesday, September 5, at the Veandercross Lounge, Whanganui Racecourse, at 7pm, will feature a presentation by club members Allan Loader on what to take on a day tramp and Shane McCulloch on what to take on an overnight/multi-day tramp. All welcome.