continued, but no better route was found. In 1865 Arthur's father, Edward Dobson senior, the Canterbury provincial engineer, decided a road would be cut through Arthur's Pass.
Within months a bridle trail had been forged and work begun on a metalled road. About 1000 men toiled through a bitter alpine winter and less than a year from its commencement, using only hand tools, rudimentary rock drills and explosives, the road was completed in 1866.
William Cawley started his Stage Coach service as soon as the road opened. The journey from Christchurch to Hokitika took 36 hours in exceptionally good weather, and could be delayed more than a week in anything
else (snow, flood, road collapse - still common occurrences today).
From 1907 onwards the rail link from east to west was slowly forged from each side, culminating in the opening of the through line in 1923. Its’ construction included the Otira rail tunnel, an epic engineering feat
through 8.5 kilometres of rotten rock (not unlike the surface).
The first attempt to establish a town near Arthur’s Pass was made between the confluence of the Bealey and Waimakariri Rivers. It was named Klondyke Corner for the site was very cold, receiving no sunshine in winter, hence its name is reminiscent of the Alaskan gold rush settlement. The year 1865 saw about 100 people encamped; 208 sections were surveyed and an ambitious street plan mapped out. Eighteen months later everyone but the telegraph operator and a police sergeant had moved to the much sunnier present day site of Bealey.
Tourism began early in the area; one of the pioneers was a man named O'Malley, proprietor of the then illustrious Bealey Glacier Hotel from 1882 to 1901. He personally guided his guests to the head of the
Waimakariri Valley to gaze at the numerous glaciers. Arthur's Pass National Park was established in 1929.
EARLY CLIMBERS
With the opening of the road, and later the Midland railway, came not only fortune hunters but recreation seekers - in particular the mountaineers.
The New Zealand Alpine Club had just formed in November of 1891 when members, Arthur Harper, Marmaduke Dixon and Robert Dixon visited the Pass from Christchurch. They attempted reaching Mt Rolleston's summit from the Otira Valley (route 6.3), unfortunately being turned back by soft snow conditions. However, not willing to return unsuccessful they achieved the first recorded ascent of Mt
Philistine.
In December the same year George Mannering, A.M. Ollivier and W.D. Wood started their attempt on Mt Rolleston from the Pass via the Goldney Ridge. With visibility poor, they topped out on the Low Peak, realising only sometime later they had not
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