Mt Barth (2456m) is located in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Southern Alps. Named by Captain Cook in 1770, this range extends 550 km and includes 17 summits over 3000 meters, the highest of which is Aoraki/Mt Cook (3754 m).
If you're the first person to climb a mountain you apparently get the privilege of naming it. (So how did Mt Everest get its name, or does this just apply to New Zealand mountains?) The first people to climb Mt Barth, together, were a group of Christians: a Baptist minister named James T Crozier (he also named Anita Peak after his wife); his younger brother, G L Crozier (a pacifist who eventually became a Quaker); Bruce Gillies, who had married into the Crozier family; Selwyn Grave, the then Anglican minister of Kurow. B M Pinder was involved in a third attempt at the mountain, when they named Mt Heim, as well as naming the glacier between Barth and Heim: Thurneysen. In a later trip they renamed another mountain, Mt Calvin.
You can see a bunch of photographs of the mountain, and climbers on it, here.
7 comments:
I wondered if Selwyn Grave might also be the "Grave" of Grave-Talbot Pass in Fiordland, but a quick check of http://www.geocities.com/~nzclimbing/guides/homerhut.html shows that it was named after Bill Grave and Arthur Talbot, who made the first crossing in 1901. It wouldn't be too surprising if Bill Grave was a relative of Selwyn Grave, however.
You're obviously more up with the play than I am, Tim! I thought the name Selwyn Grave rang a bell with me, but I'm confusing it with a guy called Selwyn Graves, who used to be a men's hairdresser here in Dunedin.
Putting any more short stories collections together?
Got to write some more stories first. I have written three new ones since "Transported" was published - I may need a couple more before I can call it a collection! I've been concentrating on writing a novel.
Ah, good to hear. Keep us informed as to its progress. My novel is mostly written, but last two-thirds needs a good deal of work still...and I get sidetracked easily...
Hi there. Selwyn Grave was my grandfather and Bill Grave was his father
Thanks for that. Interesting to find a comment on this blog post so long after it was written! Can you tell us anymore about them?
Fascinated to read this information about Mount Barth and those who first climbed and, indeed, named it. It is the most stunning mountain set at the top of one of my favourite valleys. My father was very proud to have been taught by Karl Barth - indeed, he received a postcard from the great man after the latter had broken his legs skiing with Barth's son, Markus.
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