Prime Minister Helen Clark was praised for her mountaineering exploits when she launched the Home of Mountaineering Project in Wellington last night.
The project is an initiative by the New Zealand Alpine Club to create better support for an activity increasing in popularity.
Miss Clark may well be the first prime ministerin history to be a member of a mountaineering association, alpine club president Dave Bamford said.
"As we all know, she is a keen mountaineer, and many of us know she is also a member of the club," he said. "She may also be the first leader of a country to be an active mountaineer."
Mr Bamford said that at a time when many recreation and sports clubs were facing falling membership and relevancy, the alpine club was finding the opposite.
"Many thousands of New Zealanders have an interest in mountaineering and in our back country generally. It has been part of the New Zealand psyche since the 1800s and continues to be so in the modern world.
"We want to recognise this by establishing a permanent home for mountaineering literature, memorabilia, archives, club administration, and general support for the activity."
The project involves the club raising money to buy a building in Christchurch and attracting suitable historical material and literature to expand the the current collection.
The building will house many artefacts, photographs and books asscociated with mountaineering. It will also accommodate the staff of the club and allow for future expansion.
"With a consistently expanding membership base and a growing role in outdoor matters, the pressure to position ourselves and cater for the future is increasing all the time," Mr Bamford said.
