Ruth Adams was the daughter of Ernest Adams, and a keen mountaineer. Along with Harry Ayres, Mick Sullivan and Ed Hillary, she set off to climb Mt La Perouse in the Southern Alps - a mountain which had been little climbed at the time in 1948. Unfortunately, not far from the top, a rope broke, and Adams fell, breaking her back. What followed was a remarkable rescue effort, which remains one of New Zealand's most notable.