Experiences Worth Recording

Stratford Mountain Club member Frank Addis’ photograph, dating from January 1934, highlights the difficulties of hut building on Mount Taranaki before the days of helicopter drops. These four men struggle through a gorge while carrying sheets of corrugated iron. The Stratford Mountain Club, in its first official incarnation, was established in 1914 but disbanded soon after due to the outbreak of World War One. It was revived in 1928 and is still running today, operating the Manganui Ski Area on the mountain. 

Addis’ album is unusual for containing handwritten reminiscences about his life and mountaineering adventures. The foreword of the album reads: "The average individual, I think, takes life & all that it means for granted.  How many people, I wonder, have ever considered writing their experiences? Do not think me vain in writing some of mine. Personally, I like to read this album & ponder over its contents. Perhaps, dear reader, this book will hold you, not in its spell; that is too much to expect, but at least for a long enough period to perhaps make you say "My experiences are equally worthy of recording."