1 I'm Kevin Biggar. I'm Kevin Biggar. And I'm Jamie Fitzgerald. Over the past 10 years, we have taken on some of the world's toughest adventures, from rowing across the Atlantic... It's the problem with this seat we've had. It's the only major concern. ...to trekking unaided to the South Pole. Whoo-hoo! Last season, we relived five heroic journeys of NZ's greatest explorers. Now we have a new challenge ` to take on a series of even more epic expeditions. Wow. It's beautiful. We'll encounter some of the toughest terrain this country has to offer ` You can imagine what they felt like. from the vast Olivine Ice Plateau... This place is enormous! ...to the deadly currents of the Three Kings Islands. Each week, we'll retrace the hardest parts of pioneering NZ expeditions. We're good, we're good, we're good! But we will not just be following in their footsteps. We will be wearing the same boots and clothing, trying the same food,... Oh, that's cold! ...and using the same equipment. This week,... Nearly there. ...we take on the fearsome Cook River as we retrace the footsteps of pioneer photographer Ebenezer Teichelmann. Now, you've got to stay perfectly still. We'll traverse twin glaciers, hauling camera equipment. Crikey. That's deep. We'll push ourselves... Almost there. ...to experience first-hand what Teichelmann felt. That's so beautiful. To try to overcome the difficulties and obstacles he faced... (GASPS) ...and reveal just how incredible this first crossing of the twin glaciers actually was. It hits Aoraki Mt Cook!� Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2013 SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC We're next to the Westland National Park, and we're heading down the coast, toward the Cook River. The river has a fearsome reputation and for very good reason. Not one but three major glaciers drain into it. Even today, not many people get up there. The bush, it's almost impenetrable, and the river, it can get really nasty. REFLECTIVE MUSIC And yet, in 1906, three unlikely explorers came this way ` a Scot-German doctor, an English vicar and a young West Coaster. They weren't looking for gold. They weren't trying to find a new road. They were here to take pictures. A hundred years before Peter Jackson would capture the scenery on film, Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann's photographs of the region were seen all around the world. These photographs helped make the West Coast an internationally famous tourist destination. We're going to try and recreate the dangerous and unbelievable attempts that he made to try and capture these images. to try and capture these images. And we're gonna do it by attempting perhaps his most dangerous journey ` the first ever crossing of the Southern Alps via the Harper Saddle. Teichelmann's plan was daunting. He and his two climbing companions, Alec Graham and Henry Newton, would attempt to ascend the La Perouse Glacier, cross over the Southern Alps at the Harper Saddle, then travel down a second glacier, the Hooker Glacier, and then on to the newly opened hotel, the Hermitage. What made it so challenging was the steepness of the terrain on the western side of the Alps. Most crossings were done east to west, where you could descend the steep sections. To that point, few people had been foolhardy enough to attempt to cross the Alps from the West Coast. OK, you guys. This is the end of the line. OK, you guys. This is the end of the line. OK. OK, John. Cheers. Thanks very much for that. Cheers. Thanks very much for that. See you, Spinner. Thanks, John. Don't go too far now. (CHUCKLES) (SNIGGERS) (SNIGGERS) What have you got? (SNIGGERS) What have you got? I don't know. This is always a lucky dip, though. Rope. Hobnailed boots. Pants. Obviously, the oilskin sleeping bag. Hey. Hey. So this must be the tripod. You know what? I love it that they're so clever with their woodwork. You know what this is. The camera. Yeah. Yeah. Look at that. Yeah. Look at that. (CHUCKLES) Wow. You expect to push a little button here and a bird to pop out. Wow. You expect to push a little button here and a bird to pop out. (CHUCKLES) You know what we're gonna have to be? You know what we're gonna have to be? What's that? Super-careful with this old stuff. Super-careful with this old stuff. Oh yeah. It's really fragile. I don't want to have to end up with any of this breaking on us. I think it's just smart if we just keep it all together. Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, you're better with cameras, so why don't I leave this with you, and I'll take, um, yeah, I'll take a blanket. No, that's good. That's fair. No, that's fair. No, that's good. That's fair. No, that's fair. Really? (CHUCKLES) We'll do our best to follow the trio's original 1905 route as recorded in their journals and try and overcome the same difficulties and obstacles that they face. Their first challenge was to create a base camp at the foot of the La Perouse Glacier. But that meant getting loads of food and equipment to the top of the river. Back in the bad old days, that would mean taking multiple trips with very heavy swags on their backs. But this now is 1905. They've got the latest in SUVs. In fact, we've got two of them right here. (CHUCKLES) (CHUCKLES) Check out these guys. Do you know how to ride these things? > (CHUCKLES) Little bit on the farm. Not much. How about you? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know what to do. I think, uh, it's left foot, clutch; right foot, gas, right? SOTTO VOICE: Muz, the moment he puts a foot in the stirrup, I want you to roll. (GRUNTS, GASPS) (SNIGGERS) (SNIGGERS) (CHUCKLES) It, uh, it's harder than it looks, actually. With the swag. With the swag. Yeah, sure it is. With the swag. Yeah, sure it is. It's the swag. Just try and get it over there. Just try and get it over there. It's got other plans. I'll hold the front of the horse. I'll hold the front of the horse. (CHUCKLES) My` My horse is running away. Oh... Oh yeah. Good. I'm tall in the saddle. You got to try and hold it in both hands ` the reins. You got to try and hold it in both hands ` the reins. Good boy. You going good, mate. Just the wrong way. We're heading upstream. You going good, mate. Just the wrong way. We're heading upstream. You try telling the horse that. MAJESTIC MUSIC Ooh. Despite the false start, the horses prove to be perfect for navigating the rocky lower reaches of the Cook. Keep going. Nearly there. Keep going. Nearly there. Keep going. Yeah, nearly there. They make what would be, on foot, a dangerous river crossing effortless. But just as we begin to relax, the river springs a nasty surprise ` quicksand. Oh! Oh! Oh! (CHUCKLES) Kev! > Kev! > Ab-Abandon ship. Kev! > Ab-Abandon ship. You good? > Got a lot softer. I think we gave the horse a bit of a surprise. I decided it was best to jump off rather than stay on. Poor guy. Poor guy. How you doing? You didn't expect that. It just looked like normal sand. Just got super-soft. My horse is fine, but it does mean we will have to change our plans. Whoa. But then the river proved just as trying for Teichelmann. As they headed up the Cook, they reached a spot where the river had flooded so much that the party decided to stay the night in some prospectors' huts while they waited for the river to go down. while they waited for the river to go down. (GRUNTS, SIGHS) Rumour had it the entire place was cursed. Four miners had lived there, and they had a claim on the place, and all four had committed suicide. The last one, he used a double-barrelled, muzzle-loading shotgun. When Teichelmann arrived, he saw it sitting out there against the wall. In the end, it wasn't the ghosts that kept him up, though. It was the mosquitoes. (SNIGGERS) It is getting hard, though. It is getting hard, though. I don't think we can go further. Why don't we take the swags off, and we can go on foot, eh? From here on, the Cook reveals its true self. It's a steep and rocky river. The boulders are slippery and sharp. It's a horrible combination and deadly on gear. Cos the nails of these boots getting slipperier and slipperier, eh? Are these gone? Oh yeah. There's nothing there. You're back to the... You're back to the boot. What about yours? Give us a look at yours. How am I doing? We've been pretty lucky. We haven't had a major malfunction. But here we are. We're just a few hundred yards in and, uh, our shoes have completely broken down. Normally, with hobnailed boots, you'd have the grip on the sides and on the sole, but for some reason, walking over all these stones hasn't ended well. No. So the going up's gonna be a lot harder. But the going down's gonna be a lot faster. All that's survived are the Tricounis on the sides of our boots. It's a snag we weren't expecting. Somehow, we will have to adapt. But then that was the skill the resourceful Dr Teichelmann was well-known for. The doctor had a huge area to look after. It started in the Taramakau River in the north, going all the way down to Jackson's Bay in the south. That's 380km, and he had to battle storms, earthquakes, floods just to get to his patients. You had to have a huge amount of courage and determination and judgement to get through. Fortunately, the doctor had that in spades, and it served him very well when he started his alpine adventures. Teichelmann and his young bride, Mary, had arrived in Hokitika in 1897. He had no previous mountaineering experience, but the beauty of the Southern Alps drew him in like no passion before. Mary was understanding but demanded one thing. Every time he'd head out on another dangerous journey, she'd be deeply worried. All that she asked is that every time he reached safety, he'd dispatch a telegraph to let her know he was OK. Of all of the peaks and passes that he conquered, he never failed at letting her know he was OK. REFLECTIVE MUSIC As we head further up the La Perouse Glacier, the weather becomes our main focus. There's a very small window of fine weather forecast ` enough hopefully to let us cross over the high-alpine saddle. Getting caught at that altitude in weather like this would be a death sentence. It's not looking great, but we're still hours away from reaching the snow line and the point of no return. And it might look like we're been scrabbling over a whole heap of rock, but in fact, we've already passed some ice. As you look out to the other side there, there are these huge piles of rock, but in fact, there's ice underneath it. The thing is, the rocks have become exposed once the ice have melted away. Back in Teichelmann's day, the view would have looked much the same. There was just a lot more ice. You can still see, across the valley, the trim line ` where the trees are and the rock starts. And over here, it's about 50m of raw rock is shown, where the ice has dropped. You don't even have to look over there. Here we're walking on the trim line. Back 105 years, I'd have one foot on the ground and the other on ice. That's how much has dropped away. Amazing, eh? Amazing, eh? Yeah. (SIGHS) The low cloud only serves to make the Cook feel even more imposing. The walls of the mountain seem to close in, and the rain makes travelling difficult. It's a world void of colour. Teichelmann's photographs were black and white. There was no call for anything else in this desolate landscape. As a photographer, one of the main problems Teichelmann faced was how to convey a sense just of the size of the landscape. So one of the things he used to do was put a little figure in the front of the picture,... What are you saying? What are you saying? ...often in a very dangerous place. What do you mean? What do you mean? Usually one of his friends. You want me to go over there? You want me to go over there? Yeah, I think so. Just under that little lip there. That` That` That little lip of crumbling ice. That'd be just right. Away you go. I'll set the tripod up. We've reached the terminal face of the La Perouse Glacier. Wow. > Up close, it's an impressive sight. You know, we've been walking over a whole lot of these rocks for hours now, and it's only now that you really get to appreciate what's been underneath us. It's a lot of ice. (CHUCKLES) It's a lot of ice. Rocks and ice fall from the terminal face continually. Some pieces can be twice the size of a camper van. It's not a place to hang around. By the early 1900s, the Box Brownie had been invented, and it was a much smaller and light camera. But Teichelmann preferred to use his old-fashioned glass-plate camera because he believed it gave a better picture. At the end of the day, it wasn't his 26 first descents that are is ultimate legacy. It's all the pictures that he took. You just worry about that. I've got my own problems. SPLASH! SPLASH! I think this rain's making the sides slip away. Let's get this shot. I hope you're ready. Let's get this shot. I hope you're ready. One last thing. I suppose you want me at the top? I suppose you want me at the top? Very top and then on one foot. You ready? You ready? Yep. Oh, I need to be serious, right? Yeah, well, you can... have any pose you like. It's just got to last for about 30 seconds. Now, you've got to stay perfectly still. Now, you've got to stay perfectly still. (CHUCKLES) ROCK CLATTERS, SPLASHES < Hurry up. There's rocks coming everywhere. INTRIGUING MUSIC We've travelled back in time to 1905 as we attempt to climb the La Perouse Glacier, retracing the footsteps of pioneer photographer Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann. Now, you've got to stay perfectly still. Where we're creating one of his photos by standing as close as we safely can to the terminal face of the glacier. < Hurry up. There's rocks coming everywhere. Kevin's got one photo,... Ah, that's enough. ...but it's just too dangerous to stay here any longer. You had your chance. You got your shot. Oh, this is terrible. > Oh, this is terrible. > I think he might be right. From here, the trio began the long trek up the glacier toward the pass at Harper Saddle. It's a steep climb ` over 2500m. Just go easy. Made even more lethal by a huge crevasse field. We're two tiny specks in a vast landscape. We're straight into the land of the giants. Let me know if you need any slack. > Let me know if you need any slack. > OK. It's like jumping from one 10th storey building to another. Yeah, I'll just go over. Crikey. That's deep. Crikey. That's deep. Yep. Crikey. That's deep. Yep. All right, here we go. It feels like we're in a real maze, but somehow we've got to get up there. No matter how experienced you are, crevasses are a major hazard. Recently near here, a German climber slipped and fell into a crevasse. Her climbing partner went for help, but she still spent nearly 18 hours in her icy tomb before finally being rescued. It's a reminder that you can never take the mountains lightly, and you need to be prepared for just about anything. One of the problems with being a pioneer is that you sometimes don't know how long it takes you to get from place to place, and that means you can get caught out for where to stay at night. One night, as they tried to find their rock biv, they realised that they were lost. It got to 10 o'clock at night. They had nowhere to go. They realised they had to camp out on the glacier. One of the things that happens in a valley like this at night is that the wind channels down. It's called katabatic. So the first thing we should probably do is build a rock wall to protect us from that. Another problem with the rocks is they're pretty rough ` rough to sleep on ` and they had to roll down from someplace. Well, let's not try and worry about that. Well, let's not try and worry about that. I think about there would be nice. Carrying the camera equipment has made it an exhausting day, but at least our fine weather has finally arrived. I wonder if, uh, when they were camping at night, if his` if the others, Newton and Graham, if they ever said to him, 'Look, are you really sure we can't just take the plates? 'Can we just leave the tripod? Can we just leave the camera? Does it rea...? You know, we've`' Do you think they would have tried sabotage? Well... Well... Sorry. You were saying? Not sabotage, but just... I wonder if there was ever the moment when they thought, 'We've got the photos. Now let's get out of here.' Well, on a really cold night, you know, that tripod... Well, on a really cold night, you know, that tripod... ...just push it off. Oh no. That tripod would make pretty good kindling, wouldn't it? Oh no. That tripod would make pretty good kindling, wouldn't it? Yeah, it is. Bet it'd sort of heat the place up` Bet it'd sort of heat the place up` Tripod. Fire now. Bet it'd sort of heat the place up` Tripod. Fire now. Yeah. It's roast marshmallows with your camera tripod. It's roast marshmallows with your camera tripod. (CHUCKLES) So we managed to get through the night. Now it's blowing pretty hard up here. It's about 5 o'clock in the morning. Sun's just coming up. Oh, it will be in a bit. When the sun does come up, the sky turns to fire. It's unlike any place we've ever seen. In this great remote wilderness, it's easy now to see why Teichelmann, Graham and Newton took such great risks. But the ominous red sky means our good weather may be cut short. As high cloud starts to build up against the peaks, we will only have a few hours before we need to get off the mountain. Whenever Teichelmann saw a big rock tower like this, he'd want to climb right to the top of it to take pictures. It must have only taken a half-a-dozen climbs like this before it started upsetting the others. Newton and Graham were completely resigned to their role as mere pack animals for Teichelmann's camera. But it made climbing some things almost impossible. On a ridge like this, Newton was leading when he slipped and fell backwards. The fall should have seriously hurt him, but miraculously, he landed on a swag, which on this day, was carrying the trio's sleeping bags. There was little concern shown by the doctor. There were photos to be taken. Great spot to take a picture. Yeah. What about you stand over there, and we-we're get a shot of yo-you with the valley and the`? How about I stand here? How about I stand here? No. Scale, mate. Scale. All right. It's starting to get a bit breezy, so I've just climbed myself on to the rock to stop myself getting blown off. Yeah, there. That's good. Just... hold fire. Just... hold fire. You take as long as you want (!) I don't mind (!) When Teichelmann was up in an area like this, taking a shot, the others had to physically restrain him, because as soon as he put his head under this thing, he forgot everything about where his feet were and all of the dangers around him. But, in some ways, that's a lot like you, Muz. Are you solid? Are you solid? Yeah, yeah. Rock solid. Whoa! I hope you're gonna get that fast shutter speed! But it's not Kevin I'm looking at. It's the high cloud that's clearly started to form up on the top of the mountains. All of our plans are about to go out the window. INTRIGUING MUSIC We've travelled back in time to 1905 as we take on the Southern Alps' imposing Cook River while retracing the footsteps of pioneer and photographer Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann. That's good. We've climbed to the top of a windy bluff to recreate one of Teichelmann's famous photos. Have you got the picture yet? Have you got the picture yet? Yep! Got it! You can come down! But it's not the photo I'm worried about; rather, the high cloud gathering above the tops. It means a storm is coming. Let's get out of here. Let's get down. Yep. We're heading towards the last and largest crevasse on the La Perouse Glacier. Oh, um, sometimes, the pole goes in quite a bit. It was late in the day when Teichelmann and Newton and Graham faced a similar spot. All that stood between them and the summit was a long, icy ridge. It was late afternoon. They didn't have time for a new route. So what they did is they put one leg on each side and just shuffled across till they got to the top. It's pretty late in the day for us as well, and like our pioneering superheroes, this trip, we thought we'd better give it a go. We found a place might be similar to what they went through, and I tell you what ` it ain't pretty. Doesn't look much fun, does it? Uh, you ready? Well, in the spirit of this sort of situations... (SNIGGERS) (SNIGGERS) BOTH LAUGH It's the worst luck. It's the worst luck. My climbing colleague here is about to make an attempt. (SIGHS) This would be something that I would never do in the snow normally. You'll be fine. Look how thick snow is. It's, like, 4 inches, and it's mid-afternoon. They call it a cheval. I think it means, 'To be like a horse.' OK. So let's just test. See what we've got to work with. See what we've got to work with. I think you might weigh a bit more than that. This ain't good. This ain't good. What would Teichelmann and Newton have done? They'd have jumped right` right out there. Well, I ain't` I ain't Teichelmann and Newton. It's a 40m plunge to the bottom of the crevasse, but it was much worse for Teichelmann. The wind was gusting, making it all the more difficult. Way to go (!) Yeah, you're looking good (!) Looking good. (GASPS) I'm trying to be gentle. Gentle on the horse. Just gallop that pony. (CHUCKLES) Oh, that's got to hurt. Just gallop that pony. (CHUCKLES) Oh, that's got to hurt. GROANS: Ugh! This really... (GASPS) I want to take steps in, but I don't know what that's doing to my base. (PANTS) (GROANS, PANTS) It seems impossible that this tiny piece of ice could hold my weight. Oh, come on. (PANTS) BOTH LAUGH Mwah! That's over. (CHUCKLES) I don't want to look. Good job. You stay there. I'll walk around the outside. > Not a chance. Not a chance. (LAUGHS) > I'm sure I just dropped something. I'm sure I just dropped something. What? No, no, no, no, no! (CHUCKLES) No, no, no! (SNIGGERS) (SNIGGERS) He was supposed to fall off. I'll just put an anchor in. I'll just put an anchor in. OK. Holy moly. (GASPS) (GASPS) So pleased I went first. (GASPS) So pleased I went first. GROANS: Ohhh. Ugh. That drop, isn't it, takes your breath away. That drop, isn't it, takes your breath away. Pays not to look. (GASPS) Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Try and get your axe in. Ugh! Try and get your axe in. (GRUNTS, CHUCKLES) < (CHUCKLES) Ooh. Ooh. (CHUCKLES WEARILY) Oh, wasn't as bad as all that. It's quite a tough piece of ice. Oh, wasn't as bad as all that. It's quite a tough piece of ice. I was surprised ho-how it is. It makes you think, eh? It must have been hard going. We have finally crossed the last of the La Perouse glacial crevasses. Another ice field. (PANTS) But the arrival of the cold front has been preceded by gale-strength winds. The wind's really picking up. It's blowing lots of tiny little ice. Ice particles like hail. It's not very pleasant. We need to find some shelter and wait for it to pass. Hopefully, we'll be out of the wind in here. BOTH PANT INTRIGUING MUSIC Can you really kick them in? WIND GUSTS This way. (SIGHS) These impressive columns of ice are called seracs. Often house-sized or larger, they're dangerous to mountaineers since they may topple with little warning. They are particularly vulnerable in high winds. Oh... (SIGHS) If a glacier is a river of ice, these are like the rapids in the middle of the river. It makes travelling very painful. But winding our way through the serac field at least means we're safe from the wind. REFLECTIVE MUSIC For Teichelmann, Newton and Graham, the final pitch to the top of Harper Saddle proved to be very tough. It took them a back-breaking 18 hours from camp to camp. For us, mercifully, the wind has died down. It's a huge relief to have good conditions on top of the saddle. We're almost there. But at over 2500m, the air is thin and makes it hard to breathe. And the surface of the ice is terrifyingly slippery. Well done. Well done. BREATHLESSLY: Yes, good job there. Good job. Oh God. We finally made it. We're at 2600m. Harper Saddle. This is the very alpine heart of the Southern Alps. Only a few miles away are most of the highest peaks of NZ, and most of them are named after the European ship captains that travelled around NZ. One, in particular, is just over here. The west face of Mt Cook. For three weeks, Teichelmann, Newton and Graham had been slogging their way through the bush then up the glacier to reach this point. But although we could see incredible views from the West Coast all the way down to the Hermitage, they couldn't see anything. They were locked in cloud. They stumbled around, trying to find a way down. Just then, the fog lifted, just enough for them to see the path down. By the time they reached this point, they'd been going for more than 12 hours. They didn't have time for a break. They had to keep on going. They had to make their way down the Hooker Glacier, all the way to the Hermitage, but that would have a whole set of challenges of its own. The Hooker Glacier starts with an impossibly steep section. Almost 70 degrees. The trick is how much slack to give him. I don't want to give him too much, but then I don't want to have` have him tugging on the rope either. With most of the hobnails missing from the soles, we will rely more on the Tricounis, the knife-like add-ons to the side of the boots. Thing with these Tricounis is... (PANTS) so long as you can.... kick in as well as... cut the steps, (SIGHS) the idea should be that you're OK. (SIGHS) You need some more slack? You need some more slack? Yeah. It's going all right. That weather's starting to pick` pick up. That weather's starting to pick` pick up. Yep. (PANTS) Well, get him out of the way. DRAMATIC MUSIC Oh. > Oh. > Ooh, imagine if that was your head. > Look at it go. Look at it go. I don't want to end up like that on this firm ice. But with our boots in such poor condition and the rock-solid ice, this was always going to end badly. Oh! Oh! ICE AXE SCRAPES INTRIGUING MUSIC We are following in the footsteps of Ebenezer Teichelmann as he attempted the first crossing of the La Perouse and Hooker glaciers. Do you need some more slack? Do you need some more slack? Yeah. We're descending the first section on to the Hooker Glacier, but our damaged boots, combined with the icy conditions, make it almost impossible. Oh! Oh! ICE AXE SCRAPES Oh! ICE AXE SCRAPES Gotcha! > DRAMATIC MUSIC (PANTS) (PANTS) You OK? > Yeah. (PANTS) That was a bit spooky. That was a bit spooky. (PANTS) That's one of the problems with... cutting so many steps down. (PANTS) You end up trying to... (PANTS) save yourself one extra slice of the axe each time and... (PANTS) to save energy, but I guess it just catches you out at some point. < I'll just kick a stance. I thought you were supposed to be chopping steps. How am I supposed to make it down`? Down there now? BOTH CHUCKLE Teichelmann, Newton and Graham now faced another six hours' travel to their proposed campsite in the lee of Aoraki Mt Cook. There's lots coming up. Yep. Slowly, they descended the steepest sections, only to once again be confronted with yet another crevasse field. One afternoon, as Teichelmann, Newton and Graham were coming down a steep slope like this, they got tired of cutting steps, so they decided they were gonna slide down. They knew there were some crevasses, though, but they had this idea that the top lip was higher than the bottom lip, so you could be able to jump it as you go down. Does that sound right? I don't know. I've never known my body to do anything that involves flight by itself, but, uh... But, somehow, they managed to get down to the bottom, so we're gonna try and do the same thing. One, two, three. OK. Whoa! Ugh! Whoa! Ugh! (CHUCKLES) Whoo! Whoo-hoo-hoo! (CHUCKLES) As confident as we are it will work, it's still terrifying to be hurtling down a mountain toward a crevasse. Whoa! Ooh! Whoa! Ooh! (LAUGHS) Whoo! Ha ha! Ha ha! Don't forget you're tied on to me. Ha ha. Oh... (CHUCKLES) That was cool. You can actually jump it, huh? You can actually jump it, huh? (SNIGGERS) Did you lift your feet up? Oh yeah. I wasn't gonna drop my feet into the crack. That would been worse. Broken leg time. Let's take it a bit easier for the bottom. There might be some bigger crevasses. Sliding down the mountain has meant we can now, for the first time, see our destination. It may be a speck, but we can clearly see the modern outline of the Hermitage, still standing on the same spot as the original. The sun's really warmed up the snow, which makes it good for trying to push steps in, but it makes it a lot slipperier too. Of more concern is the fact the wind has returned. The blue sky is now nothing more than bait for an alpine trap. Here, the combination of melting ice and high wind is deadly ` the perfect ingredients for an avalanche. During one of their trips, they were coming down an ice slope mid-afternoon, and there was falling ice all around him. Newton got hit by a piece so hard that he believed that he'd broken his collarbone. There was only one thing for it ` they had to escape. They found themselves on the lip of a schrund. One by one, they took turns at jumping in. Newton, who was last, was wondering why they were taking so long when they were at the edge to jump. So he got to the edge. He saw it was a 5m drop. Bergschrunds are huge crevasses up to 100m deep. They have avalanche debris. So we need to be careful that, when we jump in, we don't crash through a thin roof and fall into an even deeper crevasse. What's it like to jump into a schrund? We're about to find out. I hope that snow's soft. It looks like little cotton wool. Yeah. You keep telling yourself that. Yeah. You keep telling yourself that. (SNIGGERS) OK. Got to jump now. Go. GASPS: Ooh! Whoo. (GASPS, CHUCKLES) Well, that could have been a lot worse. < Where are you? < Where are you? It was good. Yeah, it's pretty soft. Well, it was soft until I jumped on it. GRUNTS: Ohhh! (SNIGGERS) Jeepers. You knocked half the block off. Jeepers. You knocked half the block off. (CHUCKLES) You OK? You OK? Yeah, that's all right. You OK? Yeah, that's all right. All right. Teichelmann, Newton and Graham may have been safe from falling ice, but they were now trapped at the bottom of an enormous crevasse. Though we're not gonna get away through that way, are we? Though we're not gonna get away through that way, are we? Nah, it's just a wall of ice. Look, up through there, there's a hole I can see. Let's go up in there and we'll... I think we'll... we'll get through. I think we'll... we'll get through. You go. You go. > SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC The thing about being in a crevasse is you don't know what you're standing on. Any time, the floor might go. You might fall into another crevasse. It may be beautiful. We can't find a way out. With the weather against us, this time, we may have pushed our luck too far. INTRIGUING MUSIC We have travelled back in time to 1905 to take on the first crossing of the Harper Saddle by pioneer photographer Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann. Oh! We've faced riverbanks of quicksand,... Kev! > Kev! > Ab-Abandon ship. Kev! > Ab-Abandon ship. You good? > ...endless crevasse fields,... You need some more slack? You need some more slack? Yeah. ...and a 70-degree snow slope. Now we are stuck at the bottom of a bergschrund, a giant crevasse, desperately searching for a way out. This is absolutely incredible. You can see the naked face of the glacier here, dripping with water. Most of the time, it just looks like a heap of snow, but here you can see it really looks like blue ice. We are literally inside the glacier. That's so beautiful. So beautiful. Look. So beautiful. Look. Amazing. But being 10m below the surface has its problems. If you don't fall into an even deeper crevasse, you still can't escape the freezing cold. You got me nice and tight there? You got me nice and tight there? Yeah. Good work. I'll need a bit of slack for this first bit. Below the surface, the air temperature can fall to minus-40. < You good? < You good? Yep, good. Teichelmann, Newton and Graham knew that they needed to find a way out or they would freeze to death. Having come so far to die so near to the finish line was not an option. The trio searched for a way to the surface, but after an hour, they were no nearer to escape. You almost want to go un-underneath it, don't you? I'm with two minds here. There's a little hole underneath. Might be able to pop out the other side. Or we step up on top. There we go. (SIGHS) It's like being lost in a maze of ice, but eventually, just like Teichelmann, we find a way out. GRUNTS: Oh. Yeah? Yeah? Yep. Oi! Sorry. Oi! Sorry. Yep. One, two, three. (GRUNTS) Yeah, that's it. OK. Above ground, the wind is getting stronger. Storms at this time of year are short but violent. We now need to race the weather. In Teichelmann's day, the Hooker Glacier ran most of the way to the Hermitage. Climate change has made it a very different landscape. A large lake now sits on Teichelmann's river of ice. It's only a few kilometres to the Hermitage, but the cold front has finally caught up with us, bringing with it a sobering reminder of the dangers of mountaineering. When the nor'west wind pours over the main divide, it hits Aoraki Mt Cook... and creates a funnelling effect! At gale speed, it races down the valley! Can you imagine what it would be like being up on the pass now? Fortunately, we're not headed up there! We're headed over here! You can just make out the Hermitage through the rain clouds. They said it looked like an old woolshed. Looks pretty good to me. The best part is, from now on, we've got a track. The best part is, from now on, we've got a track. Come on. Let's go find that hat. When the trio arrived at the Hermitage, the crossing had taken them a gruelling seven days. Teichelmann had taken on the mountains and won again. They were all suffering badly from snow blindness, so the good doctor supplied them with the then-legal drug cocaine. Then he had one last important task to perform. As always, after each of Ebenezer's trips into the mountains, he sent a telegraph back to Mary to let her know that he was safe. But a few years later, during one trip, it was he who arrived to a message ` Mary had fallen ill. Teichelmann took great pride in being able to reach his patients on the West Coast. No mountain pass or storm could stop him. But this time, he was too late. For the first time, the mountains had beaten him. He arrived back in Hokitika to find that Mary Teichelmann had died of a heart attack on the 20th of May 1909. She was only 46. MOURNFUL MUSIC Mary's death drove Teichelmann into the Alps. He seemed to find solace in the mountains and a new purpose. Not content just to look after the people of the West Coast, he came to believe it was up to him to protect this wild, remote wilderness. A conservationist long before there was even such a word, he was at the forefront in the creation of the area's national parks and reserves. His patronage enabled Graham to become a full-time guide and create an industry whose legacy extends to Hillary and beyond. But for generations of Coasters, he was just Doc Teichelmann ` the man who brought them into the world, who tended their broken bodies. A kind man in an unforgiving land. It feels like a long time ago that we started the journey. We had the horses up the Cook River. Then get to the top of Harper Pass and down the other side. Well, we didn't go so well on the other side. Then we had to jump into the schrund and work our way through the ice cave. What I was wondering about most before doing this trip is why someone would go to such great lengths to take pictures of the West Coast and the Southern Alps, and I think now we know why. Because the scenery is just 'knock your socks off' amazing. But was he taking these pictures because he was an artist, or did he have this idea that he could help out the West Coast by marketing it to the rest of the world? I'm sure he started out as just being an artist, but the longer that he lived there, he just became a committed part of the West Coast community, and perhaps he saw his photographs as just being a way to help boost the economy and tourism, and it worked. and it worked. Yeah, this incredible landscape is still being used in film. The thing I found strange was that it wasn't a Kiwi doing these things. I mean, Teichelmann is one of the most famous names in the West Coast. Mm. Mm. And he's really a Scot-German or an Aussie, really. He was born there. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) But you don't have to be born in NZ to be a Kiwi. All you need is the right spirit, a can-do attitude and be willing to use your skills to make a difference. Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right. You know, all cultures add to the mix. I tell you what ` in the spirit of Teichelmann, let me buy you an apple stew at the Hermitage. (SNIGGERS) REFLECTIVE MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES Captions by John Ling. Edited by Virginia Philp. www.tvnz.co.nz/access-services Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2013