The Alpine Journal Vol 36 1924

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THE ALPINE JOURNAL A RECORD OF MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE AND SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION BY MEMBERS OF THE ALPINE CLUB VOL. XXXVI. 1924 (Nos. 228 anp 229) EDITED BY GEORGE YELD AND J. P. FARRAR LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C. 4 NEW YORE, TORONTO BOMBAY. CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 1924 ¥ 7 44 =} nad < ~

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Made in Great Britain

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CONTENTS PAGE ALPINE ACCIDENTS in 1924 422 ALPINE CLIMBING, OLYMPIC PRIZE FOR 141 ALPINE CLUB AMERICAN MEMBERS OF . . 140 LIBRARY : 182, 431 PHOTOGRAPHIC Bemeniow 1993 . 180 PROCEEDINGS. 191, 439 ALPINE NoTES . 156, 415 ARTICLES, Original, Gpaimatiested: od Repaid Baltschieder Thal, Memories of the. By G. Yeld ; 357 Blanc, Mont, Range, The Obvious Passes Across the Western End of the. By R. L. G. Irving 64 Bregaglia, The, Climbing in. By Claude Wilson 25 Canadian Rocky Mountains Barbican, Mt., and Mt. Geikie, First Ascents of. By V. A. Fynn : . 342 Columbia Mount, Panorama from. " By JM. Thorington . 116 Whirlpool, The Mts. of the. By J.M.Thorington 299 Northern Clemenceau, Mt. By H. B. de Villiers-Schwab 121 Maligne Lake District, Climbsinthe. ByHoward Palmer 93 Classic Cols. By J. P. Farrar . ; . 83 Dauphiné, The, in 1922. By C. H. Brook 719 A Week-End in. By H.R.C.Carr . 375 Everest, Mount, The Battle with. Bya H imalayan Traveller (from the M orning Post) . 277 The Conquest of. By D. W. Freshfield . 1 Infranchissable, Col dit. By R. W. Lloyd : 35 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. Schalligrat and Other Climbs in 1923. By R. P. Bicknell — 45 Lion, Coldu. By E. G. Oliver ; » 3d12 Mixed Bag, A (Japan and New Zealand). ‘By A.L.Mumm. 12 New Zealand Alps, the Southern, Ten Weeks in. vy HA. E. L. Porter. 3 281 Pyrenees, The. By J. A. Parker 349

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vi ' Contents. ARTICLES, Original and Communicated, &c.—continued. PAGE Rousses, Grandes, The. By W. M. Roberts : . 6 Some 1911 Climbs. By J. W. Wyatt : . 362 Torrone, The Ago del (Cleopatra 8 oer By N. S. Fina ; ‘ 60— CANADIAN AND AMERICAN Nowes : : ; 170, 420 CoRRIGENDA AND ADDENDA ; 159, 161, 162, 379, 410 n., and before Index EVEREST, Mount, EXPEDITION Dispatches. By E. F. Norton. : . 196 Last Climb, The (verse). By D. W. Freshfield . : . 277 Message from H.M. the King on the Death of Mr. Mallory and Mr. Irvine . : : . 195 Memorial Services in Memory of the Men Killed : . 273 Personnel of. By E. F. Norton : : ; . 244 Reports on Climb with Mr. Somervell, The, to 28,000 feet. By E. F. Norton .. 260 Journey, The, Through Tibet and the Establishment of the High Camps. By G. Bruce ‘ : . 251 Last Climb, The. By N. E. Odell. : : ‘ . 265 Organisation and Start of. ByC.G. Bruce . ; . 241 EXPEDITIONS New. : : : : ‘ . 154, 393 Various. i ; : ; . 408 HIMALAYAN NoTEs .. : : i : : . 164, 419 In MEMoRIAM Bonney, T. G. , . . 142 Buxton, E. N. : : ; ; ; ‘ , . 148 Calvet, D. . : . : . ; : : . 389 Hughes, R. . ; . 319 Irvine, A.C. . : ; ; : ; : ; . 3886 Lindsell, P. B. : : : : : ; . 889 Mallory,G.H.L. . ; . 3881 Mennell, H. T. : ; ; ‘ . : . 148 von Tscharner, R. . ; : : : : . 390 Wills, W. A. . : : ; . 150 New ZEALAND NoTEs ; ; : , ; . 165 REVIEWS AND NoTIcES : : . : . 170, 424

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ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, PORTRAITS, AND MAPS ILLUSTRATIONS Aiguille, Le Mont (Routes) Bliimlisalphorn N. Face Bregaglia Group Cengalo and eae from near ae Gallo, Il Descent of Largo, Cima del, Ascent and Descent of Sciora, Ago di, Albigna Side Sciora Group, Bondasca Side . Canadian Rocky Mountains At Base Camp : Bras Croche, Mt., from Meadows Base Camp Brazeau, Mt., from S8.W. Views, 8. and 8. W.., from Summit Clemenceau, Mt., N. Face, from Wood River Valley N.W. Base of, ‘View from Rock Tower from Maligne Lake Storm Cloud on View from Roof Terrace, Descending S. Face, from Reconnaissance Ridge Summit Ridge, from W. Aréte W. Aréte of, Corniceson Climbing Camp, Climbing Party at . Columbia Mt., Panorama from. Columbia River, View of Range from, looking N.W. . Committee Punch Bowl, the, Athabaska Pass . Coronet Glacier : . Peak and Glacier Valley, Base Camp in . Opening of _. Dungeon and Redoubt, Mts. , Ramparts Group .

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vill Alphabetical List of Illustrations, Portraits, and Maps. Canadian Rocky Mountains—continued. PAGE Duplicate, Mt., from Clemenceau Bivouac. : . opp. 124 Ermatinger, Mt., from N.., : : : : : » od3 and Mt. Hooker, from Mt. Oates . : : : 5» ood Evans, Mt., and Mt. Oates. : : ; » odo Expedition to, 1924, Members of _.. . » 220 Farrar, Mt., from N.W. Base of Mt. Clemenceau 5 125 Fortress Lake, ‘ Good Going’ . . . : » 124 Leviathan at . ‘ : : » 124 Fraser Group from Geikie Camp : S.A » 4, +342 Geikie, Mt.,S.S.E. Face of . . : : : » 346 Route of Mabent 2 . ‘ : . 847 W. Ridge and S.W. Face, from Geikie Camp ; . 345 W. and S.W. Ridges of, from Geikie aie : . opp. 344 Ghost Peak from Ridge Camp . : , » 5, 124 Henry MacLeod Mt. ; , i : ; - 4, 102 and Coronet Glacier. . : : : », 103 Hooker Icefield, from Mt. Brown ‘ . 1» os Mt., Continental Divide, 8.W. of, Parioravia from : » 334 from S.W.. . dod McGillivray’s Rock and N. Entrance to Athabaska Pass . : : : opp. 322 Maligne Lake Mts. . : . : : : . » 103 View toS. . ; : » 108 Misty Mt., front N. hase of Mt. “Clamenééan . », 125 Postern, The, from W. Geikie Glacier : : : », 348 Ramparts, the, W. Endof . : - 45. 342 Replica Peak, E. Face of . ; . : ; se, OL. * Ridge Camp’ ‘ : » 126 Sampson, Mt., looking N. from. Maligne ake : : » 96 Scott Glacier and Mt. Hooker. ; ; ; » 323 Selkirk Range Sir Donald, Mt., W. Face from Mt. Abbott . . 414 Serenity, Mt.. : ; ‘ . opp. 126 N. Face, from Mt. Oates : » od2 Shackleton, Mt., Tusk Peak, and ‘ Pic Tordu,’ from Mt. Clemencean : » 127 Simon, Mt. (Fraser Group), from. Geikie Camp looking W. : » ol Turret, The, from S. W.. : : : ; », 348 Tusk, The, from Clemenceau Glacier: ; ; : », 125 Unwin, Mt., N. Face : ‘ ; - : : » 109 Looking N.W. . , » 5. vad Warren, Mt., and Mt. Henry MacLeod ; ; ; ,», 102 Combal, Lac de: View from . . : ; , 69 Ebnefluh, N. Face : . é ; : : : . 403 Everest, Mt. Diagram j : . 217 Col. Norton and Mr. Somervell with three ‘ Tigers’ . opp. 260

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Alphabetical Last of Illustrations, Portraits, and Maps. Everest, Mt.— continued. Group of Explorers of , N. Col, Approach to, two Views of . Camp on Slopes below Summit of . Géant, Aig. and Col du Glaciers, Aig.des : Hérens, Dent d’, at Dawn . Infranchissable, Col, from above Cal Bionnassay Marked Route Old Mine Panorama from Summit of Aig. de Bionnassay Japanese Alps Fuji, Crater of Northern Gaki . ; Yari Ga Take. Jungfrau, from Lauberhorn Route up N. Face . : Lauterbrunnen Breithorn, N. Face of, ‘from. Lauterbrunnen- Wetterhorn Tschingelgrat Luigi Amedeo, Pic, View from Summit Miage, Col de, Italian Slope of Mittagjoch : : Moyen Age, Col, and Col des Glaciers . New Zealand Alps Cook, Mt., from Glacier Dome Sealey Ridge Cook, Mt., District . Grey Peak View, looking N.. View, N.W. from, to Fox Glacier . ; Haast, Mt., to Mt. Haidinger, Main Divide from Haast Ridge, Main Divide seen from Haeckel, Mt. . ; from Lower Darwin Glacier . Hochstetter Icefall . : Malte Brun, N.W. Ridge of, Knife Edge of Minarets, The, Tasman Glacier Murchison Glacier . Pioneer Pass, Looking across Tasman Glacier Raureka, View from ; Sefton, Mt., Range, from near the Hermitage Tasman Glacier, View from, Showing Hochstetter - Icefall Périades, Les, Aig. de Rochefort, ‘and Mt. Mallet . 1X PAGE Frontisprece opp. 258 39 93 266 207 214 44 69 183 36 40 41 38 16

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x Alphabetical List of Illustrations, Portraits, and Maps. Plan, Aig. du, N. Face from Les Praz , Portjengrat, from above Zwischbergen Pass . Pyrenees, The Ara, Rio, Valley, above Torla. Bujaruelo ; Mts. near . Kspingo, Lacd’. Ordesa, Vallée d’ Arazas . Orédon, Lac d’ Pinéde, Vallée de . Toro, Trou du : : Rimpfischhorn, Route up N.W. Face . : Rothhorn, Zinal, from Slopes of Pte. d'Arpitetta : Schmadrijoch, from Tschingeltritt Storm on Mountains Torrone, Ago del (Cleopatra’ 8 Needle), Three Views of . Marked Route Centrale Orientale Traversette, Col de la, Summit of Trélatéte, Col, and mene de . Titan de : Verte, Aig., N.E. Face PORTRAITS Buxton, E. N. eee . : . Douglas, D Hughes, R. Irvine, A.C... Kain, Conrad, guide . : Mallory, G. H. L. ; Mennell, H. T. yo Ostheimer, A. J. Ross, A. Simpson, Sir Ge Strumia, M. Thorington, J. M. von Tscharner, R. Wills, Sir A., W. A., and J. T. Wills, W. A. (1921) MAPS Athabasca Pass and Whirlpool Region Opp. Canadian Rocky Mts. between Bush and Yellowhead Passes ‘5 Maligne Lake Group, Route Sketch of Climbsin . Ramparts Group ; 9 99 ——_

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THE ALPINE JOURNAL. MAY 1924. soe Geet ee ae ee a wv ’ 2 > 3 ~ 2 & 2 : 2 > a 2s ae ~ vw ~ . e e * vow bs ~ ~~ 4 ew oo - 3 - “ ad » 4 cs 2 + 3 Se kg a ~ 4s ~~ 4 4 2. 2 a * me Le fat t # a THE Conquest oF Mount EVEREST. By DOUGLAS W. FRESHFIELD. d ae departure from our shores of the third party of climbers bent on the exploration and ascent of the highest mountain in the world seems to afford a suitable occasion for recalling some of the circumstances which led to the con- ception of the Conquest of Mount Everest and for tracing the stages through which a proposal—held at first by most competent judges, including men of science and experienced mountain explorers, extravagant and unrealisable—has been converted, in the opinion of the same experts, into a practical problem which depends for a happy solution mainly on the weather. But good luck in this important matter will need to be supported by the exhibition not only of a firm belief in success and of indomitable pluck—of the latter there is no question—but of sound judgment and of the most meticulous care, a care on the part of the climbing party and its leaders that holds no detail of organisation or equipment trivial or unessential. For any remarks I may venture to make on these topics I may plead as an excuse that what I write is largely the result of my own experience in five mountaineering expeditions among distant ranges. Of these three were to the Caucasus, one to Ruwenzori, and the fifth to the Tibetan- Sikkim-Nepal frontier, where the conditions are very similar to those encountered in the approach to Mt. Iiverest. As I have already reminded the reader, the answer given in the years before the War to the question ‘ Can the highest VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIII. B

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a ow e 2 The Conquest of Mount Everest. mountain in the world be climbed ?’ by the large majority of those qualified to pronounce an opinion was in the negative. Many brilliant climbers had recently attempted Himalayan heights in vain ; in vain in so far as that they had been repulsed in their efforts to attain their goal, or to reach any peak of over 25,000 ft. Most of these repulses, it is true, were inconclu- sive, since to the physical drawbacks incident to exertion at great altitudes had been added serious mountaineering difficulties. There remained, however, an instance which seemed pecu- hiarly significant—that of the Duke of the Abruzzi’s party in the Karakoram.: In that case climbers inured by much experience oh gréat mountains and in Arctic temperatures, and provided ee « S ots wrth: évety advantage in the way of equipment that princely “résources’ could’ procure, were, at an altitude of just under 24,600 ft., repulsed in an attempt to reach a summit of 25,100 ft. -Their defeat in their immediate aim was doubtless due to bad weather and snow conditions. But the story of their climb, as told in detail by Sir F. De Filippi, was little calculated to excite the hopes or stimulate the attempts of those who were planning an assault on the highest summits of our globe. I may do well to quote here what seem to me the salient passages from Sir F. De Filippi’s volume : his descriptions of the physical sensations of the party while on the march above their highest camp—22,486 ft.—and during their two hours’ enforced halt about 24,600 ft. I translate from the original Italian edition. ‘In these conditions we continued to climb for four and a half hours at a slow but regular pace, making brief halts after every quarter of an hour’s march. Our breathing was rapid, but not so as to be painful, and we did not experience any excessive feeling of exhaustion despite the steepness of the slope, the toilsomeness of the soft snow, and the heavy atmosphere without a breath of wind.’ Again : ‘The halt lasted two hours. During this time neither the Duke nor any of his three companions felt the least disturbance or inconvenience from the diminished pressure—their pulses were all regular. They had reached a point 150 m. from the top, and there was no doubt that in clear weather, despite the bad condition of the snow, they could in at most a couple of hours have completed the ascent and reached 7650 m.’ [25,100 ft.]. The following further particulars as to the pace of the climbers are added by Sir F. De Filippi.

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The Conquest of Mount Everest. 8 ‘In seven hours and a quarter of actual walking they had gained 645 m. in actual height, or about 89 m. an hour. But, if we subtract the time spent in climbing the rocks, which took two hours, the result for the whole time spent on snow is an average of 104m. In the first hour’s march they made 147 m. Afterwards their advance was as follows: between 7000 m. and 7190 m. they made 120 m. an hour ; between 7190 m. and 7400 m. 88 m. an hour; in the last bit over steep rocks only 50 m.anhour. This last figure altogether supports the opinion expressed by more than one alpinist that the highest moun- tains in the world must remain unattainable unless they can be climbed by snow-slopes, since in low atmospheric pressures rock-climbing becomes too exhausting.’ The majority of climbers were, I believe, inclined to agree with the view here expressed by Sir F. De Filippi, that these figures were far from encouraging to those whose ambition it was to climb peaks from 4000 to 5000 ft. higher than the Bride Peak. The doubt—expressed to me by two members of the Duke’s party—of its record ever being greatly exceeded | was very commonly felt. It seemed. on the whole, reasonable to infer from their experiences that at about 25,000 ft. would be found the limit accessible to mankind and that summits exceeding that height might boast permanently their serene inaccessibility. Granting that the effects of altitude on the human frame might be minimised in perfect repose, it was apparently indicated that any at all strenuous exertion above 22,500 ft. led to a diminution in physical powers incompatible with hard climbing, or the pace called for in assaults on the giants of the Himalaya and Karakoram. There remained, however, a few dissenters from this popular verdict. Of these the most competent and in my own mind the most influential was my friend and former companion in the Caucasus, the late Clinton Dent. Dent, I may remind the general reader, was a distinguished surgeon (at the time of his death he was Senior Vice-President of the College of Surgeons). He was also a brilliant climber, a former Presi- dent of the Alpine Club, and the Editor of the volume on ‘ Mountaineering ’ in the Badminton Series. He had seriously studied the physiological problem in question, and his con- clusion was put in these words, ‘I believe most firmly it is humanly possible to ascend Mt. Everest, and further I feel sure that even in our own time, perhaps, the truth of these views will receive material corroboration.’ For myself I had full confidence in Dent’s judgment, despite

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4 The Conquest of Mount Everest. the apparently formidable array of opinion that could be brought forward on the other side. And I was anxious, before it was too late for me, myself to add another to the list of experiences of high altitudes. In 1890 I discussed with Mummery a joint visit to the Western Himalaya. The project fell through ; but nine years later, at the age of fifty-four, I was able to carry out my ambitions so far as to spend four weeks at heights varying between 14,000 and 20,000 ft. on the northern and western shoulders of Kangchenjunga. The prodigious and exceptional storm of September 23, 1899, which produced a rainfall of 27 in. in thirty-eight hours at Darjeeling, buried our camp at 15,000 ft. on the Zemu Glacier under 40 in. of fresh snow. It obviously put an end to my hope of further testing the limit of human endurance on a great peak. Even to wade across a pass of over 20,000 ft. through soft snow of that depth required a serious effort on the part of our fifty coolies, who had to carry, besides their own food for three weeks, the camp equipment and rations of six Kuropeans. Only one of the latter felt any serious effects of altitude. We all slept fairly well at about 19,000 ft. The late Dr. Kellas, in subsequent years and under ordinary con- ditions, ran backwards and forwards over this pass, the Jonsong ha, as if it had been the St. Theodul. So far as they went, therefore, our experiences were the reverse of discouraging : the sickness level had for the average man been lifted some 8000 ft. from the days of my own boyhood and the early climbers of Mont Blanc. But of course they did not go far, or add any fresh evidence to the controversy. They do, however, lend marked support to the conclusion of the expedition of 1922, that acclimatisation of the human frame to altitude is, at least up to 20,000 ft., steady and pro- gressive. During my visit to India, Lord Curzon, my former colleague on the Council of the Royal Geographical Society, was Viceroy, and I had opportunities of privately discussing with him the possibilities of Himalayan exploration and the prospect of the political obstacles to any approach to Mt. Everest being overcome in the near future. Six years later, in 1905, Lord Curzon, still Viceroy, wrote to me in London, telling me that he believed there was at last some hope of the reluctance of the Nepalese being overcome, and asking me to interest the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club in organising a Mt. Everest expedition. Unfortunately the Nepalese Durbar subsequently vetoed the

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The Conquest of Mount Everest. 5 proposal, and, our relations with Tibet at the time not being of a character to admit of any application in that quarter, all hope of any approach to the great mountain had to be indefinitely postponed. The war supervened, and it was not until 1919 that the suggested expedition was again considered and seriously taken in hand. The immediate occasion was the discussion follow- ing on a paper read by Captain Noel to the Royal Geographical Society on a recent journey in which he had penetrated a short way beyond the Anglo-Tibetan frontier in the direction of Mt. Everest. Sir Francis Younghusband, in the first chapter of ‘The Reconnaissance,’ has described in detail what took place at the Meeting, and I need not repeat the story. The result, in brief, was that the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club agreed to send a deputation to the India Office. There it was sympathetically received by the Secretary of State and referred to the then Viceroy, Lord Reading. In these circumstances, Colonel Howard-Bury most kindly under- took to go to India and personally recommend the scheme to the Viceroy; and the latter, after some discussion, con-. sented to place our request before the authorities at Lhasa, through the British Resident in Sikkim, Sir Charles Bell, who was instructed to pay an official visit to the Holy City. At Lhasa he was most cordially received by the Dalai Lama, and our request met with the immediate and cordial assent of the Tibetan authorities. If I have referred in the preceding pages to my own part in the inception of the assault on Mt. Everest, it has been mainly in order to furnish a reason for my having at the request of the Mt. Everest Committee come forward at the present moment with an estimate of its prospects of a successful issue, and a suggestion, or rather, an insistence, on some of the means by which in the opinion of the Committee success may (weather permitting) be reasonably anticipated. In dealing with these and in referring to matters connected with climate, acclimatisation to high altitudes, diet, equipment, and general organisation I may find occasion to refer to my own experiences twenty-four years ago in a region, the great spurs of the Kang- chenjunga group, separated by only 70 miles from the eastern outliers of Mt. Everest. The business of the 1921 Expedition, led by Colonel Howard- Bury, was to investigate the country round Mt. Everest and to ascertain the possible approaches to the mountain and the character of the difficulties to be anticipated in climbing it.

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6 The Conquest of Mount Everest. On these subjects our ignorance was almost complete. General Rawling had reported that seen from a distance of 60 miles to the north the summit did not look inaccessible. Visitors to Sandakphu, near Darjeeling, had observed the final north- eastern ridge and noted its relatively gentle inclination. Signor V. Sella had while travelling with me photographed it from -Chunjerma. But this was all; of the configuration of the group, of the relations of its valleys and glaciers, we knew nothing. The first party carried out successfully their appointed task. Except on the south, where the Nepalese frontier formed for the most part an impassable barrier, their feet encircled the great mountain and penetrated to the inmost recesses of its glaciers. There was but one mischance in the campaign. The climbing party on the Main Rongbuk Glacier, misled by the smallness of the stream—a common feature in the HKastern Himalaya—issuing from a glacier in an eastern side-glen, failed to realise the extent and importance of the névé that gave it birth. Consequently it was not until too late for any -practical purpose in that autumn that the upper region of the Kast Rongbuk Glacier was reached by a circuitous route over a pass from the Kharta Valley. It was thus ascertained that from its head the gap, immediately under the flank of Mt. Everest, in the ridge between it and the North Peak that separates the Main and Kast Rongbuk Glaciers, was accessible by mounting 1000 ft. of broken but moderately inclined snow- slopes, safe in ordinary conditions if liable at times to avalanches. As it had previously been observed that the face of the mountain above the gap was a rock-slope offering no insurmountable obstacles, the main object of the Reconnais- sance had been effected—a way had been found for a serious assault in the succeeding years. The party brought back, however, from their meteorological experiences an unexpected and somewhat surprising conclusion. They argued that the early summer, the period before the monsoon, was likely to be a more favourable season than the autumn for mountaineering in the Kastern Himalaya. In this they went, on the whole, against the practice of earlier climbers in Sikkim, most of whose successes had been won in the later period of the year. My own experience was remarkable. I have mentioned the phenomenal snow-storm of September 23, 1899. For the following weeks up to the end of October, the weather was continuously fine and the forenoons as a rule cloudless, while we enjoyed complete absence

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The Conquest of Mount Everest. ? of wind. But there seem to be few Septembers without snow- falls, such as may make the highest peaks for a time dangerous or inaccessible. Moreover, the photographs taken by the second party show convincingly that rock-faces laden in autumn are mostly bare in early summer. This may prove a decisive argument for the earlier season. And there is also the relative degree of cold to be considered ; in summer the frost is léss intense. The Norwegians on Kabru, in October 1907, at 22,600 ft. suffered a temperature 23° F. below zero. At the fourth camp Mr. Mallory records at 25,000 ft. one of 7° F. above zero; at my camp at 19,767 ft. the temperature was by day 32°, but at night inside the tent 5° F. From the story of the two assaults on the mountain in 1922 told by Mr. Mallory and Captain Finch their successors may gain many suggestions and some warnings. Mountaineers climb on the shoulders of their forerunners as on stepping- stones : ‘The many fail, the one succeeds.’ But his success is the fruit of the lessons gathered from the efforts, and sometimes from the omissions or mistakes, of those who went before him and reduced the problem to be solved to more manageable proportions : Nixa 8 0 mpa@tos Kai TeXevtaios Spapov. The foremost fact established by the climbers of 1922 is that Mt. Everest presents for the most part what in the Alps would be held an easy rock-climb. ‘There are few great Alpine rock peaks so safe that an indisposed man can be safely sent back alone. Telephotographic views have revealed to us not only the character but the details of the northern rock face. We can estimate the relative advantages of striking at the ridge directly from the Chang-La or of keeping on the face below it on the line taken by Finch and Bruce. The former course in calm weather is probably preferable. The ridge rises gently and the breaks—low cliffs—in it look manageable. It has been pointed out that if the slope of the final cupola were found hard ice, step-cutting at 29,000 ft. might prove beyond human powers. But the photographs show a horizontal ledge running round on the right to rocks that seem to conduct directly to the summit. | I must now venture some remarks on a delicate subject : the discipline and control of the climbing party; they are founded in great part on my own experience. Free discussion

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8 The Conquest of Mount Everest. in camp of the various problems that come up from day to day is stimulating and exhilarating. So long as it does not assume the warmth that the high and thin air is apt to generate, it helps to pass long hours. But when the time for action comes, the discipline should be military, and the decision of the chief, once framed, should be carried out unreservedly. So long as the summit of Mt. Everest is gained, who cares whether it 1s with or. without the use of oxygen? One might as well claim merit for going up the Matterhorn. without a rope or an ice-axe, in dress-shoes or shirt-sleeves. A more tragic parallel may be found in the unfortunate prejudice against the use of sledge dogs shown by British parties in the Antarctic. The leader of the climbing party should have the general plan clearly set out in his own mind and organised in every detail of equipment and provisionment. First he will need to establish Camp 4 on the Chang-La as an efficient base, well stored with available wraps and provisions and means of cook- ing them, and habitable for a sufficient gang of porters, who would be relieved from time to time. One of his more important duties will be the arrangement of these parties of natives, whose business it will be to prepare the highest camp. The leaders of these parties should be Europeans who have nobly renounced the glory of the first ascent. The members of the small storming party should be sent up as little exhausted as possible to a camp made as endurable as forethought can make it, and suitably provisioned. This is the most essential matter of all. | Next he will consider the number of climbers to undertake the last assault. How many climbers should be chosen 1s, I am aware, a much-debated question. With all due deference to a younger generation, I gravely doubt the expediency of sending a party of two. No doubt two move somewhat more quickly, especially on difficult rock climbs. But on a long and great and relatively easy ascent a party of three has obvious advantages. If one is disabled two can more easily render assistance than one; again, one can hurry for further aid while the other remains with the sick or injured man. I believe three to be a suitable number; but if this opinion does not prevail, I would venture a further suggestion. Why should not two separate parties, two in each, be sent off simul- taneously ? One party would assist the other in case of any accident or sickness, and three or two climbers could go on as might seem best. The chances of success would be greatly increased. On the other hand it may be argued that the highest

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The Conqtest of Mount Everest. 9 camp would have to be doubled; that is, to consist of two tents in place of one and proportionate wraps and provisions. It would be well if a system of signalling were established between the final camp and that on the Chang-La. This highest camp must not be under 27,000 ft. If the climbers can make 400 ft. an hour above this elevation (and more than this is doubtful), it will take them five hours to get to the top. Building a stone man is apt to be exhausting work at any elevation ; they should carry a pole and a flag to set upon the summit. Let us now turn to details of equipment and diet. There were far too many casualties from frost-bite m the last expedition. Other climbers and many polar explorers have endured lower temperatures without so much serious suffering. By a universal adoption of something resembling Arctic equipment, it ought to be possible to avoid such disastrous experiences as those recorded. With more carefulness in avoid- ing exposure of hands and ears, and by the universal use of wind-proof garments, the disabling of a party at a critical moment may, we must hope, be prevented. Boots, it need hardly be said, should be placed under the head at night, where they may escape being frozen. Hot-water bottles and air- cushions are light to carry, and great helps to comfort on cold nights on hard rocks. The only drawback to the indispensable sleeping-bag is the difficulty of getting yourself and your porters out of itin alow temperature. But as early a start as possible should be insisted on. The days are short near the tropics. | Lastly as to diet. Digestions may differ, but there is a general assent as to the nature of the foodstuff that is most palatable at great heights, and the expedition 1s sure to be provided with every suitable luxury. It would be impertinent to go into details. Is there not the Badminton volume on ‘Mountaineering’? In my experience the one essential is that the meals, or snacks, should be frequent and light, but I am impelled by certain passages in the ‘ Assault on Mount Everest ’ to deprecate, after laborious climbs, Gargantuan feasts such as are there recorded. I may quote what Clinton Dent wrote in the volume mentioned: ‘ When the entire body is in need of rest before anything else, it is injudicious to throw on it the labour of digesting a heavy meal.’ It is, in fact, an indulgence calculated to impede the recovery to normal health and powers. On the other hand the risk of starvation such as befell Captain Finch and Captain Bruce must be most carefully guarded

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10 The Conquest of Mount Everest. against. That in all the circumstances they accomplished what they did is one of the most surprising and bravest feats of mountaineering on record. Before putting down my pen I take the opportunity to make a suggestion from the point of view of a geographer. It is, of course, most desirable that no risk should be run of offend- ing the sensibility of the Nepalese statesmen. But we have learnt that the frontier of Nepal and Tibet in the Chomolungma group runs for the most part not along the watershed but across the southern gorges. A parallel instance may be noted in the Teesta Valley in Sikkim, where Sir J. Hooker had pointed out to him the frontier of China at the Zemu bridge close to Lachen, and many miles south of the watershed. It would seem to follow that there should be no obstacle or objection to our mountaineers exploring any of the southern glaciers and upper valleys that are in Tibet. We have learnt that they are accessible from the north by much-used passes. It would be a most interesting addition to knowledge to extend our map to the region in question and to obtain photographs of the great southern cliffs of Mt. Everest that are so conspicuous an object in the distant views from the spurs of Kangchenjunga. May I, in conclusion, since I have been led to mention that magnificent mountain, express my earnest hope that, after the conquest of Mt. Everest, some members of the party may have time and energy to reconnoitre the north-west flank of Kangchenjunga from one of the heights above Pangperma at the head of the Kambachen Valley—the only quarter that seems to afford some prospect of a possibly practical line of attack ? In this connexion I would add, in the interest of future travellers and mountain-lovers, a modest petition to the local authorities, or the Government at Calcutta, whichever it may concern. Since my visit in 1899 the pony-paths up the Teesta Valley have been improved and repaired, and—though they were not thought good enough for the heavy transport of the Mt. Everest parties—Lord Ronaldshay found it possible to ride up the gorges past Lachen to the Tibetan frontier. But no path has so far been made up the 10 miles of the side valley that leads to the Zemu Glacier. The ground is not difficult, and it would be relatively a small matter to clear a. track through the rhododendron jungle to the bare pasturages beside the great ice-stream. Here at a height of about 15,000 ft. the traveller comes on the Green Lake Plain, a large meadow of Alpine flowers at the very base of the fluted snow-cliffs of

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The Conquest of Mount Everest. 11 Siniolchum and the gigantic precipices and soaring ridges of Kangchenjunga itself. This spot will in future be counted among the sights of the Himalaya and the wonders of the world. To make it reasonably accessible by a track, and by erecting a rough stone hut of the type common in the Alps, or even like that at Jongri, would be an undertaking that would earn the gratitude of posterity. Until this is done the Himalayan traveller, even if he be a Lieutenant-Governor, will run the risk of missing by a few miles one of the most superb spectacles on the face of the globe. The local con- ditions will perhaps be rendered more clear to the majority of my readers if I remind them of a parallel case. How many generations of travellers passed Visp on their way to the Simplon without realising that the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa lay but a short day’s walk up the valley on their right ? It may perhaps be said that this suggestion has no connexion with the Mt. Everest Expeditions. I hold the contrary. Whether or not the highest mountain in the world falls this year to our assault, there is no doubt that a strong stimulus will have been given to the exploration and climbing of the Himalaya, and that one of the first regions to be explored in detail must be the ranges of Sikkim, since they are both politically accessible and conveniently close to a great hill station, Darjeeling. The day cannot be far off when in India as in Kurope the truth of the eloquent eulogy of the physical and moral benefits to be derived from mountaineering lately put forth by a very high authority will be recognised and acted:on. For the benefit of those who ask the use of the assaults on Mt. Everest, I may conclude by quoting a portion of Pope Pius XI.’s recent letter to the Bishop of Annecy, on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of the birth of St. Bernard of Menthon, the founder of the hospices on the two passes that bear his name : ‘Of all the exercises which afford us a wholesome distrac-. tion there is—for a man who knows how to avoid rashness— none more serviceable than Mountaineering in promoting both health of body and vigour of mind. In his laborious effort to attain the mountain-tops, where the air is lighter and purer, the climber gains new strength of limb ; while in the endeavour to overcome the various obstacles of the way the soul trains itself to conquer the difficulties of Duty: and the superb spectacle of the vast horizons which from the highest crests offer themselves on all sides to his eyes, raises without effort his spirits to the divine Author and Sovereign of Nature.’

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10 The Conquest of Mount Everest. against. That in all the circumstances they accomplished what they did is one of the most surprising and bravest feats of mountaineering on record. Before putting down my pen I[ take the opportunity to make a suggestion from the point of view of a geographer. It is, of course, most desirable that no risk should be run of offend- ing the sensibility of the Nepalese statesmen. But we have learnt that the frontier of Nepal and Tibet in the Chomolungma group runs for the most part not along the watershed but across the southern gorges. A parallel instance may be noted in the Teesta Valley in Sikkim, where Sir J. Hooker had pointed out to him the frontier of China at the Zemu bridge close to Lachen, and many miles south of the watershed. It would seem to follow that there should be no obstacle or objection to our mountaineers exploring any of the southern glaciers and upper valleys that are in Tibet. We have learnt that they are accessible from the north by much-used passes. It would be a most interesting addition to knowledge to extend our map to the region in question and to obtain photographs of the great southern cliffs of Mt. Everest that are so conspicuous an object in the distant views from the spurs of Kangchenjunga. May I, in conclusion, since I have been led to mention that magnificent mountain, express my earnest hope that, after the conquest of Mt. Everest, some members of the party may have time and energy to reconnoitre the north-west flank of Kangchenjunga from one of the heights above Pangperma at the head of the Kambachen Valley—the only quarter that seems to afford some prospect of a possibly practical line of attack ? In this connexion I would add, in the interest of future travellers and mountain-lovers, a modest petition to the local authorities, or the Government at Calcutta, whichever it may concern. Since my visit in 1899 the pony-paths up the Teesta Valley have been improved and repaired, and—though they were not thought good enough for the heavy transport of the Mt. Everest parties—Lord Ronaldshay found it possible to ride up the gorges past Lachen to the Tibetan frontier. But no path has so far been made up the 10 miles of the side valley that leads to the Zemu Glacier. The ground is not difficult, and it would be relatively a small matter to clear a track through the rhododendron jungle to the bare pasturages beside the great ice-stream. Here at a height of about 15,000 ft. the traveller comes on the Green Lake Plain, a large meadow of Alpine flowers at the very base of the fluted snow-cliffs of

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The Conquest of Mount Everest. 11 Siniolchum and the gigantic precipices and soaring ridges of Kangchenjunga itself. This spot will in future be counted among the sights of the Himalaya and the wonders of the world. To make it reasonably accessible by a track, and by erecting a rough stone hut of the type common in the Alps, or even like that at Jongri, would be an undertaking that would earn the gratitude of posterity. Until this is done the Himalayan traveller, even if he be a Lieutenant-Governor, will run the risk of missing by a few miles one of the most superb spectacles on the face of the globe. The local con- ditions will perhaps be rendered more clear to the majority of my readers if I remind them of a parallel case. How many generations of travellers passed Visp on their way to the Simplon without realising that the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa lay but a short day’s walk up the valley on their right ? It may perhaps be said that this suggestion has no connexion with the Mt. Everest Expeditions. I hold the contrary. Whether or not the highest mountain in the world falls this year to our assault, there is no doubt that a strong stimulus will have been given to the exploration and climbing of the Himalaya, and that one of the first regions to be explored in detail must be the ranges of Sikkim, since they are both politically accessible and conveniently close to a great hill station, Darjeeling. The day cannot be far off when in India as in Kurope the truth of the eloquent eulogy of the physical and moral benefits to be derived from mountaineering lately put forth by a very high authority will be recognised and acted:on. For the benefit of those who ask the use of the assaults on Mt. Everest, I may conclude by quoting a portion of Pope Pius XI.’s recent letter to the Bishop of Annecy, on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of the birth of St. Bernard of Menthon, the founder of the hospices on the two passes that bear his name: ‘Of all the exercises which afford us a wholesome distrac-. tion there is—for a man who knows how to avoid rashness— none more serviceable than Mountaineering in promoting both health of body and vigour of mind. In his laborious effort to attain the mountain-tops, where the air is lighter and purer, the climber gains new strength of limb ; while in the endeavour to overcome the various obstacles of the way the soul trains itself to conquer the difficulties of Duty: and the superb spectacle of the vast horizons which from the highest crests offer themselves on all sides to his eyes, raises without effort his spirits to the divine Author and Sovereign of Nature.’

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10 The Conquest of Mount Everest. against. That in all the circumstances they accomplished what they did is one of the most surprising and bravest feats of mountaineering on record. Before putting down my pen I take the opportunity to make a suggestion from the point of view of a geographer. It 1s, of course, most desirable that no risk should be run of offend- ing the sensibility of the Nepalese statesmen. But we have learnt that the frontier of Nepal and Tibet in the Chomolungma group runs for the most part not along the watershed but across the southern gorges. A parallel instance may be noted in the Teesta Valley in Sikkim, where Sir J. Hooker had pointed out to him the frontier of China at the Zemu bridge close to Lachen, and many miles south of the watershed. It would seem to follow that there should be no obstacle or objection to our mountaineers exploring any of the southern glaciers and upper valleys that are in Tibet. We have learnt that they are accessible from the north by much-used passes. It would be a most interesting addition to knowledge to extend our map to the region in question and to obtain photographs of the great southern cliffs of Mt. Everest that are so conspicuous an object in the distant views from the spurs of Kangchenjunga. May I, in conclusion, since I have been led to mention that magnificent mountain, express my earnest hope that, after the conquest of Mt. Everest, some members of the party may have time and energy to reconnoitre the north-west flank of Kangchenjunga from one of the heights above Pangperma at the head of the Kambachen Valley—the only quarter that seems to afford some prospect of a possibly practical line of attack ? In this connexion I would add, in the interest of future travellers and mountain-lovers, a modest petition to the local authorities, or the Government at Calcutta, whichever it may concern. Since my visit in 1899 the pony-paths up the Teesta Valley have been improved and repaired, and—though they were not thought good enough for the heavy transport of the Mt. Everest parties—Lord Ronaldshay found it possible to ride up the gorges past Lachen to the Tibetan frontier. But no path has so far been made up the 10 miles of the side valley that leads to the Zemu Glacier. The ground is not difficult, and it would be relatively a small matter to clear a- track through the rhododendron jungle to the bare pasturages beside the great ice-stream. Here at a height of about 15,000 ft. the traveller comes on the Green Lake Plain, a large meadow of Alpine flowers at the very base of the fluted snow-cliffs of

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The Conquest of Mount Everest. 11 Siniolchum and the gigantic precipices and soaring ridges of Kangchenjunga itself. This spot will in future be counted among the sights of the Himalaya and the wonders of the world. To make it reasonably accessible by a track, and by erecting a rough stone hut of the type common in the Alps, or even like that at Jongri, would be an undertaking that would earn the gratitude of posterity. Until this is done the Himalayan traveller, even if he be a Lieutenant-Governor, will run the risk of missing by a few miles one of the most superb spectacles on the face of the globe. The local con- ditions will perhaps be rendered more clear to the majority of my readers if I remind them of a parallel case. How many generations of travellers passed Visp on their way to the Simplon without realising that the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa lay but a short day’s walk up the valley on their right ? It may perhaps be said that this suggestion has no connexion with the Mt. Everest Expeditions. I hold the contrary. Whether or not the highest mountain in the world falls this year to our assault, there is no doubt that a strong stimulus will have been given to the exploration and climbing of the Himalaya, and that one of the first regions to be explored in detail must be the ranges of Sikkim, since they are both politically accessible and conveniently close to a great hill station, Darjeeling. The day cannot be far off when in India as in Europe the truth of the eloquent eulogy of the physical and moral benefits to be derived from mountaineering lately put forth by a very high authority will be recognised and acted on. For the benefit of those who ask the use of the assaults on Mt. Everest, I may conclude by quoting a portion of Pope Pius XI.’s recent letter to the Bishop of Annecy, on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of the birth of St. Bernard of Menthon, the founder of the hospices on the two passes that bear his name: * Of all the exercises which afford us a wholesome distrac-. tion there is—for a man who knows how to avoid rashness— none more serviceable than Mountaineering in promoting both health of body and vigour of mind. In his laborious effort to attain the mountain-tops, where the air is lighter and purer, the climber gains new strength of limb ; while in the endeavour to overcome the various obstacles of the way the soul trains itself to conquer the difficulties of Duty: and the superb spectacle of the vast horizons which from the highest crests offer themselves on all sides to his eyes, raises without effort his spirits to the divine Author and Sovereign of Nature.’

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12 A Mized Bag. A Mrxep Baa, By A. L. MUMM. (Read before the Alpine Club, November 6, 1923.) | SETTLED upon the title of this Paper early in 1922, after drawing up an imaginary programme in the magnificently sanguine spirit in which one usually does draw up such pro- grammes. There was a fine list of peaks in it, Mt. Sir Douglas, Mt. Sir Donald by the N.W. ridge and Mt. Cook amongst others, most of which had to be reluctantly struck off as time went on. In fact I had better say at once that I accomplished very little real climbing, partly through adverse circumstances, partly no doubt owing to my own increasing infirmities. Thus the “mixed bag’ simile turned out to be rather a dangerous one: a full account of my doings involves owning up to a good many misses ; I must leave it to you to judge how far they were due to bad luck, and how far to bad shooting. On the other hand various interesting things befell me, a record of which will, I hope, be thought not out of place and which I had not in the least foreseen when I started, so that the title may be allowed to stand, even though the paper has more mixture than bag in it. In particular, besides the climbing such as it was, 1 should like to dwell a little on many pleasant things which brought home to me how very real a bond the cult of mountaineering forms between its votaries, however widely they may be separated in other respects, by distance, political allegiance, or even race and language. Further, | shall have a few words to say about New Zealand, the only place in the world, outside Kurope, which has produced a home-grown corps of guides, in the full Alpine sense of the term. The first of my unforeseen adventures was a visit to the engine-rooms of the Berengaria. It was not without its thrills, and I have never been more solemnly warned to be careful not to slip, nor with better reason. On July 8, I arrived without further incident in New York, and had the good fortune to fall in with Geoffrey Howard, with whom I spent a Sunday after- noon visiting some of the more mountainous regions of that city. Being without local knowledge we did not attempt any ascents. I was in New York again a week later, and this time

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A Mixed Bag. 18 got into touch with another of our members, Mr. Leroy Jeffers. He informed me that Mr. Henry Delafield, the President of the _ American Alpine Club, had been looking for me everywhere, on the day of my first arrival, with a view to collecting some other members of the Club and asking me to dinner. I was half pleased and half distressed to hear this. It was really extraordinarily kind of him and I greatly regret to have missed him New York was emptying fast, but I was very pleasantly entertained at lunch by Judge Harrington Putnam and Mr. H. L. Bridgman, both original members of the American Alpine Club. Later, under Mr. Jeffers’ guidance, 1 made the ascent of the Woolworth building, the highest in the world. It is 798 ft. high, and has 55 or 56 stories—also a lift ! T have spoken in some detail of the friendly welcome offered me by the New York climbers because it was a novel and unex- pected experience. It is needless to enlarge on the hospitality and kindness of my reception at Banff. That is an old story of which I have said all that need be said on many previous occasions. I arrived at the Banff Club House on July 20, but had to wait a few days till the camp was ready, and it was not till July 26 that the first batch got started on the three days’ tramp to Palliser Pass. I had the good fortune to secure Mr. 8. H. Mitchell, the Secretary and Treasurer of the A.C.C., as my companion. ‘The region surrounding the pass is a very interesting one; the scenery is austere—one might almost say, forbidding—but there is no doubt about the quality of the rock- climbing. A large crop of Papers in vol. xi. of the Canadian A.J. bears eloquent witness that it was thoroughly appreciated ; but I was in shockingly bad training and had only three days to spend at the camp, so it was clear that Mt. Sir Douglas or anything ambitious of that kind must be cut out of my list of agenda. I was in much better shape when I arrived at Glacier House. Christian Hasler, the only guide there, was m great request, but I was lucky enough to get the chance of Joining Mr. H. B. Mitchell of Winnipeg (brother of 5. H. Mitchell), on August 7, in a traverse of Leda, Castor and Pollux. It is a pleasant expedition of moderate length. Anyone desirous of making it into a strenuous one can go on to traverse the Dome, the Rampart, Mt. Afton and Mt. Abbott, a ridge-wander recently described by Dr. Monroe Thorington.1 We had a very fair view of the Dawson group and other peaks to the 1 Canadian A.J. xii. 77-81, ‘ The Asulkan-Abbott Traverse.’

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14 A Miaed Bag. S., but they were veiled in a smoky mist, worse than that which already at Palliser Pass had made photography of any distant objects an almost: hopeless proposition. The smoke in fact grew steadily worse as we moved westward, and before Vancouver was reached it was so thick that one could not see across the Fraser. I left Vancouver in the Empress of Asia on August 10, and arrived on the 21st in Tokyo, which was my headquarters for six weeks, and where many people conspired to give me ‘a good time.’ With regard to that I will here only say that the trouble Sir Charles Ehot took to help me to see something of the mountains of Japan deserved and received my gratitude all the more because privately he looks upon my taste in that direction as a peculiarly hopeless form of lunacy. Fuji-yama, of course, had occupied a prominent place on my original programme, and it was the one superlatively successful item in it. Everything went so well that I suppose I was bound to pay for such good fortune later on. About 3 p.m. on August 28, I was brought to a country house, about three miles beyond Gotemba, belonging to a hospitable and charming Japanese, Count Kabayama, whose acquaintance | had made a few days before. After Il had changed into suitable garments and been furnished with a well-filled luncheon-basket, we went on two or three miles further to a spot where there awaited me a horse and its attendant, and another Japanese who was to be my guide. Tante molis erat to get me to the top of Fuji. The horse was strangely equipped, and getting on his back was a process requiring care and caution, but once there I was extremely comfortable. We started at four, and halted for dinner at the lowest station on this route. When darkness began to gather I found myself happier on foot, but they insisted on bringing the horse the whole way up to the 8rd station—about 9000 ft., I believe,—where we arrived at half- past ten. It was curious and interesting to look down on the twinkling lights of a score of villages and towns along the sea- shore ; far away to the left was an extra-thick bunch which I was told was Yokohama. Inside the rest-house I was lucky enough to find no other visitors and slept very comfortably till I was summoned out to look at the sunrise. It was incredibly beautiful, and some- how at the same time sinister and terrible. There is a well- known line of Tennyson’s which I have always thought forced and unnatural, but in that moment I was converted, for I found myself involuntarily murmuring ‘God made Himself an awful rose of dawn.’

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A Mized Bag. 15 T started about six up the easy mgzag path. There is no climbing on this face of Fuji, only a few minutes’ rough walking just below the top. It is worth mentioning that I did not see a trace of snow during the ascent. The summer had been a remarkably hot and dry one, and the Japanese Alps also were almost bare of snow, except in deep gullies. Reaching the edge of the crater about nine,I met a Mr. Jackson of Shanghai, who had been fifteen years in China, and was now finishing a trip through the mountainous regions of Japan. He came from Lancashire, had been a member of the Rucksack Club, and had known Hermann Woolley well. I think he said he had done a little climbing in China; certainly he had been into the mountainous regions of the interior, and sized them up from a climber’s point of view—I should think, probably, the first man to do so. But he was just starting to go down, and I never saw him again. I walked round the crater conscien- tiously, visiting the highest point, 12,365 ft. To be there on such a day was a truly wonderful experience. Half Japan was at our feet, with endless bays, islands, straits, as far as the eye could reach. Only the lofty ridges of the Japanese Alps stood up to us on something like an equal footing. Elsewhere the minor groups of 5000 ft. and 6000 ft. seemed mere incidents in | an undulating green plain. An inscription in red having been duly stamped upon my pilgrim’s staff, the guide tied some straw shoes on over my boots, and we started downwards, soon reaching the great scree slope which forms the feature of the descent. One goes down it in a series of leaps, the straw shoes completely taking off any jar. Mine were in ribbons about half-way down, and the guide promptly produced another parr, which lasted me down to the bottom, where my horse was waiting for me. Shoes in a fragmentary condition littered the roadside literally for miles, forming quite a feature in the landscape. I was a little over half an hour on the scree, and should very much like to know how many feet I descended. The -way one covers the ground is astonishing. I arrived at Count Kabayama’s at a quarter past four. There are two rooms in his house furnished in European fashion ; in one of these we dined, also in European fashion (the only exotic dish was composed of some gigantic prawns, each about the size of a small herring), and had a conversation of absorbing interest, in which we ranged over the whole field of world-politics, and he produced a spirited defence of Japan against the charge of militarism which I should have been hard put to it to answer, if I had wished to do so. In the other room I slept gloriously,

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16 A Mixed Bag. a fitting end to a wonderful day. The ascenders of Fuji may, I believe, be reckoned by hundreds of thousands, but I doubt if any of them ever enjoyed the ascent more than I did. My next excursion was to Nikko, whence we went on to pay a visit to an aerodrome where some British airmen were in- troducing the Japanese to the art of aviation, and I learned with mingled feelings that my next ascent was to be made in an aeroplane. They remained mingled till the last moment ; once started it was pure joy, though a thick mist unluckily prevented our mounting at all high, or getting any distant view. This was on September 12. On the evening of the 14th I started for Matsumoto and a ten days’ trip in the northern portion of the Japanese Alps, under the guidance of Mr. J. P. F. Gausden, the manager of the Tokyo branch of the Vacuum Oil Company, and I could not possibly have found a pleasanter, more considerate, or more competent companion. His bandobast was extraordinarily good and far-sighted, and he anticipated all my needs and requirements in a truly miraculous fashion. There is a little branch line from Matsumoto, where we missed the connection ; but Gausden, somehow, secured a car, and we arrived well ahead of the train at Ariake village. There six porters were awaiting us, who remained with us throughout the trip. Capital fellows they were, always cheerful, pleasant, and obliging. I envied Gausden, who could chat readily and fluently with them; indeed, he obviously enjoyed talking, and seemed to have something suitable to say to every man, woman, and child we met. Leaving Ariake on foot at 11.40 on September 15, we had a hot tramp across the broad, level, highly cultivated valley floor, and were not sorry to arrive at the attractive little temple near Miyashiro, at the edge of the hills, where we stopped an hour for lunch. In the after- noon the way lay up a very beautiful valley, over which the steep cliffs of Ariake-san towered finely. To my taste, the weak spot in Japanese mountain scenery is that the walls of the valleys, however steep, are so completely smothered in vegeta- tion of one kind or another that the unbroken expanses of green become wearisome, and one longs for the rocks to show themselves ; but that was not the case hore. About seven o’clock we reached the Nakabusa onsen,? where we stayed amid charming surroundings and in great comfort till 2 Hot springs establishment ; hydro. ha) ee

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——— Photo, A. L. Mumm. GAKI. (Northern Japanese Alps.)

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YARI GA TAKE (Northern Japanese Alps . Mumm. L A Photo, ) a = Photo, A. L. Mumm. THE MINARETS, TASMAN GLACIER, N.Z.

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A Mixed Bag. 17 the 21st. Gausden revealed himself as a skilled and resourceful cook, and we enjoyed the unique privilege of a bathroom reserved for our sole use. The landlord, Mr. Momose, is a prosperous manufacturer in Matsumoto, and the onsen 1s his hobby. His great wish is to attract climbers and Kuropeans, and, being as capable as he is obliging, I think he will succeed. The construction of the High Level Route to Kamikochi, as well as that of the hut on Tsubakura, and the Sesshu hut on Yarigatake, is entirely due to his energy and enterprise. Next day we went up Ariake-san (7440 ft.), a perfect training walk. There is a path of sorts, shaded for some distance, but very steep and requiring care in one or two places. A Japanese was killed on it not long before our arrival, a thing which might easily happen to anyone whose boots were not properly nailed. The top consists of a narrow ridge, and on the highest point is a tiny shrine, with the usual tori to indicate the approach to a sacred building. But the ridge is not broad enough for a properly proportioned tori, so this one is placed not across the path, but at one side of and parallel to it, a device which struck me as delightfully characteristic. On the 18th we started at 1.15—rather too. late, as it turned out,—to sleep out for Gaki, a somewhat unget-at-able peak, 8685 ft. in height, overlooking the next valley to the north of the Nakabusa-gawa. Gausden was particularly anxious to take me up it, partly because he had made the first ascent himself, and thought it difficult, partly because, if I climbed it, I should be ‘ one up on Weston.’ We followed the river valley, which becomes a narrow rocky gorge just above the onsen, to its head ; there were some small bits of actual climbing, and when night fell we had only just reached the ridge overlooking the valley to the north, and at a place where it was quite impossible to put up a tent, and equally impossible to move in any direction in the dark. Fortunately it was a fine night. Next morning we were clear of trees and undergrowth and well out on to the Gaki ridge in about twenty minutes. It was, here, of course, that we ought to have camped. At this point I made acquaintance with havmatsu, or creeping pine, 2.e. pines. which grow out from the hillside at right angles, or even with a slight downward curve. Climbing up them for any distance must be a fearfully strenuous job; even moving over them horizontally is not easy. It differs from getting through Canadian wind-fall inasmuch as there the tree trunks and branches are mostly in stable equilibrium, while in havmatsu they give beneath your feet, making greater demands on your powers ‘VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIIL. C

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18 A Mized Bag. of balance. The two Japanese guides stepped from one to another very skilfully, but 1 was new to the game, and my progress was slow. Luckily there was not a great deal of it. We crossed Ko (‘ baby ’) Gaki (8280 ft.), dropped steeply to the gap separating it from the main peak, and then attacked the latter. Gausden’s two mauvais pas were large slabs of very hard rock, smooth, and pretty steep, and with little hold any- where. I found them quite difficult enough and was glad of a pull on the rope near the top of the second, but I won’t pretend that my standard of difficulty is a high one. They are both quite short, and the impression they have left on my mind was akin rather to that of tough pitches in a gully in the Lake District than of bad places on a big mountain. A few minutes later we had to consider the fact that if we went on to the top (about another hour) we should have to spend a second night out. As I had been over the difficult part and seen all the landscape except that which was blocked by Gaki itself, it was voted not worth while to go on. Somewhere near Ko Gaki we were stopping for refresh- ments and photography, when Gausden suddenly exclaimed, * Hullo ! there’s someone on the top.’ We shouted and waved vigorously, but the figure, showing up black against the sky on the very topmost pinnacle, remained silent and motionless. Gausden was very much intrigued, never having heard of any- ene having even approached the other side. Fortunately he was able to assuage his curiosity with the aid of a pair of field- glasses, and the ‘ someone’ turned out to be an eagle, whose mate could also be discerned among the rocks Just below. He must have been an uncommonly big bird. We did not reach the onsen till nearly nine o’clock, after two hours of awkward travelling down the gorge, which was only rendered possible by an extra bit of candle providentially lurking in Gausden’s rucksack. On September 21 we started at 10 a.m. in doubtful weather on the High Level Route already mentioned, Mr. Momose himself accompanying us in the correctest of Huropean costumes. Flurries of snow alternated with spells of brilliant sunshine, but the going was good. We arrived at the Tsubakura hut soon after three, having shortly before met no less a personage than the guide Kisaku, the builder of the Sesshu hut and of the track to 1t by the eastern aréte of Yari. I presume he was coming to meet us, as he turned back and joined our party. After visiting the top of Tsubakura (9065 ft.), a stroll of 20 minutes, we took possession of the hut, which, though scarcely completed,

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A Mized Bag. 19 was well equipped with futons * and all the gear necessary for cooking and consuming our meals. The night was bitterly cold and a good deal of snow fell; but the next morning was gloriously fine, and we started in high spirits at eight o’clock on the second stage of our journey, following for several miles an almost level ridge at a height of nearly 9000 ft., which com- manded views in all directions of deeply cut valleys, heavily wooded almost to the sky-line. The slender shaft of Yari ‘4 soon came into view, and remained the dominating feature in the landscape. After turning aside to visit the top of Otenjo, we left the main ridge to follow the path to the _ Sesshu hut. There is a long drop, which grows steadily steeper, to a sort of double-barrelled col at the head of the Adzusa-gawa glen, a most picturesque place, from which the hut is reached by the steep and -broken south-eastern ridge of Yari. We were now, I believe, less than an hour from the top of Yari, and Kisaku had recently found a new route up it which he was very eager to show to us. The morrow was my birthday, and I went to bed full of pleasant anticipations. We woke next morning to find a blizzard raging furiously and nothing visible more than 80 or 40 yards away. It was a severe disappointment, all the more so because there would have been just time enough to climb Yari the evening before if we had known what was coming; but the weather had then appeared perfectly settled. We waited for some time, but the storm showed no signs of abating, and, as I was bound to be at Matsumoto the next day, there was nothing for it but to make our way down to the Adzusa-gawa glen and on to Kamikochi. Mr. Freshfield has dubbed Kamikochi the Zermatt of the district, and Mr. Weston has endorsed that opinion. I should like to add that it has found in Mr. Momose its Alexander Seiler. On the 24th we crossed the Tokugo-toge, classic ground, which has already been very fully described by the same two authori- ties, and on the 25th we were back in Tokyo. A few days later I was sumptuously entertained at the Tokyo Club by the Japanese Alpine Club, with my late host Count Kabayama in the chair. Mr. Kondo, who was in the Alps in 1914, and showed some slides at an informal meeting in November of that year, was also present. Since my arrival I had met him several 3 Cotton-stuffed quilts. * Yari-ga-take = ‘Spear Mountain,’ a much better name for it than ‘ the Japanese Matterhorn.’

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20 A Mized Bag. times, and he had taken the kindest interest in all my plans. Another of my hosts that night was the young Japanese climber Mr. Yuko Maki, who provided the sensation of the Alpine season of 1921 by making the first ascent of the Mittellegi aréte of the Eiger. My response to a delightful speech from Count Kabayama must be reckoned as one of my misses, but the evening was a most enjoyable one, and brought my Alpine doings in Japan very pleasantly to a close. I had originally intended to go direct from Japan to Sydney and New Zealand, but I was told—quite rightly—that it would be a crime to leave China unvisited, so I arranged to go to Peking via Seoul and Mukden. This led me to study the volume on Manchuria and Korea in the excellent series of ‘Guidebooks to Eastern Asia ’ issued by the Japanese Railway Department. There I discovered the existence of the Diamond Mountains, and that one section of them was accessible in a day’s journey by railway and car from Seoul. But to my great disappointment further inquiries revealed the fact that heavy rains had rendered the car-road impassable for the time being, so I had to abandon the prospect of mtroducing an entirely new range to the notice of the Club. Later I chanced to meet a man who had visited them. His description sounded as though they resemble the range of Myogi-san. But the mountains of Korea generally deserve a few words. Judging by what I saw of them—mostly from the railway—they are remarkably fine, and often have bold, Jagged sky-lines which give promise of quite good climbing. There is a quaint periodical called ‘ Inaka,’ edited by Mr. H. Ii. Daunt, one of our members, who lives in Japan. Since I returned to England, I was interested to find in the latest number of * Inaka’ a spirited account of an ascent—evidently a good sporting rock-cliimb—which was made direct from Scoul itself. I may say in passing that the hotel at Seoul is an excellent one, quite up to the standard of the best ‘ European’ hotels in Japan. I must pass over briof visits to the Great Wall of China, and to the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves near Sydney, and hasten on to New Zealand, where I arrived on December 18, and was entertained and taken care of with the utmost kind- ness and cordiality, first and foremost by Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Ross, and also by Mr. and Mrs. Mannering and Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Stott and their family (Mr. Stott will be remembered by a host of friends as the first editor of the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal).

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A Mized Bag. 21 After domg my duty by the Thermal Region in the North Island and spending Christmas week at the great tourist centre of Rotorua, I arrived with Ross on January 18, 1928, at the Hermitage. This famous hostelry was purchased by the Government many years ago, and for some time previous to 1922 had been managed as well as owned by the Government. This state of things, as might have been expected, was not very satisfactory from the point of view either of management or of finance, and about two years ago the hotel was let to the company which runs the motor-car service between the hotel and Timaru. When I arrived the lessee company was in the middle of its first summer season, and the management then left nothing to be desired ; by universal consent it was a vast improvement on the old régime. Mr. R. L. Wigley, a director of the company, was staying there, eager to promote the success of the place m every way possible, and consumed with a burn- ing ambition to climb Mt. Cook. The weather conditions of that season put this out of the question, but I was delighted to read last summer that he, with the guides Frank Milne and Norman Murrell, had accomplished the first winter ascent on August 9, a great mountaineering feat. This brings me to the absorbing subject of the New Zealand guides. Though the Government no longer manages the hotel, the guides are still Government employees. As at Glacier, visitors pay the hotel for the guides’ services, and it is not pos- sible, so far as I could understand, to make private arrange- ments with them. The allotting of guides to different parties is settled by the head-guide, but there are no hard-and-fast rules such as those which exasperated English climbers in old days at Chamonix ; in fact, though the system has obvious drawbacks, there is so much good-will and common sense that in practice 1t works smoothly and well. The well-known brothers Peter and Alec Graham are no longer at the Hermitage, but are managing a chalet-hotel at the foot of the Franz Joseph glacier, which, alas ! 1 never suc- ceeded in visiting. The present head-guide is Jimmy Stout, an enchanting Irishman who might have walked straight out of one of Charles Lever’s novels ; he is a good many years older than any of the rest, and, I should say, not particularly ambitious. Among the younger men (and they are all very young judged by Swiss standards), the master spirit, by common consent in a class by himself and looked up to by the others accordingly, is Milne, Mr. Wigley’s leader, a born mountaineer who has learned all that Peter Graham could teach him; he has, I

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22 A Mized Bag. think, also profited from some climbs with Konrad Kain, of whom they all spoke in the highest terms. As will be seen, my own opportunities of seeing any of them actually engaged in serious work were very meagre, but, one way and another, anyone as keenly interested in this matter as I was can pick up a good deal if he keeps his eyes and ears open, and I was really surprised, when I left, to find how confident a conviction I had acquired of the high standard of efficiency which had been reached by several of them. The question which exercised me was, Will the rising generation of New Zealanders develop an interest In mountaineering in sufficient numbers to give the guides plenty of interesting work and make it worth their while to stick to the job ? ‘The really hard climbers at the Hermitage during my stay were few ; the notable ones were Mr. and Mrs. Algie of Auckland, as whole-hearted a pair of enthusiasts as I have ever come across, and Mr. Maugham, K.C., a leader of the Sydney Bar, who was bitten with climbing twelve or fourteen years ago, and has spent his summer holidays at the Hermitage ever since—but I believe he claims to be the only really keen mountaineer in Australia. There are a few ardent young climbers in Wellington, but their usual modus operandi is to take a tent and provisions up one or another of the remoter valleys and climb and explore there ‘ on their own.’ Nothing could be more meritorious, but it does not help the guides at the Hermitage. Of course the questions of money and leisure come in, as they always must, and one has to remember that though the Hermitage is more accessible than it used to be, the journey thither from Wellington (the nearest place on the more populous Northern Island) is even now longer and more expensive than that from London to Zermatt or Pontresina. And there I must leave this matter, with the earnest hope that this splendid beginning will not collapse from want of support. I spent just four weeks at the Hermitage, each of which has its separate history. On Monday, January 15, we rode to the Ball hut, and went on up the Tasman glacier to the Maltebrun hut, with the Algies, Murrell, Mr. Wigley’s other companion on Mt. Cook, and Clem Willams. Next day Ross and I photographed and watched the other four make the ascent of the Minarets (the only ascent of over 10,000 ft. that I heard of that season, but the Hermitage is 3000 ft. lower than Zermatt). On the 17th Ross proposed to take me up Maltebrun, but the weather was bad—to my genuine relief, for I had grown soft again during the long sea voyage through the tropics. On

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‘AWOCG UXIDVTID WOU ‘MOOD LNOON “Wun TV ‘0J04Ud

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Photo. A L Mumm, MT. COOK, From Sealey Ridge. Photo, A. L. Mumm. VIEW FROM FLAT NEAR THE HERMITAGE. Range of Mt. Sefton. 47

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A Mized Bag. 28 the 18th we crossed the glacier to the Haast hut, and next day went on to that wonderful belvedere, the Glacier Dome, stopping that night at the Ball hut and returning to the Hermitage on Saturday. The second week was a bad one. We visited the Hooker glacier twice, but saw very little, and on Thursday Ross had to return to Wellington. On Friday Stout, who was starting for the Muller hut with three ladies, hoping against hope for Mt. Sealey on the morrow, invited me to join them. A cloudy, rainy day was followed by a wild night, but about eight o’clock the weather improved, and we accomplished the ascent of Mt. Annette, a minor peaklet but better than nothing. We returned over the end of the Sealey ridge, obtaming magnificent views of Mts. Cook and Sefton, and descended straight down to Kea Point, thus avoiding the abominable moraine of the Muller glacier. On Tuesday, January 30, after some more wet days, I set off in the afternoon with the Algies, Mr. and Miss Manning— Australians and very sturdy walkers—and Clem Williams, for the Ball hut. We arrived wet through, but had the hut to our- selves, and cheered up wonderfully by bed-time. Next day we proceeded to the Maltebrun hut, and at five on Thursday the same party, reinforced by a second guide named Bushe, started for Mt. Hamilton, a rocky peak at the head of the Darwin glacier, one of the larger tributaries of the Tasman. It was a wonderful morning, but high up the clouds were racing over the tops of the lofty peaks to the west at railway speed. We crossed the Darwin glacier horizontally through the middle of the ice-fall, a pretty bit of ice-work : the guides tackled it in a confident and business-like fashion which impressed me considerably. A long, very steep snow-slope led us to a col between Mts. Hamilton and Haeckel, where so violent a gale was raging that to my old-fashioned and elderly mind it seemed highly undesirable to go any farther. But there was no thought of stopping among the younger members of the party. The orthodox route is, I believe, an interesting and sound climb, but it was exposed to the full fury of the storm, and we made for a sort of corrie, seamed with gullies, which seemed as if it might afford some shelter. It did, but only to a very slight extent, and the rocks were wet, slippery, and exceedingly rotten. JI made a quite fruitless effort to impress my view of the situation on Williams. We could hardly hear each other speak, and the only intelligible fragment that reached my ear was that he had never been beaten yet, and wasn’t going to be this time. Williams’s name suggests that he comes of the fiery

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O4 A Mized Bag. stock to which we owe our President and Mr. Lloyd George, and it 18 a Serious matter being roped to a person twenty-one years of age with a temperament like that, when one is three times as old as he is. However, I managed to scuffle up after him somehow, and presently, at 10.30, we were on the crest of the mountain and peering down through the driving clouds on to the upper reaches of the Murchison glacier. We dropped down a few feet on to a snowy shelf on the far side, and were at peace for three or four blissful minutes, but the wind very soon found us again, and a much-needed meal was consumed in gloom and discomfort. The top, wreathed in dark, sinister mists, was not more than 50 or 60 ft. above us, and separated from us by a ridge 80 to 100 yards in length, but to my great relief no one showed any desire to proceed to it, and I at least had the satisfaction of feeling Justified in my own eyes. We descended, as we had come up, by different routes, my party emerging unscathed, but I think all the three on the other rope managed to inflict minor casualties on themselves or each other. Once below the col our troubles were over, and by the time the hut was reached everyone was disposed to take a favourable view of the day. By now I was quite fit again, and thoroughly enjoyed the long tramp back to the Hermitage on Friday. Such of my friends as had not already gone left on Monday morning. I stayed on in order to go up to Harper’s Saddle (at the head of the Hooker glacier) with Milne, and perhaps manage another climb on the way back if time permitted ; but the rain which now sct in was so heavy and incessant that the next time I left the shelter of the hotel it was to take my departure, on February 9 (in lovely weather), for Timaru. I effected the crossing of the backbone of the American continent in 8.8. Ruapehu at a height of 83 ft. above sea-level, and landed on April 7 at Liverpool. [P.S.—News has just reached me (April 19, 1924) that Mr. and Mrs. Algie and Mr. H, E. L. Porter, A.C., with Frank Milne, Jimmy Stout, and Clem Williams, ascended Mt. Cook on February 6.] |

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Climbing in the Bregaglia. 25 CLIMBING IN THE BREGAGLIA.} By CLAUDE WILSON. (Read before the Alpine Club, December 11, 1923.) T was in the year 1908 that Wicks, Bradby, and I ‘ dis- covered ’ the Bregaghia. We were not the first English- men to discover it, for Colonel Strutt knew it, and was well on with his ‘ Climber’s Guide’ at this date; and long before his day, or ours, Messrs. Ball, Tuckett, Freshfield, and Coolidge, and a few others of the heroic era, had been there and had left traces. They had ascended some of the highest points and had built cairns; and—they had written. Yet the district had made so little impression on them, or on the few who followed, that Mr. Coolidge wrote truly in 1908 that it was still one of the least visited and least known districts in the Alps. It may perhaps be interesting to speculate as to how it was that a mountain group which made so instantaneous and so imperious an appeal to us had left the heroes comparatively unimpressed. That was the age when height counted above all things, and when snow counted far more than rock—an age, too, when really steep aiguilles seemed so obviously im- possible as to be unthought of as practicable ascents. The heroes climbed some of the most massive summits and crossed the few obvious passes, and in doing so they must have obtained glimpses of fantastic rock spires and forbidding precipices to which they never gave a thought. I can well appreciate their attitude of mind, for towards the end of that era, in the latter ‘seventies when, for the first time, I visited the Montanvers, it must be confessed that I looked at the Charmoz—and admired it—but that, until Mummery had actually made the ascent, it never occurred to me that it could be climbed. And this is the class of mountain formation that strikes me so forcibly in the Bregaglia, a group geologically built up of granite of unsurpassed quality, where stupendous precipices and dizzy pinnacles alternately greet the eye; and all embedded in a romantic framework as alluring as that surrounding the Dolomite spires, which, fantastic as they are, 1 See map, A.J. xxiv. 392.

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26 Climbing in the Bregaglia. yet lack the supreme quality of rock-climbing only afforded by granite. Since 1908 I have spent—sometimes with one companion, sometimes with another—the whole of four seasons and part of two more in this little group of mountains, only one of whose summits exceeds 11,000 ft. in height; and I have witnessed a great change in these years. No longer can it be said that the district is comparatively unknown, for since then three excellent climbing guide-books have appeared—one English, one Italian, and one Swiss—and, although the number of Englishmen who really know the district 1s still a mere handful, Italian and Swiss climbers swarm and fill the huts after the middle of July. Consequently, the region is to be specially recommended to those who can take their holiday early ; for not only is that the season when, as elsewhere, the huts are likely to be found empty, but also when, in a good year, the approach to the rocks, guarded generally in August by ice, lies up slopes which, if steep, are at any rate usually covered with a layer of snow. In attempting to give some impression of the general char- acter of the group, and of the climbing it affords, I propose to begin at the §.H. corner, and proceed systematically round the chain, ending up at the Maloja at the N.K. angle. But the 8., or Italian, side I shall pass over very briefly. It is better known to English climbers than are the northern spurs, and, while the climbing 1s perhaps as good, it 1s, I think, less characteristic. Here, on the Italian slope, there 1s but one centre—the romantically situated and ancient hostelry of Masinobagni, where, very soon, the time-honoured old barrack will be replaced by a modern hotel, now in process of erection on the opposite side of the stream. From the bath-house itself there are plenty of climbs, of all shades of difficulty, to be made up and down in a day, and available very shortly after the cessation of bad weather. I think, too, there is a good deal yet to be tried in the way of new routes, and, of course, everyone will go up the Disgrazia. The Ligoncio group has afforded us several delightful expedi- tions, and the Volta hut in the Val Ratti, surrounded by short but difficult climbs, is easily reached in a short day by an interesting pass. Besides this hut and the Cecilia at the S. foot of the Disgrazia, there are two huts on the S. side of the Bregaglia group proper, and within easy reach of the baths ; and from each of these there is a season’s climbing. From the Allievi or Zocca hut—4 or 5 hours away—an

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Climbing in the Bregaglia. 27 almost limitless area of rock-wall ridge and gully is available ; while from the Badile hut—8 hours from Masino, and bewirischaftet after mid-July—most of the summits can be reached in from 2 to 4 hours. Our party has done perhaps a score of expeditions on this (the Italian) side, but, as already stated, it 1s not my present purpose to dwell upon ascents which are perhaps less characteristic of the best climbing in the group than are some of those from the Swiss side; and I have, moreover, a better set of slides to illustrate the latter. Everyone will ascend the Badile itself, and most will go up and down by the ordinary and original 8S. route, which is quite difficult enough to be interesting, though the eastern and western arétes will not be wholly neglected by those who seek adventure. The rest of the fine rock-climbs from Masino— the Torrones, the Zocca (S. routes), the Ferros, and the Camerozzo and Porcellizzo ridges—I must leave untouched ; and though, from all the six subsidiary valleys, passes—from the easiest to the most difficult—lead over the frontier to the Swiss side, let us suppose, as too often happens, that bad weather forces us away from Masino, and that we drive down the valley, catch the train to Colico at Ardenno, and thence, by Chiavenna, reach the Bregaglia valley and drive up it. Here, on our right, are the lonely and unfrequented peaks which separate us from the Val Codera. New work is to be done on these, not easy work either, from the Bregaglia side ; and though the Cima di Codera, when we made what we thought was the first ascent, proved to be a frost—for we found a cairn on the summit—it may yet be said that Colonel Strutt and Joseph Pollinger once spent a long day on it and yet failed to get anywhere near the top. Driving up the valley from Chiavenna these heights are mostly hidden by the towering lower slopes, but we soon get a characteristic vision of the Bregaglia mountains proper in the remarkable tower at the foot of the N. (unclimbed) ridge of Vanni, and known as the Dente del Lupo. This strange isolated rock, about 250 ft. in height, has been climbed, I believe, only once, and then only by means of throwing a rope over the top. We once attacked it, on an off day, but ignominiously failed. Proceeding up the valley, we come to the frontier at Castasegna, where much time is wasted over the red tape of the douwane, and a few miles farther on alight at Promontogno, having shortly before reaching the village got a first view of the Badile and of the beautiful Sciora group, and whence an

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28 Climbing in the Bregaglia. afternoon walk to Soglio will provide us with & panoramic view of the range of surpassing beauty. Next day we walk up the Bondasca Valley to the Sciora hut, and find ourselves surrounded by a cirque of granite peaks of wondrous grandeur. The precipices of the Badile and of Cengalo, on the left bank of the glacier, and of the Sciora summits on the right bank, vary from 2000 to 4000 ft. in height, and are so sheer that in only a few places would an attempt to scale them seem remotely possible. Nevertheless, though not without serious danger from stone-fall, they have been scaled at some of the least impossible-looking points; and in the past summer (1923) Walter Risch has made a route up the N. face of the Badile, of which the N. aréte was climbed some years ago by an Italian party, who had previously fixed a rope at the crux by descending from the summit. The only climb our party has made from this hut is that of the Sciora di Fuori, ascending by couloirs to the col on its N., and thence by the eastern side of the ridge. But we have been both up and down the Bondasca Glacier on our way to and from Masino, on each occasion finding the crevasses well and fairly safely covered with snow. But we knew its reputation, and climbed with the utmost caution, for few glaciers in the Alps are more dangerous, as the veritable maze of crevasses revealed, when the snows have melted, clearly shows. Leaving Promontogno, we pass Stampa and Vico Soprano before coming to a turning on the right, which leads in an easy 3 hours to the Albigna hut. A wonderful path it 1s, both in ingenuity of construction and in beauty ; and the occasional glimpses of the vast precipices of the Largo and Bacone, some six or seven thousand fect of continuous rock from base to summit, strike everyone who secs them for the first time as something rather different from anything they have seen elsewhere. The middle part of the walk is steep, but wooded and shady, while above the trees one has a pleasant and gentle ascent up to the hut, crossing the torrent on a rather rickety bridge just above the point where it takes its giant leap into the valley. Between the hut and the snout of the glacier lies a flat plain covered with stones, pebbles, and grass, and seamed by numerous streams—once doubtless the bed of a lake, and shortly to be made so again ; for a scheme is on foot —which, from the engineering point of view, seems fairly simple—to dam the outlet and so produce one of the most powerful turbine-stations in the Alps. From the hut one sees the lower precipices of Largo and

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Photo, J. Gaberell, Zurich. CENGALO AND BADILE, from near Soglio. Bs “ . oar te ts, Se % * tees ne ite se nt aL Be Photo, J. Gaberell, Zurich. SCIORA GROUP. (Bondasca Side.)

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Climbing im the Bregaglia. 29 Bacone, with the great Balzetto (Balme des Chamois) lying between the two—an area most of which has never been visited by human foot. To the right of the Piz Balzetto—the sentinel of the great (unclimbed) W. aréte of Bacone—come the beauti- ful snow slopes of Cantone, broken at the foot of its W. aréte by the rocky Punta d’Albigna, and hiding the snows of Castello. At the head of the glacier is the perfectly shaped Monte di Zocco, beyond which lie the Punta Qualido and the Torrione del Ferro, with its (unclimbed) E. aréte. Then comes the Ferro Centrale, up which Colonel Strutt and Pollinger made a mag- nificent ascent from this side, and from which the Sciora group branches northwards, forming the left rampart of the glacier. Of these peaks the southernmost—the Sciora di Dentro—is easily scaled from the upper Bondasca snows, and has also been ascended from the Albigna, though quite unjustifiably, for at no point is this face free from danger, even in the best of condition. Next comes the Ago—from this side secludedly placed, so that when one comes up from the hut round the corner of the Pioda the first view of this glorious needle, each time one sees it, seems to take one’s breath away. Whatever may have been the case fifty years ago, no real climber who sees the Ago can rest happily in his bed till he has been on the top. I saw it first in 1908, tried it first in 1911, but did not get up till 1923; no wonder that I have suffered from in- somnia! Though the Ago has been ascended from the Forcola on its N. (I think only once), the right way up the final peak is from the Bocchetta at its S. foot ; but to reach the Bocchetta is no easy matter, and many parties have been baffled, both in the attempt to scale the rock wall and in the alternative traversing route from the Forcola. On our first attempt Wicks, Bradby, and I started from the Allievi hut on the 8. side of the Zocca Pass, took 4 hours to reach the foot of the wall, tried in three places to scale it, spent 4 hours on or near the rocks, and started back disconsolate at 2.15. Twice since then I have been one of a party who have failed, and even now that I know the way, and the trick which makes the crux fairly safe—though only when the rock is absolutely dry— I confess that I don’t quite like that giant slab. This year (1928) I started twice with Klucker for the Ago. On the first occasion we saw that there was snow on the big plaque, and ascended the Pioda instead—a fine climb. The second time we were a party of three, for Bradby had joined us. Klucker, who made the first ascent, though by no means at his first attempt, now of course knows every step, and we took but

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80 Climbing in the Bregaglia. 1 hour 20 minutes from the foot of the rocks to the Bocchetta, and 40 minutes thence to the top. One climbs practically on the 8. skyline as seen from below, except the top bit, which ig reached from the W. ‘The route is very steep all the way, but for the most part there are splendid holds. The first pitch is difficult, and the last bit I thought very difficult ; and though I am not conscious of having actually used the rope, I was very thankful to have it above me. The height of the aiguille is about 420 ft. from the Bocchetta. Klucker, at the age of seventy-one, led like a careful lamplighter, and, as the average age of the party was sixty-four, we were by no means displeased with our record. North of the splendid rampart of the Sciora comes the Cacciabella group, on which there is plenty of good climbing, and the ridge ends opposite the hut in the Piz Spazzacaldera—. a striking and remarkable peak, the top of which can be reached without much difficulty, but which has on its summit ridge a series of unclimbed spires and towers which will prob- ably for long baffle the ardent gymnast. One of these towers is very conspicuous from the road below Casaccia, whence it looks almost like a flagstaff. And now I must finish up the Albigna climbs with some account of I] Gallo—a somewhat insignificant pyramid of rock on the ridge between Cacciabella and Spazzacaldera—a point first climbed and named in 1909, and which has lately become very famous—firstly, because Mr. Jean Gaberell’s beautiful pictures, which I am using to illustrate this paper, have familiar- ised people with its uniquely fashioned summit, and with the singular methods used in effecting the final ascent; and secondly, because now, some five-and-twenty ascents only having been made, the top has tumbled off, and Gallo has been pictured in The Times and in illustrated papers throughout the world. A finer block of granite than the whole of Gallo forms I never saw: no loose stones anywhere—at any rate on the Albigna side—glorious rock to climb on. I went up with Klucker on June 29, 1923, a few days before Bradby came out ; and Bradby went up with Klucker’s worthy successor, Walter Risch of St. Moritz, a few days after I left for home, on or about July 18. We neither of us pushed the top off, as our friends have so flatteringly suggested, and one party is known to have climbed it later ; but when Risch went again, in the middle of August, he found an immense sea of broken blocks and stones on the Albigna side, through which he had to thread his way to reach the peak, up which he had to make a

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Climbing in the Bregaglia. $1 new route, as the KE. face was much altered ; and he found that the actual summit had toppled off on the other (or western) side. No one knows how the thing happened. An earth- quake seems excluded, as Gallo was the only peak affected. Possibly a bombardment of thunderbolts, similar to the one which recently made a shell-hole in the Manchester golf course, may have been the cause. Anyway, no one will again make the ascent of this remarkable summit, nor use again on it the picturesque technical methods of climbing—some of them new to me—of which the series of slides I am able to show afford a graphic record, but which would be very difficult to describe in words. Why two seemingly respectable elderly gentlemen like Klucker and myself, remarked a lady who had seen these pictures, should indulge in such antics, was beyond her comprehension. I confess it is also beyond mine, unless it be that we had learned control of bodily equilibrium at the ex- pense of mental balance; for, strange as 1t may seem, these singular contortions give me as much pleasure now as they ever did, and they don’t take much longer to do. Yet the whole thing is for me, nowadays, a much more leisurely affair than it used to be, and this year we took three very easy days over the Ago instead of doing the whole thing in a single long day. Coming down from the hut in the early morning of the third day, we met a large party of Swiss students on their way up to the hut. There were at least a dozen of them, and very queer they looked. The weather was hot, and their costume consisted of a zephyr shirt, lmen shorts, and thick stockings turned down over hob-nailed boots, while on his back each carried an enormous pack surmounted by a heavy tweed coat. The Swiss, besides carrying immense lengths of rope, are apt to take with them a singularly complete outfit, and, in addition to the necessary stout knickers and the usual necessaries, no doubt the contents of these packs comprised scarpetti, crampons, and a raincoat, and if we had met one of these young men descending later on in the rain he would, no doubt, have presented a very different appearance. Leaving the Albigna, I must devote the remaining space at my disposal to a brief description of the Forno Glacier and its surroundings, and conclude with a short description of one of its climbs. All the Forno mountains can be done in a day from the Maloja, but if one makes a short stay at the Forno hut—originally built for his own use by Dr. Curtius, but always (may I say?) ‘ curtiously ’ placed by him at the disposal of

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82 Climbing in the Bregaglia. climbers, and finally, a year or two ago, graciously presented to the $.A.C.—the Torrone group becomes much more easily accessible, and of the easier or shorter climbs more than one can be taken in a day. The mountains on the right bank of the glacier are very beautiful and, for the most part, easy of access, though there are difficult routes. But the chief climbing interest centres in the peaks at the far end—the Torrones and Rasica—and in those which separate this glacier from the Albigna. The steep and formidable barrier which walls in the S. end of the glacier has always had its specialists, and, in spite of Dr. Finzi’s (led by young Franz Josef Biner) conquest of the Ago di Cleopatra this year, probably one of the most difficult bits of rock-climbing ever done, there still remains new work upon this ridge ; and, indeed, the little group of the Torrones, like the Ferros and the Scioras, could afford ample material for a paper, and, doubtless, some day the details of these beautiful climbs will be adequately presented to the Club. But here we have no space to do more than give them this passing tribute. Castello is the culminating point of the entire group. A grand wall of rock faces the Forno Glacier, whence the most interesting ascents are to be made, while the descent is best effected by the snow slopes on the Albigna side. Cantone, with its graceful curves, must not detain us, for something must yet be said of Bacone and the Largo. The former is a vast and marvellous mass of rock, which I have been up or down by four routes; but there are others, and, as already noted, there remains the immense W. aréte, which, if climbable at all in its entirety, might take a week. The last peak of first importance on this ridge, and the last I shall allude to in this paper, is the three-headed Cima del Largo—one of the grandest aiguilles in the Alps. It is curiously situated, for all three peaks lie well to the W. of the main ridge, one conse- quence of which is that it is not seen from the Forno Glacier, nor, indeed, at all in the ordinary line of ascent till one arrives. at the Forcola del Bacone. Here the magnificent tower which forms its eastern and culminating summit, and behind which the two others lie concealed, bursts suddenly into view. The splendour of the spectacle can hardly be exaggerated, and few rocks are there that look more impossible of ascent. Yet it is not so; there is a good, a safe, and by no means a very difficult route up, and, indeed, the last and most impossible- looking pitch offers a choice of two variations. The first of

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Climbing in the Bregaglia. 88 these is very steep and smooth, but in Klucker’s estimation easier than the second, which our party first made in 1908, and which traverses part of the splendid 8.E. precipice. The short traverse is not really difficult, but it is a bit of a trick- climb, and ends up with a somewhat sensational hand traverse, the legs hanging down the thousand feet of sheer cliff. In my opinion this is the best way up—certainly the most amusing. What is the best way down? Again, in my opinion, un- doubtedly the traverse, if the rocks are in good condition, as they always must be, for, if not, no one will get up at all. Yet the traverse has been very seldom made. Wills and I made it in 1922, but Klucker told me this year that he had never done it; and Walter Risch, who made the expedition with Bradby after I left, had not done it before. Yet the whole climb is a safe one for practised cragsmen, and I know of no rock-climb in the Alps which affords more delightful sensations. The descent of the highest peak is effected by one of the steepest and quite the narrowest ridges of rock I have been on, with immense and nearly vertical walls on either side. The position one assumes is that of a jockey on the neck of a horse, or, more prosaically, ‘ the monkey on the stick ’ attitude. The hands grasp the narrow but splendidly sound knife-edge— one from each side and one above the other—-while the knees grip firmly the rough rock, being separated from each other by not more than a foot or 18 ins. So one descends to a saddle, perhaps 50 ft. down, where the second man joms the first. Then a similar passage to a safe and ample spot where an impassable gendarme bars the way. Here a 30-ft. drop with a spare rope down the §. wall to a fine ledge—almost good enough, as Mummery would have said, for bicycles—by which the ridge is regained ; and then a final passage, @ cheval, leads to the gap between the eastern and the central peaks. The two lower summits give but little trouble, and a diagonal route is made down to the névé, whence the Forcola del Bacone is easily regained. The whole expedition can be made in 12 or 14 hours from the Maloja, and is one which no ardent rock- climber should miss. I should like to do it regularly once a year. And here my story ends. The slides I have shown have been mostly of a type of mountain formation in which grandeur of outline mingles with a somewhat grim austerity of surroundings. But such is far from a true conception of the general scenery of the district. Even the flat Engadine, as one approaches the Maloja, can be, in certain lights, quite beautiful ; and, when one takes to VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIII. D

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34 Clumbing im the Bregaglia. foot, the paths towards the glaciers lead through woods and glades of the rarest beauty, while the higher tracks often wind away among cliffs, ledges, and ravines, perhaps concealed by the surrounding brushwood, but only too evident to the careless wanderer who may happen to stray off the one and only way. Then, indeed, the beauty of the surroundings hardly compensates for the tribulation which awaits him. But the lake of Cavalloccio on the Forno route, the varied beauties of the Albigna path, the lovely woodlands of the Bondasca glen, the glimpses on looking back, with the quaint beauties of Soglio itself, and the crowning view from thence, are not to be surpassed in any Alpine district. And then I must confess that one of the charms of the group lies in its proximity to the Lake of Como. If the best route to the Bregaglia les through the terrible St. Moritz, the best way back is by the lake. A long day on moor or mountain may end up in a hut or a barn, and all may be well ; but surely a bath and a good dinner is the best end to what the dreadful song describes as a ‘perfect day.’ Similar—on a larger scale—is the holiday : it also may be rounded off gracefully. I have climbed to the last day, rushed home, and felt I had done well. But, on looking back, recollections of a somewhat different ending stand out as landmarks and add distinction to a few red-letter years. And to no vacation may such happy memories be more easily assured than to a holiday among the Bregaglia mountains. A week of training on the easier ascents, and a fortnight of the superlative scrambling that the steeper ones afford, places the mountaineer who has alternative tastes in a state of body and mind just ready for a few days of luxurious idling, in an almost tropical temperature. A swim in the cool water, a basket of figs and peaches—or possibly, for some, ‘a loaf of bread, a cup of wine, and thou,’ under the awning of a skiff; but for me, whether ‘ thou’ be there or not, meals delicately arranged by skilled and agreeable head waiters at luxurious hotels, and served in gardens or on verandahs looking out on the loveliest lake-scenery in the world, make up the best ending to a climbing holiday, and one which sends the degenerate wanderer home, a sweet taste in mouth and mind, and imbued with the pleasing, if delusive, conviction that ‘all’s well with the world.’

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Le Col dit Infranchissable. 85. Le Cou pit INFRANCHISSABLE. By R. W. LLOYD. (Read before the Alpine Club, March 4, 1924.) d Neaeecee is one drawback to retaining year after year the services of a great guide such as Joseph Pollinger is universally admitted to be, and that is one must be constantly on the look-out for expeditions worthy of him. The harder they are, always within the limits of sound mountaineering, the better is he pleased. It has been my privilege to have witnessed some very finished work on his part, and some of our expeditions you have been good enough to permit me to describe from this desk. Many of our expeditions belong to the Mont Blanc Group, which, to my mind, offers as difficult rock and ice climbs as will satisfy the most ambitious. The last expedition which I described was the ascent of the French side of the Col de Bionnassay. During our descent on the Italian side we had, right at our feet, the long and narrow gorge in the bed of which flows the Italian Miage Glacier. At the head of this glacier is the well-known Col de Miage, while three lateral glaciers descend to its left bank, up two of which lie the Dome and Rocher du Mont Blanc routes to Mont Blanc. The right bank consists of one of the mightiest walls in the whole Alps, over which, so far, only one passage has been made. This col bears the somewhat anomalous name of Col Infranchissable, but, as it has been already crossed twice—in both cases by English parties, viz. by Mr. Eccles in 1870 and Mr. Milman in 1871, led in both cases by a famous Chamonix guide, Michel Payot, who died only the other day—some stickler for accuracy has tacked on the word dit, making it thus ‘Col said to be impassable.’ Such cols are certainly a diminishing number. The name alone is a defiance, and so, as we looked at the steep hanging couloir indicating the line of passage, I said to myself * There is a job for Joseph’; but as the others had ascended it, we would descend it. This was in 1919. I will here leave my narrative for a moment and ask your permission to read the excellent description of this col by Mr. A. Milman, who made the second ascent with M. C. Payot in 1871 (‘ A.J.’ v. 277-8).

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36 Le Col dit Infranchissable. ‘From the Head of the Glacier de Miage to Contamines, by the _ Col “ Dit Infranchissable.” ‘Immediately upon the right or west as you descend from the Col de Miage to the base of the great ice-falls, an abrupt and formidable wall of rock rises precipitously from the Glacier de Miage, and separates it from the head of the Glacier de Trélatéte, a narrow and broken aréte of rock, which here and there gives place to an almost perpendicular couloir of snow, extends from the Aiguille de Miage on to the Aiguille de Tréla- téte, and forms the crest of this mdge or ice-shed. On the face of these wild precipices—strange as it may appear— a silver-mine (argentifére) bearing was worked for many years, chiefly by speculators from Cormayeur, until the smallness of the gain and the large loss of life among the miners, owing to constant avalanches and falling rocks, compelled its abandon- ment. All that is now left to mark the site of these strange operations are the crushed and broken remnants, at different levels, of three wooden cabins, with occasional strands of rope and iron rivets, by aid of which the men pursued their perilous occupation. Every trace of the dangerous track, that once just faintly indicated the direction which must be followed to reach the mines, has long been worn away, and the cabins themselves will probably soon disappear under the combined influence of storm and frost. The most elevated of these huts is perched at an enormous height above the glacier, and beyond it, as is believed, no one had ever ascended. Last year, how- ever, Michel Clement Payot chmbed to the summit with Mr. Eccles and descended on the other side down the whole length of the beautiful Glacier de Trélatéte to Contamines. Payot made the passage again this season with myself and one of his younger brothers, Alphonse, who came with us as porter, and as I do not think that any account of the pass, which is a remarkably interesting one, has yet been given, a brief note of the expedition may be useful. ‘We crossed the col from the chalets of Miage on September 16, and having descended on the southern side nearly to the bottom of the last steep ice-fall, crossed the glacier diagonally to the west, and then, by a rapid snow-slope and rocks, climbed for several hundred feet up to the second of the above-mentioned cabins. When Payot was there on a previous occasion, he had found it still entire, but winter storms had since done their work, and it was now a roofless ruin. With a little labour, a temporary shelter was soon —

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Le Col dit Infranchissable. 87 built up again, and a blazing fire, for which ample material was afforded by the timber of the deserted huts and outhouses, enabled us to pass the night with sufficient warmth, and as much comfort as a resting-place on bare planks admitted of. We started next morning at a few minutes after five, but a thick mist which long hung about the rocks, and filled the valley, rendered it at first somewhat difficult to preserve a true direction. The limits, however, within which the ascent is practicable are so narrow that it is not possible to diverge far without coming to a standstill. It must be made at some point between the cabin in which we had halted and a -broad steep couloir filled with snow to the south of it, which could only have been crossed at imminent risk, owing to the falling rocks that raked it with a withering fire. All the night through we had heard the dull thud of the rolling masses as they bounded down and fell with a sharp crash on to the glacier below. It took us rather less than three hours to attain — the summit, and during the whole of this time it was good hand-over-hand climbing. The danger consists in the utter disintegration of the rocks, which causes vast splinters to crumble to pieces as you touch them, and sometimes a large boulder which looked firm enough to support a house would break away, and once dislodged would fall in three or four — terrific leaps on to the glacier many hundreds of feet beneath. With rocks in such a state, it 1s clear that caution 1s necessary, and it would probably be unsafe to be upon them except at an early hour of the day, and under favourable conditions of weather. ‘At about two-thirds of the way up, we came close to the last of the three cabins, and crossed over to examine it. It is now nearly choked with ice and snow, but, with the adjoining sheds, is of considerable size, and it 1s extraordinary how the materials for its construction can have been got up and into position. ‘We reached the col at 8 o’clock, and, the clouds lifting grandly off the mountains, had a splendid view. I imagine that the western face of Mont Blanc can from no other point be seen to such effect, and the outlook on that side is mag- nificently wild ; while on the other, to the west, the Glacier de Trélatéte, falling away from the aréte on which we stood, winds between fine ranges of rock and snow, and sweeps in a graceful curve round a distant promontory of cliffs. The descent is quite without difficulty ; three hours of pleasant walking brings you to the Pavillon de Trélatéte. It is not easy

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88 Le Col dit Infranchissable. - to find a distinctive name for the pass as that which would most accurately describe it. Col de Trélatéte has been already twice appropriated. In some of the Swiss maps it is marked, probably on account of its evil reputation for falling rocks and avalanches, “‘ infranchissable,’”’ but this designation is scarcely accurate, as it has now been crossed at any rate twice, though the name may be allowed to stand until a better one can be devised.’ In the subsequent fifty-two years, so far as I know, no other travellers have attempted the passage. The year 1920 found us at Tré-la-Téte, but I had bad luck, spraining my ankle on the way back from the Déme de Miage, thus spoiling our chance for that year. In 1921 we again went to Tré-la-Téte from Chamonix, but, owing to the small amount of winter snow and the dry weather, we found a most unusual condition of ice instead of snow ; in fact, when we went to climb the Aiguille des Glaciers the local guides advised us to take the usual easy route up the rocks on the left of the col, which they were in the habit of doing when the glacier was in bad condition. However, we rather fancied the glacier instead of the rocks, and took this _ way, finding to our cost that we had much step-cutting, and that it took much longer. At that time we believed that 1t was necessary to descend by the actual, very steep, couloir on the Italian side of the Col Infranchissable, and rather hastily concluded that there was no other way. We knew from our experiences of the snow on the Col des Glaciers and other places that this couloir must be impossible, ‘ and so we went after other climbs we had in view, leaving the col until another year. In 1922 we again visited the hospitable little inn at Tré-la- Téte, which I may say, after four years’ experience of its comforts and cuisine, is better than any other alpine inn at its altitude round Mt. Blane. That year, as you all know, was a horribly bad year as far as weather was concerned, and the amount of new snow quite exceptional. We, however, seized on one of the good days, and, finding the snow on the Glacier de Tré-la-Téte in good condition, had a very pleasant walk of five hours from the mn to the Col Infranchissable, feeling that, at last, things were in our favour. We arrived at the col at 8 o’clock in the morning, and at once saw that the steep couloir by the side of which Mr. Eccles

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Le Col dit Infranchissable. 89 ascended, with its large cornice and bad snow, was quite impossible. We therefore decided to try the great face on its true right, but this was covered with new snow, and the small couloirs seaming it were in a most dangerous condition. The snow was in its most obnoxious state, having a thin croite covering powder. We ventured a few yards down and tried here and there, but after an hour’s examination we decided that the risk was much too great. - We reluctantly turned our faces homewards, and for the rest of the summer, like most people that year, did very little good climbing, our most interesting expedition being Castor from the Zwillingsjoch, which we got in on a fine Sunday during a flying visit to Zermatt. This is quite a good climb, and one that is not very often done, although, given decent snow and not too big a bergschrund, it presents no real difficulty. My friend, Mr. Sidney Young, joined me on this climb, and we had a very pleasant day, with a liberal amount of soft snow during the afternoon. Karly July 1923 found me for the first time at Bel Alp, where for a few days I indulged in the doubtful pleasure of training-walks to try and get fit—a more difficult matter as one grows older. The weather was excessively hot, and when we went to the Oberaletsch Hut it became bad in the night, so we had to abandon our idea of the Aletschhorn, and started instead at 7.30 in the morning for the Fusshorn. We had a fine day, but very bad snow, and I was quite tired out by the time we got back to Bel Alp. A few days later, on a very hot afternoon, we again went to the Oberaletsch Hut for the Aletschhorn. The weather was bad in the evening, but cleared up later and we got off at 3.4.M. The snow was wretched, and as soft at 3 a.m. as we found it at 3 p.m. We had rather bad weather on the ridge, and three snow-storms; but, as it is not really difficult, we pushed on to the top, but had no view. We arrived at Bel Alp in the afternoon, just before a terrific storm. We went down to Brigue next day, where a little later I met Mr. Godley and Mr. Wherry on their way to Macugnaga to attend the funeral of Professor Ker. Joseph and I reached Chamonix in bad weather, but it cleared next day. We thought it as well to give the snow time to harden, and did not leave for Tré-la-Téte until the 2Ist, arriving in the late afternoon. The morning of July 22 was fine and, with high hopes, we left. the inn at 2.50, arriving once more at the head of the

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40 Le Col dit Infranchissable. Col Infranchissable at shortly before 8 o’clock. We had a good look at the great couloir, but did not at all fancy it, so climbed the ridge towards the Téte Carrée to inspect the face on the true right of the great couloir, which face had made such a bad impression last year. To our surprise it was quite dry, Save in the numerous narrow couloirs which seamed it. The more we looked at it the less we liked it. Stones were falling every few moments, particularly off the great face on our right, into another big snow couloir away to our right. This was most dangerous and could not be thought of. some of these showers actually swept across a great part of the face, and, if we were forced anywhere near the right of the face, the danger from stones would be very great. After an hour’s discussion and prospecting, we agreed to descend the face as far as we could see, and remount if things were too bad. We decided on no account to face the other big couloir on the right. This was a good resolution, easier made at the top than kept lower down. We spied a small rib on the face, about 30 to 40 yards from the great couloir. This seemed to afford at least some protection from stones, 80 we climbed round the col and started our descent practically in the middle of the face between the great couloir and the other couloir to our right. Very soon our rib petered out, and we had to cross a small couloir and go to the left. We kept as much as possible on the steep rocks and knife-edge of this side of the small couloir, but were often compelled to go into it owing to the steepness and slabbiness of the rocks. On the other side of the ridge was the great main snow couloir of the col. After a little over an hour of travelling as fast as we were able, we found our rib broke off in a great precipice, and the little couloir ran through a horrid deep gulley also appearing to end in a cut-off; anyway, no sane person would have travelled down to see. We debated what to do. We were much too far down to think of returning, so determined to cross to our right more to the middle of the face. We were not very happy about it, as we had hoped to get down by the rib we were on into the

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WW. Lloyd. Photo by R. THE SILVER MINE.

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Le Col dit infranchissable. 41 much less dangerous-looking great main snow couloir on our left, which is the one Mr. Milman declined to have dealings with, whereas we were now being forced over to the other bad snow couloir on the right, which now seemed the only way off. We crossed the small couloir in which we were, safely, taking the greatest care and moving only one at a time, and then were pleased to soon find ourselves on a level with, and close to, the old silver mine, which we had seen from above and of which Sir Edward Davidson had told me. We soon reached this and sat down on the little rock platform in front, safe from stones for the time being. We had taken an hour and ten minutes, travelling fast. The mine is a small tunnel, now filled with ice, and there is still a certain amount of woodwork debris about, such as we were sitting upon. Whereas the mine itself is on one side of the great couloir, the huts which sheltered the miners are on the other side, as near the mine the face is too swept by avalanches for any buildings to stand, so that the unfortunate workmen must have had to cross the couloir daily to their work. We emptied a bottle and placed a record in it, and hope the next visitor may find it. We were rather a silent party at lunch, as our failure to stick to the nb and edge of the great couloir on our left appeared to leave us no alternative but the very unpleasant face and the other bad couloir on the right, where it would have been too much to expect to escape without damage. Our porter Lagger climbed up to look into the mine gallery while Joseph and I discussed the situation, agreeing that it was not pleasant. Near us I thought I saw some faint sign of an old track, and pointed it out to Joseph. We wondered if this could be another way, which we could not see, leading down the steep face, avoiding the great couloir. The miners, so someone had told Joseph, used a fixed wire by which they went up and down; and, indeed, we saw the remnants of old wire. We moved off about 11 o’clock by the old track, which in places had quite disappeared but in others had been cut out of the solid rock, and had evidently once been very heavily roped judging by the big pitons which, although they must have been put in many years ago, were as good as ever. No fragments of ropes remained. This track, to our relief, after descending sharply, doubled back to the great snow couloir on the left about level with the ruins of the upper hut, on the

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49 Le Col dit Infranchissable. other side of the couloir, which I think Mr. Milman referred to as being in ruins in 1871. The couloir he describes as * only to be crossed at imminent risk, owing to falling rocks that raked it with a withering fire.’ We had, however, to take to it for a little distance, keeping as close as possible to the side and travelling as fast as we could, then back to the rocks, bearing again a little to the right and then to the left and eventually coming to the snow at the foot of the aréte at the mouth of the great snow couloir. It was quite easy to get off the rocks on to the steep snow at their foot, which, however, was covered with stones, as it received the widened-out end of the big couloir and the stones that swept on to the face, and was very black. We had now to decide whether to traverse above the berg- schrund to the left, so as to cross the big snow couloir on our left, and so reach the aréte on which are the ruins of the old hut where the previous parties slept. This, though steep, did not seem difficult, and the risk of stones was nothing like so bad as in the couloir on our right. However, we noticed that there appeared to be a bridge over the bergschrund at the foot of the couloir to our right almost below us, and, on the whole, we should be exposed for a very much shorter time than by crossing the great main couloir on our left. We descended as quickly as possible and in a very short time were on the bridge, which was good, and with a little trouble crossed successfully and were running down the steep snow below, more than pleased that we were safely off our climb. It was 12.15. We had taken just over three hours thirty-five minutes for the descent, including a rest of thirty-five minutes. Looking back upon it, it certainly had a very unattractive appearance. The parties in 1870 and 1871 both slept in the hut on the ridge forming the left proper bank of the great couloir, and then ascended by the rocks, so Payot had informed us. On our line, apart from the risk of danger from stones, although the face is very steep, there is no real difficulty. All the same, I do not think it will ever become the fashionable route to Courmayeur. We rested for a time and then proceeded leisurely to the Visaille inn, arriving in the rain. We had a most excellent dinner and a good night. Next morning it had cleared, and we left in good time to walk leisurely over the Col de la Seigne, lunching near the top and reaching Les Mottets in five to six hours, being joined

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Le Col dit Infranchissable. 43 on the way by a French gentleman and his two guides, who had come over the Col du Géant. We stayed the night here, and, leaving at six o’clock next morning, arrived at our old friend, le Col du Mont Tondu, in three hours’ easy going, and reached our quarters at the Pavillon de Tré-la-Téte in an hour and a half in good time for lunch. Les Mottets is a place to be avoided. We had a wretched dinner—in fact, hardly anything but some thin soup and the head and bones of a rabbit, so we went to bed hungry. The guides fared no better and did not even get a blanket to cover them on the so-called beds. Their complaints were loud and deep next morning. The bill, however, was enormous. The same amount would have kept us two or three days at Tré-la- Téte. On the 25th the weather was not good, but on the 26th, although it looked still threatening, we started at 8 a.m. for the Aiguille de Tré-la-Téte. We travelled fast, reaching the foot in four hours, and the top two and a half hours later, Joseph cutting almost all the way. The wind on the aréte was very bad, and it was as much as we could do to stick on. We turned the moment we were all on the top and hastened down, the gale increasing rapidly. Once on the glacier it was easy going, as we were protected from the wind, so we walked over to the col and had a good look at the route we had made a few days before. It did not look at all inviting. We returned leisurely to the inn for lunch, and later in the day arnved at our old quarters at Chamonix under Couttet’s hospitable roof, having had a very fine week carrying out climbs we had been after for some years. | The next few days were spent in attempts on the Blaitiére. On the second occasion the ridge was reached but we were driven back by atrocious weather. The morning of the 7th found us on the way to the Tour Noire, accompanied by Mr. Belcher with his excellent guide, Siegfried Burgener. We ascended the usual way, descending by the N.E. aréte, a very nice climb, to the upper Col de la Tour Noire, and thence by a rib of loose rocks as far as we could; whence Burgener cut steps across the couloir on to the lower rocks of the Aiguille de la Neuvaz, descending these to the snow above the bergschrund, traversing along the top of this to the right to a bridge, and thence on to the Glacier des Améthystes. This isa really nice climb and makes what 1s otherwise rather a grind into a really good day. By this time Chamonix was excessively full, all the huts

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44 Le Col dit Infranchissable. were crammed, and the Couvercle had as many as a dozen or more people sleeping outside. What the inside must have been like is easily imagined. The proprietor at Montanvers was very considerate to me, and used, when I telephoned him the day before going there, to keep me a room, so our next climb was from there. During the day he had no less than fifty applications for my room and the place was crowded. I had the pleasure of meeting and dining with my friends, Sir George and Lady Morse, who were spending a fortnight there with their energetic daughter, who did some very fine climbing, including the traverse of the Drus. Our objective was the Périades, which is somewhat of a grind, but compensated for by the fine piece of rock-climbing up the last aiguille, which is no doubt well known to members of the Club. The big slab and the traverse alongside the . 2-inch ledge, with the perpendicular rock-face in front of one, into the final chimney is worth the long walk. Coming down the chimney on to the ledge is an even more delicate matter, and requires care and balance. We descended by the Glacier du Mont Mallet, finding it much crevassed, but were assisted somewhat by the tracks left by the sack in which the unfortunate Austrian who had been killed on Mt. Mallet a few days before had been brought down. It was an excellent day, and we quite enjoyed the dina The huts were so full that I decided, for our last expedition, to have an easy day. We slept at La Flégére on a mattress, as the place was crammed, and in the morning made the ascent of the exceedingly interesting little-rock L’Index. This is quite a good little climb, requiring care, but with no particular difficulty. Generally the guides place a rope across the big slab, although it is not really necessary. Any of our members who want an easy day at Chamonix should try L’Index. I am greatly indebted to my friends, Mr. Howard Priest- man, Mr. Spencer, and Capt. Finch, who have kindly supplied me with photographs, and also to Signor Gugliermina for the fine slide of the face of the col. I must also express my gratitude to Captain Farrar, who has kindly read over my paper and given me other assistance. I am afraid I have taken up your time this evening, telling you of climbs many of you know. Please blame the person who is really responsible for my being here at all—the Hon. Secretary.

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Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. 45 JUNGFRAU FROM WENGERN ALP. SCHALLIGRAT AND OTHER Curmmss IN 19283. By R. P. BICKNELL. (Read before the Alpine Club, February 5, 1924.) HEN I last read a paper in this room I was describing expeditions over ground which was unknown to a large majority of my audience. It was a position which had its advantages. To-night I have got to be more careful and every word that I say must be weighed, for I am about to speak of mountains of which many of you know far more than I am able to tell you. This is perhaps a rash undertaking, but it is obvious that, as time goes on, very well-known peaks in the Alps and elsewhere will become more and more numerous, and the Secretary of the Alpine Club will hardly be able to fill his programme of six or seven papers a year without occasionally calling on a member to speak of mountains which are well known to a great part of his audience. I am con- soled by believing that there 1s often some interest in hearing what other men have thought of mountains which have long been familiar to us. There may perhaps be some regret in hearing of easy places which once appeared to us to be difficult, there will certainly be some satisfaction in hearing of difficult places which we once found perfectly easy. To-night I am trying to approach my subject in this spirit. Most of the mountains which we climbed last year were quite new to us, though they may be very old to you. We approached them with open minds and tried to judge them as we found them, and I am going to make an effort to forget what we ought to have thought and tell you what we actually did think. Last summer Porter, Shadbolt, and I began our holiday in an unusually mild manner. In the past we have plunged into high mountaineering at the earliest possible moment after our arrival in the Alps. It is a policy that has brought me a mixture of great success and most decisive failure. My mind has been elated or depressed according to the result, but, be the result what it may, my body often suffered grievously from want of training. So I was able to foresee some com- pensation when I gave way to the revolutionary suggestion

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46 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. that we should begin with some rock-climbing in the Engel- horner. | The day after our arrival in Grindelwald we walked over to Rosenlaui, and in the evening went up to the hut in the Ochsenthal. It is well worth going so far even if it be only to see the Ochsenthal, a flat-bottomed, snow-filled corrie sur- rounded on three sides by an immense black limestone cliff topped by the serried peaks of the Engelhérner. In the morning we started up this cliff with a view to getting into the Gemsensattel. From below this appeared to be a formidable task, but the rocks proved to be very much easier than we supposed. The route is, however, a complicated one, and had it not been for a guide-book supplied to us by Bradley, which contained valuable information and a lucid diagram, we should not have reached the sattel even in the three hours which the journey occupied. After getting there we turned to our left along the ridge, scrambled over the easy Gemsenspitze and attacked the Klein Engelhorn by the diagonal crack which runs across its face. We were probably a good deal handicapped by our inexperience of limestone climbing and by wearing boots, for we found great difficulty in a short section of the climb where the crack ends in an overhanging wall and it is necessary to go out to the right to get on to the ridge. On the other side of the Klein Englehorn the sight of a 50-ft. abseil from which there can be no return and some very sharp little peaks on the ridge beyond frightened us out of a half-formed plan for a continuance of the traverse. From the top we had a dazzling view of the snow hasin at the head of the Rosenlaui glacier with the Wetterhérner beyond it. We had intended to spend a second day on the rocks, but this view was too much for us. The call of the snow and ice could not be resisted ; we hurried back to Rosenlaui by the way that we had come, and the next day went up the Rosenlaui glacier to the Dossen hut in order to return to Grindelwald by the Berglijoch, which proved to be a very attractive little pass. From the hut we went by lantern-light nearly to the top of the Dossenhorn and then traversed its western face to the snow of the Wetterkessel, which we crossed to the Wetterlimmi. We then skirted round the head of the Gauli glacier to the foot of the steep snow-slope which leads up to the Berglijoch. Here Shadbolt and Porter were just able to get on to the upper lip of the little schrund by climbing from my shoulders, and they then paid for the service by hauling me after them, a somewhat difficult piece of work, since the first five feet of my journey

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Schalligrat. and other Climbs in 1928. 47 had to be accomplished in the air. On the Grindelwald side we had to jump some ten feet down a similar place. Here Porter—tripped by not jumping clear of the snow, so we alleged ; snared by our careless handling of the rope, so he alleged—descended head downwards. It only needed the leg of mutton to complete Whymper’s picture of the celebrated M. Reynaud making the first crossing of the Col de la Pilatte; but the episode appeared less amusing when, on arrival at the Gleckstein, Porter discovered that his watch had dropped into the schrund. The next item on our programme was the traverse of the Schreckhorn. Since we hoped to go up by the N.W. ridge, we slept at the Schwarzegg and started at a very early hour of the morning. The weather looked worse than doubtful, and it began to rain before we were half-way up the big snow-filled couloir in the rock-face between the Kastensteinfirn ahd the Schreckfirn. This caused us to stop and consider the situation. We have always aimed at descending our mountains by a different route from that used for the ascent, but it has never been our idea of pleasure to involve ourselves in a wholly unknown descent in bad weather. Consequently we had no hesitation in abandoning all thought of a traverse. Further- more, we had no difficulty in agreeing that we were not going to run any risk of having to come down this particular couloir in the late afternoon. After we had waited for half an hour the rain abated, so that we were led to the conclusion that we had better follow the couloir to its top, then turn right instead of left, and get out orto the Schreckfirn, where we could at least make a safe and easy journey to the Strahlegg, while we might be able to get up and down the mountain by the ordinary route. At the head of the couloir we climbed straight up the rocks to a horizontal snow-covered ledge, which served for an easy traverse on to the Schreckfirn. I do not know whether there is any route up the face above the glacier which is definitely recognised as the correct one. The whole of this face is seamed with parallel strips of snow, and all the rock ribs between them appear to be possible routes. We had to go far over to the right before we could cross the schrund, but we then found frequent opportunities of crossing to the left from one rib to another, and keeping to the rocks as much as possible arrived on the summit ridge at a little snow-saddle immediately below the narrow red-rock ridge which runs up to the top. It was not till we had reached this point that we felt any certainty

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48 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. of completing the ascent, for we had frequently been in two minds as to whether we should go on or turn back. The weather to windward looked thoroughly evil, and we had endured a piercing wind and several sharp squalls of snow and sleet. We paid a short visit to the top, and followed the same line on the descent of the face. Careful experiment had shown us that we could not use the tempting strips of snow, which, had they been in safe condition, would have taken us down to the schrund in a few minutes, and we were reduced to a tantalising journey down the rock ribs between them. Arrived at the schrund, we did not fail to notice that the only available bridge owed its existence to its position full in the path of everything which fell off the central part of the face above, and I think we were all relieved when we were safely over it and out on the easy snow-slopes which took us across to the Strahlegg. We had not got off the mountain much too soon, for we went down to Grindelwald through a violent thunder-storm and torrents of rain. In the evening we met our fellow member, J. M. Davidson, who, with Hans Kaufmann, had just made the ascent of the icy N.W. ridge of the Monch, a very determined piece of mountaineering on such a day. | My judgment was probably affected to some extent by the bleak and unfavourable weather, but it still appears to me that this ordinary route up the Schreckhorn js a good deal more difficult than it is commonly supposed to be. The big face above the Schreckfirn is just. one of those places, free from outstanding conspicuous difficulties, where the occasional mountain traveller goes up and down with a skilled local professional at each end of his rope, believing that he is doing something quite easy and with a very faint perception of the wide difference between what he is doing and what is being done for him. Iam the freer to say this as I went up and down this face in the middle of the rope, while the other two did the work. We then turned our attention to the N.W. face of the Jung- frau. No mountaineer can read the history of early alpine adventure without wanting to climb the Jungfrau from the Wengern Alp, the climb which A. W. Moore, after he had explored the Brenva face of Mt. Blanc, described as the most interesting expedition in the Alps. The great glacier-clad face which stretches for three miles from the Eiger to the Silberhorn has been one of the renowned sights of Switzerland, at least since the time of Byron, who, in 1816, visited the

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Schailigrat and other Climbs in 1928. 49 Wengern Alp and there gained inspiration for the first two acts of ‘ Manfred.’ The climbing history of the route begins in July 1862, when a party of thirteen, organised by Leslie Stephen and led by Christian Almer, conquered its most difficult part while making the first passage of the Jungfraujoch. In August 1863 Messrs. Baedeker and Von Fellenberg, with Christian Lauener and five other guides, made further progress when they branched off from the Jungfraujoch route above the upper ice-fall of the Guggi glacier, crossed the Schneehorn on to the Giessen glacier, and made the first ascent of the Silberhorn. It re- mained for a party of which one member, Sir George Young, : is still alive to complete the route. On August 28, 1865, he and H. B. George, with Christian Almer, Hans Baumann and Ulrich Almer, bivouacked on the rocks of the Schneehorn and the next day crossed the glacier to the Silberliicke and then climbed to the top of the Jungfrau. | This route 1s a complicated one, and in the hope of making my description clear to those who do not know it I propose. to describe it in some detail. The main ridge from Kiger to Jungfrau runs from N.E. to 8.W. The three glaciers which come down the N.W. face of this ridge are the Eiger glacier with the two Eigerjochs at its head, the Guggi glacier with the Jungfraujoch at its head, and the Giessen glacier. The ridge dividing the Eiger glacier from the Guggi glacier 1s the N.W. ridge of the Monch. The ridge dividing the Guggi glacier from the Giessen glacier comes down from a point about a third of the way from the Jungfraujoch to the Jungfrau, and on it is the little peak called the Schneehorn. The ridge bounding the left bank of the Giessen glacier comes down from a point a short distance to the N.E. of the Jungfrau. This is the point which from the Wengern Alp appears to be the top of the mountain, and is consequently called the Wengern Jungfrau. On this ridge is the ice-covered peak of the Silberhorn, with the Silberliicke between it and the Jungfrau. High up on the other side of this ridge is the little glacier called the Hochfirn, which comes down from close under the top of the Jungfrau. The Guggi hut is perched on the steep rocks of the N.W. ridge of the Monch and is most conveniently reached from the Scheidege by a crossing of the Eiger glacier. The route then descends to the Guggi glacier, and passes up through the steep and complicated ice-fall to-an almost level snow-terrace close under the Jungfraujoch, but cut off from that pass by another formidable ice slope. It then crosses the ridge close VQL. XXXVI.—NO, CCXXVIITI. K

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50 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. to the top of the Schneehorn, traverses two great terraces right across the head of the Giessen glacier to the Silber- liicke, and from there goes first up the ridge towards the Wen- gern Jungfrau and then by the Hochfirn to the true top. The bad weather which had begun on the Sunday, while we were climbing the Schreckhorn, continued for the whole of the Monday, and it was still with no great hope of anything better that we set out for the Guggi hut on the Tuesday. It rained a good deal on the way up, and by the time we arrived at the hut the prospect was so hopeless that we played cards Traverred to Hochfirn From LAUBERHORN. till late in the evening, and went to bed without even setting - the alarm bell of the hut clock. This journey was not entirely fruitless, for, after a long night at the hut, we were able to explore the gully which leads down to the Guggi glacier. We had glanced down this gully as we approached the hut, and I think that all three of us were a little startled at its appearance, for in the dusk of a misty evening it looked thoroughly unpleasant, and the prospect of making its acquaintance in the dark hours of the morning, when every minute would be of importance, was far from alluring. The gully is a steep and narrow cleft in the black limestone cliff some 600 ft. high, and, though its descent proved to be less difficult than it appeared from above, we should hardly have been able to make it for the first time in the dark. Having arrived at its foot in about three-quarters of an hour, we turned

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Schalligrat and other Climbs in 1928. 51 down the Guggi glacier, and threading our way through an intricate network of crevasses close to its right bank got off the ice at the old hut and walked down to Grindelwald in rain and thick fog. | The weather on the Thursday was not good enough to induce us to leave the valley, but on the evening of the next day, Friday, July 20, though the tops of the mountains were still hidden in clouds, we were back at the hut again. Soon after we arrived the mist cleared away enough to give us our first clear view of the Guggi ice-fall, and before we went to bed the improvement had gone far enough to give us strong hope of a fine morning. We left the hut at three o’clock, timing our start so that we might get down the upper part of the gully by lantern-light and have the first light of dawn to negotiate a passage at its foot, where we had to get down an awkward little rock wall and cross the bergschrund. It took us seventy- five minutes to get down on to the glacier, and in an hour more we had reached the foot of the ice-fall, which is always likely to be the chief difficulty of the expedition. This is not one of those numerous ice-falls which begin with easy passages that lead you by almost imperceptible degrees into a labyrinth of difficulties. On the Guggi you walk up a gentle slope till you are up against the very foot of a steep ice-bank crowned by a formidable array of towers and walls which no stranger can ever have approached without feeling doubtful whether he would get through them. However, we were destined to enjoy one of those happy days when every inspiration leads one in the right direction and it seems impossible to do anything wrong. With the help of a mixture, which I analyse in my mind as 20 per cent. knowledge gained by our view from the hut, 20 per cent. knowledge of ice-falls in general, and 60 per cent. prodigious good luck, we got through almost without having to retrace a step. Ihave never been through a more amusing little ice-fall, for we seldom saw a clear path for many yards ahead, and we never turned a corner nor climbed to the top of a serac with any certainty that we should not have to turn back and try else- where. It would be interesting to observe the effect which would be produced upon public opinion at the Scheidegg or the Montanvers if one set out on a mountain expedition in 1924 with two porters carrying a 25-foot ladder. Can anyone tell us when the venerable practice finally died out ? It was still accepted by the élite in the early ’sixties. Leslie Stephen’s party turned back from their first assault on the Jungfraujoch

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52 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. in order to supply themselves with a ladder, and returned to victory accompanied by one Peter Rubi, a stout fellow who deserves to live in history, for he appears, unaided, to have carried a 25-foot ladder to the summit of the pass and then on over the Moénchjoch and down through the ice-fall of the Fiescher glacier. The 1863 party on the Jungfrau found a number of ladders on the bank of the Guggi glacier, and their two porters, who had come for the purpose, selected the most suitable and carried it as far as the Schneehorn. There was one place close to the top of the ice-fall where we could have done very well with that 25-foot ladder. We found ourselves on a little transverse shelf with a vertical wall of ice above us and small hope of an exit at either end. Fortunately the wall was split by a narrow cleft, up which we were able to make a way by applying rock-climbing methods and cutting handholds in its walls. This was the crisis of the ascent, for soon afterwards we saw our way clearly before us and quickly reached the level snow terrace close under the final ice slope which leads up to the Jungfraujoch. Along this terrace we walked easily to the schrund at the foot of the Schneehorn, and in a few minutes were breakfasting on the rocks, about four hours after leaving the hut. The lowest part of the ridge between the Schneehorn and the Jungfrau presents a very formidable face of ice towards the Guggi, but the rocks of the Schneehorn are quite easy, and keeping well to our right we had no difficulty in getting to a point just to the left of the top, where we pushed our way through a little cornice and emerged upon the plateau which runs across the nearer or north-eastern part of the Giessen glacier. Here we had our first good view of the next obstacle, the big step at the far end of the plateau, which divides it from a similar and higher plateau running across the head of the south-western part of the glacier. On the right or outer side of this step is the ridge of ice sometimes called the Klein Silberhorn : it 1s hardly a peak, for its top is almost on a level with the upper plateau beyond. On the left 1s an ice-fall, which was cut across by so many immense crevasses that we felt very doubtful whether it would be possible to get through it. The ice ridge, on the other hand, though the ascent was likely to be slow and troublesome, was a certain and direct path to the upper plateau, and we had little hesitation in choosing it. It rises at an angle of about 45°, and we found it hard ice with a covering of a few inches of snow. The whole ridge was so sharp and clearly defined that the condition of

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Schalligrat and other Climbs wn 1928. 58 the snow covering on its two sides was entirely different. On the right the snow was well attached, and one firm downward drive of the foot established the crampon points securely. The slope on the right was, however, far too steep for one not to be quite certain that the left foot had got to stay on the other side of the ridge. Here the snow was loose and slushy, and it needed all the security of the right foot to enable the left to kick a way through and get a firm grip of the ice below. The ascent of this ridge occupied about an hour, but once again here, as in the Guggi ice-fall, our crampons saved us much time and labour. At the top I was so entranced by the view of the perfectly easy upper plateau and the unexpectedly short slope leading up to the Silberliicke that I forgot to look back at the ice-fall that we had avoided, but both Porter and Shadbolt, who had remembered to do so, told me that what they saw confirmed their opinion that we could not have gone through it. The Silberliicke gave us a short but sharp struggle on @ hard ice slope with a thick and loose covering of snow, but a friendly patch of rock soon helped us out of the difficulty, and at ten o’clock, seven hours after leaving the hut, we were looking down the rock face on the other side in the direction of the valley of Lauterbrunnen. Up to this pomt we had gone hard and steadily, with a concentrated effort to save minutes and an exact attention to the hands of the watch. Now it was obvious that we had the game in hand, for the weather was quite definitely perfect, and we knew that we had nothing but easy ground in front of us. Consequently we sat down to a wholly superfluous but none the less enjoyable meal. Then we wandered con- tentedly up the rock ridge above the gap. After a time the ridge turned to ice and snow, and we soon reached a point where it was convenient to go out on to the Hochfirn, which came sloping up on our right to meet us. The slopes at the head of this little glacier made an easy way towards the top of the Jungfrau. We found the snow in perfect condition for our purpose, just soft enough to take the spikes of our crampons securely, just hard enough to prevent the soles of our boots sinking in after them. We zigzagged slowly upwards at a highly luxurious pace till directly under the top, where we could see a rock buttress coming straight down from the cairn and just protruding through the ice. We were reduced to one of our few and short pieces of step-cutting to get on to the foot of this buttress—I doubt if we cut fifty steps in the day—and we then scrambled eagerly up to the cairn, half on

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54 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. rock, half on snow, Porter and I deaf to a faint protest from Shadbolt, who sharpens his crampons every morning on a razor-strop, and always resents being asked to touch stone with them. The contrast between the two sides of the Jungfrau is pain- fully marked. We had seen nobody all day, and there are places between the top of the Guggi and the Silberliicke where it is possible to feel very far removed from the outside world. On the other side it is quite otherwise. Anyone who has seen the slopes on the south side of the mountain and in the neighbourhood of the Jungfraujoch on a fine afternoon in the middle of July will know what I mean. Of our descent the less said the better. You will understand my reticence when I go so far as to tell you that, though we arrived on the top at 12.80 and stayed there nearly two hours, we were back at the Scheidegg for tea soon after half-past four. Farrar had told us that he looked upon this expedition as the best ice expedition in the Oberland, and we all three thought it one of the most attractive that we had ever undertaken. We found less difficulty than we expected, but the constant change of situation as one works out the long and varied traverse over snow, ice, and rock gives great charm to the whole expedition. After the Jungfrau we took a day of rest, and then went up to the Strahlegg hut, bound for Zermatt via the Finsteraarhorn and the Aletsch glacier. It was our intention to cross the Finsteraarjoch and go up by the Agassizjoch. We had hoped to go down by the $8.E. ridge, but, as on the Schreckhorn, we were unfortunate in our day, and had to abandon the more ambitious part of our programme. At the foot of the great couloir leading up to the Agassizjoch we were disappointed to find that the schrund cut us off from the easy rocks on its N.W. side, and we were obliged to start up the lower part of the couloir, which can never be an entirely safe place. We got on to the rocks at the earliest possible moment, and then, taking off our rope, went up them very easily, never touching the snow again till we reached the main ridge. Having no crampons with us, we were obliged to cut steps for three-quarters of an hour on the slope below the Hugisattel. The recent accident on this side of the mountain led to the publication of some astonishing rubbish. I have particularly in mind a leading London daily paper, which printed a communication from a gentleman described as ‘our own correspondent,’ who, having thrown away his last possible line of defence by

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Schalligrat and other Climbs in 1928. 55 informing his readers that he himself had ascended the Fin- steraarhorn by the Agassizjoch, went on to assert that ‘ there is no doubt that the Agassizjoch ascent or descent is the most hazardous in the whole of the Alps.’ Above the Hugisattel we found the whole ridge little more than a walk, jand where it is free from snow it has now been beaten down into a well-marked foot-track. By the time we got to the top the weather looked very threatening, and, having already given up the idea of a descent to the S.E., we went down to‘the Finsteraarhorn hut, and then crossed the Grinhornliicke in mist, snow, and rain, arriving at the Concordia very wet and thankful that we had got clear of our mountain in good time. At the Concordia Inn we had an interesting lesson, showing how careful the guideless climber in the Alps must be to rely upon his own resources. Being about to set out for the Eggishorn Hotel, and having observed that the manager of the inn was in the service of the hotel, we ventured to ask him whether our way lay on the ice or the moraine at its side. His somewhat unexpected reply was that he would not tell us, since those who could not find the way for themselves should employ guides to show it to them. Just at this time we were given little chance of getting above ourselves. The next day Porter and I went into a book-shop in Zermatt to seek Dr. Diibi’s Guide to the Valaisian Alps. The young lady who came forward to attend to our wants told us that she was sorry not to have it in stock, though she had something else which would suit us just as well, and with an engaging smile she handed to Porter a copy of Mr. Burlingham’s ‘How to become an Alpinist.’ - Here Shadbolt drops out of the tale, but forty-eight hours after we had left the Strahlegg hut Porter and I were leaving Zermatt bound for the Breuiljoch and the Italian side of the Matterhorn. I was tired of saying ‘ No’ when asked by friendly Americans whether I had climbed the mountain, and Porter had never seen the Italian side. We were kept close in the un- attractive little Italian hut all the afternoon by a furious gale and wet clouds, but were fortunate in having the place to ourselves, and, discovering that there was at least a thoroughly comfortable bed and many blankets, we slept peacefully. In the morning the tail-end of the gale delayed our start, and we did not set out till after five. The clouds were just be- ginning to disperse, but every inch of the Italian side was thickly covered with ice feathers, so that some of the fixed ropes were by no means to be despised. Apart from their mechanical

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56 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. uses, the ropes are an immense help to a quick ascent, as they seldom leave the stranger in any doubt as to where he should go. We spent three-quarters of an hour on the top, and had just started the descent of the N.E. ridge when we met the head of the Zermatt procession coming up. On this side the mountain was in perfect condition and we hardly set foot on. snow after crossing the Swiss top. A traverse of the two historic sides of the Matterhorm is like a visit to the field of Waterloo, intensely interesting to those who know what happened. there long ago, but little. else, for on. a fine day, what with its hotels, its high huts and its low huts, its fixed; ropes, chains and rope-ladder, its well-beaten foot-tracks. and its glittering trail of broken glass, sardine- boxes and tinfoil, it can. hardly be regarded as an. undertaking which requires any knowledge of mountaineering. » Our chief object in going to Zermatt was to attempt the Weisshorn by the Schalligrat, and we had been cheered on our arrival. by hearmg that some guide or guides had just expressed the opinion that the mountain had never before been in such good condition within. the memory of living man. It is only necessary to glance at the Weisshorn from the 8. to see that there are two obvious ways to the top—the H. ridge, which was Tyndall’s original route of 1861, and the S.W. ridge or Schalligrat, which was first climbed by Broome’s party in, 1895. The difficulty of this §8.W. route appears rather to be that of reaching the foot of the ridge than following it when it is reached, Broome’s party arrived at: the Schallijoch by keeping to. the 8. and 8.W. side of the Schalliberg glacier, on or close under the rocks of the Schallihom, where they bivouacked. There is an alternative route from the direction of the Weisshorn hut, which is at. the foot of the E. ridge. This route runs right across the Schalliberg glacier, which covers the lower part of the §.E. face of the mountain, and about half-way across from the hut it.1s usual to cross the great rock rib, which starts high up on the face and. runs far down into the glacier, dividing it.into an eastern and a western section.. Not having had the pleasure of hearing the paper which. Mr. Young read in 1921, we did not know whether it was possible to start from the hut and make the expedition. in: one day, and wishing to.investigate the matter we chose the route from the direction of the hut, though we did: not intend to stay. there but to bivouac much higher up. We rested for a: day; after. our traverse of the Matterhorn, and then, taking a porter with us, we went to Randa by the first train and followed. the

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Schalligrat and other Climbs in 1928. 57 usual path to the Weisshorn hut. About an hour below the hut we branched off to the left and, having sent back our porter, chmbed up to the foot of the eastern. section of the Schalliberg glacier and crossed the ice very easily to the great dividing rib, making for the point indicated in Dr. Ditbi’s book. The rib is crossed by ascending a deeply cut and unmistakable gully which comes down from a gap just above a sharp peak on the crest of the rib. The back of this gully consisted of snow slopes divided by immense chockstones: or piles of chockstones and looked more like Cumberland in winter than anything I have seen elsewhere in the Alps. Porter, who was responsible for the whole of the leadership on this expedition, declared that the second lot of chockstones looked very difficult. Being at the irresponsible end of the rope, I was free: to declare that it looked quite easy; but no discussion arose,. and the question remained unsettled, for Porter used his pre- rogative to climb up to a ledge on the side of the gully, and when I. had. followed him without a murmur he justified my confidence in him by letting me down an exceedingly unpleasant wall on to the snow slope above the chockstones and then following me with: at least no outward appearance of fear. After that we climbed easily up to the head of the gully, which is on @ level with the western section of the glacier. Direct egress from the gully was blocked by a vertical wall: of glacier ice. We therefore had to turn to the right and go up the narrow trough between the ice and the rock rib, at first on the rocks and then on snow at the bottom of the trough. We were soon able to get on to the glacier and start across’ it towards the Schallijoch. This was the most difficult part of the whole journey, for our route led us over steep and broken. névé, and we only got through by much climbing up and down amongst. the chasms and many extensive detours. By 4.380 we were on easy snow close under the rock wall at the top of the pass. The weather had not been: too promising in the morning, and we should not have gone so far had it not improved steadily during the afternoon. We had no very definite plan as:to a bivouac, our intention being to go on so long as we had fine weather and daylight. We therefore got on.to the rocks just to our left of a straight snow-filled couloir and had a meal. By the time this meal was finished it: ap- peared. almost certain that the night’ would be a fine one, and we could see no reason why we should not go on to the Schalli- joch. The guide-book indicates a route which does not touch: the rocks on which we were sitting but keeps along’ the ice:

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58 Jungfrau from Wengern Alp. at their foot and so into the lowest part of the pass, but as the rocks above us looked perfectly easy we started straight up them, and without finding any necessity for putting on our rope we arrived on the ridge a few hundred yards to the north of and slightly above the pass. Here at the top of the rocks we found a most satisfactory resting place, and settled down to the interesting and to us new experiment of a night in the open at 18,800 ft., with no extra covering other than the Shetland waistcoats and spare stockings which we always carry with us. There was a light wind from the Zinal side, but from this we were partly protected by the snowy top of the ridge just above us, and we were able to increase this protection by building a stone wall. We had kept perfectly dry all day, and had a smooth, dry surface of stone on which we could lie close together. Still, it cannot be said that we were ever warm or asleep. There was a clear starlit sky in all directions and the frost was intense. At nine o'clock the full moon rose over the Mischabel and we saw that a sea of fleecy white cloud had formed in the valley below us. This sea slowly rose till on its one side the top of the Mettelhorn stood out as a black rocky island above the silver surface, while on the other side the valley of the Mellichenbach appeared as a long, narrow inlet running up to the foot of the Rimpfischhorn. Tor a time we sat up and watched this superb spectacle and almost forgot the cold, but soon after midnight we could endure it no longer and began to busy ourselves in making a hot drink and thawing our boots. At 1.45 we put on the rope and started up over fairly easy ground, keeping below the ridge on the Randa side. At the end of two hours of very slow and cautious progress we had found it expedient to climb up to the ridge, where we had arrived immediately below a tower the ascent of which we were disinclined to attempt by moonlight. We therefore sat down to wait for dawn, and being at last warm I promptly went to sleep, and was reminded of the necessity of roping myself to the rocks behind me. The rest of the journey calls for little description. The ridge is chiefly remarkable for its great length and its con- tinuous array of towers. I do not suggest that our way of spending the night 1s a good preparation for a strenuous climb, and long before we got up to the top I was beginning to feel like a microbe crawling round the unending edge of a circular saw. After once reaching the ridge we kept to it closely tall we reached the so-called great red tower, which is a very steep step in the ridge rather than a tower. Here there seems to be

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Schalligrat and other Climbs in 1928. 59 no choice but to go out on to the Randa face, which may well be difficult when it is not so wonderfully free from snow and ice as we found if. There was another series of towers on the ridge above, fifty or sixty I thought, though the guide-book puts it at five or six, and I for one was very glad when we ultimately crawled on to the top a little before ten o'clock. It was too cold to stay there long, and we spent the rest. of the day in sauntering down the east ridge to Randa, where we arrived in time for tea and the evening train to Zermatt. I thought the journey up to the Schallijoch wholly de- lightful, and the traverse of the ridge, where there were no cornices nor ice and but little really amusing rock-climbing, a bit too monotonous to be quite satisfactory. This was the first time that we had adopted the go-as-you-please and stop- for-the-night-where-you-find-yourself method which has been so highly developed by some Swiss and Italian mountaineers. Complete indifference to time and ample leisure for the con- templation of one’s surroundings are its great advantages, but it is too much dependent on prolonged fine weather to be very attractive to me. Had I not seen the last number of the Auring JournaL I might have said that the Schalligrat has been much neglected since its first ascent. It is now evident that the same thought was being evolved in the minds of other men. I have already referred to Mr. Young’s ascent in 1920. We were there on July 28 and 29. On August 9 Mr. Versluys, the ‘ Flying Dutch- man, and his guides, in the course of a day’s walk, which started at the Trift and included the traverse of the Rothhorn, anived at the Schallijoch at 11.50 a.m., and leaving an hour later climbed to the top of the Weisshorn in 44 hours. Later in the same month Messrs. Howard Somervell, Beetham and Rusk slept at the Weisshorn hut, crossed the Schalliberg glacier to the Schallijoch, and climbed the ridge. My letter of inquiry addressed to Somervell produced a reply which adds some details to the description of his climb printed in the last JOURNAL. They crossed the big rib much higher up than we did, and thus involved themselves in a rock climb of 14 hours, some part of which is described in the letter as exceptionally severe. In return for this they probably avoided our diffi- culties on the western section of the glacier. Mr. Oliver’s ascent of September 10 with the two Aufdenblattens has already been recorded in the JOURNAL, and on the same day Mr. Harold Prestige, with the two Johann Summermatters, father and son, ascended the K. ridge and descended the Schalligrat.

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60 The Ago del Torrone (Cleopatra's Needle). THe Aco pet Torrone (CLEopatTRA’s. NEEDLE). By N. 8S. FINZI. S one ascends the Forno Glacier from Maloja, a striking view of the mountains at its head bursts suddenly into view (Fig. 1). Not the least remarkable object in this view 1s a sharply pointed rock needle lying just to the W. of the Torrone Orientale. It is known as Cleopatra?s Needle, or the Ago del Torrone, and it deserves its name. Until this year one was always informed that it had been tried many times and no one | had succeeded in scaling it. In 1921 I had intended to have a look at it on my last day, but, owing to a stupid mishap the day before, I was unable to do so. In 1922, however, I mentioned the matter to my guides, and one of them, Franz Josef Biner of St. Niklaus, was immediately very keen on making an attempt. The Needle lies on the Colle del Torrone, quite close to the Torrone Orientale, which looks like an enormous thimble (Fig. 1). The col is difficult of access from its N. side, which is & very steep sheet of ice about 1200 ft. high. Its S. side, not very difficult climbing, can be reached from the Alhevi hut. Our first reconnaissance, on August 5, 1922 (my friend Rudolf, Franz Biner, and myself), sought to establish an easier way from the Forno hut to the Colle del Torrone, but ended in our arrival at the gap between the Torrone Centrale and a gendarme which, when seen from the N., resembles a sitting hen. We reached this by the rocks to the W. of the Torrone Glacier, and, owing to their looseness, deposited much of them on the glacier below. Arrived at the gap, we found four courses open to us. We might have tried to climb the gendarme, which would be extremely difficult: it is absolutely vertical on both N. and 8. faces. We could have descended on the 8. side and made a difficult traverse into the couloir leading to the correct col. Franz had a look at this and, as he described it as difficult, Rudolf and I decided it was beyond our powers. We could have descended further to a point where the couloirs met and then chmbed up again: there was, however, no time for this. Finally, we could return—and we did. All we bagged was 4 photograph (Fig. 2) (which hardly distinguished between the Needle and the Torrone Orientale lying behind it), and a

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ey Ee a Poe oe am Ce . 4 “ om " E ae SER. ye . ai ; . Bion ge - as ky , he « —e ngs a . a> x . oe “ : bs ’ ‘3 i » wer 3s ms a * Z ee pee Sito >. id ’ ii. ? sepa Re ees oe ‘ ; 4 + ; ER CLEOPATRA’S NEEDLE, from W. ridge of Torrone Orientale. CLEOPATRA’S NEEDLE, from S.W. face of Torrone Orientale.

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The Ago del Torrone (Cleopatra’s Needle). 61 new route which no one will adopt owing to its vile looseness. I have doctored this photograph in order to show our subse- quent route. After Rudolf’s return home, J made another attempt, on August 8, with Biner and Peter Almer. Both the guides were in favour of a modification of our previous route, but I would have preferred to go over the Torrone Orientale. As I was in the minority I allowed them to take their route. We took to the rocks just above the bergschrund on its W. side and worked up to a sloping ledge. When this ceased we cut a few steps up in the ice and then a number of steps directly across to the rocks below the col—a sensational traverse. On reaching the col the weather, which had gradually been growing more threatening, broke completely. A tempest of wind and rain rendered a reconnaissance impossible. Biner climbed up the rocks on the 8S. face of the Needle, but could find out httle. On our return Almer had the misfortune to get a large stone, which was loosened by his rope, on to his forearm, and this prevented his doing any more climbing for some weeks. About a fortnight later Biner, an Engadine guide, and I started on another attempt: I think the date was August 22. This time I insisted on approaching the col by traversing the Torrone Orientale as low as possible: this happened to be a few feet below the summit. Owing to the state of the glacier at that time and to the fact that the second guide was put on to lead up it in order to save Biner for the actual attempt, we did not reach the col until more than six hours after leaving the Forno hut. Now the Ago is perched at the top of the Torrone Glacier, within a few metres of the ice. Seen from the E. it is a squarish tower canted to about 5° from the vertical, so that the S. face is actually overhanging. The view from the W. is similar, and both E. and W. faces are absolutely vertical, without anything on their lower portions which could be construed into a hold even by the most ferocious rock expert. The §. face is shored up by rocks which reach rather more than one-third of the way up the peak, and, though these can easily be ascended, it is doubtful whether a traverse on to the N. face could be found by fair rock-climbing, while a direct ascent of the E., 8., or W. faces without artificial means is liable to be interrupted by the transfer of the leader to another world. From the Forno Glacier it looks as if the N. face were seamed from top to bottom by a chimney, but this proved eventually only to be a wide open gully. This N. face ig

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62 The Ago del Torrone (Cleopatra’s Needle). undercut below, at the level of the col or a little lower, on both its EK. and W. sides, and it is this undercut which has probably foiled all the previous attempts. We realised that the N. face was the only solution likely and, as a traverse from the 8. face did not seem possible, Franz decided to have a go at the overhang from the W. This overhang is well seen in Fig. 2. Franz then had a two hours’ fight with the rock, and even- tually succeeded, by standing on the second guide’s head, in pulling himself on to the face by means of one handhold, and that only took two or three fingers. From here he reached a good place a few feet higher, but the second guide refused to follow. Franz then proceeded to a point where there was a difficult: traverse which he did not feel justified in tackling without some security from the rope. I doubted my capacity to give this myself, so we returned, not, however, without securing a photograph at a lucky moment when the mists which had descended upon us formed a wonderful background to our peak (Fig. 8). We determined to renew the assault another year with a more courageous second. In 1923 Rudolf, Biner, and myself had some preliminary training in the Dolomites, which included an abnormally diffi- cult route up the S. face of the Marmolata. We reached Maloja on Thursday, August 2, where we were joined by our porter, Roman Lagger of St. Niklaus, a sturdy fellow, who looked to be equal to his job, and was. We took some time to get ready, and started after 7 p.m. for the hut, which, owing to the darkness of the night, we didn’t reach until nearly 11 o’clock. We started the next morning at dawn and found a good passage on to the Torrone Orientale, my route being adopted on this occasion. We crossed a little lower than in the previous year, and on our return lower still. In fact, each time we have adopted this route we have crossed the Torrone Orientale at a lower level than the time before. We were just descending on to the col when the weather got so doubtful and so cold that we decided to give up the attempt that day. We returned to the hut, not before getting wet-through in a thunder-storm. The following day we started from the hut at 5.42 a.m., and our steps, cut the previous day, enabled us to reach the Colle del Torrone at 10 a.m., having taken several photographs en route (including Fig. 4). After a leisurely lunch we donned our kletterschuhe, and zero was at 11 a.m. Throughout, the only use that was made of the pitons was to ensure that the leader should not fall more than 8 or 10 feet and to thread the doubled rope. Arrangements for safeguarding the leader took half an

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The Ago del Torrone (Cleopatra’s Needle). 68 hour, and this time he was on the face at the first attempt. The fact that our second man (Lagger) is over 6 ft. high and very steady made this less extreme than in the previous year. From here a point low down on the N.W. ridge was attained, where there was a good stance for one man. The double rope was fixed at a higher point, and was used as some assistance. I, being the last man, was hauled up like a sack of coals. From the point on the ridge the route led obliquely upwards to the I.., and, after some reasonable climbing, a difficult traverse was reached, the key to which was to lean out as far as possible, (2) From THE GAP BETWEEN THE ‘ Sirtinc HEN ” GENDARME AND THE TORRONE CENTRALE relying on a handhold and a foothold so as to enable one to get the right knee on to a httle ledge. I tried this, but the handhold departed from the rock, and I with it. However, the rope brought me up without damage on the opposite wall of the shallow gully, referred to above, which this traverse crosses. ‘The gully itself looked unclimbable ; the rocks were like a number of enormous sausages with all the rounded ends turned downwards : it would be possible, however, to traverse lower down than we did. The other side of the gully, the climbing was again reasonable and led to a broad triangular ledge on which three people can stand in comfort, just below the point where Biner is standing in Fig 8. For a few yards above this is the only easy climbing on the peak, and then there

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64 The Ago del Torrone (Cleopatra’s Needle). is @ vertical pitch with no reasonable holds which Biner con- sidered not very difficult, but which Rudolf and I would not care to tackle without a rope in front of us. This led to the top of a slab, well seen in Fig. 4, which gave uncomfortable but sufficient standing-room. From this point the first man must make a traverse, below the overhang seen in Fig. 5, on to the W. face: this even Biner admitted to be extremely difficult. The rest of us came over the overhang with the help of a doubled rope around the summit itself, which the last of us reached at 2 p.m. We rested an hour or more on the top and built a cairn. lLagger had had the temerity to bring with him a bright-green cap, and this formed so fitting a finish to our cairn that it remains there. For the descent we used three double ropings. The first took us down to the easy rocks above the triangular ledge, where we unroped in order to allow sufficient rope for the next man. The second took us to a few feet below the place where the handhold came away, and the third down to the spot from which we got on to the N. face. English climbers sometimes complain that the climbing in Switzerland is not difficult enough. Well, let them try Cleopatra’s Needle. I think they will find all the difficulties they need. I do hope, however, that it will not be hung with ropes and spotted with pitons. I take off my hat to anyone who can lead this climb as it is at present; I can’t. The discovery of the route is entirely due to a very rising guide, Franz Josef Biner of St. Niklaus. Forno hut, 5.42; Colle del Torrone, 10.0; start on ihe, 11.0; summit, 14.0; descent started, 15.05; Colle del Torrone, 16.25; Forno hut, 20.15. THe Osvious Passrts AcRoss THE WESTERN END OF THE Mont Buianc RANGE. By R. L. G. IRVING. HE man who describes the obvious invites his audience to write him down a genius or a bore. Even without that sentence, you, Reader, may have been able to make your choice! And if you ask me how it comes about that I have offered to fill the pages of such a rare and costly journal as this with matter that is admittedly commonplace, I can

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Obvious Passes Across W. End of Mont Blanc Range. 65 only plead my belief that some of those whom it will reach are, like myself, immune from any terror of the obvious, and ready to hear again of passes they themselves have crossed in better time, in worse conditions, and by a variation of the route described which avoids the least interesting of the difficulties it presents. The terror of the obvious has not affected mountaineering and other sports to the extent to which it has affected Art, where the distortion of vision it can produce appears to have no limit. Nature imposes salutary limitations on our methods of climbing the Alps, and on the objectives we endeavour to attain. And, after all, if the rejection of the commonplace by one generation involves some temporary loss of what is really beautiful, it provides the joys of rediscovery for that which is to come. Appreciation of mountains, in fuller measure than was ever given to man before, was one of the legacies of the Victorian age. As a convention, if not as an experience, it became the property of the common herd, through the classics of Alpine literature and the more sensational pages of the popular magazine. The host of keen young climbers that swarmed over the Alps at the end of the last century, longing to find expression for their enthusiasm, found that they had been anticipated by men as clear of vision as themselves. They showed a playful resentment by making the Ruskinian idol wobble on its pedestal and then set to work to perfect the technical side of mountaineering. That task could hardly have been better done. The modern standard of achieve- ment is extraordinarily high. Even in the last twenty years the general level has risen a great deal. The other day I came across a paragraph in vol. xxiv. of this JouRNAL that gave me a glorious laugh. It was a ‘ disclaimer,’ signed by no less than fourteen magnates of the Club, against the practices of a certain schoolmaster who took a few ‘ novices ’ to the Alps. When I think of the natural aptitude of those novices, the ease with which the first simple courses they undertook were accomplished, and then of the involuntary glissades, the escapes from bombardment, the deliberately chosen difficulties that young parties of the present day survive and repeat without a word of protest, I see the change that has been effected in our standards and the protection that is afforded to youth by the Academies of Wastdale Head and Pen-y Pass. Naturally, the development of the technical side of moun- taineering has encouraged a preference for expeditions which VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIII. F

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66 The Obvious Passes Across the Western End give special opportunities for testing the technique acquired. The older climber must admit that his indifference to the courses that are now considered difficult is not unconnected with that ‘middle age of the mountaineer’ which Sir Claud Schuster has portrayed for us so delightfully in the same volume xxiv. to which I have already referred. Few of the older guides, much less of the amateurs, can tackle, without overtaxing their nerves and muscles, the kind of climb that satisfies the modern expert. In this mountaineering has fallen into line with other sport, that the man who makes a serious addition to the record of achievement must be possessed of exceptional natural advantages.

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of the Mont Blane Range. 67 might certainly be suspected in those who choose to spend the best part of a day upon the wall that rises to it from the Miage glacier. There is the easy way over the Col de la Seigne to Les Mottets, and thence to the Contamines Valley by one of four passes, the Col des Fours et du Bonhomme, the Col d’Enclave, the Col du Mont Tondu, and the Col des Glaciers, the last two being easy snow and rock passes leading to the Pavillon de Trélatéte. I have not mentioned the Col de l’Allée Blanche as it is an unimportant variation of the Col de Trélatéte, made to meet the wishes of those who prefer to reach the upper snowfield on the Italian side by descending an ice-slope and crossing a nasty bergschrund rather than by traversing a short bit of ridge and stepping on to it. I had in mind to make a new pass between the Aig. de Trélatéte and the Téte Carrée, which might have become the Col (constaté) Franchissable. As you look across the Miage glacier you see a narrow tributary glacier inviting you along an easy road to your col. But the easy road ends less than half-way up in a wall of rock and ice. A choice of exits 1s afforded by steep rocks and broad couloirs that carry a certain amount of snow. There was no actual evidence of stone-falls, but it is a climb for none but a strong, experienced party. In any case it is not an obvious pass. The oldest and most obvious pass of all is the Col de Miage. A good many parties go up to the Refuge Durier on the Col from the French side; the Italian side seems to be seldom visited now. It is interesting to notice how the physical features on this side have changed since the pass was crossed by Mr. J. G. Dodson in 1859. His description in the second series of ‘ Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers ’ makes it clear that the hanging glacier below the Col was then joined by a broken ice-fall to the main glacier and to the Italian Bionnassay glacier. This is what he says about the Col and his ascent : ‘From its summit descended a snowy cataract, the foot of which appeared one vast chaos of crevasses, séracs and ice- blocks. . . . Fox was leading the way, armed with his hatchet ; immediately on his right was an upward slope of ice, so steep that I have seen many a wall further removed from the per- pendicular (sic)... . After a while, the ice becoming im- practicable, it was judged best to bear to the left and get on the rocks.’ From this point Mr. Dodson’s ascent is identical with mine. ‘ The rocks were composed of thin vertical layers, fissile and crumbling . . . we were feeling that raging thirst, for inspiring which the high Alps can compete with the deserts

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68 The Obvious Passes Across the Western End of Mesopotamia. All the oranges, all the apples, were gone long ago.’ With a bottle of ‘strong luscious Muscat’ Mr. Dodson was better off than I, with nothing but a boiler rendered hateful by the absence of a single match. ‘ At length, after more struggling and clambering rock work, we found ourselves really near the top of the ridge; . . . and immediately to our right stretched a small inclined plateau, covered with snow, leading to the summit.’ The descent of the French side by one of the three ribs of easy rock has not changed, save in the important matter of its inclination. ‘* Not that it seemed much to signify where one went, for to all appearance one might have dropped a plummet anywhere.’ Either the angle has eased considerably or this deviation of the plummet by auto-suggestion in the honest hand of a Victorian M.P. is a remarkable anticipation of the achievements of Coué’s disciples with a pendulum. The glacier in the lower part of Mr. Dodson’s route has disappeared and left a precipice of rock overhung by a big ice-cliff. The junction of the Italian Bionnassay glacier with the Miage glacier is at present broken by impassable schrunds, and last August I was forced away to the left, on to the slope in which the Miage glacier ends, and which would offer the simplest of routes were it not for one or two great crevasses that traverse the whole width of the ice. By good luck I found a slender structure of firm snow that enabled me to reach the slope above the worst of these and so gain access to the rocks, which, in my case, lay on my right. Without this luck, even with a companion to help one over, the obstacle would be rather formidable. Moreover, it 1s impossible to cross the slope to the rocks without some risk of being hit by stones, the line of whose descent is indicated in the photo- graph (1) taken about a fortnight later. Being obliged to reach St. Gervais-in a single day, being also alone and in too poor walking condition to fancy the two mule-passes further west, I chose this as the quickest and safest of the higher passes and started from the Val Veni early, so as so find the very few. snow-covered crevasses firmly bridged. When I was on the slope the sun had only just touched the ridge above and I saw nothing fall; but a party who were there in the afternoon or in bad weather might well be hit, and late in the season might have serious trouble with one of the big crevasses. There were no traces of any party having lately been there. It is one of the most invitingly natural passes in the Alps,

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Photo, H. Howarth. (1) THE TTALIAN SLOPE OF COL DE MIAGE.

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(3) PROFILE OF ICE-CLIFF (4) FROM LAC DE COMBAL of Titan de Trélatéte. (Aig. des Glaciers above cloud.)

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of the Mont Blanc Range. 69 the only obviously vulnerable point in the terrifié walls that close the deep valley which contains the Miage glacier. My next obvious pass shall be the Col de Trélatéte. Here again is a pass that is not often crossed—in mid-August no tracks were visible after several days of fine weather—and whose physical features must have changed considerably in Aiguilles Col Col de de Trélatéte l’Allée Blanche So (2) From THE AIGUILLE DE BERANGER (Extracted from M. Vallot’s Atlas after Photo by M. H. Bregeault) the last few decades. The main difficulty is the wall above the Trélatéte glacier on the French side. The illustration (2) shows it in its present summer condition. Mr. C. E. Mathews has left us a good account of his passage of the Col in 1864. The Col de ]’Estellette was undiscovered then, and it is easy to understand that in ascending the Glacier de l’Allée Blanche his party had ‘ the greatest possible difficulty in finding the way.’ Certainly by his account Balmat had to perform some spectacular feats before they reached the snowfield leading to the Col. Of the descent on the French

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70 The Obvious Passes Across the Western End side he says: ‘ Whatever difficulties we had on the Allée Blanche were child’s-play to those we now had to experience.’ They came down direct from the Col by a very steep glacier. What was difficult then is quite impossible now; a huge ice precipice breaks the glacier. From this and from the whole slope on the French side between the Col de Trélatéte and the Aiguille des Glaciers great avalanches pour down on to, and sometimes nearly to the middle of, the broad, level ice- stream below. The only safe way of approaching the Col de Trélatéte or the adjacent Col de l’Allée Blanche from this side is by one of the two great ribs of rock that emerge from the ice a short distance up the slope and continue with an occasional interruption to the ndge. The question is how best to get on to these rocks. One clear, cold morning last August a party consisting of G. H. Bullock, H. A. Haworth, M. Overton, and myself were trying to plan a sound route, while halting on an area of smooth snow un- visited by avalanches. We saw no way of getting on to the left-hand rocks that did not suggest possible annihilation by falling ice or probable defeat by the bergschrund. Accordingly we crossed a lower bergschrund at a convenient point and made for some rocks which promised to facilitate the crossing of the upper and larger one. We were cutting steps up the slope between the two when an ominous rattle made us all look ‘up. A single stone was coming down. We felt like the two men in Heine’s poem who saw a bullet coming with no time to do anything except to wonder who was to be hit. It jumped the upper schrund, swerved once or twice, as if hesitating in its choice, then, a hundred feet or less above us, it met some small projection in the ice and took off for a magnifi- cent long jump that carried it a dozen feet above the rope. It was the only thing that fell anywhere near us on the two hours’ ascent of the slope, but it left us in too great a hurry to reach the big rib of rocks to enjoy the intervening stretch ofice. The bergschrund was passed as easily as we had hoped by some rocks on which rested a notable ice-cliff. Seen full- face it 18 an ordinary cliff, and by no means threatening ; its position in the photograph taken from the Aiguille de Béranger is just below the small cross. In profile, as seen by his intended victims, it is a Titan of Trélatéte (fig. 8). A perfectly safe route can be chosen up the rocks to the ridge. The occasional interruptions of steep ice are very short. Choosing the easiest way, we came on to the sky-line at what must be the Col de l’Allée Blanche. A lovely smooth snowfield lay in front, below,

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of the Mont Blanc Range. 71 separated from us by a short ice-wall. We turned to the left along the ridge till we came to the lowest point, which is the Col de Trélatéte, where the snow comes night up to the ridge. A word or two on our descent may be useful to a reader who crosses the pass as we did for the first time, and is not so fortunate in his weather as we were. Bear to the right over the snow- field, losing very little height, till you strike the ridge descend- ing from the Aiguille de l’Allée Blanche. From a little below the highest point, at which you can easily walk on to the ridge, easy rocks lead down to the southern portion of the Glacier de lAllée Blanche. Cross this, bearing due south, still losing very little height, till you are near the ridge descending from the Aiguille des Glaciers. Again the first obvious point at which you can walk on to the ridge is too high. Further down is a notch in the ridge, on the other side of which is a small, blunt- headed, rocky peak. This latter is well seen in the photograph (4). From the notch a broad, steep couloir, filled with excellent snow, gives access to the Estellette Glacier. The usual route is to traverse round the rocks on the 8. side to the Col d’Estellette and descend an easier couloir. The lower portion of the small Estellette Glacier provides good walking, and if you bear to the left you may hope to find beds of old snow that almost reach a path that takes you to the Chalets de l’Allée Blanche. My own opinion is that the lower portions of the steep slopes on the French side must be thoroughly unsafe in bad weather, and I should myself avoid them, except on a fine, cold morning. A single pass from the Val Véni to the Pavillon de Trélatéte that is safe in any weather and at any time of day is not pro- vided by the guide-books, at least not by those of Ball and Kurz. We found what we required to the S. of the Aiguille des Glaciers. From that splended rocky pyramid two main ridges descend: one which is the frontier ridge to the Col de la Seigne, the other to the Col des Glaciers. The angle between the two is filled down to a level of about 9000 ft. by the Glacier des Glaciers, but the latter is cut off from the Col des Glaciers by a number of snow bays and ribs of rock. Below this level is a vast combe whose steep sides are furrowed by the streams issuing from the numerous small tongues in which the Glacier des Glaciers ends. These furrowed walls continue steep almost to the level of Les Mottets. Kurz mentions a route descending from the Col des Glaciers and contouring round to the Col de la Seigne ‘ en traversant plusieurs ravins.’

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12 The Obvious Passes Across the Western End The ‘ravins’ when looked at from below suggest all that is most repugnant to the path-finding instincts of a mountaineer. ‘A bet, I presume!’ would be a fair comment to make to the chooser of this route. The problem before us was to find a good way across the Glacier des Glaciers without losing height, striking the ridge that contains the Col des Glaciers at a convenient point. I have no photograph of the Glacier des Glaciers, but one look across to it from the path between Les Mottets and the Col de la Seigne will show that this convenient point must be some distance to the E. of the Col des Glaciers. Few problems afford such an easy and satisfactory solution. Let us say you start from the Chalet de Pertud, under the Aiguille Noire de Peuteret. It is a good starting-point for several reasons. It is nearer every climb on the §.W. of the Mont Blanc range by nearly a thousand feet and a long hour of dusty road. Good food, willing service, and pleasant company are found there. The staff will have to be doubled if Sig. Mussolini decrees a general eight-hour day, but it can never break down while it is run by the present motive-force : a radio-active source of energy, an incorrigible optimist called Marcel. You may leave Pertud uncursed at any hour, let us say at dawn, having with your own eyes seen a goodly package of soft veal cutlets safely stowed in someone’s else sack, and walk up the Val Véni to the lower Chalets de |’ Allée Blanche before the sun is upon you. It is best to delay your halt till you reach the upper chalets, for there you may sit in the sun and drink milk, enough of which is nothing like s0 good as a feast. The map says these chalets are only thirty metres above the lower ones. You know it lies before you reach them, and that 2205 m. is far too low a figure for them. As you plod steadily up over the flower-bedecked pastures to the frontier ridge you begin to realise that it 1s the figure 2175 m. that is too high for the lower chalets, assuming the Col de la Seigne is correctly measured as 2512 m. We had left Tyndale at the upper chalets, and were the same party I have mentioned above in my description of the Col de Trélatéte. We were making for a small Col in the frontier ridge (2739 m. in the 1910 Barbey map) where the angle steepens, at the foot of the Petite Aiguille des Glaciers. At whatever point you strike the frontier ridge, it is a pleasant, easy walk. Arrived on this Col we had close at hand in front of us the rocks that bound the Glacier des Glaciers. At a height of nearly 8000 m. the ice has overflowed this boundary,

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of the Mont Blane Range. 78 and comes down to within a few yards of where we stood. Forty minutes’ walking on moderately steep snow took us to the sky-line, and we could survey our pass. The floor of the Glacier des Glaciers must be a sort of huge, flat slab covered with excrescences, like a piece of skin on which a heavy rash has come out well, for there are hundreds of extremely crevassed patches separated by narrow causeways of smooth snow strewn all over its gently undulating surface. We picked our way across almost without the manual labour that the word sometimes implies, and without ever having to descend as much as 100 ft. The best poimt to make for is fixed by the nature of the ground between narrow limits. A short scramble on good rocks lands you on the ridge at about 3250 m. Four hours is a fairly liberal estimate of the actual walking from the upper Allée Blanche chalets. Itis a kilometre or more on to the Col des Glaciers, but the ridge is easy, and along it to the Col may be the quickest way to the Pavillon de Trélatéte. We chose another way. A short distance below the place at which we struck the ridge a slope of broken rock invited a direct descent to the Trélatéte Glacier. No bridge over the bergschrund was visible in the length of it that we could see, and a steepening of the rocks as they approached the glacier prevented our seeing how far we might rely on their good offices to supply the need. We went down very slowly, the least experienced member of the party showing by word and deed a truly Christian solicitude for the welfare of his com- panions. Nothing would betray him into a careless confidence in their ability to dodge the missiles which lay in such profusion, awaiting his slightest touch to end their state of unstable equilibrium. As we neared the bottom of the slope we began to think the rocks had made a feeble joke at our expense in regard to letting us down, for they fell into the schrund in a vertical drop of thirty or forty feet. Across this vertical face, however, ran a ledge, and along this we proceeded, with hope and uncertainty in front. It was broad enough to be traversed by a stylist on his feet and by a primitive on any portion of his body that prudence might suggest. It led round the face, descending all the way to where we wished to be. There was no witness except the dripping rock above to pour cold water on our performance as we tumbled into and out of the schrund. Bearing away to the left down to the tributary glacier we soon reached the level ice. The best way through the ice-fall of the main glacier is in the middle, though you must expect to find a short stage where transverse crevasses provide

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94 The Obvious Passes Across the Western End enough zigzagging and jumping to convince you that the route you have chosen isa bad one. Our line of descent is shown on the photograph (5). | We reached the Pavillon about seven o’clock. And what a delightful haven it is to find at the end of a full and not ex- hausting day, particularly when the feel of the air tells you that the playful snow showers of the early afternoon only came to enhance the attraction of the sun, and that he will Descent from Col Moyen Age Col des Glaciers —. aS na (5) From THE AIGUILLE DE BERANGER (Extracted from M. Vallot’s Atlas after Photo by M. H. Bregeault) not fail to greet you next day when you have climbed the wall that hides him in the early morning hours! Lying there on the soft turf, watching the blue hills of Savoy change to a purple sea against the clear gold in the West, or looking back along the way he came as the peaks turn pale and cold and rise into a far-off other world, a man may find new pleasures in the cup of Beauty, though he has had it filled for him more times than he can say. We had found our obvious pass, or it may be more correct to say that I am the first person who has found its crossing worth recording! Combined with a return over the Col de Trélatéte it provided a pleasant pair of expeditions from Pertud. You set off in daylight, you march with the lightest

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of the Mont Blanc Range. 75 of rucksacks, and you arrive for dinner. Can a middle-aged mountaineer ask more? And barring a possible stone from the ‘ Titan,’ they both belong to the category of ‘ excursions without alarums’ which have nothing disturbingly dramatic about them. From the upper Allée Blanche chalets this pass is as direct a line to the Pavillon de Trélatéte as a party that bars the crossing of many ribs and ravines can be expected to take. A quick party could return to Pertud over it in eight hours. Is it impudent to suggest that such an obvious pass should have a name ? Col Supérieur du Glacier des Glaciers is too horribly pretentious and academic for a walk like this. Col Moyen Age appears to me a short and fitting name. It has Just a faint superficial resemblance to that of Miage, which is borne by the noble dome opposite ; it is a Col typical of those discovered in the middle ages of mountaineering, and it is a clear indication of its suitability for those no longer in their first youth. No pass above the snow-line is fool-proof, but of the three passes I have described this is the only one which is entirely safe from all dangers except those which a man may bring upon himself by gross incompetence or carelessness. It is pleasant, it may even be useful, to establish a right of way across an Alpine range. There is no romance about a discovery of this kind, if it is a discovery at all. It is not one of the prizes of diligent research that have so often re- warded those indefatigable students of maps and records to whom a new ascent is a sort of vitamine, without which it is impossible to extract all the soul-nourishing properties of an Alpine holiday. As for those great-hearted young men who set out to conquer a ridge or face that has flung its challenge for decades at the champions of our Club, it is a shame to speak of such things before them! And, indeed, before the ladies, who are seriously entering the lists! What a thought it is that some of the men who have made Alpine history might have failed to pass the climbing tests of the Pinnacle Club ! Is it a dreadful hour for us when we can willingly abandon the initiative to these ardent youths and maidens? Not so dreadful after all, if our aim has been no more than to answer in any way we could the roguish challenge of some rocky- shouldered giant to sit upon his head. Not at all dreadful when a man knows the Snow Queen smiles down upon him as of old, drawing him as a mother draws her son, drawing him with the passionate appeal of beauty that requires him to put out all his strength to win, drawing him with the charm

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76 The Grandes Rousses. of a daughter that is the pledge of his life’s love. Lucky man to be three times over hers! Only, let him remember that romantic extravagances are unseemly when the relationship has entered on this happy but domesticated stage. And if, alone with her, his eye still glistens, and the hand that touches her still thrills, before the world he had better let romance lie safely hid, where none but he can feel it stir, in the simple, satisfying assurance that his ideals are nearer to him in her presence. THE GRANDES Rouvussss.! By W. M. ROBERTS. T the end of August, after nearly a month in Dauphiné, we—my brother, E. E. Roberts, E. R. Culverwell, and myself—found ourselves at Bourg d’Oisans with two days in hand, which we felt would be worthily spent in an ascent of the Grandes Rousses, which we had viewed from many points during the previous month. We decided to sleep at the Cabane Fare (7321 ft.), a matter of five hours or so, involving a climb of 5000 ft. The hut was said to be locked and the key obtainable from the maire at Allemont, involving a tedious detour of six miles. The next two hours after Allemont were exceedingly hot ; we travelled up a well-graded road to the first village, after which it degenerated into a mule-track and became steeper to the second village. Unluckily there was no inn there, but we filled our bottles with water at the fountain and lunched in a delightful meadow. After this the mule-track degenerated still further, but was less steep, and often we could walk on the grass. We were now aiming for a little lake where we hoped to bathe; at the chalet below it we tried to get milk, — but the cows had not yet been milked, and, worse still, we could not get any firewood. The little lake was perfection itself, and the bathe was most refreshing. We could now see the hut, and the mavre’s information told us we need not hurry. The afternoon slept itself dreamily away, and then the energetic one went to another chalet to search for wood. The lady there was somewhat grasping, but a reference to the war and the 1 See Mr. Coolidge’s Ball’s Western Alps, 126-8.

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The Grandes Rousses. 77 Entente helped a good deal, and he came back with a good, though dearly bought, supply. We passed over the fields among the busy and rather numer- ous haymakers, and followed a very badly marked track over some nasty boulders. I pushed ahead with the key and. found a nice-looking stone hut—unlocked. Inside, except for a fair amount of short straw, there was absolutely nothing but a table, two forms, and the remains of 33 blankets. The stove and utensils had all been looted, and we regretted our optimism in leaving an aluminium saucepan behind. A water-bottle had to be sacrificed to boil the water, and it worked very well. We had an excellent dinner on tinned stuff bought in the Co-operative Stores at Bourg—a very cheap and satisfactory way of provisioning oneself—with the addition of eggs and butter from the hotel. I need not descant on the view: it was, a8 usual at a hut, beyond description in words. We went to bed. As I had not brought so good a wardrobe a8 the others, I was voted the extra half-blanket. Sleep was beginning to woo us all when we heard the tinkle of bells approaching the hut, and soon we had sheep and goats all round us, and they showed no inclination to move on. One animal stayed about our window so persistently that one of us sleepless ones began to argue that there must be a reason. We had been careful to leave no eatables outside—nothing, in fact, but ice-axes, and they are rather indigestible articles even for a goat. The curious behaviour of the bell called for explanation, and suddenly the puzzle was solved. One of us had a leather bootlace as a sling, and goats are partial to leather ; therefore the leader of the flock—a goat, as we had already noted—must be eating the bootlace. The owner of the axe dashed out of the hut with such a horrible yell that the flock fled in alarm, and returned no more; and the bootlace was found to be half consumed. We slept fitfully, for it was bitterly cold, though the height is only 7000 ft. I had had enough of it by 4 o’clock and got up to get the tea ready. The others soon followed my example, and we breakfasted much better than one generally does in a hut. There was no point in an early start, as we had only one of those miserable black French maps, and we knew nothing of our peak. As dawn began to turn the black into grey, we sallied forth, after a great effort to lock the hut, with no success. The ground was easy for 1200 ft. to a higher terrace, on which there is an upper row of glacier lakes. We crossed this and took to loose stuff mingled with patches of snow which

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78 The Grandes Rousses. helped a lot, and soon were on the glacier and had our peak in view. We crossed the flatter part of the glacier, and roped up for some steep hard snow, in which we presently had to cut steps. With crampons, or two hours later, this would have been easy. We were driven out of the couloir we started up, and took to the rocks on its right. These were soon easy, 80 we unroped and wandered up, each at his own sweet will. Soon it was tedious shale for some few hundred feet, and then big blocks, pleasant to scramble over. An hour or so of this, all in the shade, and we discovered we were on the ridge at the col we had been aiming at—the Bréche des Grandes Rousses. We had a good rest and a meal, with a fine view towards the Meije and a beautiful snow-field below us on the opposite side to that we had ascended. The rest of the climb was on a sharp ridge of excellent rock— no difficulties, but very enjoyable, and plenty of easy rock- climbing. The last bit was on a snow-ridge, and, just as we were getting close to the summit, an Alsatian hound appeared and ran towards us. He was with a party who had come up the other side—the easy way—a very easy way indeed. Our peak—the Pic Bayle—was the southern of the two highest points of the long Grandes Rousses ridge. Our col was half-way between the two peaks, which are about 2, kilometres apart, and of exactly equal height, 11,895 ft. We idly discussed our programme, which was to traverse the ridge to the S. over two or three small peaks, when suddenly one member of the party found he had lost his pocket-book with all his money and his ticket home—a more serious matter, as the combined resources of the other two, though ample for themselves, were not too much for three and a ticket. Some anxious thought suggested that it was probable that it had slipped out of his pocket into the straw in the hut. Our plans were consequently upset—we must clearly go back to the hut and give up the traverse. We agreed it would take too much time to retrace the route of the ascent, and that we could probably find a way down by continuing to the next col and then turning to the W. (1.e. the right). We got a move on, and were at the col in ten minutes ; unroped and proceeded down loose shale in great sliding strides. We got on the glacier below in a very short time and, helped by glissades, soon got to its lower rocky edge. Here we were cut off by a great precipice and had to reascend 100 ft. and traverse to our left. The precipice did not look too promising there, but we decided to chance it, and by great good luck

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The Dauphiné in 1922. 79 (or was it judgment ?) we got on to the lower terrace below and, without further trouble, got on our morning’s route. The owner of the lost money disappeared, and later was seen from high up to enter the hut and emerge in a few seconds to do a dance of triumph outside. The next few hours are among the most delightful I have ever spent on a mountain descent. We got down to the lake we had bathed in and followed the terrace in which it lies to find the Lac Blane and there to bathe, for this mountain has two distinct terraces on its western flank. We got a little astray, but found a very pleasant lake, where we had a long rest, a bathe, and a meal. But it was not the lake we sought. That turned up shortly after, and almost at once we stumbled on yet a fourth lake of astonishing beauty (not quite as the map marked it)—the Lac Noir, a truly black but not forbidding mountain tarn surrounded by small cliffs which plunged pre- cipitously into the water. A beautiful sight! We regretfully left it, as we had a long walk still before us, and it was nearly five o'clock. The way now took us over wonderfully fertile alps to a great green basin—one of the widest I have ever seen—in which many parties were haymaking. We crossed this and entered on the great glen which leads down to Bourg ; at the village, well named |’Alpe, we got on a road and, with only one short rest at Huez, the largest of the four villages in the glen, we got down to Bourg d’Oisans. All the walk from the lakes is delightful in the descent, but I should not care to walk up that way. Our forced and useless visit to the mavre certainly sent us to the hut by the pleasanter route. THe DAUPHINE IN 1922. By CHARLES H. BROOK. A Nees Dauphiné is one of the few Alpine districts which is unspoilt for those who enjoy quiet places and plain inns. There at least you may easily climb for a season without any other human beings on your peaks, if you leave out the Meije and Kecrins. It is worth while to get to know the inhabitants and their mode of life. I have been told that they originally fled there from religious persecution. You may see the date and fleur-de-lis carved on houses at La Grave, and this may explain the gentlefolk at St. Christophe, Les

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80 The Dauphiné in 1922. Ktages, and La Bérarde, for these villagers are well-bred and have charming manners, and bear great hardships with smiles. Everyone should walk up the Valley du Vénéon when starting from Bourg d’Oisans (a dull town in a remarkably flat valley), so as to stroll through the small forest with its slopes covered with wild lavender below Bourg d’Arud, and pass some fields enclosed with real English hedges. They seem to be the only ones in the district, and are, of course, an exceptional feature in France. After Bourg d’Arud the road cannot be escaped, and soon a new bridge, the third, will be built at the foot of the Plan du Lac; the elevation of the new road, at times high up on the side of the valley, is magnificent, and still gives the alternate views of the imposing Aiguille du Plat on the left, and the Fétoules on the right. Most climbers now go to the poor villages of Les Etages or La Bérarde, and it may be of interest to note that the former consists of seven families and the latter of six. It must have been a big task for the original settlers to clear of stones even the small patches of ground (now their fields). The inhabitants still work in a primitive way, but they know all about rotation of crops, and keep a very fine breed of cows rather like Guernseys. Pigs I have never seen, but Devouassoud Gaspard tells me that many of them keep one, as pigs live in the house and are useful food when the villages are snowed up, as they usually are in the winter. After a long spell of bad weather in July 1922, I decided that the Rateau should be our first peak. It is a pleasant tramp up the Val des Etancons after lunch, with a halt and a sleep if the day is warm. Devouassoud Gaspard and my young chasseur alpin porter, Joseph Eymard (who has already served in Palestine and Syria), and I had tea by the stream of spring-water close to the Chatelleret, and one marvelled at the enormous blocks of stone round us which fell from the face of the Meije in 1917 ; was it in bounds of a quarter of a mile at a time, rising high and then stopping to rest for perhaps a thousand years! From the top of the moraine we went up to the Promontoire hut by the rocks, the old and shorter route than by the glacier and, with the exception of the take-off from the ice on to the glacier-worn rock, easy. The Pro- montoire hut is not often free from Meije parties in July, but on that night there was only a caravan of young Grenoble students, male and female and cosmopolitan, enthusiastic and clever climbers. They took the upper shelf whilst we three luxuriated on the lower. I spent part of the night

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The Dauphiné in 1922. 81 listening to the busy rats. I could only identify one. It must be dull work in the off-season—or do they descend to La Bérarde, or cross the Bréche to La Grave! In the morning a few minutes’ walk took us up to the Bréche, and we had the luxury of practically starting our climb at a height of 10,827 ft. at 6.80, when the day was warming. The Rateau is perhaps an ugly peak, but its E. aréte, which none of us had been on before, 1s the watershed, thus giving fine views over La Grave as well as to the 8. From the Bréche we went straight up a rather steep but easy face on to the true aréte, narrow and broken by gendarmes, all of which should be crossed. The — climbing is interesting, and as the rocks were frequently loose and covered with powdery fresh snow great care was needed. Gaspard volunteered the information that the Meije was easier. The view of the Meije from the aréte was magnificent, and the huge upright slab which stands between the Promontoire and the Bréche attracted my attention, when we looked for the students who were trying new routes. Moving as fast as was safe, and we were never slow, we found on reaching the summit that it had taken 5} hours from the Bréche, including one halt for breakfast. The descent by the face was accom- plished by dropping down alternate rather steep slopes of snow and rock ridges supporting them. The snow rolled down in large masses in front of us, and I was glad when we were able to traverse to the S. and so get down to the Val des EKtancons, below the Bréche du Rateau, without having started an avalanche. We were back at Les Etages at 6 p.M., feeling that the Rateau can be recommended as an interesting climb, capable of several variations. Another expedition in 1922, rather more typical of the long days in the Dauphiné, where huts are few and far between, was to the Pic Sans Nom. We left Les Etages at 8 a.m. for the Lemercier hut. The walk is well known, and may one never grow tired of the almost level stroll along the Pilatte Valley ; there are many stones, but also many flowers, and it is the National Park of France, so the path 1s well kept by my friend Rodier, though it has to be remade every year in several places. There are few approaches so easy to a great glacier, and the Pilatte is one of the most beautiful in Dauphiné, being quite clean and pure, without any moraine. Unfortunately, it is shrinking rather rapidly, but its snout on to which we walk direct from the bed of the valley is still large. We reached the upper slope before the sun had melted the surface, and had to cut a good VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIII. G

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82 The Dauphiné in 1922. many steps, but were on the Col du Sélé by 9.45. The Sélé Glacier, which we descended, was almost as clean as the Pilatte. Many climbers know the way off the Sélé Glacier, which is growing more difficult, the annoying descent below and then the climb up to the Lemercier hut, which we reached at 38.15. Whilst the men collected wood I walked amongst masses of Lychnis alpina, which made the whole slope look red. We had the hut to ourselves, but when I looked in it seemed like a visit to a rifled Egyptian tomb, for the rugs and mattresses were lying about in confusion, the latter emitting their insides about the floor. Next morning we were off at 5.45, having slept an hour too long; but even then the morning was cold, with beautiful clouds in the valleys, and Monte Viso from the glacier looked chilly and far away. ‘Traversing the hard hanging snout of the Clot de l Homme Glacier, and passing the foot of the great snow couloir of the Pelvoux (which we had ascended some years before), we crossed the Sans Nom Glacier diagonally, and leaving the head of the Col du Pelvoux on our right (Gaspard was a porter on its first crossing from the Glacier Noir) we reached the rocks at the E. side of the Pic Sans Nom in two hours from the hut. The apparent way to get up the lower glacier-worn rocks was by a small couloir, which was well iced and very cold, and Devouassoud grunted and talked a good deal before he found any footing. I should have preferred the rocks on the right, which though steep were free from ice and by which we descended. Above the couloir there was no great difficulty; the mountain is steep but well broken up, and without any apparent route we traversed across the face rising diagonally and crossing small snow gullies and rock slabs until we reached the great snow couloir, when we climbed the rocks on its left side and halted for breakfast. We were soon on the W. aréte, and followed the latter to the summit by 10.0. After descending the peak by the same route, we kept to the right of the glacier until we reached the small gap in the high rocks which separate the Sans Nom Glacier from the Coup de Sabre Glacier, the latter being at a much lower level. The gap is the head of a steep couloir down which we went direct to the Coup de Sabre Glacier. It is a short-cut, but does not seem to be named. The couloir had no snow in it, but much ice and loose stones. We had to move one at a time, and spent over an hour descending. My young porter showed his appreciation by frequently calling on certain Saints, at least so I understood. By the time we arrived at the side of the Sélé Glacier it was

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Classic Cols. 83 8.30, and it was clear that we could not cross the Col de I’Aile- froide, but must toil up the Glacier du Sélé again. I was not sorry to reach the col and feel that the rest of the way would be downhill. By making a long detour we escaped the ice of the previous day, and then with a glorious long glissade and a race over the lower part of the Glacier de la Pilatte we un- roped on the breakfast place, just as the light was failing. We were off the glacier and half-way down the valley when the moon came out and lighted us as far as La Bérarde. At 9.30 we were at Les Etages, comfortably tired, not having halted since leaving the col save to unrope. We had spent two days without meeting anyone. After a good day’s rest, what can be more peaceful than to lie in the hot sun on one of the numerous huge blocks and feel the stone with one’s hands and look at the flowers which grow in every crevice ! It is strange that no such boulder has dropped on to Les Ktages, as a fair-sized one fell in 1922 in a field not far from the inn. A short walk above my boulders brings you to the rocky combe or gully, with winter snow over the torrent, which comes down from the Aiguille du Plat, the Plaret, and the Pain de Sucre. I have been alone to look at the latter more than once, and as though my thoughts had been read I was surprised to hear of numerous rumours amongst the French climbers last year that I was about to climb it with Devouassoud. I think the Mayer-Dibona is the only ascent to date, so it is open to some young English rock-climbers to make the second, and to visit a district in which numberless peaks rarely climbed once a year will reward an intimate acquaintance at least ; for do we not love them! Cuassic Co.s. (Continued from Vol. xxxv. p. 258.) (2) The Lauithor. Lauithor was an interlude. We were off next day— August 18—for Stechelberg, where we slept at the quite decentinn. Leni Hans, once a famous cragsman and the keenest hunter in the valley, came in at night and we yarned a bit. The inn people took great interest in our journey and found us blankets and provisions, and we raided the kitchen for pots.

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84 Classic Cols. The cook, a stalwart young woman, was quite keen to join our expedition. Next morning at 5.45 our three selves and two porters, one of them, Feuz, very good, made an imposing caravan. Our job was to bivouac under the final wall of the Rotbretthorn, as Dr. Diibi and Mr. Coolidge insist on calling Pt. 2718, Siegfried relegating the time-honoured name of Schwarzmoénch to some wretched pinnacle. The Wills party, J. M. Davidson and I had visited the Rotbretthorn two years ago, mainly, I am bound to say, to further my acquaintance with this W. and N.W. face of the Jungfrau. The W. face is clad with the most wonderful and extensive slabs I have ever seen. These are well shown in my friend Paul Montandon’s and the other photographs. This W. face is an old sheep-pasture and a favourite haunt of chamois, so that it must have been well known to the Lauter- brunnen people for centuries past. One can thus easily under- stand the readiness with which guides of the valley agreed to make anattempt on the Jungfrau from this side, since for some distance it lay over familiar ground.2, We took our time on the ascent, looking about us and seeing a number of chamois, and cooking, so that it was not till 8 p.m. that we reached a fine bivouac that I had marked down two years ago, right under the overhanging final cliff facing due 8. It must have been almost on this spot that Hornby and Philpott with Almer spent the night in 1866. Peter and I, after vain attempts at slumber, defeated by the glare of the sun, strolled up Rot- bretthorn once more. We left orders to fetch some black sand from close by to make us a good mattress. From the summit you face the ice-hung N. face of the Silber- horn, scene of another of old Christian’s early victories (which was our objective), while the view of the great bounding wall of the Rottal is superb. The rock scenery is of the wildest. My bivouacs are always well found, so we did ourselves well and slept the sleep of the just. On waking a bit before dawn it was quite ominously warm and the sky showed several incipient poissons. However, we got away at 5.40 a.m. and climbed a steep, awkward chimney so as to gain the col between our Horn and the foot of the great N. buttress of the false Silberhorn. ‘This chimney is at the right-hand corner of the sort of bay facing W., only a few minutes from our bivouac, and gives access to the striated slabs seen in lower —_—— es 1 A.J. xxxi. opp. 216 and 217. 2 A.J. xxx. 284-5, and xxxi. 210-211.

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Classic Cols. | 85 illustration, ‘ A.J.’ xxxi. opp. 216. The same photograph shows on its extreme bottom corner a bit of the bay in question. The entrance to the chimney is marked by a cross on the wall and its top by a little stoneman. It is probably the only means of access to these upper slabs. From the col we walked right out on to the N. face, keeping a close eye on the hanging glacier contained between the two arms of the Silberhorn (same illustration). We crossed rather lower than did Hornby and Philpott nearly 60 years ago, and prob- ably the ice has retired, so that we made none of the experiences described by Mr. Philpott.? It is a wild place, right out on the face, very rarely visited. Somewhere out there Johann Lauener, elder brother to Ulrich and Christian, lost his life.4 But I have no use for bad weather and it was getting every minute more threatening. So after breakfasting on a rocky promontory we beat a retreat over the col and down the awkward chimney. I was not going home without something in my pocket, so we set a course for the Rottal hut. This involved crossing the whole W. face of the Jungfrau, over the great slab-field called Straéhlplatten, while above us on our left loomed the mighty W. wall of the mountain up which lay, in my opinion, the line of the earliest attempt from this side, an attempt repeated in 1863 by C. EK. Mathews and v. Fellenberg with Melchior Anderegg, Ulrich Lauener, and Bischoff, and finally completed by Seymour King with Ambros Supersax and Louis Zurbriicken in 1887.5 Peter advanced a theory that the slabs became more slippery when they got hot. We went very gingerly, anyhow. We kept purposely high up to lose no height, but failed to get off the slabs above the Barenfluh and eventu- ally were compelled to descend all the way to the ruined upper Stufenstein hut before we got on the path. By this time we had the satisfaction of being enveloped in the most almighty thunder-storm, and thanked our stars we were not high up some- where or other. We avoided getting wet-through by tucking ourselves away under rocks when the storm got too outrageous. We got to the hut at 5.80 p.m., findingit, fortunately,empty. It rained and thundered in the night and next morning was still thick, so we despatched the young man to Stechelberg for more provender. We spent the usual lazy off-day, eating and sleeping and spying out the land with my 8-Zeiss. It cleared 3 A.J. xxv. 48. 4 A.J. xxx. 286, n. 15. 5 A.J. xxxi. 210-216, with route-marked illustration.

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86 Classic Cols. up all day and the evening was fine, although the valley was still full of clouds. Our objective was the Lauithor, long on my agenda—but that was always long enough for two or three lives. I had no books by me nor did I remember anything about the route. It is all the better for one’s education when this is so. The Almers had never crossed it. The obviously sound way was to take at the earliest moment to the central rock-tongue which seams the great ice-gully of the col. Tyndall’s topography is vague and even the famous picture ® may refer to the left flank either of the central tongue or of the right bank.’ We were away at 5.20—August 17—and steered straight for the steep avalanche-bank leading to the foot of the great couloir. We put on our crampons and got along at a good rate, hardly chipping a step. The bank was, however, much longer and steeper than it looked and was intersected by 2 minor bergschrunds, while a third quite forbade any attempt to gain the foot of the central rock-tongue. We—the young man was now leading—found, however, a way on to the rocks of the right bank, at the same level as the tip of the central tongue, by climbing an awkward corner and squeezing up the icy funnel made by the glacier water (7.10). We continued up the rocks of the right bank for 5 minutes and then descended into the icy funnel and crossed to the central tongue, keeping, how- ever, on the hard snow close to the rocks. At 7.80 we took to the rocks and could now see that the markedly red rocks of the right bank were easy, anyway up to a black slate cliff. We kept to the fairly easy rocks of the right flank of the central rock-tongue or buttress, eventually at 7.55 climbing to its crest, at a flat place just under a black-and-red téte and on @ level with the black slate cliff before mentioned. We were never more than 30 ft. above the snow in the main couloir on our right. Proceeding at 8.12, after a standing breakfast, young Almer attempted to climb the téte, but it was all iced, so I ordered him back and we returned to the edge of the main couloir on our right, at one time on its bounding 8 Hours of Exercise (1906 edition), opposite p. 9. His account in the Eggishorn book, copied by Mr. Montagnier and reprinted in- A.J. xxxil. 236, shows that his party (August 9, 1860) cut right up the right-hand couloir in good snow, with a short diversion on to the rocks of the right bank (ascending), spending nearly 7 hours in doing so. Apparently no attempt was made to use the central tongue or buttress. 7 Right and left is used throughout in terms of the ascent.

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Classic Cols. 87 snow. Oversteep, holdless rocks—all foot-work—and some ice, we gained once more, at 9.50, the crest of the central buttress. Keeping again to the right flank, over steep rocks with few holds, we reached the end of the rocks at 10.25. Our job was done ; twenty minutes’ step-cutting up the very steep ice-wall landed us at 10.45 on the sky-line. We descended over good snow, lunched from 10.55 to 11.27, and were at the Jungfraujoch at 12.50. The place was packed; however, the manager, with the traditional care for mountaineers, saw to us. The great cleft up which the route lies is rather a creepy place. I did not feel comfortable on the avalanche-bank leading to the actual gully, and one is never too safe from ricochetting stones, even on the central buttress. I do not much wonder at the awe in which it was held even in days when couloirs were considered correct practice. However, we never saw nor heard a stone move, sharply as were my ears attuned. If there were snow in the gully it might shorten the time. There is, of course, always a satisfaction in doing these old classic climbs and filling the scene in imagination with our doughty predecessors. The Almers were much pleased, not- withstanding my inability to tell them that Old Christian had led the first party. (83) The Schmadryoch. The wonderful weather had broken at last. Six precious days were lost. 1 had time to remember an old score with the Schreck-Lauteraarhorn-Grat. Before it was ever done J])aniel Maquignaz and I had got a long way on it but were defeated by too much snow; then, about 1910, Herbert Reade and I ascended the Lauteraarhorn from the Strahlegg. I led up to the summit, but when it was Herbert’s turn to start along the aréte, which from there looks perfectly detestable, we both decided it was too late, so we returned by the same way. The bridge of the bergschrund of the Strahlegg broke under me and let me flop to the bottom, some 10 ft. Herbert, standing below and seeing me disappear, started hauling hard on the rope, and I had to start hauling too before he realised I was all right, whereupon I walked out at the end of the schrand ! T remember we went right through to the Bear without a stop, arriving there about midnight—a 21-hour job. I fancy he must have had an assignation, but he missed it, I fear. Two years ago Wilson, Wills, Bradby, J. M. Davidson and I gained the Schrecksattel, but we were late and had had enough and so

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86 Classic Cols. up all day and the evening was fine, although the valley was still full of clouds. Our objective was the Lauithor, long on my agenda—but that was always long enough for two or three lives. I had no books by me nor did I remember anything about the route. It is all the better for one’s education when this isso. The Almers had never crossed it. The obviously sound way was to take at the earliest moment to the central rock-tongue which seams the great ice-gully of the col. Tyndall’s topography is vague and even the famous picture ® may refer to the left flank either of the central tongue or of the nght bank.’ We were away at 5.20—August 17—and steered straight for the steep avalanche-bank leading to the foot of the great couloir. We put on our crampons and got along at a good rate, hardly chipping a step. The bank was, however, much longer and steeper than it looked and was intersected by 2 minor bergschrunds, while a third quite forbade any attempt to gain the foot of the central rock-tongue. We—the young man was now leading—found, however, a way on to the rocks of the right bank, at the same level as the tip of the central tongue, by climbing an awkward corner and squeezing up the icy funnel made by the glacier water (7.10). We continued up the rocks of the right bank for 5 minutes and then descended into the icy funnel and crossed to the central tongue, keeping, how- ever, on the hard snow close to the rocks. At 7.80 we took to the rocks and could now see that the markedly red rocks of the right bank were easy, anyway up to a black slate cliff. We kept to the fairly easy rocks of the right flank of the central rock-tongue or buttress, eventually at 7.55 climbing to its crest, at a flat place just under a black-and-red téte and on @ level with the black slate cliff before mentioned. We were never more than 80 ft. above the snow in the main couloir on our right. Proceeding at 8.12, after a standing breakfast, young Almer attempted to climb the téte, but it was all iced, so I ordered him back and we returned to the edge of the main couloir on our right, at one time on its bounding S Hours of Exercise (1906 edition), opposite p. 9. His account in the Eggishorn book, copied by Mr. Montagnier and reprinted in- A.J. xxxil. 236, shows that his party (August 9, 1860) cut right up the right-hand couloir in good snow, with a short diversion on to the rocks of the right bank (ascending), spending nearly 7 hours in doing so. Apparently no attempt was made to use the central tongue or buttress. 7 Right and left is used throughout in terms of the ascent.

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Classic Cols. 87 snow. Oversteep, holdless rocks—all foot-work—and some ice, we gained once more, at 9.50, the crest of the central buttress. Keeping again to the right flank, over steep rocks with few holds, we reached the end of the rocks at 10.25. Our job was done ; twenty minutes’ step-cutting up the very steep ice-wall landed us at 10.45 on the sky-line. We descended over good snow, lunched from 10.55 to 11.27, and were at the Jungfraujoch at 12.50. The place was packed; however, the manager, with the traditional care for mountaineers, saw to us. The great cleft up which the route lies is rather a creepy place. I did not feel comfortable on the avalanche-bank leading to the actual gully, and one is never too safe from ricochetting stones, even on the central buttress. I do not much wonder at the awe in which it was held even in days when couloirs were considered correct practice. However, we never saw nor heard a stone move, sharply as were my ears attuned. If there were snow in the gully it might shorten the time. There is, of course, always a satisfaction in doing these old classic climbs and filing the scene in imagination with our doughty predecessors. The Almers were much pleased, not- withstanding my inability to tell them that Old Christian had led the first party. (8) The Schmadryoch. The wonderful weather had broken at last. Six precious days were lost. 1 had time to remember an old score with the Schreck-Lauteraarhorn-Grat. Before it was ever done Daniel Maquignaz and I had got a long way on it but were defeated by too much snow; then, about 1910, Herbert Reade and I ascended the Lauteraarhorn from the Strahlegg. I led up to the summit, but when it was Herbert’s turn to start along the aréte, which from there looks perfectly detestable, we both decided it was too late, so we returned by the same way. The bridge of the bergschrund of the Strahlegg broke under me and let me flop to the bottom, some 10 ft. Herbert, standing below and seeing me disappear, started hauling hard on the rope, and I had to start hauling too before he realised I was all right, whereupon I walked out at the end of the schrund ! T remember we went right through to the Bear without a stop, arriving there about midnight—a 21-hour job. I fancy he must have had an assignation, but he missed it, I fear. Two years ago Wilson, Wills, Bradby, J. M. Davidson and I gained the Schrecksattel, but we were late and had had enough and so

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88 Classic Cols. came down again. A few days later Wills and I with the two Almers ascended the Schreckhorn by the N.W. ridge, but again the Lauteraarhorn-Grat failed to fascinate us enough. The 28rd was a brilliant, cloudless day. Mrs. Allston Burr undertook to conduct—and did so in great form—a party of her Boston friends, her husband, myself and Gottfried Bohren, up the terrible steeps of the Upper Glacier. We returned in safety. aah the 24th the two Almers and I set out once more for the Strahlegg hut. Before we got there it snowed. It snowed all night. We came down in snow and mist. The Grat shall yet pay its debt ! The season was getting on, so on the 29th we set out for Obersteinberg to pay a call on the Schmadrijoch. The weather was still doubtful. At Stechelberg the post-mule was just starting with a light load, so we transferred our sacks to its back. Instead of taking the Trachsellauenen path, which mounte gently for a long way but becomes very steep and sunny towards the end, we turned to the right up the Gimmenwald path and, after about half an hour, turned sharp left by a path marked ‘Obersteinberg.’ This continues through wood, mounting uniformly, high above the other path, and lands one at the lower inn on Obersteinberg. It is much the better. We found the Wirthin of the upper inn in great distress, as news of her brother’s fatal accident with Sir Henry Hayden had been received. This Schmadrijoch has, somehow, always been looked at askance. It was first crossed in 1866 by Hornby, Philpott and Morshead, with Almer, Chr. Lauener and Jakob Andcregg, from the Loétschtal to the Rottal. It was a very snowy year, and the party descended backward, kicking steps down the couloir. The other passages I know of, besides those recorded in ‘§.A.C. Jahrbuch,’ are those of Lord Wentworth (‘A.J.’ xxx. 312) with Ulrich Lauener in 1875, of Signor G. Gruber about 1878, Mr. H. Cockburn 1884, Mr. Fynn 1893, guideless, Sir Edward Davidson in 1895, and Claude Wilson and Wicks in 1902. On October 10, 1908, Herr I*. Beck, 8.A.C.,8 ascended and descended it with the guides Miiller and P. v. Allmen. There was also another descent, in August 1906, by a French tourist with the Grindelwald guides Bleuer and Bohren, who built the hut referred to below. — 8 Jahrbuch S.A.C. xliv. 354.

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Classic Cols. 89 Claude Wilson tells me their guide, K. Schlunegger, led them to the right (ascending), involving much step-cutting, finally over a big ice-bulge which alone cost 2 hours’ cutting. Rather amusing to find these masters misled when they do take a guide! When they parted with him he remarked he had often been with ‘ second guides’ who were not better men on & mountain than they were! Of a truth I believe him! I found among my much-missed friend Edward Davidson’s papers an account of his passage on September 21, 1895, with old Almer, Klucker and Rudolf Almer. It is very indi- cative of his careful observation, and it will appear in due course in the JOURNAL. Cockburn writes: ‘I think we kept close to a rocky rib (2? Grosshorn), having it on the left for the greater part of the ascent, and then near the top turned to our right over some snow and rocks. Guides H. Devouassoud and H. v. Allmen.’ This is practically the line we followed. Although it was an icy year, our route required less than twenty steps all day. Next morning we got up, but weather was so obviously bad —much mist—that we turned in again. All day the mountains were seldom visible, and at 3 a.m., August 31, the whole chain was still covered, a mountain showing intermittently. However, one can always turn back, so we got off at 4.24 and followed our old trail to the Oberhorn Chalet (5.85), now closed, as all the keep had been eaten off. Right ahead, over the back of a big moraine, was our Col. Wills and I had discussed the best line when held up at Obersteinberg in August 1921. It was to take to the rocks on the left (ascending) of the great couloir at their lowest point and follow these as far as we could. We expected to be pushed into the couloir twice to circumvent probably difficult pitches. We ascended a steep grass-grown wall and finally up moraine, from which we descended on to the stone-strewn lower part of the Wetterliicke Glacier (6.10). This was crossed directly to the foot of the avalanche-bank of the Col (6.40). In this bank are set what looked like two small rocks, one a bit higher up than the other. We mounted straight up the snow-snout of the great avalanche-bank, and finally over some not very old avalanche débris to the foot of the first rock, which towered 20 ft. above us (7.15). The weather was not improving, the sky all round full of leaden snow-clouds. We got into the gap between ice and rock and took a standing meal, agreeing that if it got any worse we would turn back. For a moment it looked a bit better, and on we went. The snow-bank

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90 Classic Cols. contracted to a narrow gullet between our rock and one to the right, and down this gullet was quite a waterfall. We climbed our rock immediately on our side of the waterfall up an awk- ward slab. With a lower level of the snow this would be worse ; with a higher level it would be covered. This was the only clumbing all day. Much to our surprise, our rock turned out to be the forehead of a huge, long island of rock connected to our second rock, likewise the forehead of an upper island, by a VIEW FROM SUMMIT OF GSPALTENHORN (MUCH SNOW) 1, Rook islands (see above). 2. Narrow gullet. 8. Ice-snout. 4, Col. short snow-slope. We walked up these two fairly steep islands and were at the top of the second at 7.56. Above this the couloir widens until, a good bit higher up, it is almost blocked, save for a narrow gullet on its left, by a great ice-snout, or Nollen. The snow in the couloir was quite good, so, instead of bearing to our left front to gain the tip of the long tongue of rocks bounding our couloir on its left (ascending) as had been our plan, we kicked right up the couloir till we were long above the level of the tip. When the couloir contracted to a second gullet, where rocks project on the left, we took—sweating freely— .to these rocks (8.80-8.40). We now seemed not far below the level of the ice-snout, which was one reason for quitting

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Classic Cols. | 91 the couloir. Not a stone or anything fell, however, all day. Soon after, at 8.55, we passed on our left the walled-up cave built in 1906, as already mentioned. The floor was all ice, and it was not an inviting place to sleep in. We were still below the level of the ice-snout. By this time it was snowing hard. We now bore to our right, having the.steep ice-couloir on our right, up steep grey holdless rocks, with a huge yellow tower immediately above us on our left. We ascended a shallow chimney close to the edge of the couloir and, looking round the corner on our left, saw a steep gerdll-covered vire, the left bounding wall of which formed an eaves right over it. We were now at the level of the ice-snout, which turned out to be the forehead of a great mass of riven glacier stretching far upwards. Between us and it the couloir narrowed to not more than 80 ft. We scrambled up the loose gerdll of the vire, slipping back one step in two, and took advantage of its ‘roof’ to eat (9.80-9.40). The vire ended. We cut seven steps in ice in the couloir to get round the corner, and saw above us, on our left, a slope of steep new-snow-covered rocks, crowned by a great precipitous wall. This is well seen from Obersteinberg, and Wills and I had agreed it was the critical point of the ascent. We climbed the rock-slope carefully, as it was steep, and the rock sloped like a tiled roof. A good traverse on an old-snow-covered band, rather over half- way up the slope, led us back to the right-hand end of the great wall on the very edge of the couloir. It was still snowing hard. We cut across the couloir on to the broad-riven, scaly back of the ice-snout, and were very surprised to find, still above us, a gentle but much broken snowy bay or glacier basin. Above us, through the driving snow, we could just see the crest of the ridge, but quite a long way back. From time to time came a strange roaring noise like under-ice water. A steady plod through shoe-top snow brought us to the crest at 10.55. Here a roaring ice-cold wind struck us, which accounted for the previous noise. Twenty feet below the crest on either side we were out of the wind: it seemed to travel right along the crest. We struck the ridge rather to the left of the Col and walked down along it. The line of ascent, as seen from Obersteinberg, is much foreshortened and very deceptive. I was much relieved to find that the valley below was fairly clear, as none of us knew anything of the descent. It was still snowing quite hard. I did not want the long trudge down the Létschtal, of too blessed memory, and so set the course 8.E. for the Jagiliicke and the Steiger hut.

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92 Classic Cols. On the §. side you go down terraced rocks pretty well any- where, but the glacier is a good deal crevassed. We made the Liicke at 12.50. Looking E. across the Anenfirn one sees a great transverse band of slabby rocks, whereas the Siegfried map shows unblemished névé. It was still snowing and a bit thick. We gobbled down a wet meal, and at 1.18 turned our heads in despair for Fafleralp. We got down on to the steep grass slopes at the W. foot of Jaégiknubel, but, for quite some time, found no way off. However, a shout from the young man led us to the head of a very wet watercourse, down which we scrambled with great care. We were down on the valley floor by 2.50, and walked into Fafleralp, pretty wet, at 4.35. We had never seen the gun all day, and for the first time in my life I had never worn my sun-glasses and never suffered a bit. Peter, throughout, had shown himself a great general, and the young man, with opportunity, is going to be every bit an Almer of the best. They are always well-mannered, agreeable companions. The inn has been greatly improved since we were there two years ago, and a dépendance built with spotlessly clean bedrooms. It belongs to a syndicate of Genevese, and 18 managed by a very capable and obliging manager, with whom I soon dropped speaking German, as he spoke English perfectly well. In the kitchen is a stove for drying clothes, and so by dinner-time ours were ready to wear. We were done very well, at reasonable cost, and had earned our bottle of Mauler. We left next day at 9.10, made Goppenstein by 11°50—the path goes up at least as much as down—and were home by rail in the Bear by 3.15. Such are modern conveniences. The Schmadrijoch is a very pretty Col. One is route- finding all the way, and one’s judgment is always called in. I only wished my companions of the summer of 1921 had shared in the passage of our then longingly looked-at Col. Wills has started on the long trail, but none of us, his comrades, will ever forget the lithe, sinewy figure, the unerring judgment, of one of the sunniest-natured and most charming of men. All the three Cols gave me great delight, perhaps because they caused me not the least strain—of course, I never did much—and left me fresh to take in every detail: perhaps even more because they recalled tireless days of the past and left me with new hopes for the future. Moreover, we had them all to ourselves, and never saw a soul or a trail, so that we were thrown entirely on ourselves.

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Climbs in Maligne Lake District, Northern Canadian Rockies. 98 CLIMBS IN THE MALIGNE Lake District, NORTHERN CANADIAN ROCKIES. By HOWARD PALMER (Vick-PRESIDENT AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB). ALIGNE Lake is situated in what may be termed the North-Eastern Canadian Rockies—a segment of that mountain system cut off by the major valleys of the Atha- baska and Brazeau rivers. The former, with its tributaries, the Sun Wapta and Poboktan, swings around the area on two sides, N.W. and 8.W., while the Brazeau on the third, the S.E. side, collecting the drainage from the easterly slopes of the Poboktan divide, flows towards the N.E. to the North Saskatchewan. The plains form the boundary on the fourth side. Only a narrow strip along the main Athabaska river has been topographically mapped, and very little is known of the remainder. Like other portions of the eastern Rockies, the region is traversed by long parallel valleys and ranges running §.E. and N.W., with only occasional breaks permitting easy access from one valley to that adjoining. Many of these troughs drain in opposite directions from local divides. In a westerly trough of this mountain area, adjacent to that of the main Athabaska and separated from it by a ridge of low average altitude (c. 8500 ft.), hes Maligne Lake, elevation about 5460 ft. It is probably the largest lake in the Rockies, being 14 miles long and about a mile wide. It occurs in the upper basin of the Maligne river, which is perhaps the chief southern tributary of the Athabaska hereabouts, draining as it does an area of about four hundred square miles. It joins - the Athabaska a few miles below the town of Jasper, on the Canadian National Railways, emerging in great volume from a subterranean channel near the mouth of a remarkable lateral canyon half a mile long, 180 ft. in depth, and in places only 10 feet wide. The Maligne river, rising at Maligne Pass (c. 6800 ft.), 18 miles S. of the lake, flows into it about five miles from the lower end. Renewing its course there, it dashes on in augmented volume 8 miles farther to Medicine Lake, a fine sheet of water 4 miles long, overlooked by gaunt grey limestone peaks with saw-tooth skylines. Here the river loses itself in the most extraordinary manner, for the lake has no visible outlet,

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94 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, although, indeed, a dry, stony channel at the N. end evi- dently takes care of an overflow at rare intervals. This channel soon fills from seepage and the run-off from lateral valleys, but never receives any quantity of water from the Maligne river proper, which flows underground for over nine miles and debouches in the main Athabaska valley, as above stated. ; The name was given in the early fur-trading days by travellers through the Athabaska valley, because frequently they were compelled to make a dangerous ford here.! Later, in a somewhat off-hand manner, it was extended to include the lake whence the river flows, so that now, by a kind of historical accident, it has become fixed upon what is un- doubtedly the most splendid body of water in the Rockies— a sad commentary on the way irresponsible tradition may act. Apparently the existence of the lake was not generally known at that period, for it does not seem to be mentioned in any of the contemporary narratives or maps. So far.as the writer is aware, it occurred first on the map accompanying Sandford Fleming’s ‘ Report on Surveys, ete., for the Canadian Pacific Railway,’ published in 1877 at Ottawa. It was visited by Henry A. F. Macleod, one of the leading surveyors of that period, in 1875.” After MacLeod’s exploration, the lake appears to have been lost sight of until 1908, when it was rediscovered by a party under Mrs. Charles Schaffer, who first brought its magnificent 1 North-west Passage by Land, Milton and Cheadle, third edition, 1865, p. 239. Probably the first map to show the Maligne river by name was that accompanying the paper, ‘ Mountain Passes of British Columbia,’ by Alfred Waddington, Proceedings R.G.S. vol. xxxvili. p. 118, March 1868. 2 See pp. 195-6 of this Report. MacLeod alludes to it as ‘ Sore- foot Lake,’ stating that it lay 33 miles from the mouth of the river. ‘ We explored along the north [east] shore to near the east [south] end, ten miles farther. The shores of the lake are very bold and rough, with land-slides in places, and near the east [south] end there is a glacier reaching within 200 feet of the lake level [probably refer- ring to that descending from the present Mt. Unwin]. The moun- tains beyond the east [south] end approach each other very closely, leaving only a narrow, steep gorge between them, and they are covered with perpetual snow and glaciers.’ He placed the eleva- tion of the lake at 5134 ft.—1388 ft. above Yellowhead Pass. Evidently MacLeod did not go beyond ‘the narrows.’ He seems to have believed that the lake terminated there, failing to notice its southern extension.

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ALPINE JOURNAL— VOL. xxxvi., No oc Li leng < = ‘ap = vin i i Be Zz ucofe a OSL —_ % uosdweg 3A|7 4261 YAW 1Vd H Yd VO Ay suonippy pue sahueyg yqim ‘uorssiuituio) NADPUNOG 94740 JIWYS KAPUT IY? UO PISO g SdNOYS NVIINIWITD IW OXY AMV INDI JHL ONIMOKHS ‘SISSY GYIHMOTIA, GNY Hsng N33M13g SLI AMIOW NVIGVNVS JHL JO WVYSVIG HILIMS s3tiw J031V9S ALVWIxXONddV ‘~_ SSUd 13A0HS /\I ooou ot a14t?D iW . . we) , yh Tue \.- SS QYINMOTIT?, otS To face p. 94

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Northern Canadian Rockies. 95 scenery to public notice in her entertaining book ‘ Old Indian Trails,’ published in 1912, and in other writings.2 A number of the peaks were named and the shoreeline of the lake was mapped. Since then, as one of the leading attractions of Jasper Park, and easy of access, it has been visited by many. Yet none of the principal peaks which cluster about its easterly shore and southerly end was ever ascended, nor has adequate information been available regarding their number, height, or importance. The administrative map of Jasper Park and the Jasper sheet of the Dominion sectional map both are admittedly of only a sketchy description in this locality. Under these circumstances the district seemed to offer a most attractive opportunity for mountaineering and explora- tion, so in 1923 Mr. Allen Carpe and the writer determined to spend a short vacation there and see if we could not unravel the topography and accomplish a few first ascents. Informa- tion that a motor-boat would be at our disposal on the lake was an influential factor in our choice of this objective, for, owing to the size of the lake and to the lack of trails along the shores, it would otherwise be difficult to maintain ourselves at the far end, where we expected to do most of our work. We engaged William D. Harris, of Jasper, a doughty friend of former campaigns, to outfit us, and set forth from there on June 80 with nine horses. A second man, Walter Grey, accom- panied us as packer and cook. That evening found us camped near the Government cabin at the 8. end of Medicine Lake, about thirteen miles beyond Maligne Canyon. The trail was . excellent, conducting us along the pseudo Maligne creek, through pleasant forests as far as the lake, then along its steep easterly slopes, high above the water. Hereabouts the snowy apex of Mt. Unwin came into view in the remote dis- tance—the first mountain of consequence and distinction that the march had disclosed. Continuing the following day, we reached the N. shore of Maligne Lake about noon. Again the trail followed the river closely nearly the whole distance, part of the time on steep 3 °The Survey of Maligne Lake,’ Geographical Journal, April, 1912, vol. xxxix. p. 379; and ‘The Finding of Lake Maligne,’ ‘Canadian Alpine Journal, 1912, vol. iv. pp. 92-97, with map. See also ‘A Recently Explored Lake,’ Bulletin Geographical Society of Philadelphia, vol. vii., no. 3, p. 1, July 1909. 4 *Expedition to Maligne Lake,’ by A..O. Wheeler, Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. iv., 1912, p. 64. See also The Tourist’s North- west, by R. K. Wood (1916), pp. 495-96.

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96 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, cut-banks. For the river is turbulent and powerful, there being few, if any, intervals of slack water. A lovely bluish- green colour, it contrasts pleasantly with the pure white foam of the rapids. The lake—a sheet of emerald green—stretches away in vast spaces to lose itself amongst relentless precipices and sky-flung snowy crests. As seen from here, its glory mani- fests itself in colours and clouds rather than in the magnifi- cence of impressive forms, for the motintains, except for two snowless peaks on the E. shore, are remote. The shore-lines display a pleasing irregularity, with numerous timbered points, rugged bluffs, and mighty erratic boulders scattered here and there. Towards the N. and W., open rolling hill country, unhappily much marred by fire and dead-fall, swells gently back to the sky-line. The obstructing of the valley by an ancient terminal moraine is the probable cause of the lake. While photographing, we debated what our next move should be. The power-boat was not in working order—a sad blow to our programme, as the way up the lake to the mountains looked interminable. The only other boat was a sheet-iron affair, with clumsy rough-hewn oars and horrible apologies for oar-locks. It seemed that a nasty sea might easily be kicked up, the length of the lake being fully exposed in the direction of the prevailing wind, although the shore showed surprisingly slight indications of wave action. This probably was due to the high stage of the water; yet, on the other band, it may be that the winds are so variable hereabouts that no one wind blows long enough to set a sea a-running in a given direction before it is reversed by an opposing blast. In the end, the lure of the peaks decided us to leave the horses for the time being in the care of Grey, and to try our fortunes in the crazy craft. We set up a mast and loaded the boxes in the bow. It was quite a question whether the boat could sustain the load. When we were all gingerly ensconced in the space remaining, the freeboard showed only a bare 2-in. margin. Have ever mountaineers set forth on conquest bent under more peculiar circumstances? The arts of the navigator and pathfinder had to be made use of before ever that of the climber could come into action. Before we finished this trip we became hearty supporters of the late A. M. Kellas’ dictum (‘ A.J.’ xxv. 125): ‘Mountaineering is the most philosophical sport in the world ’!

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- wren Mt. Sampson in the distance. Party starting for Coronet Camp. »” i at IN CORONET VALLEY. Photos. A Carpe. BASE CAMP

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E. FACE OF REPLICA PEAK, from Coronet Glacier. Gap at the left. ON THE SUMMIT OF MT. UNWIN, looking north-westerly. Photos. A. Carpe.

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Northern Canadian Rockies. 97 Four hours’ rowing in relays, with many pauses for repairs to oar-locks, etc., brought our cranky skiff to the extensive gravel delta which makes out from the eastern shore opposite Mts. Unwin and Charlton. Here we landed in order to examine their glacial amphitheatre through the glasses, and see if it held out any prospects for an initial climb. We wished to spy out the lay of the land from some command- ing mountain-top at the earliest moment, for we were acting entirely in the dark. Our inspection decided us to pro- ceed up the lake. It was fair to assume that the biggest mountains lay farther back, and ‘these of course were our main concern. | Lengthening shadows soon warned us to select a camp site, and, as we glided through the calm waters of the narrows, we scanned closely the rocky bays and densely forested headlands to locate a level place. Strangely enough, there was not a trace of beach to be seen—only steep, rocky banks everywhere. We landed several times, but all to no purpose. Apparently every square rod hereabouts was occupied by immense rock- falls from the encompassing cliffs, and on this foundation grew a heavy evergreen forest. In the end we were compelled to row back for more than an hour to the gravel delta where we had first disembarked. Here, in gathering darkness, we set up the tent and made ourselves comfortable. We had come about eight miles up the lake. We all voted the sail, im- provised from a canvas pack-cover, to be a distinct success, for the question of whether it was helping or hindering pro- gress, or even threatening a capsize, afforded a never-failing topic for lively conversation. The narrowing of the lake is produced by twin sets of opposing promontories jutting out a quarter of a mile apart and enclosing a broad placid lagoon. The promontories in three cases are deltas formed by lateral streams ; the fourth, apparently, is a huge rock-slide from the mountain wall. Next morning we rowed again through the southern channel and set a straight course through the middle of the upper lake, now mirroring to perfection the frowning upthrust walls of cyclopean masonry which so closely beset it. Here, truly, is a climax of majesty—cliffs piled on cliffs, sometimes chiselled into jutting buttresses suggestive of the tombs of Egypt, again sweeping skywards in noble towers wreathed in snow. Glaciers rested in each lofty nook, although only one, at the extreme S.W. corner, approached the lake. This, how- ever, abutted against an impossible cliff up above and offered VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVITI. H

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98 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, no inducements to the explorer. Mts. Unwin and Charlton are most repellent from this side. We studied, with a con- stantly increasing sense of helplessness, every detail of the gorgeous ensemble. Nature had calculated her defences well, leaving few loopholes for the climber. We were consoled by the fact that the peaks were mostly of the 9000-ft. class, and we were seeking bigger game. Mt. Brazeau lurked somewhere in the vicinity ; at him it was our hope to take a fling. About noon, after coming some five miles, we landed on the gravel fan in front of a sizeable valley opening towards the 8. A gleaming dome of pure snow (now Mt. Henry MacLeod), which we had admired from the lower end of the lake, dominated it in the distance, and this, taken with other more or less obscure promptings of our topographical in- tuition, induced us to select the valley as our destination. To the E. of our delta, the lake extended for another mile, bending around the cliffs of ‘ The Thumb.’ It led to a second, even greater, valley that penetrated the mountains in a south-easterly direction and offered strong inducements for examination. This, however, we resolved to postpone for later attention. Coronet Valley. We tied the boat securely to an uprooted tree, lunched, and then got out a hundred pounds of provisions and equip- ment. The remainder we cached in fibre boxes in the boat. Stowing the duffel into the three pack-sacks, we shouldered them and set out up the stream. Before long we had to cross by making the ticklish traverse of an inclined tree-trunk, 10 ft. above the rushing water. The way then led along open gravel bars, sloping clayey cut-banks, and the mossy edges of small canyons. We advanced rapidly despite the impedi- ments of unaccustomed packs. At only one place, for about half a mile, were we forced into the tangled mazes of a young fir forest in order to surmount a steep spur of the eastern mountain wall. Beyond this the going became easier, with heathery aisles opening through the trees, and in three hours from the lake we gained the pleasant meadows of the upper valley, elevation 6400 ft. The distance was about four miles. Our amazement and delight over the magnificence of the spot were unbounded. We had blundered into a perfectly ideal headquarters for a guideless party : on the N.E. stood a continuous range of five alluring peaks, cliff-girt for the most

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GLACIERS i> Northern Canadian Rockies. 99 ROUTE SKETCH F be ¢ Mt Sampson Climbs inthe Maligne Lake Group. (Not drawn to Scale) Maligne Lake <~., oMt.Warren ® a Brazeau rad Me Valad _Mt.Hen o Renton sdorone . Pk.

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Climbs in Maligne Lake District, Northern Canadian Rockies. 101 part, but one crowned with a splendid hanging glacier ; to the K. a névé and two more ice tongues filled an imposing gate- way—the southerly portal of which flaunted delicately moulded twin summits (now Coronet peak, c. 10,100 ft.) draped with an astonishing ice curtain; towards the 8. and W. massive walls rose steeply close at hand, while at our backs a soaring conical rock tower ® lorded it over the whole valley. We hurriedly unpacked the tent and got it set up just in time to avoid a shower—the characteristic welcome of the Rockies to all invaders of their inviolate wilds. Clouds gathered on the heights, and soon the storm gloom threw an uncanny cast over the rosy tints of twilight. Thankful were we for our brief glimpse of the surroundings, as it kept up our courage during the next three and a half days when we were pelted with rain and battered by chilly mt blasts of fog-laden wind from every quarter. Woxeemed-to " |, ., live, move, and have our being only in smoke apd, mists; -Ehps.: 2% : ern mountains had vanished. We ate frugally :and- slept: ‘pto-° ° digiously. Two meals a day and seventeen hours of sleep seemed to be the proper reaction to our environment—the one to husband our scanty provisions, the other to speed the time. We made one round trip to the boat (in less than six hours) to replenish the larder and to procure a tent fly, with- out which life would have been miserable indeed. In the end we succeeded in constructing a cosy and comfortable camp. Replica Peak. On the 6th it cleared at noon, and we climbed to the green alps along the base of Mt. Warren, 1200 ft. above camp. Fine views of the valley enabled us to perfect a plan of cam- paign. Five o’clock the next morning found us under way for the peak, which we later named ‘ Replica.’ We scrambled up a bank of cliffs, circled around a tiny lake, and then, on the first snow-slope of the season, bent ourselves doggedly to the task of limbering up sluggish muscles and lungs. It seemed endless, but in less than three hours the top was won, altitude about 9150 ft., according to the aneroids. We had hoped to continue to the neighbouring mountain, 5 The first ascent of this mountain (c. 10,250 ft.) was accom- plished a few weeks later by Mr. Douglas Sutherland, of Chicago, with a party of three. The climb was made directly from the valley of the Maligne river on the opposite side of the peak. —

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102 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, later named ‘ Coronet Peak,’ but our summit broke down on this side in ragged cliffs for 1500 ft. into a gap, which would force a long descent and a wearisome detour were the plan to be carried out. For the present we were content to absorb as much of the panorama as the gathering clouds would permit. The entire sweep was absolutely new to us all. To the S. lay a valley tributary to Poboktan creek, up which the view was clear for perhaps fifteen miles. To the E. practically all of the Coronet snowfield was exposed and we saw a means of access to the crest-line of the precipitous range that walled the northerly side of our valley, now wrapped in heavy clouds and forming the limit of vision in that quarter. Westerly, as far as the Sun Wapta, stretched an open upland country of minor peaks ; beyond in the distance stood Alberta, the abe - T'wins,,and the monarchs of the continental divide, vanishing ~ 2... iy peripedtive towards the S. - After breakfasting and securing photographs, we started ”* down the Westerly aréte with somewhat vague ideas as to the best thing to do next. The weather must be given a chance to show its hand. Having arrived at the foot of the aréte, we continued westerly across a pass (8000 ft.) and then followed grassy slopes for several miles to the upper valley of the Maligne river, where we lunched near the southerly base of the rock tower mentioned above. This is a most deceptive mountain, in plan like a flat-iron, with the point towards Coronet creek and a broad back sloping down to the Maligne river in the easiest way imaginable. Finding ourselves cut off from the peak by a basin, arel the time being early after- noon, it was out of the question for us, so we turned our steps back towards camp. We went completely around a small mountain with a glacier on its N. face, rejoining our morning’s route near the little lake, the circuit being about seven miles. Camp was reached at 5 p.m. This trip gave us an excellent idea of the geography on both sides of what may be called the Unwin range, which extends from that peak at the N. to Coronet peak on the S.E. in a continuous semicircle. Mt. Unwin, 10,550 ft., 18 its loftiest summit. Mt. Brazeau and Mt. Henry Macleod. Rain fell copiously during the next thirty-six hours, but the morning of July 9 dawned auspiciously, so we set forth to seek Mt. Brazeau. We had seen everything to the W. and &., so it could only stand somewhere to the HE. and N.; the quest

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Photo H. Palmer. OPENING OF CORONET VALLEY, Mts. Warren and Henry MacLeod at the left. Syne aia Soeittpte - pat: Photo, H. Palmer. ROCK TOWER (right) SEEN FROM MALIGNE OAKE. fe)

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Mt. Henry Mt. Coronet Rock Mt, Warren. Mt. Brazeau. MacLeod, Poboktan. Pk. Tower. Photo, H. Palmer. MALIGNE LAKE MOUNTAINS, from summit of Mt. Unwin, looking S.E. Photo, H. Palmer. MT. HENRY MacLEOD AND CORONET GLACIER.

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Northern Canadian Rockies. 103 was becoming interesting. We got under way at 6 o’clock, heading directly up our valley. In an hour we reached the two glaciers (elevation of the tongues, 6650 ft. and 7100 ft. respectively). They ended in acres of stony moraine, and obviously were in a condition of retreat. Easy going favoured us over the higher one, the snow being still in fair condition, although the temperature was above freezing. Roping up, we followed the base of the cliffs for about a mile over con- stantly rising névé, and then turned directly up a steep couloir filled with sliding stones—many, luckily, frozen fast. Rock walls above afforded protection from chance missiles, welcome indeed now that a strong wind had arisen. The couloir ended in the ridge, and as we poked our heads over the top we were thrilled to behold a shining snowfield, dappled with cloud shadows, extending for miles in every direction. It was a moment of breathless triumph, for, although no sure marks of identification were recognisable, it could scarcely be other than the Brazeau névé. To the left huge domes of snow mounted above us, concealing much of the panorama, so we hurried thither to secure a better out- look and a place to breakfast in, sheltered from the wind. Soon the greatest dome of all was disclosed, its sunlit crest just brushed by trailing wisps of vapour. We plodded towards it through a foot of new snow. At one o’clock we stood upon the bare rock of its broad summit (now Mt. Henry MacLeod, 10,600 ft.). Dense mists buried all the higher parts of the range, and we could see nothing of what lay beyond. But the weather was undoubtedly improving, so we composed ourselves to await developments, two of the party ingloriously stretching out on the warm flat stones for slumber. Meanwhile a record was prepared and deposited in a brass box. About an hour later a-shout from our ever-alert com- panion aroused us. Turning in his direction, an amazing apparition met our gaze. A mile and a half away, over the top of an intervening eminence (Mt. Valad, 10,500 ft.), a splendid new peak cleft the clouds like an incandescent blade. Brilliant with fresh snow, its shapely crown reared itself over impregnable precipices on E. and W., whilst in our direction a showy curtain swept down more deliberately to a col rather lower than ourselves. Our quarry at last—Mt. Brazeau ; there could not be a doubt about it. Its height and position at the head of the wide snowfield, which in turn bore proper relation to the major valley extending to the 8.E., permitted

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104 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, of no alternative. What a singular dénouement! We had camped at its base for a week and had studied it attentively time and again without ever suspecting its identity. A peculiarly foreshortened sculpture had deceived us utterly with respect to its true height. But now the question presented was whether we ought to attempt to climb it in the short portion of the day remaining. A hasty calculation showed that we could not possibly get back to camp before dark, and there was not a decent place for bivouacking in the interval. Yet we were morally certain that conditions of larder and weather would not allow: us to repeat what we had already done. It must be now or never, and we finally resolved upon the ‘ now.’ Gathering up our belongings and tying on the rope, we put ourselves in motion at twenty past two. Right away a most extraordinary situation confronted us. Various ridges and crests of snow had formed as drifts on the broad top of the mountain, and these had to be tried one after another in order to hit upon the principal aréte of the massif which we proposed to follow. Just as we commenced this task the wind interposed a sheet of vapour between us and the sun, completely obliterating all shadows on the spotless snowy surface by diffusing the light. ‘he effect was uncanny, not to say dangerous, for one could not tell whether one would place one’s foot on solid snow or would walk over a snowy precipice. Every indication of slope or cornice was wiped out completely. Did one detect the beginning of a descent by poking with the ice-axe, the eye was powerless to distinguish whether it dropped five or five hundred feet. We could only shufile along gingerly at a snail’s pace, and had not kind fate taken pity on our helplessness almost at once, the whole pro- ject must have been abandoned. In the nick of time, just as the leader was about to step over the edge of the icy de- clivity that dropped down a thousand feet to the Brazeau névé, the sun pierced the mist for an instant, giving a clear view. With a gasp of relief we turned sharply to the left and started along: the proper course. At one place only, before reaching the col at the base of Brazeau peak, did difficulty present itself. An overhanging 50-ft. cliff, on the way down from Mt. Valad, interrupted the snow aréte and forced us into a delicate descending traverse on the icy slant above the main snowfield. At 4.15 we rested in the saddle, and scanned the great slope leading up to the main peak, some thirteen hundred feet above. te OD —_

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Northern Canadian Rocktes. 105 We could see clear to the top. Off to the right snow had been stiding, but a direct route straight up the face appeared entirely safe. Beneath this line the saddle was broad, and, even if the snow did slip with the party, no harm would be done. There was no glacier present. The saddle and mountain face were rock slopes submerged in new snow. We started up a few moments later. All went well. The snow was soft, but not deep, and it showed no tendency to slide. Occasional horizontal drifts across the face gave rise to awkward moments. They steepened the slope and offered powdery deep snow in which axes could obtain no hold at the critical instant of passing over the crest of the drift. Particularly trying was it to surmount the ledge at the bottom of the final cone, where the slope of the latter inter- sected the incline leading down to the col. We had foolishly left the rope at that place, hypnotised by the apparent ease of the gradient flowing down smoothly in its immaculate drapery of snow. Now we bitterly regretted it, yet 1t was too late to return. A sloping piece of wet rock had to be overcome by springing up gently on to the bent knee, employing just enough momentum to land one there and no more, for holds were lacking and only balance could sustain one. We were much favoured by the cloudy weather. A hot sun, and these southerly exposed snowy slants would have been in a semi-liquid condition. After this, we pressed the attack doggedly against the more permanent snows of the ultimate crest. Carpe relieved the writer at the head of the line. We were all somewhat fagged by the heaviness of the going, so that after a time even he yielded to Harris, who pluckily volunteered to break trail. And it should be remarked here that Harris, although with- out any pretensions to being a mountaineer, displayed the steadiness and stamina of a veteran from first to last on this climb. It is a pleasure to acknowledge his contribution to its success. Jike all final slopes, this one seemed to keep on for ever. The step-packing had to be slowly and solidly done, so that 1t was ten past six when the angle suddenly flattened out and the top was won. It had taken about an hour and a half from the saddle. With a keen feeling of joy we looked at the three barometers and discovered that our elevation was certainly over 11,000 ft. Later this was worked out to be close to 11,250 ft. We had “sealped’ one of the principal peaks of the Rockies E. of the main axial range. Our first impulse was to compare

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106 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, ourselves with Mt. Warren, obviously our only rival hereabouts. We looked right past the top of it to Maligne Lake far beyond. Next, an exclamation directed our attention to a silvery patch in the distance to the 8.—Brazeau Lake. We had not been high enough to see it before. This clinched beyond cavil the identity of our peak. The summit was a dome of snow, with cornices towards N. and E. Lacking a rope, we left them severely alone and . paid the penalty in not being able to look over in those direc- tions. No materials for a cairn were available, so photographs alone must testify to the fact of our presence. A_ perfect tumult of jagged snowy peaks surrounded us. The number to the EK. of Brazeau valley was a surprising revelation, this domain being quite unknown. Several probably surpass 10,500 ft. in elevation, and frequent glaciers lie hidden amongst their recesses. Robson, Geikie, Cavell, Fryatt, Serenity, Bras Croche, Clemenceau, Tsar, Alberta, Forbes—all stood forth prominently. In a crevice of an outcropping rock just below the summit we left a tin match-safe containing a printed record blank of the American Alpine Club. There was just time for a sweep with the glasses, hasty snaps with the cameras, and sights through the prismatic compass and level—fifteen minutes in all—and we were off at 6.25. It was no time of day to be lingering in such a place. Fortunate were we that the clouds had lifted and let enough sunlight through for photographic records. The temperature was 28° F. It took us an hour to accomplish the tricky descent to the saddle, and then came the wearying tramp up the snowy slants of Mts. Valad and Henry MacLeod. Two hours and ten minutes were consumed in this. As we passed along we cast many a longing glance down the cliffs, perchance to discover a short-cut directly to the camp in plain view in the valley at our feet, but nothing sufficiently favourable to tempt us appeared. The light lasted well. At 9.80, on the top of MacLeod, dusk was just falling. We rattled and coasted down the couloir in an avalanche of stones. After this came a wallowing to our waists in the snow of the upper glacier. Sometimes we did not advance 15 ft. in five minutes. Conditions were atrocious, and the pangs of thirst now beset us. Water had been lacking all day. It was 11 o’clock, and camp almost three miles away. Such contretemps fall to the lot of every party sooner or later. Perhaps it were better to pass them over in silence. Yet in

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Mt. Poboktan. Photo, H. Palmer. FROM SUMMIT OF MT. BRAZEAU, looking S. towards Wilcox Pass. , . l @ PRR a Monee FROM SUMMIT OF MT. BRAZEAU. Coronet Pk. and Glacier in foreground. Looking S.W

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106 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, ourselves with Mt. Warren, obviously our only rival hereabouts. We looked right past the top of it to Maligne Lake far beyond. Next, an exclamation directed our attention to a silvery patch in the distance to the 8.—Brazeau Lake. We had not been high enough to see it before. This clinched beyond cavil the identity of our peak. The summit was a dome of snow, with cornices towards N. and EK. Lacking a rope, we left them severely alone and . paid the penalty in not being able to look over in those direc- tions. No materials for a cairn were available, so photographs alone must testify to the fact of our presence. A_ perfect tumult of jagged snowy peaks surrounded us. The number to the E. of Brazeau valley was a surprising revelation, this domain being quite unknown. Several probably surpass 10,500 ft. in elevation, and frequent glaciers lie hidden amongst their recesses. Robson, Geikie, Cavell, Fryatt, Serenity, Bras Croche, Clemenceau, Tsar, Alberta, Forbes—all stood forth prominently. In a crevice of an outcropping rock just below the summit we left a tin match-safe containing a printed record blank of the American Alpine Club. There was just time for a sweep with the glasses, hasty snaps with the cameras, and sights through the prismatic compass and level—fifteen minutes in all—and we were off at 6.25. It was no time of day to be lingering in such a place. Fortunate were we that the clouds had lifted and let enough sunlight through for photographic records. The temperature was 28° F. It took us an hour to accomplish the tricky descent to the saddle, and then came the wearying tramp up the snowy slants of Mts. Valad and Henry MacLeod. Two hours and ten minutes were consumed in this. As we passed along we cast many a longing glance down the cliffs, perchance to discover a short-cut directly to the camp in plain view in the valley at our feet, but nothing sufficiently favourable to tempt us appeared. The light lasted well. At 9.80, on the top of MacLeod, dusk was just falling. We rattled and coasted down the couloir in an avalanche of stones. After this came a wallowing to our waists in the snow of the upper glacier. Sometimes we did not advance 15 ft. in five minutes. Conditions were atrocious, and the pangs of thirst now beset us. Water had been lacking all day. It was 11 o’clock, and camp almost three miles away. Such contretemps fall to the lot of every party sooner or later. Perhaps it were better to pass them over in silence. Yet in

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Brazeau Lake. Mt. Poboktan. Photo, H. Palmer. FROM SUMMIT OF MT. BRAZEAU, looking S. towards Wilcox Pass. Photo, H. Palmer, FROM SUMMIT OF MT. BRAZEAU. Coronet Pk. and Glacier in foreground. Looking S.W.

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Mt. Warren. Mt. Brazeau. Mt. Valad. Mt. Henry MacLeod. eet ‘: see ww wr eee eS =a awe, aww e@we ee ane 2 eee —<-- Photo, D. Sutherland. FROM SUMMIT OF ROCK TOWER. Photo, H. Palmer. STORM CLOUD ON THE ROCK TOWER.

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Northern Canadian Rockies. 107 truth they are a portion of the discipline of the peaks, and shadows as well as high lights play their part. We staggered on in the waning light. Running water on a glacial slant at last revived us. Soon we struck the tracks of the morning in the snow. We could lope along, making time at last. Finally they ended on the flat terrace of the dry glacier, and we were lost, for everything looked strange in the gloom. There was nothing for it but to plod ahead, feeling our way and keeping to the right in order to gain the moraine above the dangerous final slope of the icy forefoot. In this we eventually succeeded without mishap, although it was an eerie experience; also the ensuing purga- tory of the ground moraine. We stumbled, tumbled, and grumbled—with frequent rests. Thus, after two hours in abysmal darkness, we finally regained our starting-point at 1.50 in the morning, 19 hours and 50 minutes having elapsed. We built a fire, boiled some tea, and slept the sleep of the just, well content to have accomplished our object.® 6 Mt. Brazeau was first made known by Professor A. P. Coleman, who visited it in 1902 (Geographical Journal, vol. xxi. p. 502), journeying thither from the S. His party attempted the ascent from the E. by way of the Brazeau névé, but were forced to desist when some distance from the peak by reason of dangerous snow conditions. They reached an elevation of 10,550 ft. From the description and from observations on the spot it seems doubtful whether the party actually set foot on the peak. As far as we could see, the entire ridge which we traversed on the way to Mt. Brazeau was defended by a steep icy escarpment on the E. Had the party surmounted this serious obstacle, it seems unlikely that it would have been left unmentioned in the account of their climb. See also The Canadian Rockies, by A. P. Coleman (Unwin, 1911), pp. 229-30. Both accounts are illustrated by capital wash draw- ings of Mt. Brazeau as seen from the E., and by a map. They contain practically the only information about the group available prior to our visit. The journey was undoubtedly a notable piece of pioneering, considering its early date, the nature of the obstacles overcome, and the valuable geographical results obtained. It is of interest to note that on the map accompanying D. G. F. MacDonald’s British Columbia (London, 1862) a ‘ Mt. McGillivray ’ is shown very close to the position of the present Mt. Brazeau and in proper relation to a lake corresponding in size and location to Brazeau Lake, although the name is wanting. There can scarcely be a doubt as to the identity of the two peaks. The map is by John Arrowsmith, published June 1, 1862. ‘ Mt. Gillivray ’ appears also on the map accompanying the third edition of Milton and

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108 Glimbs in the Maligne Lake District, The total distance traversed we estimated at about twelve miles. The next day passed lazily, with occasional showers, and on July 11, our provisions being completely exhausted, we broke camp and returned to the boat. The same afternoon, after constructing a better sail that could be raised or lowered instanter, we voyaged back down the lake, arriving at the main camp in the evening to the accompaniment of a theatrical thunder squall. Our man Grey was delighted to welcome us back, having passed a lonely and cheerless time during our absence. Equally glad were we, and his good- nature was tested to the limit to supply the endless fried ham, potatoes, and hot bread necessary to satisfy appetites of truly shocking proportions. Mt. Unwin. It rained in the night, but indications next day were en- cuuraging, so we resolved to set the pack train in motion and investigate the chances for an assault on Mt. Unwin from the valley of the upper Maligne river. A trail crew had been improving the way during our absence, so that a day’s travel might suffice to bring us to a suitable spot. Further, it would be restful, after our strenuous experiences, to enjoy the scenery from the back of a horse. So we fared forth at the comfortable hour of 9.30. The travelling proved excellent indeed. We lost sight of the lake immediately, winding in a gradual ascent along the westerly slopes of the valley through an open upland country. After reaching an altitude of about six hundred feet above the lake, the trail worked down again along the valley of a small stream tributary to the river. Green meadowlands, boggy in places, marked our approach to the Maligne. From here striking views of Mt. Maligne and its attendant snow- field on the eastern side of the lake were vouchsafed us. Truly delightful did it prove a little later to jog along the verdant banks of the river as it traced attractive meanders with its clear blue stream. Mt. Unwin came ever nearer, but Cheadle’s Northwest Passage by Land, published in London, 1865. The mountain appears to be named for Duncan McGillivray, who in 1800 crossed from Brazeau Lake to the Athabaska, possibly by way of Poboktan Pass. (See Thompson’s Journal, by J. B. Tirrell, published by the Champlain Society, page Ixxxi.)

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‘AVI ANOLIVN AO LOOd AHL WOUA ‘S ONINOOT bier Ud1IIGM IA *quinyyy, 9UL “poerpoeW 4100 “3 “alMuy) “3 “d0y[IeGO “IN

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Photo, D. Sutherland. Photo, H. Palmer. MT. UNWIN. N. iace. MT. BRAZEAU, from S.W.

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Northern Canadtan Rockies. 109 at length retired behind an intervening ridge without dis- closing the least suitable access. Finally, after fording the river, we came to the end of the cleared way, and thereafter for a couple of hours were left to the doubtful mercies of an old Indian trail through virgin forest. A pack-horse here got into trouble by attempting to squeeze himself and his burden through too narrow an interval between two trees. Great was the disturbance caused. In the midst of it he incontinently sat down on the box con- taining our cameras and delicate instruments, which we confidently expected would emerge in a state of ruin. Luckily, however, we found later that no damage had been done. : At 2 o’clock we came upon horse-feed in a swampy opening near the river, and decided to camp. It was situated near the end of the westerly spur of Mt. Unwin, around which the Maligne valley bends to a more southerly course. Our moun- tain was still invisible, but a steep grass-covered slide here swung up through the lower cliffs, offering a promising lead, free from the hindrance of the forest which clothed all the neighbouring slopes. In the afternoon we walked up the valley past the spur until we could see the whole top of the mountain. Encouraging indeed was it to discover that the horizontal belt of black massive strata, which produced obstructive cliffs towards the N. and W., turned itself up on edge towards the S. and lost much of its forbidding aspect. On July 18 Carpe, Harris and myself got under way at 5.30 a.M., the weather being cold and clear. An earlier start was Impracticable on account of our situation on the dark side of the mountain. At the top of the slide we traversed to the right, across steep grass slopes amongst big pine trees, and in about an hour and a half came out at the lip of a hanging valley leading directly up to Mt. Unwin. Carpeted with rich greenery, and watered by a rushing brook, it was a pretty place. We crossed the stream, ascended a steep talus pile along the bottom of a projecting crag, and finally gained the crest of an aréte connecting it with Mt. Unwin. Along the aréte, exactly in our line of march, led the finest goat-trail I ever saw. Untold generations of Oreamnos montanus must have trodden it. The grass was worn away entirely, and even the softer rocks which it crossed were perceptibly smoothed off. Evidently it constituted a trunk route to lofty grazing- grounds. , Our rugged aréte jomed the main mass of the mountain

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110 Climbs 4n the Maligne Lake District, without interruption, so we took advantage of the goat-trail until it began to swing across the face of the peak to a col on the southerly ridge. There, silhouetted against the bright sky-line, a herd of a dozen goats reposed, watching with grave unconcern. As we approached, and they began to hear the falling rocks which we dislodged, their composure turned into consternation. Springing to their feet, they retired in haste to the higher fastnesses of the peak. Later, we encountered some of them close at hand, making off with terrified jumps across ugly-looking slabs. Once on the peak itself, we ascended a snow patch and headed for the narrow opening of a couloir which conducted us through the lowest cliff-belt. Above, this opened out into @ ravine, the easterly side of which presented a rocky step- formation, loaded with sliding stones. Here extreme care was required owing to the excessive rottenness of the rock. The whole surface of the mountain was loose. Did one secure a handhold, which was itself firmly attached, he would dis- cover upon pulling slightly that a chunk of the dolomitic rock as big as a cask would start threateningly. Aloft, across the gully at our backs, on another ridge, tottered a crazy undercut tower, and occasionally we cast a glance thither to measure our upward progress. At one point we were amazed, upon looking around, to see a huge uptilted snowfield, intensely brilliant in the waxing sunlight, rearing its crest above the range across the Maligne valley. The effect was almost Himalayan in grandeur. A little calcula- tion convinced us that it was none other than Mt. Catacombs beyond the Athabaska, a most alluring and utterly unknown group, 10,700 ft. high. © At length our ridge merged with the main S. aréte of the mountain, and we could see over into the basin occupied by Maligne Lake; two great tiers of cliff wall this side of the range, the upper on which we stood, being set back con- siderably from the crest of the lower. On the inward sloping step or shelf thus formed rested several sizeable glaciers, completely concealed from Maligne Lake. ‘Two, impinging at a right angle, terminated in a handsomely coloured lake where icebergs drifted to and fro in the breezes—the combined ice-fronts forming a marvellously regular semicircle. Through a jagged gap in the lower cliffs we saw a bit of Maligne Lake itself and the gravel delta where we had launched the boat only two days before. The spot seemed almost at our feet, yet to reach our_coign of vantage we had meanwhile

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Northern Canadian Rockies. 111 travelled far—18 exciting miles up the lake in the rickety canoe, and about the same back again with the horses. Mt. Unwin was no exception to the prevailing steepness on this side of the range. Only by the remotest chance could a traverse be made to the attractive snowy saddle connecting with the lesser eminence of Mt. Charlton, a gunshot away. A wide, desperate-looking couloir, filled with dangerous snow ‘and guarded by repellent ridges, barred this access. On the other side the rock-slope dropped away sharply into the ravine. We could only advance on the ridge itself, so to this we turned with one accord. A bulging buttress of the upturned black rock constituted the immediate obstacle here. Fortunately, a slanting groove broke its surface, leading from the aréte out across the opposing face. Well anchored by the rope, I wormed along this into an ice-paved niche, where I cut a score of ice-steps straight up, my companions gradually advancing to give the necessary rope. At the bottom, the ice-slope ended on the brink of a cliff. A chock-stone, with the proportions of a hogshead, soon blocked the way. It projected from a fissure in the right- hand wall and appeared to be largely supported by the very ice in which we had been hacking our footholds. The situ- ation was distinctly awkward, especially since the best way out seemed to lie directly over the stone as a kind of bridge. After testing it as well as I could, and telling the others to be ready for any eventuality (they were standing somewhat to one side), I cautiously embraced the boulder. It had good handholds and would serve well, provided it remained fast. Happily, it did not even tremble, and I think it was one of the firmest stones we encountered that day, although this is but a doubt- ful compliment! Safe footing lay just beyond, and in a few ‘moments we were all back on the crest of the aréte, with the troublesome buttress beneathus. But it was a narrow squeeze. We now made a slight digression to a snow-patch for water and a bite of food. Another and a much bigger gable loomed overhead, warning us to summon every resource to our aid. From where we stood, no lead at all could be made out, the rock apparently plunging straight down on all sides. And presently, when we had passed a mean little gendarme and stood face to face with the cliff, matters did indeed look doubt- ful, for the sharp ridge of snow that we were following impinged directly against the smooth wall of massive black limestone. It was early afternoon and the sun shone warmly.

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112 Climbs im the Maligne Lake Dtstrict, Melting was at its height. Fragments of rock thrown into the snow below us instantly started slides. The snow in itself lacked holding power, even were its icy foundation disregarded. We retreated around the gendarme and walked out on a projecting crag in an unsuccessful endeavour to see around the corner of the tower; then back again to our first position. A smooth, outward-sloping ledge, covered with wet scree and soggy ice, slanted down along the base of the cliff facing us, but it had no holds and apparently led nowhere. Yet it offered the only hope and must be tried. Fortunately, the rope was long, and good anchorage offered near the gendarme. The ice and stones were dutifully cleared from the entire ledge, and an insecure station was at length attained whence a look 'could be had around the corner. The dis- closure was depressing. Downward-sloping smooth rocks, coated with ice and buried in several feet of fluid snow, stretched for fifty yards along the foot of the sheer turret—a possible route, yes; but, under the conditions, as truly a nasty place as one would want to attempt. Only the heaviest work, clearing away the deep snow so as to cut ‘ soup-plates ’ in the ice, combined with the utmost caution every moment, could make it go. And there would be danger, too, from the fact that the whole party would be extended on the traverse with only dubious holds. But the sharp white summit rose alluringly near—an easy prize once this manifestly final defence were taken, so we accepted the challenge and set to work. Generally speaking, the passage was a traverse along the top of a snow-ice slope where it abutted against an irregular cliff. In places the latter bulged out waist-high, placing the step-cutter at serious disadvantage. At other points rugosities in the rock afforded welcome assistance, although no belays for the rope were dis- covered. Painfully slow was the work and obstinate the ice; a fierce wind buffeted us continually. Once or twice it seemed beyond our powers, but the nearness of the summit was an unfailing spur to renewed efforts. After two hours of it, at 4,15 we scrambled up the last pitch of soft snow, and Unwin was ours, ten and three-quarters hours from camp. The average of three aneroids up and down indicated a climb of 4700 ft., and we have assigned it a height of 10,550 ft. above sea-level. The whole world of the Rockies spread out around us— a perennially inspiring panorama. The N. and W. were especially clear, although elsewhere occurred scattered

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Northern Canadian Rockies. 1138 showers. Over Maligne Lake to the E. hung a particularly sombre storm-cloud, gloom filling the depths of the valleys. We seemed to be able to look into the very streets of Jasper —Pyramid Mt., The Ramparts, and Cavell stood almost as next-door neighbours, although actually from twenty to _ thirty miles away. Even Robson, 75 miles distant, appeared near. Set off by itself, and surrounded by deep valleys (even the Athabaska and Sun Wapta valleys gave the impression of being at the foot of the mountain), Mt. Unwin commands a most unusual panorama. In effect it much resembles that from Sir Donald. The head of the Chaba and the whole of Chisel creek were displayed. One could look quite across the Rockies into the Selkirks. Thrilled indeed was the writer to realise the dream of a decade by seeing the N. face of the Adamant group full 60 miles away, with Mt. Sir Sandford towering impressively to the left. But it would be tiresome to catalogue all that we recognized. The sweep was about the same as from Mt. Brazeau—everything from Mt. Poboktan, 10,700 ft. (19 miles), Mt. Forbes (48 miles), Wilcox Pass (30 miles) to Mt. Clemenceau (80 miles) and Mt. Robson. We built a 4-ft. cairn and crowned it with a slender pin- nacle for the benefit of the Park trail crew, whose white tent gleamed in the greensward of Maligne river at our feet. Then, depositing our record in a tin box, we roped up and started down at 5.80—not exactly a conventional hour, but we were not the choosers. The same route was followed all the way. Naturally we made better progress, but continual care was required until the two buttresses lay behind us. Unroping then, each took his own way down the sliding stones and ledges of the ravine. We paused often to drink in the glories of the sunset light on the congeries of mountains to the 8.W., and near the goat-trail stopped for a few more photographs. After this we made all possible haste, for we did not relish the descent of the 1500-ft. grass slope above camp in the dark. We got there just in time, and the light did not entirely fail us until we reached the tangled woods at the bottom. Half an hour of blind groping here brought us out on the meadow and to camp at 10.380 p.m. A huge bonfire and good things to eat without lmit were waiting, for our man had heard our triumphant greeting from the top of the slide. In conclusion, it may be said that Mt. Unwin is an awkward rather than a difficult peak. By good fortune we stumbled VOL, XXXVI.—NO. CCXX VIII. I

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114 Climbs in the Maligne Lake District, on what is probably the best way to attack it ; 1.e. from the S.W. and S. The route is all rock, and therefore will be in the most favourable condition after dry warm weather, or late in the season. Probably all the snow and ice which we encountered on the upper slopes would disappear during the summer, thereby removing the chief difficulty. It is likely that another route can be worked out from the lake up the northerly glaciers to the saddle, but a careful watch should be kept against ice-falls from the hanging glaciers, which appear to be active. An attempt was made in 1922 via the N.E. ridge of Mt. Charlton, but the party was turned back at the foot of the final ridge by reason of the excessive rottenness of the rock. All other possible approaches to the two peaks appear to be cut off by repellent cliff belts. On the day following the climb we made our way back to the N. end of the lake. The next took us to the foot of Medicine Lake, where a drenching rainstorm caught us and compelled a camp in the disreputable cabin there. July 16 saw us back at Jasper, where the party broke up, Mr. Carpe catching the evening train back to New York. We had been out seventeen days, of which eight were devoted to travelling. Of the nine others, only three offered decent climbing weather, so we considered ourselves remarkably favoured that they occurred exactly when they did, for they just enabled us to accomplish our chief objects without any margin to spare.’ Clumbing Possibilities of the Maligne Lake District. It is not too much to predict that the Maligne Lake district will be popular in the future. The scenery has not been over- praised, and the wagon-road, now under construction, will 7 During our climbing we made observations for a map by photographic methods. Completion of this has been delayed, so the accompanying sketch-diagram has been prepared to show the general locality of our ascents. We found that Maligne Lake was actually situated about six miles W. and six miles N. of its position on the maps, and that Brazeau Lake should be moved several miles N.E. From the direction of Maligne Lake, Mt. Brazeau lies directly behind Mt. Warren, which is high enough to mask it. This explains why its position has always been a mystery from the N., whence practically all visitors come. The elevations given in the text are preliminary figures based on the above map data and the readings of three aneroids,

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Northern Canadtan Rocktes. 115 place the lake within a few hours’ journey from Jasper by automobile. The group E. of the lake dominated by Mt. Maligne can be reached from the narrows and will repay exploration. A number of interesting glaciers and snowfields were noticed here. Mt. Sampson (10,000 ft.), rising directly from the shore of the lake, will afford a good rock-climb. | At the far end of the lake, the valley leading to the E. should give access to a part of the Brazeau icefield, which seems to be divided into a northerly and a southerly section by a high ridge extending easterly from Mt. Brazeau. Estimating by the eye, one would say that the latter possesses an area of about twelve square miles, and the former about six. The larger drains to the Brazeau river; the other appeared to drain to Maligne Lake through the valley just mentioned, although of this we could not be positive. This valley would very likely give access to Mt. Warren (c. 10,850 ft.), and possibly also to Mt. Brazeau, if a route could be worked out up the steep and broken glacier which covers this face of the mountain. We strongly suspect that the Coronet snowfield connects with that of Mt. Brazeau, and if this is the case the combined area would be increased by several square miles. S. and EK. of Coronet peak a branch of the Poboktan, leading to the pass mentioned by Coleman, severs the Brazeau-Coronet uplift from the spurs of Mt. Poboktan to the §., and gives the Maligne Lake mountains a distinct unit character as a separate group. The Unwin range had best be approached from the valley of the Maligne river. The peaks all have accessible slopes on this side. ‘To the W. of Replica peak a second pass connects the Maligne river with a branch of the Poboktan, which might afford a good route to the latter as well as a favourable point for attacking Coronet peak. As regards the possibility of a direct ascent of Mt. Brazeau from Coronet valley, the indications are good. Several narrow couloirs penetrate the cliff belt, and had our time permitted we would have explored them. A direct ascent would cut at least four miles from the route we followed.

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116 The Panorama from Mt. Columbia. Tae Panorama FROM Mr. CoLumsia, 12,294 FEET. (Second Elevation : Rocky Mountains of Canada.) By J. MONROE THORINGTON, M.D. E mountaineering results of an Expedition to the Columbia Icefield, made, in 1923, in company with Dr. W.S. Ladd and the guide Conrad Kain, have already been presented by the writer. (Cf. * A.J.’ xxxv. No. 227, p. 178.) On July 14, in fine weather, we accomplished the second ascent of Mt. Columbia, and for several reasons interest has centred in a photographic panorama obtained from its summit. In the first place, there are but four peaks—Robson, Columbia, North Twin, Clemenceau—of the Rocky Mountains of Canada exceeding 12,000 ft. in elevation. Mt. Columbia was first ascended in 1902 by Sir James Outram and Christian Kaufmann. Mt. Robson, 12,972 ft., succumbed in 1913 to Messrs. MacCarthy and Foster, with Conrad Kain. North Twin, 12,085 ft., fell to our party in 19238, while later in the same season Mt. Clemenceau, 12,001 ft., was captured by the guideless party of Messrs. de Villiers- Schwab, Hall, Durand, and Harris. Outram was favoured by clear weather on Mt. Columbia and has graphically described the view. The summit was reached shortly after two o’clock and an hour was spent on top... . ‘Thirty miles to the south-east Mt. Forbes (as yet unconquered) towered high above everything in that direction, and alone challenged comparison with our elevation. But at twice that distance to the north-west Mt. Robson showed up grandly and is perhaps the one mountain in the Canadian Rockies that exceeds 18,000 ft. . . . Some old friends in the distant south, fully eighty miles away, Mts. Temple, Goodsir, Hungabee, Dawson, and Sir Donald, and more recent acquaintances of the past fortnight, gave one great pleasure to recognize amongst the myriads of peaks of every shape and size.’ Outram never published his summit views. The first party to reach the summit of Mt. Robson arrived at after five o’clock, and, although the prospect was fair, they had no camera and could stop for only a moment. Our own group attained North Twin, in weather that was far from ideal, and so our pictures from Mt. Columbia are the first to give a comprehensive idea of a Canadian Rocky pano-

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The Panorama from Mt. Columina. 117 rama from above 12,000 ft. It is, therefore, of some interest to determine just what and how far one can see. It will be quite evident, however, that while the eye can perceive things beyond the range of photography, the camera preserves the record permanently and more accurately than the mind. The after-cogitation—* Now just what did we see ? ’—led to some remarkable delusions in the days before photography : witness the prevalent pre-Alpine Club opinion that the Mediterranean was visible from the summit of Mont Blanc. It is the purpose of the present communication briefly to outline what was revealed from the summit of Mt. Columbia, 12,294 ft., the second elevation of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The photographs were snap-shots, 4 by 5, taken on roll-film, without filters other than a cloud-filter which did not alter the exposure time. The complete, drafted panorama has been made from tracings from the prints, plus additions obtained by lens examination of the negatives and from enlargements. The central position of Mt. Columbia is emphasized if one draws on a map-—with the mountain as a centre—a circle of radius approximating forty-two miles. The circumference will nearly pass through the tip of the Columbia loop, the Columbia River-Canadian Pacific intersection at Beavermouth, Howse - Pass, and Whirlpool Pass. Within the circle are included Kinbasket, Glacier, Brazeau, Maligne, and Fortress lakes, and headwaters of the Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Athabaska River systems. Within it are found the most important ice- field group of the Continental Divide, together with the notable Maligne and Wood River mountains, and the crest of the Selkirks in the Sir Sandford area. From the summit of Mt. Columbia, the foreground of ice- field is perhaps the most impressive thing. The Columbia field is a@ tri-oceanic watershed, nearly 150 square miles in extent, from whose snows drain head-sources of the Athabaska, through the Peace-Mackenzie system to the Arctic ; through the Bush-Columbia to the Pacific; and by way of the Saskatchewan-Nelson system to Hudson Bay. Northward, one has the Twins and Mt. Alberta almost in line ; the Twins above the deep gorge of the banded Columbia glacier, an Athabaska source.! On either side of North Twin are peaks 1 See sketch map of the Maligne Lake group and other points mentioned in this paper, accompanying Mr. Howard Palmer’s paper.

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118 The Panorama from Mt. Columbia. of the Maligne group, Mt. Brazeau standing out prominently although twenty-five miles distant. In the north-east are many unnamed peaks—one does not have to wander far from the Continental Divide to find unnamed peaks—several of which, south of Brazeau River, exceed 10,000 ft. and may be much higher. Eastward, one looks across the icefield toward Snow Dome, the hydrographic apex of the field, and Mt. Athabaska, the latter rising above Sun Wapta Pass—the Athabaska- Saskatchewan divide—with Athabaska glacier on its northern flank and the Saskatchewan glacier on its southern. In a south-easterly direction, Mt. Castleguard is seen, low- lying on the margin of the icefield, with Mt. Saskatchewan towering above and flanking Alexandra River—the old ‘ West Branch ’—down which one glimpses Mts. Wilson and Murchison, between which the North Saskatchewan emerges to the eastern prairie. Across Thompson Pass are massed the peaks of the Continental Divide: Alexandra, Lyell, and a host of others. Mt. Forbes, 11,902 ft., the fifth elevation of the chain, lies in Alberta, but, due to a bending of the Divide, it appears just over Peak 8 of Mt. Lyell. It is this irregularity of the Divide, in the vicinity of Howse Pass, which makes the Freshfield . Group show up across the western shoulder of Mt. Alexandra, and between the latter and Mt. Bryce. In the south, Mt. Bryce,—a veritable Finsteraarhorn—its eastern shoulder on the Divide, projects into British Columbia to flank the gloomy gorge of Bush River. One traces the river with certainty past the junction of the North and South Forks, but it cannot be followed to the Columbia. | South-westerly, across Tsar Creek, are extensive snowfields and, more distant, high peaks: presumably within the tip of the Columbia loop. The foreground is a sea of unnamed peaks. The western foreground is dominated by Mt. King Edward icefield mantling the Divide, and, except when broken into different levels by crossing ridges, continuous for miles toward the Wood River area. The distant named point in the west is Mt. Tsar. In the north-west,’ thirty miles away, is the Wood River Group, on the British Columbia side: most impressive, with Mt. Clemenceau looming hugely. One looks across the glacier- 2 For a sketch map of topography in the Wood River area, see C.A.J. xiii. p. 92. |

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The Panorama from Mt. Columbia. 119 hung Athabaska-Chaba Divide to ranges in the direction of Fortress Lake. So much the camera identifies as a permanent record ; now of what the eye could reach. Outram mentions the peaks of the Lake Louise district ; we looked for them in vain. Temple was nowhere to be seen ; although, of course, from Mt. Temple, on a clear day, especially if one looks with binoculars, there is not much trouble in finding Mt. Columbia. But from Columbia, in the south and south-east, the Continental Divide is seen in a foreshortened line: the peaks are massed, and of such an average height that it is exceedingly difficult to locate distant individuals from an unfamiliar point. Even Mt. Forbes was not a conspicuous summit, although little more than thirty miles away. It will then be recalled that Lake Louise is seventy-five miles in air-line from Mt. Columbia. It should be remembered that Outram was exceedingly familiar with this topography, having mapped a considerable portion of it. Taking it for granted then that Lake Louise peaks are visible from Mt. Columbia, or vice versa, let us lay out a circle from Mt. Columbia, on a seventy-mile radius. It will cut Lake Louise ; it will cross the Purcells near the McMurdo Creek- North Fork angle of Spillimacheen River; it will cross the southern Selkirks just north of the Beaver-Duncan Pass and the Battle Range. Following on, the circumference just touches Clemina station on the North Thompson River and again cuts the Canadian National Railroad, midway between Yellowhead Pass and Moose Lake. Fraser sources and all of Jasper Park are included in the circle. Our party spent nearly an hour and a half on the summit of Mt. Columbia ; we had arrived at 1.80. In the south-east the most distantly identifiable points were peaks of the Freshfield Group—Mt. Forbes, and Mt. Chephren near Howse Pass. If we had known exactly where to look between summits, we might have located a peak in the Lake Louise area. In the south and south-west, the horizon was sharper and the peaks not so massed as on the Divide. Sir Sandford was distinct, although it does not showin photos. Wethought we recognized Mt. Rogers ; one can, of course, see Mt. Columbia and even the Wood River area from Mt. Rogers. Conrad, ever optimistic, attempted to show us the Purcells and even identified the Howser Spires. We were not entirely convinced. In the west, we saw high snowfields which are possibly in the Gold Range. The question arose as to Mt. Robson. Conrad had been on the first ascent of it ; the writer had camped north of it in a

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120 The Panorama from Mt. Columbia. former year. We had no small-scale map with us. The mountain should appear between the Wood River Group and the direction of Fortress Lake. Mt. Clemenceau was splendidly in view and there were fine peaks beyond, outside of photo- graphic range. But we were never sure of Mt. Robson, although the writer pleads guilty to having included it in a former description of the view. We felt that we should have seen it ; Outram had seen it. A remaining fact is this: 1f one draws from Mt. Columbia as a centre a circle seventy miles in radius it will include the Lake Louise area. From Mt. Temple, the highest peak of this area, Mt. Columbia is visible; but with some difficulty and only in the best of weather. On the other hand, peaks on the Divide, massed in line, are exceedingly difficult to identify individually. The position of Mt. Robson, almost due north- west of Mt. Columbia, falls at least twenty-five miles beyond the seventy-mile radius already laid down as approximately the limit of visibility. Outram speaks of Mt. Forbes as being thirty miles to the south-east, just about correct. But when he states that Mt. Robson showed up grandly at ‘ twice that distance to the north-west,’ he is nearly forty miles short of his mark.® From the direction of Mt. Columbia, Mt. Robson would present an acute A-shape, narrow and sharp, and easily over- looked, even by an observer with binoculars. Local conditions, such as light, shadow, smoke, cloud, and heat-haze, have often more to do with visibility than mere distance. A small peak in line with a greater one may hide it at such a distance. Mt. Robson often has a cap of cloud which might easily render it invisible ; and, from Mt. Columbia, many high peaks of the Continental Divide intervene. One concludes, therefore, that, while Mt. Robson—under very exceptional circumstances— might be picked up from the summit of Mt. Columbia, no one has yet done so. It would certainly not ‘ show up grandly ’ ; 3 Mr. Howard Palmer has favoured the writer with notes of several observations made on distant Canadian views, which are tabulated below with estimates of the mileage from the small-scale Key Map (Index Sheet, 1: 792,000) of the Interprovincial Boundary Commission. It is understood that binoculars were used in identifying peaks. Mt. Wheeler from Abbot Pass. : . 65 miles. Mt. Assiniboine from Mt. Sir Donald . . 82 miles. Mt. Clemenceau from Mt. Rogers. ; . 70 miles. Mt. Robson from Mt. Unwin . . : . 75 miles. = ale

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. 121 and it is barely possible that Outram was looking at Mt. Clemenceau. It used to be quite traditional to make high level panoramas in the Alps. Here is an interesting problem and a chance to amplify and carry on a bit of investigation in the newer Alps of Canada. Mr. CLEMENCEAU NORTHERN CANADIAN ROCKIES. By HENRY B. pr VILLIERS-SCHWAB. Names in italics are provisional, subject to the approval of the Geographic Board of Canada. 4 eee failure of the first Mt. Clemenceau Expedition* left me with a firm resolve to try once more at the earliest opportunity ; the one brief glimpse of the beautiful pyramid of Mt. Clémenceau? that I had had from Ghost Ridge Cairn, before the breakdown of my knee forced me to retire, served both as an inspiration and a challenge that could neither be denied nor declined. My proposal for a second attack in 1928 met an enthusiastic response from Henry S. Hall, Jr., and together we agreed to organise a new expedition ; but to our great regret Allen Carpe was obliged to leave his participa- tion uncertain, and eventually he found himself unable to join us. During the winter and spring the entire problem was carefully analysed in the light of our 1922 expedition, every- thing being done to provide the best possible equipment for all contingencies. To find amateurs of college age, willing to go as supporters, was not difficult, but to secure two additional climbers proved a discouraging task. It was not until late in the spring that the third member was found in Dana B. Durand, a Harvard student, who, during his school days in Geneva, had done some remarkable climbing there- abouts, and at Chamonix and Zermatt; the desired fourth climber never materialised. To our outfitter, W. D. Harris * A.J. xxxv, 44 seq. ‘ First Mt. Clemenceau Expedition.’ The relative position of Mt. Clemenceau is shown in the general map in Mr. Howard Palmer’s article. It is hoped to publish a detailed map later. 1 Mt. Clemenceau, 12,001 ft. Fourth highest summit in the Canadian Rockies.

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122 Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. of Jasper, who knew the work that would be required, was entrusted the selecting of the four other professionals. Thus at noon on Thursday, July 19, 1923, the Second Mt. Clemenceau Expedition sallied forth from Harris and Mellor’s corral at Jasper to attempt the solution of its problem, con- © stituted as follows: Henry B. de Villiers-Schwab, Henry S. Hall, Jr., and Dana B. Durand, Climbers; Norman V. P. Schwab and Bennett Durand, Supporters; W. D. Harris, Chief Packer ; R. Laswell, Cook; and L. J. Blondin, A. Wiley and W. Gray, Packers ; with a total of prentysiive horses and our husky dog ‘ Wop. An uneventful eh brought the pack train to Athabaska Falls in the early evening. Unfortunately the straying of several horses forced us to lie over a day, so that it was the afternoon of the 21st before we pitched camp at the Sunwapta. There the Ranger, Jack Keable, was persuaded to join the expedition for a few days, and obtained permission to do so from the Park Superintendent, Colonel Maynard Rogers, who was keenly interested, and anxious to assist us in every manner. The following day’s march along the Athabaska River, and finally across it and also the Chaba, brought us to the camp ground near Fortress Lake, and while tents were being pitched five of the party went off to locate and launch Curly Phillips’ big canoe, the use of which had been arranged for. The weather had been all that could be desired, and as we rode along we had been able to look first up the head- waters of the Athabaska to the black walls of Mt. Alberta ? and the beautiful snowy forms of Mt. Columbia® and the North* and South Twins, then in turn up the Chaba Valley to the great glacier at its head—all of which had been hidden from us in 1922 by the heavy pall of smoke. On Monday, the 28rd, we set out to cope with the first of our serious difficulties. At 7.45 a.m. an axe party, con- sisting of Hall, Keable, and Norman Schwab, set forth on 2 Mt. Alberta, 11,874 ft. Sixth highest summit in Canadian Rockies. Unclimbed. 8 Mt. Columbia, 12,294 ft. Second highest summit in Canadian Rockies. First ascent 1902 by J. Outram with Guide Christian Kaufmann. 4 North Twin, 12,085 ft. Third highest summit in Canadian Rockies. First ascent 1923 by J. M. Thorington and W. S. Ladd, with Guide Konrad Kain. ce ee a Pe a aes —_ se SE EE 5

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Harris. Hall. de V.-Schwab. D. Durand. Wiley. Grey. N. Schwab. Photo, Keable. Laswell. B. Durand. Blondin. AT BASE CAMP. THE CLIMBING PARTY AT CLIMBING CAMP.

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. 128 foot to chop out the windfalls along the trail through the primeval forests on the north shore of Fortress Lake,’ and two hours later the pack train was in motion, bound for the lake shore a mile from camp, across the Continental Divide.® ' All the equipment and supplies were there unloaded and carried out over a natural float of great driftwood logs to the canoe. In due course, our Lemathan loaded to within four inches of the gunwales, with its crew—the two Durands and myself—squeezed in amongst the 2200 odd pounds of dunnage, pulled away in calm and quiet water, while the pack train disappeared into the woods. Keeping fairly close to shore, the axe party was met about two miles down the lake at a point where the trail ran close to the water’s edge. A little later Coleman’s Misty Mountain came into view at the head of Chisel Creek. To westward the beautiful vista of Mt. Serenity ’ was ever before us, while to the rear curiously shaped Mt. Quincy ® stood out sharply across the Chaba Valley. Having reached the west end of the lake shortly before 8.0 p.m., the canoe was promptly unloaded. After a hurried swim, Dana Durand and I then started back on the trail, leaving Bennett Durand to guard camp. Following the heavy work of propelling the deeply laden canoe, the ensuing hour of marching and tree-chopping, until the rest of the outfit was met, was anything but enjoyable. The axe party had found conditions distinctly less difficult than existed in 1922 ; nevertheless they had had all they could do to chop through in one day, and were much fatigued. The pack train also came through without accident, although most of the horses were very tired and a number of them had cast their shoes. Since all of us were feeling the effects of the previous day’s hard work, it was nearly noon on the 24th before the long pack train proceeded on its way down the valley of Upper Wood River to Serenity Creek, where we faced our second serious difficulty—the crossing of Wood River. Thanks to several photos and a sketch furnished by. Mr. A. OQ. Wheeler, there could be no mistaking the point where the Survey Party of 1920 had crossed ; but it was one of the places condemned by us in 1922, and was equally dangerous § Elevation of Fortress Lake, 4384 ft. 8 Continental Divide at Chaba/Fortress Lake Pass, 4388 ft. 7 Mt. Serenity, 10,573 ft. 8 Mt. Quincy, 10,400 ft.

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124 Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. now.® We could not afford to take unnecessary chances of losing a pack animal entrusted with equipment and supplies vital to the success of the expedition, even though a ridden horse might be forced across with reasonable safety. At this dark moment, Slim Gray, who is a logger in the winter and familiar with the ways of swift water, came to the fore, and in an hour’s time located a practicable ford some four hundred yards upstream. ‘Thus, to our immense relief, the entire pack train shortly found itself safely on the south-east bank of Wood River, whence a few minutes’ ride brought us to the Survey Party’s camp site in the heavy woods at the foot of Ghost Ridge, where Camp Wheeler ?° was established as our base. During the rest of the afternoon, and until late in the evening, the camp was a scene of great activity as the horse-packs were opened, and the weighing-out of the food supplies, together with the preparation of equipment, went on. After breakfast on Wednesday, July 25, came the loading of the pack-sacks, with each man’s personal stuff—which varied from about 20 lb. apiece for the Climbers and Harris ; 3 to 4 lb. each for those of Support Party A (Norman Schwab, Bennett Durand, Blondin and Gray), to nothing for Support Party B (Wiley and Keable)—the 8 sleeping-bags, 8 George tents, 2 Alpine ropes, 8 pairs of crampons, and all the other common equipment, together with about 200 Ib. of food. The total weight amounted to 431 lb. divided into 10 packs, varying from 35 to 50 lb. At 11.85 a.m., leaving Laswell to guard Camp Wheeler and the horses which had been turned loose on the flats across Ghost Creek, the line of ten back-packers filed off mto the woods, where the leader was shortly successful m picking up our last year’s blazes. The march was the same old story of stumbling over moss-covered decaying logs hidden under a covering of alders and devil’s club, and later fighting our way upwards through the scrub-pines, alders, and other en- tangling growths, and scrambling through the lines of broken cliffs. ® The 1922 Expedition, having failed to ford Wood River here- abouts, was forced to retreat several miles and establish its base camp by Alnus Creek, which necessitated an extra day of back packing along the south-east bank of the river in order to attain the foot of Ghost Ridge. 10 About 4360 ft. a aol

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MISTY MOUNTAIN, WALL OF MT. FARRAR, from N. base of Mt. Clemenceau. trom N.W. base of Mt. Clemenceau. Bruce Glacier below. CORNICES ON W. ARETE. THEOTUSK, MT. CLEMENCEAU. from Clemenceau Glacier.

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. 125 As everyone had become extremely thirsty, great was the disappointment when the snow-patch which provided water for us just above tree-line in 1922 was found to be non-existent. Moving forward again on the steepening slopes of scree, the party soon became strung out—those of climbing experience gradually moving to the fore at a measured pace, while the novices could be seen scattered over the hillside, either in spasms of violent action, or sitting down, completely blown, as they gathered themselves for their next spurt. The first of us reached the little plateau of Ridge Camp 1 at 8.80 p.m. and the last of the stragglers were in a quarter of an hour later. To our great relief, the big snow-bank was still there, so that we were soon able to have all the water that we craved Late in the afternoon, Hall, Dana Durand, Norman Schwab, Blondin, and myself, with rearranged packs, accompanied by Ben Durand and Keable, left for Ghost Ridge Cairn 12— officially known as ‘ Wood River South, 7383 ft. Station 115.’ As we came up over the edge of the ridge, the hearts of the veterans thrilled with joy at the glorious sight of Mt. Clemenceau’s snowy pyramid, while those of thc party who saw it for the first time enthusiastically agreed that it fulfilled every expectation of a beautiful and inspiring objective. Having remained at the cairn only long enough to construct a protecting cache for the contents of our packs, we raced gaily back to Ridge Camp, to find Harris preparing supper, while Gray and Wiley were just finishing the setting-up of our three little tents. Soon afterwards good-byes were said to Wiley and Keable of Support Party B, who thereupon set out with empty packs on their return to Camp Wheeler. The following day, these two set forth for home, taking with them eight pack-horses no longer needed. By a very long march they went through to the east end of the lake in one day, and so reached Jasper © safely on July 29. The eight men remaining at Ridge Camp were treated to a magnificent sunset in the sector between Mt. Bras Croche ¥ and Mt. Serenity, followed by the loveliest soft Alpine glow on the snowy ridges of the Ghost 14; then, as darkness was fast settling over the valley below, the bright full moon rose from 11 About 6800 ft. 12 Interprov. Boundary Map, Sheet 26, issued 1923, 18 Mt. Bras Croche, 10,871 ft. 144 Ghost Peak, 10,512 ft,

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126 Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. behind that peak, to bathe all the surrounding snowfields with its silvery light. It was 9.50 a.m. before a start was made on the 26th, and at Ghost Ridge Cairn we halted to rearrange the eight packs and the cache ; three hundred and forty-three pounds of stuff going forward, while seventy-three pounds were left there for the next relay of Support Party A. Departing from the cairn at 11.35 a.m., we dropped down a steep scree-slope on the side of Ghost Ridge facing Clemenceau Creek to a little plateau which we followed southwards until it ended at the ‘Big Slide ’—a wide, steep section where apparently a great landslide had once occurred. The passage down one of its hard-baked earth ribs, then across the bowl near its bottom, and up the opposite side, was a long, arduous procedure; the party not being on the farther mm until 2.30 P.M. , After a bite to eat the party continued its way in the broiling sun, now slanting upwards, now downwards, but ever moving southwards along the slopes below Ghost Peak. About 5 P.M. we came down into the ‘ Vale of Rocks,’ where last year’s party had bivouacked on their way in, tired, hungry, and, above all, thirsty—but, alas, not a trickle of water was to be found here! The final stage was a gradual descent through the heavy woods, which increasing weariness and a parching thirst made the hardest struggle of the long day. But Hall led well, finally bringing us out on to the moraine of Clemenceau Glacier at just the right point. Then, refreshed by a drink from a pure glacier-pool, we trudged on the few hundred yards to Climbing Camp, arriving, with much thankfulness, at 8.20 p.m. 3 Slim Gray left early next morning for Base Camp, which, despite warnings, he set out to gain vid Clemenceau Creek. * However, we later heard that, after getting to the snout of the Glacier a mile below Camp, he was soon forced by cut- banks and other obstructions along the creek to desist and make his way upward to join our route of the day before. In this connection it might be mentioned that the Survey Party of 1920 required several days to force their way along the south-east bank of Wood River Canyon and up Clemenceau Creek to the Glacier; but so terrible was the going that, in 1922, they had warned us that we ought to try to reach Climbing Camp by some other route than theirs. Thus was the route vid Ghost Ridge Cairn and along the slopes just above tree- line conceived by Allen Carpe the previous year.

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Photo, H. 8S. Hall. MT. CLEMENCEAU. Summit ridge and ice cliffs from W. aréte. Photo, H. S. Hall. MT. SHACKLETON, TUSK PEAK, AND ‘*“ PIC TORDU,” from Mt. Clemenceau.

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. 127 The seven men remaining spent a busy day clearing and levelling sufficient space to pitch the two tents properly, and generally putting camp in order. Our Climbing Camp was situated in a little hollow between the ancient lateral moraine of Clemenceau Glacier and the pine-clad slopes below Misty Mountain.» A few steps away is an icy torrent descending from a small glacier above. The altitude of Climbing Camp is 5500 ft—not as high or as near to our mountain as could be wished, but, nevertheless, the best available spot. Across the debris-covered glacier, here not quite a mile wide, the summit of Mt. Clemenceau soars alluringly far above its great N.E. shoulder and the ice cliffs of its N. face. Looking south- wards up the glacier one sees the three summits of Mt. Duplicate,!* arctic-looking Mt. Shackleton,!’ and the sheer cliffs . of Tusk 48; while in the opposite direction, over the tongue of the glacier, stands the dark bastion of Mt. Farrar,!® with delicately pointed Mt. Mallory »° rising close behind it, while white-capped Bras Croche guards the angle between Clemenceau Creek and Wood River Canyon. Let us now turn from the problem of the approach—com- pleted except for the work of the Support Party—to that of the actual climb. The stupendous N. face of Mt. Clemen- ceau is obviously unassailable, and the huge summit cliff of the I. face equally so. Whether the N.E. aréte could be gained at a point above the big shoulder is highly doubtful, but even if it were, enormous crevasses in the snow of the upper part promise to block progress absolutely. Carpe and Hall had therefore marched around to reconnoitre the mountain from the 8. in 1922; they being the first ever to behold it from that direction, although Palmer saw it from the Selkirks in 1915, as a brilliant white giant some twenty-five miles away. Most unfortunately clouds had completely hidden the vital portion above 10,000 ft., so that we only knew that on the 8.W. side lay a huge much- crevassed névé face, between the main §. buttress that fell 14 A. P. Coleman’s Misty Mountain, 10,050 ft. See his The Canadian Rockies, pp. 155-157. 16 Mt. Duplicate, 10,400 ft. Estimated from Survey Map. 17 Mt. Shackleton, 10,900 ft. Name accepted by Canadian Geographic Board at the suggestion of the first Mt. Clemenceau Expedition 18 Tusk Peak, 10,950 ft. 19 Mt. Farrar, 10,748 ft. 20 Mt. Mallory, 10,700 ft. estimated height.

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128 Mi. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. away very sharply from a great height and a long rock aréte that slanted upwards at a gentle angle from the divide between Clemenceau Névé and Bruce Glacier. Where this névé led to, no one knew. Consequently, the first thing for us to do was to view and study Mt. Clemenceau from the §. Accordingly everyone was up for an early breakfast on Saturday, July 28; immediately after which the remaining Supporters—Ben Durand, Norman Schwab, and Blondin— left for Camp Wheeler, while the Climbers set out on their reconnaissance. For approximately an hour and a half the Climbing Party followed the eastern medial moraine; then, when crevasses barred progress along this line, a detour was made eastward on to the dry glacier so as to pass between the crevassed fields created by the junction of Clemenceau Snowfield, coming down from the region between Mt. Duplicate and Apex Peak,?4 and the disturbed area of the main glacier. Once through this region, we swung round south-westward, scrambled back over the eastern medial moraine, crossed what we termed the middle icefield, mounted in turn over the western medial moraine, and so eventually gained the west icefield about 8.80 a.m., where it pours out between Tusk Peak and the 8.K. base of Mt. Clemenceau. A long walk first up the gently rising, hard ice, then through mushy snow, brought us to the level of Clemenceau Névé, where we roped. A march of approximately two miles southward across the glacier took us to the base of what we call ‘ Reconnaissance Ridge.’ <A short scramble having brought us to its crest, we moved along it upwards and westwards for three-quarters of an hour before halting for critical examination and discussion of our mountain, here in full view. From a take-off point at the 8.E. base of Mt. Clemenceau, at an estimated altitude of 7300 ft., we could see a corridor in the névé—named by us Tiger Glacrer—that slanted upwards to a point about midway across its 8. face. Thence it would be necessary to find a way through a network of crevasses and séracs running in a line across the whole face. Shortly above this could be seen a little plateau from which a steep slope between two big slanting crevasses near the 8.W. aréte led to what appeared to be a second deep plateau. From this upper plateau it was certain that 21 Apex Peak, 10,600 ft. Name accepted by Canadian Geographic Board at the suggestion of the First Mt. Clemenceau Expedition,

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rocktes. 129 the crest of the S.W. aréte could be gained at one point or another. This long aréte did not rise to the great N. to S. summit ridge, but at an approximate height of 11,000 ft. merged into some long snow slopes whose upper edge abutted the gigantic summit ice-cliff three hundred to four hundred feet high. Any thoughts that had been enter- tained of first gaining the summit ridge at its S. end were ruled out at once, and it was evident that the slopes beneath this great ridge would have to be traversed all the way to the main W. aréte. However, the nature and angle of this section could not be accurately determined from our vantage point. From our lookout other views finally claimed our attention : off to the N.W. beyond Clemenceau Névé rose the bare walls of Mi. Farrar and snow-tipped Mt. Mallory. But most of our attention was centered on the Tusk, to whose summit we endeavoured to trace a practicable route. The nameless group of peaks to the S. of it and, in fact, all the miles of territory as far as the Columbia River between Kinbasket Lake and the Big Bend are unmapped and unexplored. It is quite certain that the nameless glacier extending along the 8.W. base of our ridge is the source of Cummins River, which flows south- westward eventually to join the Columbia. Departing for Camp at mid-afternoon, we first detoured to the §.E. base of Mt. Clemenceau, where a search for a suitable bivouac place was rewarded by the finding of an eerie nook at the foot of a little cliff just above the level of the glacier, and easily reached over a patch of winter snow. Including this day, the weather had been all that could be desired, and our plans had been working out admirably ; but now a change took place that turned a promising season into one of the worst on record throughout the Rockies. Indeed it proved fortunate that we had foreseen much bad weather and accordingly calculated on a twenty days’ stay at Climbing Camp. Sunday, the 29th, a day of rest, was marked by a falling barometer and increasing cloudiness. That night, it com- mericed to rain and continued until late in the might of the 80th; meanwhile the temperature sank lower and lower. | On July 31 we awoke to clearing weather, but found that snow had fallen heavily to within a few hundred feet of Camp. An ascent of Mt. Duplicate, which we had chosen as a final preliminary climb, being out of the question, we decided upon an exploration trip around the N. base of Mt. Clemenceau. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIII. K

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180 Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockves. Having crossed the glacier on an upward slant, we climbed some precipitous slopes covered with scrub-pine to the region above the lower cliff belt, and so attained the dry glacier underneath the great N.E. shoulder. From this we ascended a prominent ochre-coloured buttress at the N.W. base, from which we could look up to the head of Bruce Glacier, and directly across it to the almost sheer five-thousand feet cliff of Mt. Farrar. A rough descent then took us down to Bruce Glacier whose surface we were the first ever to tread. Its tongue ended above a canyon so narrow as to be a mere cleft, yet, as nearly as could be estimated, fully two hundred feet deep. This obliged us to take to the woods, through which a traverse followed by a precipitous descent eventually brought us out on Clemenceau Creek about half a mile below the snout of that glacier. A rise of several hundred feet up the crest of the terminal moraine took us to the level of the ice and so back to Camp at 7.20 p.m., where we were delighted to find the Supporters had meanwhile arrived. With superb determina- tion they had brought in all the remaining supplies in one heavy load instead of in two trips as originally planned, and they seemed none the worse for their night’s bivouac in rain and snow near the south rim of the ‘ Big Slide.’ On Wednesday, August 1, a fine day once more, Slim Gray left for Base Camp; while, as a reward for their hard work, Norman Schwab and Ben Durand were included in the party to make a trip to Clemenceau Snowfield. Splendid views were had in every direction all day. The most interesting was that of Mt. Tsar,™ five or six miles away to the 8.W. of the local divide, a peak that has seldom been seen and never, as yet, even closely approached. That evening a huge bonfire was made in honour of Swiss Federation Day. The following day the Supporters departed early for Camp Wheeler, leaving the Climbers in camp owing to unpropitious weather that later developed into a steady downpour of rain. Next morning Climbing Camp was a world of white, with four inches of snow on everything and more coming down. When Saturday, the 4th, proved to be still another rainy day, we began to feel that we were seriously out-of-luck, and for the first time commenced to worry over our prospects of success. Physically, we were comfortable enough, as our tents were 22 Mt. Tsar, 11,232 ft.

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. 181 spacious and our meals could be cooked and eaten under the ‘ fly,’ while we were well protected from rain and cold by light oil-skin ponchos and warm clothes ; yet mentally, we became increasingly miserable. August 5 brought sufficient improvement in the weather to encourage us to make serious preparations for climbing, but, as the result of the heavy snowfall, it was decided that it would be wisest first to undertake a reconnaissance on the mountain itself in order to learn the nature of snow conditions before making an out and out try for the summit. However, we were again disappointed by the weather, and it was not until 4.40 a.m. on the 7th that the three of us could set out just as dawn was breaking. Following the usual route up the Glacier, we reached ‘Clemenceau Bivouac’ three hours later. In cloudy weather we then followed the moraine crest around the §.E. base of our mountain, and eventually got on to the dry tongue of Tiger Glacter, which rises quite steeply in its lower section, later easing off to a moderate slope near snow line. Roping at 9.15 a.m., with Hall leading, steady pfoaiees was made up the unmistakable slanting Corridor until about 10.45 a.m., when we came to a great solitary cube of ice that had fallen from the region of big crevasses and séracs above us. Surface conditions, if far from perfect, were by no means bad. In the vain hope that the clouds, which settled down upon us, would rise, we rested by the ‘ Fallen Sérac’ for half an hour and then pushed forward again, the writer now leading. Very soon the number of crevasses across our route increased, retarding our rate of advance. It was not a pleasant sensation to be enveloped in mist so thick that one could hardly dis- tinguish between it and the surrounding snows, while far out on the great expanse of an unknown glacier whose many crevasses seemed to run, without system, in every direction. However, we luckily managed to turn upwards at exactly the right place, and so hit off a passage across a great snow bridge at the most vulnerable point in the ‘ first line of defences.’ Above this line of ice-cliffs and séracs, we emerged on to some gentle snow slopes, where loud jodels brought echoes from the rocks of the subsidiary 8.W. aréte. Thus reassured concerning our position, we groped our way upwards until, about 1 p.m., we were Satisfied that we had gained the Lower Plateau where Hall’s aneroid read 10,050 ft. Soon after we halted, the clouds showed signs of lifting,

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182 Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockwes. and presently they broke away sufficiently to allow us a clear view all the way to the summit. Having determined upon the best route to the Upper Plateau, and having examined the terrain above it carefully, we retraced our steps homeward at 1.45 p.m. The Bivouac was regained in two hours, where we indulged in a half-hour’s rest, before marching back to Climbing Camp, where supper was eaten during the usual evening shower. When August 8 dawned fine and clear, it was determined to strike for Mt. Clemenceau at once. In view of the large number of crevasses throughout the length of Tiger Glacier it was decided to include Harris in the final Climbing Party ; he had had some climbing experience with Palmer and Carpe in 1920 and again early this season, and had been equipped for just such a possibility. With provisions for three days—in order to allow, if necessary, two attacks—the Climbing Party left Camp early in the afternoon. Reaching the Bivouac ?* at 5.50 p.M., we rigged up a little shelter for the ‘ kitchen ’ close to the pro- tecting cliff by means of the tent fly and ice axes ; there Harris soon had the little units of Meta fuel burning under pots of Erbswurst and cocoa, while the rest of us smoothed down the shale, laid out our sleeping bags, and got into all the warm clothes that we possessed, hoping for a clear, chilly night to produce favourable snow conditions, yet fearing greatly the increasing threat of rain. Soon after supper we crawled into our bags to puff our evening pipe as we looked out upon the vast amphitheatre formed by the cliffs of The Tusk, Nimrod Ice-fall,™ the long wall of Mt. Duplicate, and the rising expanse of ice and rock to eastward, across Clemenceau Glacier. As the light faded out, the threatened shower came on and lasted for an hour, so that the patter of raindrops on the ponchos over our heads was the last sound heard as one after another dropped off to sleep. When preparation of breakfast was undertaken, shortly before 3 a.M., the sky was fairly clear ; however, a tempera- ture of 389 degrees seemed altogether too high to produce the desired snow conditions. Carrying three light rucksacks, 3% About 7250 ft. 4% The fine névé and icefall flowing down from the flanks of Mt. Shackleton, and out between Tusk and Mt. Duplicate to join Clemenceau Glacier.

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Telephoto, H. Palmer. MT. CLEMENCEAU (N. face), from Wood River Valley.

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rocktes. 188 the Climbing Party filed away at 4.5 a.m.—by the light of three Swiss lanterns. At last we were face to face with the culmina- tion of our problem. At snow line we put out lanterns, and roped up in the order—Hall, Durand, Harris, and Schwab. Then in our old tracks we moved along at a steady pace that brought us to the The Saddle Big Bridge Main W.Aréte N. Summit Mr. CLEMENCEAU. S. Face. TIGER GLACIER IN FOREGROUND. ‘Fallen Sérac’ at 5.45 a.m., and so in turn, the rope having been reversed, to the farthest point of our reconnaissance on the Lower Plateau at 7.5 a.M.—a gain of 45 minutes over our previous time—in spite of the soft condition of the snow and Harris’s feeling the effect of the heavy going after being cooped up in Camp for so many days. Although the air temperature was hardly below the freezing point, we did not linger unnecessarily over our first. breakfast, despite the glorious sunrise views of Mt. Sir Sandford * in the Selkirks far away to the S. 25 Mt. Sir Sandford, 11,590 ft.

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184. Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. From the Lower Plateau we proceeded up the névé slopes towards the rock wall of the S.W. subsidiary aréte until we had passed beyond the line of a great crevasse that came slanting down from above. Then we swung to the right and mounted parallel with it to the level of the Upper Plateau. Shortly beyond the edge of this we encountered an enormous crevasse that at first seemed to stretch clear across Tiger Glacier, but a safe snow bridge was found far off to the right. A discussion now arose as to whether we should swing sharply to the left across the plateau and by steep snow slopes gain the crest of the 8.W. subsidiary aréte, which could then be followed to the saddle where it merged into the face of the mountain, or whether we should march up to the head of our plateau and attempt to force a way up the steep crevassed wall direct to the saddle. The former route, though perhaps longer;:appeared to offer certain success and in addition would bring the party into the warmth of the sun sooner, and was therefore chosen for the attack on the ‘second line of defences,’ From the W. side of the Upper Plateau Hall led us up rapidly steepening slopes to a short ice-wall, in which there was an awkward bergschrund extending completely across the adjacent face. The work of locating the best place to cros3 this bergschrund and the cutting of the necessary steps occasioned some delay; but once over it there followed a straightforward rise up hard snow of just the right consistency for a kick or two to produce the required step. Eventually we reached a patch of rocks—the only one touched on the entire climb—and a few minutes later found ourselves on the crest of the aréte, looking across at Mé. Farrar and Mt. Mallory, beyond the main W. ridge of our own mountain. Thence ten minutes traverse brought us to the snowy Saddle, where we halted about 9 a.m. at a height of 10,900 ft. Tusk and its attendant peaks had long since become dwarfed in aspect, finally to disappear from our view behind the 8. end of Mt. Clemenceau’s summit ridge. But other peaks, both known and unknown, now claimed our attention far and near around the horizon from 8. to N.W. However, most of our interest was focussed on the remaining portion of our route, and on the impressive glacier lying between us and the W. aréte, breaking off in a series of sheer ice-cliffs to end probably in some terrific rock buttress above Bruce Glacier five thousand feet below. Having rested a quarter of an hour, it again came my turn

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. 185 to lead. Smooth and inviting the snow slopes appeared, and gaily did I set out towards the ‘ Roof Terrace’ six hundred feet above us at the base of the long summit ridge. But disillusionment came swiftly ; at every step the hard-crusted surface gave way just as my full weight came upon it, and into six to eight inches of powdery snow my feet would drop. To complete my discomfort, a glance rearward would disclose Durand, Harris, and even Hall for the most part, marching easily upon the surface crust, meanwhile offering facetious words of encouragement. When at last the level of ‘ Roof Terrace ’ was gained, I was quite willing to admit myself utterly blown and to accept Durand’s offer to change places. As we proceeded along this remarkable, gently inclined terrace, we were much interested in the series of curious ice cauldrons along the base of the summit cliff. When close to the main W. aréte our original places on the rope were resumed. Then, having selected a point considered least likely to be.corniced, Hall mounted the slope, sounding carefully, while the rest of us anchored in line below. Presently he was able safely to gain the crest of the aréte where the others of the party quickly joimed him. As we suspected, there were several enormous cornices overhanging the N. face which necessitated our keeping a few feet on the S. side of the aréte. If the snow were in poor condition serious danger might exist on this aréte, while if the surface were of ice, hours of stepcutting might have been required. However, luck was with us again, for we found the snow, save in a few spots, hard and firm so that a kick or two produced a safe step. Gradually we rose higher and higher, until after passing across a sort of snow buttress we found ourselves at the lower end of a gentle little snow cap with nothing above us. Firmly secured, the leader prospected the summit for cornices, and then at 11.17 a.m. we all shook hands and joined in a shout of * Vive, Clemenceau!’ Our peak was won. Despite the sun being frequently hidden by fleecy clouds that drifted lazily overhead, it was comfortably warm and absolutely windstill, so that we could settle down for a prolonged stay. Far below us, over the N.H. shoulder of our mountain, we could distinguish our Climbing Camp, while beyond the crest of Ghost-Misty Mountain ridge we could see Fortress Mountain and the wide Valley of the 26 Fortress Mountain, 9908 ft.

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186 Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. Athabaska. The black walls of Mt. Alberta were for the most part hidden by clouds, as were the North and South Twins ; but Mt. Columbia and Mt. King Edward 2’ stood out boldly twenty-five miles away over the Clemenceau-Chaba-Columbia icefields. Occasional glimpses were had of Mt. Tsar beyond Mt. Duplicate, which latter appeared insignificantly squat. However, even though a thousand feet and more below us, the triple-peaked ice ridge of Mt. Shackleton and the great dark cliff of Tusk were as impressive as ever; together they formed the scenic climax of our view. These, combined with the group of nameless peaks, amongst them the curiously twisted one which we called Pic Tordu,?® were high enough to screen the country lving between them and Kinbasket Lake on the Columbia River. Unfortunately, heavy cumulus clouds now covered Mt. Sir Sandford and the other Selkirk peaks thereabouts, but far beyond Cummins Glacier and the unmapped region of lower Cummins and Wood Rivers lay many unclimbed peaks of the Northern Selkirks, known as the Windy and Mt. Chapman Croups, their summits but dimly outlined underneath a pall of clouds. At one point in the 8.W. we believed that we could actually see the waters of the Columbia River eighteen milesaway. N. of its Big Bend lay a vast region of practically virgin territory, amongst which are the fine Caribou and Gold Ranges, of which little 1s known as yet. Directly below us across Clemenceau Névé, ‘ Reconnaissance Ridge ’ continues north-westward, giving rise to three peaks, the largest of which near Mit. Mallory, and high above the deep trough of lower Wood River, we had called Mt. Bruce.?® From this basin, Bruce Glacier flows down towards Clemenceau Creek. Thus is Mt. Clemenceau almost completely encircled by ice. Far away to the N.W., we strained our eyes to catch a glimpse of Mt. Robson 8°--the monarch of all the Rockies— but whether we actually saw it, or mistook cloud effects for it, could not be determined. Mts. Farrar and Bras Croche, close by, naturally did not appear to advantage far below us, 27 Mt. King Edward, 11,400 ft. 28 Pic Tordu, 10,600 ft. estimated height. 29 Mt. Bruce, 10,400 ft. estimated height. 30 Mt. Robson, 12,972 ft., revised official height. Highest summit in Canadian Rockies. First ascent 1913 by W. W. Fester and A. H. McCarthy, with Guide Konrad Kain.

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. -187 but beyond them Mt. Hooker *! aroused our interest, while Mt. Serenity was a beautiful sight with its enshrouding snow- fields. Distant views of Mt. Geikie,®? in the Rampart Range, and of forbidding Mt. Fryatt** completed our panorama. The long aréte running to the §. summit of our mountain is a knife-edge throughout, with feathery cornices projecting now on one side, now on the other. Its traverse appeared to us quite impossible. The two-hour stay which we felt safe in allotting ourselves under the prevailing conditions having passed, we roped in a new order—Durand first, then Harris, Hall, and the writer last. Commencing the descent at 1.20 P.m., we proceeded with extreme care—for the surface was no longer of the best— until the angle of the aréte eased off a little ; but when ‘ Roof Terrace ’ was reached we hurried, in joyous spirits, along its now evenly soft snows and down the slopes to the Saddle. Here we turned sharply to. the left, diverging from our route of ascent, and plunged down at a rapid rate for some djstance until we were suddenly brought up by a sheer drop, at the foot of which a long crevasse yawned. To avoid this we were forced to make a hundred-foot traverse across the steep névé face until beyond the crevasse. There each of the first three men in turn, secured by the one above, descended, face to the wall, to the soft snows of the Upper Plateau thirty feet below; the last man then followed by a somewhat sensational sitting glissade. The morning’s track having been rejoined and the great crevasse safely crossed, a glissade carried the party down the last slopes to the Lower Plateau. Then, once beyond the * Big Bridge,’ all went happily and rapidly down to the dry glacier, where the rope was laid aside, and by 4.50 p.m. we were back at the Bivouac. Here we halted to enjoy a bowl of hot soup and to pack up before continuing home- wards to Climbing Camp, which was reached at 7.45 P.M. 31 Mt. Hooker 10,782 ft. The name Mt. Hooker is one of the earliest occurring in the literature of the Rockies, and its fabled height of 17,000 ft. has made it the subject of great historical interest. Search for this mythical giant—which conceivably might have been Mt. Clemenceau—led to the most important early expeditions to this general region (7.e. A. P. Coleman in 1892 and W. D. Wilcox in 1896) and resulted in the discovery of Fortress Lake and ‘ The Pyramid,’ as Mt. Clemenceau was vaguely known until 1920. 32, Mt. Geikie, 10,854 ft. 83 Mt. Fryatt, 11,026 ft.

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188 Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Bociies: Harris, who had kept up bravely all day despite his lack of condition, crawled into his ‘ bag’ at once, while the rest of us cooked supper and discussed the incidents of the climb until late in the evening. The following day was one of complete rest, made more enjoyable by that mental contentment which follows a hard- earned victory. During the day it became evident that the writer’s toes, once frozen and several times frost-bitten in the Alps, had been ‘touched’ a little the day before; conse- quently, it seemed wisest for him to remain in camp another day before attempting one or two last big climbs. A little before 6 a.m. on the 11th, Hall and Durand together, therefore, set off for a reconnaissance of the Ghost. Ascending through the woods above Camp, they crossed the creek at a height of 6500 ft., then mounted diagonally the scree slopes to Misty Col at a height of 8800 ft., arriving about 9 a.m. From a point just above the wide col they could look down @ precipitous rock wall to a glacier in the great bowl at the head of Chisel Creek, and catch sight of Fortress Lake. | In a drizzle they swung around towards the N. and mounted the ridge, easily at first, then by several steep pitches of rotten rock to the most southerly minor summit * of the Ghost, which they reached about 1 p.m. Two more minor summits intervened between them and the actual top, each apparently excessively steep and difficult. For a time the clouds lifted sufficiently to reveal Mts. Alberta, Columbia and the Twins to eastward, while near by they could look over at Musty Mountain and around the bowl to a fine twin-peaked summit ®° rising from the Continental Divide. Mt. Clemenceau, which would have been a magnificent sight ** from this direction, was unfortunately hidden in clouds. Having accomplished all they intended to, and finding the wind and cold rapidly increasing, they retreated homewards, arriving at Camp at supper hour. For our last climb we decided upon Bras Croche, which we planned to attack by its S.W. ridge from a bivouac at the outer edge of the plateau high above Bruce Canyon. During the night, however, rain came on again and held us in Camp. As we were disconsolately sitting in our tents late next after- noon, a sudden shouting on the moraine brought us tumbling 34 Hstimated altitude 10,150 ft. 35 10,500 ft. Estimated from Survey Map. 86 Cf. Coleman’s The Canadian Rockies, pp. 155-157.

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Mt. Clemenceau—Northern Canadian Rockies. 189 out to welcome our three Supporters, who were all eager to hear the news of Mt. Clemenceau. The Support Party had returned to Camp Wheeler on August 2, where they remained stormbound until the 6th, on which day, according to schedule, camp was moved to a new situation on the meadows on the N.W. side of Wood River, a mile above the confluence of Ghost Creek, in order to be nearer the horses’ feeding-ground and in a position to observe Ghost Ridge Cairn for possible signals. On the same day Norman Schwab, Ben Durand and Blondin had set out as an exploration party to force a way through the canyon to the flats of Lower Wood River. Choosing the EK. side of the River,” Clemenceau Creek was finally gained after many hours of gruelling work, but the second day was - spent in a vain attempt to cross this obstacle. Failing to accomplish this, they were obliged to return to Base Camp next day,®§ considerably disgruntled. Further exploration by them was rendered impossible because of Laswell becoming so seriously poisoned by mosquito bites that it was feared he might have to be sent home at any time. This situation, coupled with the inclement weather, induced Norman Schwab to bring three of the Supporters into Climbing Camp three days earlier than scheduled in order to advise us of the situation and assist our withdrawal when we were ready. After a rainy night, camp was astir early on the morning of August 18. Breakfast having been eaten, tents were quickly broken, packs were made up, and the retreat com- menced at 8.20 a.m. The column reached Ridge Camp in the middle of the afternoon, where a smudge fire was made as a signal for Slim Gray to bring the horses across the river to meet us at Camp Wheeler. Thus before supper time everyone was safely in the valley at Meadows Camp. Laswell’s face was found to be considerably improved, although still painful and much swollen. Breaking up Base Camp and loading the pack train next morning was a tedious performance, but then it was scarcely an hour’s ride to the western end of Fortress Lake, where everyone enjoyed an afternoon of bathing and thorough rest. 37 Cf. W. D. Wilcox, The Rockies of Canada (edition 1900), p. 180. 38 By a new ford only knee-deep, located a few hundred yards below the last cut-bank on the EK. side of the river above the flats; see Map.

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140 The American Members of the Alpine Club. Next morning Dana Durand and I set-out at 7.15 a.m. as an axe party, the horses following half an hour later in charge of the four packers, while Hall, Norman Schwab and Ben Durand embarked in the canoe with all the duffle shortly after. During the scant three weeks since Support Party B had gone out with their horses, no less than six trees had fallen across the trail. The delay caused by the chopping out of these obstructions allowed the pack train to catch up with the axes soon after noon. Eventually the latter marched direct to the camp ground by the Chaba River, while the pack train first went to the E. end of the lake. There the canoe was cached and the stuff loaded on the horses, which arrived in Camp by mid-afternoon. An uneventful march brought the entire party into the Sun Wapta Ranger Station in the early afternoon of the 16th, to receive a warm greeting from Keable. All eager to get back to Jasper, our impatience can be imagined when four of the horses could not be found next day. In the early afternoon Hall went off with a light rucksack to walk to Athabaska Falls and so to Jasper the next day, while the rest of us waited three hours more before deciding to abandon the missing horses and march to Twin Creeks, about half-way to the Falls. A few miles down the trail, what should we meet but our four missing horses! Thus our last Camp was reached at twilight, with the worries of the day forgotten. Early on August 18 the four amateurs rode ahead as far as the Falls, where the Ranger, Captain Wells, and his wife — entertained them until the pack train came along about noon. Late that afternoon the expedition arrived in Jasper, hot, dusty and hungry after a thirty-mile march—but everyone in the best of health and spirits. The Second Mt. Clemenceau Eixpedition was over ; our problem had been solved. THe AMERICAN MEMBERS OF THE ALPINE CLUB. Précis of Minutes of Meeting held December 8, 1928. dae sixth Dinner and Meeting of the Association was held at the Harvard Club in Boston on Saturday evening, December 8, 1923. The following members attended: Prof. C. E. Fay (Chair- ne ee ;

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Olympic Prize for Alpine Climbing. 14] man), Freeman Allen, J. W. 8. Brady, Allston Burr, J. Ellis Fisher, Howard Palmer, J. Duke Smith, and H. B. de Villiers- Schwab ; the guests being Dana B. Durand, 8. Prescott Fay, Henry S. Hall, jun., W. 8. Ladd, George M. Weed, and George N. Whipple. The members number twenty-six. The proposal to provide for two Vice-Chairmen, one of whom shall be a Canadian, was unanimously carried, and Dr. J. W. A. Hickson was declared elected Second Vice-Chairman. Mr. Howard Palmer proceeded to deliver the lecture of the evening on ‘ Mt. Sir Sanford.’ The earlier attempts on the mountain, as well as his own determined series of expeditions, culminating in its conquest in 1912, were ably described, with the aid of many fine lantern slides. Most thrilling were the pictures and narrative of the passage beneath the ice-cap on the summit ridge, under the leadership of the guides Edward Feuz and Rudolph Aemmer. Mr. de Villiers-Schwab closed the programme with a short account of the recent successful Mt. Clemenceau Expedition, illustrating his talk with a few lantern slides. Informal dis- cussion followed, and the gathering finally broke up shortly before midnight. H. B. pr VILLIERS-SCHWAB, Hon. Sec. 11, Broadway, New York City. : Ouymric PrizE ror ALPINE CLIMBING. N the day. before he sailed for India to lead the Third Mount Everest Expedition General Bruce received a letter from the General Secretary of the Comité Olympique Frangais inviting him to Chamonix to receive the priz @alpinisme which had been unanimously awarded to him by the Comité International Olympique and the Comité Olympique Francais. The two Committees were of the opinion that no individual or collective effort had in the last four years equalled that which Genera] Bruce and his comrades had achieved in the Mount Everest Expedition, and at the closing ceremony of the jeux d’hiver the assembled athletes of nineteen nations would be happy to acclaim in him the most magnificent example of energy which the Committee could set before them.

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142 In Memortam. Since it was impossible for General Bruce to attend in person, the Mount Everest Committee nominated Lieut.- Colonel E. L. Strutt, the second in command of the Expedi- tion of 1922, to represent the Expedition, and at a great assembly on the Skating Rink at Chamonix on February 5, thirteen handsome silver-gilt medals were handed to him— one for each British member of the party. Monsieur le Baron Pierre Coubertin, President of the Comité International Olympique, in an eloquent speech, referred in most flattering terms to the hardships undergone by the party, and expressed his sincere hopes for the success of General Bruce and the Expedition of 1924. The Baron also referred to the fact that this was the first occasion on which the Olympic Prize had ever been awarded for a mountaineering feat, and expressed the hope that General Bruce would see that one of these medals was deposited on the summit of Mount Everest this year. The speech was received with loud cheers from the Olympic competitors and spectators, numbering several thousands, and the band of the 27th Chasseurs Alpins played the British National Anthem as Colonel Strutt advanced to receive the prize. The Mount Everest Committee have conveyed to the Presi- dent of the Comité International Olympique and the Comité Olympique Frangais their high appreciation of the distinction conferred upon General Bruce and the members of the Expedi- tion by this award. IN MEMORIAM. THOMAS GEORGE BONNEY,! 1833-1923. It is to the honour of the Alpine Club that mere athletics has been but a part of its pursuits. It is a note of our Club that, brilliant as are its records for skill, daring, and adventure, its members have been no less distinguished for accomplishment in science, art, and letters. Of such a company Professor Bonney, whose death we now deplore, was a shining example ; his climbing record is good, 1 Portraits of Professor Bonney appeared in A.J. xxxi. 18 and xxxiv. frontispiece. He is the last survivor of Whymper’s famous group at Zermatt in 1864.

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In Memoriam. - 148 remarkable for the early days in which much of it was done; he had no little skill with the pencil, and as a man of science, especially as a geologist, he stood in the front rank, the rank of original dis- coverers. He had that blend of imagination with method and busy practical experience which discloses new fields and new principles of knowledge. Bonney’s geology was no mere fossil collecting ; he had the larger vision to comprehend the design and the evolutionary forces of the earth’s making. Thomas George Bonney was born on July 27, 1833, at Rugeley ; the son of the Rev. Thomas Bonney, sometime Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, master of the Rugeley Grammar School, rector of a neighbouring village, and father of ten children. Happily, he had private means enough to enable him to educate his children well. Like his son, he seems to have been a man of energy, of character, and wide attainments. The family was of Huguenot descent, and inherited the talents, sociability, and fine manners of that interesting group, and not least of Professor Bonney himself. . Both father and mother were keen botanists, as was the Professor likewise ; indeed every member of the house seems to have been interested, one way or another, in natural history. From a lad T. G. Bonney’s inclinations were towards geology. While a boy at school, under Holden at Uppingham, he collected fossils, and in those days fortunately, his propensities met with some scholastic encouragement. As head of the school, Bonney proceeded to St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he won a scholarship. At that time the Natural Science Tripos was in existence, but open only to candidates with a degree in Arts. Bonney had received a good classical education, and had a bent to mathematics ; accordingly he took a Second Class in the Classical Tripos and in mathematics was twelfth wrangler. Soon after his degree Bonney ardently pursued his geological labours in the Isle of Wight, especially on the Tertiary beds of the island; and made also his first visit to Switzerland. Moreover the coprolite industry in Cambridgeshire had given him opportunities of working in the Greensand beds, rich in animal relics. He accepted a post as mathematical master at Westminster, but soon after- wards returned to College as Fellow and Dean, and as a candidate for Orders. He was tutor from 1868 to 1876. In 1858 Bonney paid his second visit to the Alps, the second of an almost unbroken series of annual visits extending almost into old age. He joined the Alpine Club on May 25, 1859. On this second visit he crossed the Strahleck—an * icewall’ of which we were wont then to speak with some awe—and the Weissthor. During the next four Long Vacations he explored the French and Italian Alps, then a comparatively new field. His contemporaries, Taylor and Pendlebury, were also Fellows of St. John’s. : Soon after his return to College Bonney was appointed Lecturer in Geology at St. John’s, but it soon fell to him also to assist his

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144 In Memoriam. great master, Professor Sedgwick, then declining into old age. On Sedgwick’s death he failed by a small majority to obtain the Chair of Geology. His academic duties had prevented his publishing much of his garnered materials, and always he was modest even to diffi- dence in making claims tor his own work. When, on his return to Cambridge in 1905, the Cambridge branch of the Alpine Club was founded, Bonney was caught in the act of proposing as the first President a friend of not half his own qualifications for the honour. The Club soon put that right. In 1877 Bonney was elected Professor of Geology in University College, London ; but he continued to lecture at St. John’s until his appointment, in 1881, as Secretary of the British Association, when he left Cambridge to reside in Hampstead. He was now more at liberty to undertake literary work. A man of marvellous activity both of mind and body, at work at 6 A.M. in all seasons, thenceforward to the end of his life he completed more than 200 articles, greater and less, and on various subjects ; especially geology, mountaineering, and architecture : he wrote many biographies for the ‘Dictionary of National Biography.’ Bishop Browne, in his book of recollections, 1915, spoke of Bonney’s hospitable rooms in St. John’s as a charming centre of interests—Alpine, scientific, literary, and artistic. He possessed many water-colour drawings by Walton and other artists. ‘In the Alps Professor Bonney found himself in mediis rebus ; he had left the outskirts for the very centre of the arcanum, and ever since had been engaged in trying to decipher the history of the crystalline schists and gneisses in that chain, as well as in other lands.’? Bonney accumulated a pile of sketch-books, and by his artistic tastes formed a long friendship with Elijah Walton, to whom, and after his early death to whose family, Bonney was able to be of no little service. His obituary notice of Walton appeared in the — ALPINE JOURNAL, Volume X. His own sketches were chiefly perhaps technical records; but not a few of the best were of architecture, of which art he had more than an amateur’s knowledge. He wrote much of the descriptive text of the ‘ Abbeys and Churches of England’ (1881), and of ‘ English Cathedrals’; he contributed largely also to two volumes of the British Isles in ‘ Picturesque Kurope’ (1876-9). Throughout his geological and climbing essays the spirit of the artist and lover of nature is as manifest as the eye of the geologist and the skill and endurance of the mountaineer. His love for nature was none the less for appearing to him with the forms of geology. The outlines and planes of the architecture of a mountain and of an abbey or stronghold attracted him alike. The sculpture of the hills and vales and the carving of the patterns of the earth’s surface were his joy. He followed lovingly the work of the creative chisel, 2 Geol. Mag., September, 1901.

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In Memoriam. 145 the work of such immediate agents as water, and of heat and con- tortion, in moulding the face of the earth, and its lake basins, its highlands and its pinnacles ; the anatomy of river or peak and the ranges of ‘ dynasties of hills.’ In his day much was claimed for the erosion effects of glaciers, even to the formation of the greater lakes and other large contours of the earth. By his own observations Bonney showed that such effects could not have been produced>in this way; and in his Address as President of the British Association at Sheffield in 1910 he dealt with these great problems in a large and masterly manner. On the other hand, seeing the infinitely great in the infinitely little, in his Rede Lecture in 1892 he described the contribution of the micro- scope to the earth’s physical history. In the application of the microscope to detect intimate rock structure Bonney was a pioneer ; and his lectures on petrology in London, and again in Cambridge after his return, were held in high esteem. It is to him indeed that we owe the detection of the birthplace of the diamond in the rare igneous rock called Eclogite. In forming these large conceptions founded upon intimate knowledge, Bonney walked the Alps, as he says, ‘from Viso to Salzkammergut’; not to mention the Lake country, where much of his work first and last was done,® Wales, Cornwall, Charnwood, and the Highlands of Scotland. In all difficult problems he would return again and again to the mountains for solutions. His views on glacier action and the moulding of the earth’s surface are fully verified in the recent Report of Weight and Priestley in Scott’s ‘Antarctic Expedition’ and in Taylor’s *Physiography of McMurdo’s Sound.’ On some of his excursions Bonney took pupils; and not infre- quently he walked in the Alps with his geological friends Canon Hill, Bishop Browne (ice caves) and Mr. Eccles. One of them tells - me, as an instance of his acute observation, that at a miserable little inn, after a hard day on ice caves, they were lodged in a room with two beds, one remarkably tidy for such a place, the other bare and grimy. They tossed. Bonney won and chose the grimy. The man in the tidy bed was eaten alive: Bonney slept like a top. ‘Yes,’ he said in the early morning, “I chose the iron bedstead ; they don’t breed there.’ Another of his early friends, one of whom he spoke always with great affection, was our distinguished member and first President, 5 His first glacial paper, published in 1866, dealt with the Lake District. 4 For a closer survey of Bonney’s scientific work, and a full bibliography of his publications, the reader is referred to an able paper in the Geological Magazine, N.S., D. iv. vol. vii. No. 9. For these references and other aid I am indebted to the kindness of Professor Marr, Dr. Rastall of Christ’s College, Bishop Browne, and members of Dr. Bonney’s own family. VOL, XXXVI.—NOQ. COXXVITI. L

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146 In Memoriam. John Ball, F.R.S., author of the well-known Alpine Guide, and likewise an eminent man of science. Of him Bonney wrote in this Journal (xv. 23-36) a charming biographical notice which (it has been said) might in a way be applied to Bonney himself. In many books on mountaineering chapters by Bonney are to be found; for example, in Whymper’s ‘ Travels among the Great Andes of Ecuador’ (1891); Fitzgerald’s ‘Climbs in the New Zealand Alps’ (1896); Freshfield and Sella’s ‘Exploration of the Caucasus’ (1896) ; and Mathews’ ‘ Annals of Mt. Blanc’ (1898). He also described (in separate memoirs) specimens collected in the Selkirks and Canadian Rockies by Whymper and J. N. Collie. In 1921 appeared a charmingly written little book entitled ‘Memories of a Long Life,’ in which Bonney set forth his reminiscences of early days at home and at school, of Cambridge, and of travel and climbing, ‘ with a wealth of anecdote and many graphic sketches of the days now long gone by.’ ® But his travels went far beyond Switzerland, the Austrian, French, and Italian Alps, and Britain: he visited Scandinavia, Canada, and the East, but always with the same eye for scenery and geology and love for the open-air life. His geological researches were of the open air, not of the cabinet only. He spent many long and strenuous days in the hills when over eighty years of age. Among the principal Alpine peaks ascended by, Bonney were Monte Rosa (1859), M. Pourri, Rutor, Grivola, Ortler, Tofana, Glockner, Matterhorn (1874), M. Leone, Venediger, Weissmies, Diablons ; but, as already indicated, he was much more of the mountaineer-traveller than a climber, and this led him to cross a multitude of cols which for his purpose were much more instructive.® In 1905, having resigned his official duties, Bonney returned to Cambridge and took a house in Scroope Terrace, about a mile from St. John’s and the Museum. Ever young himself, he wassympathetic | with young men, and over his pupils had a most beneficent influence. Professor Marr tells me that ‘on his return to residence in Cambridge he began to give demonstrations in the Geological Museum, and continued these until the beginning of the October term 1923. He spent many hours in the work, and his teaching was highly esteemed by the students.’ A friend writes: “With unfailing patience he would spend hours in explaining small difficulties to a succession of inquirers, enlivening his discourse with witty illustrations and caustic comment.’ § Obit., T. G. B., Geol. Mag., February, 1923. 5 A complete itinerary will be found in Mr. Mumm’s exhaustive The Alpine Club Register. (Arnold, 1923.) . The cols included the New Weisstor, Théodule, du Says, du Sélé, de l’Eychauda, de Monei, Rutor (1st complete passage), de Goléon, de Vénosc, de la Muande (Ist English passage), de Zinal (1st passage), Triftjoch, de Breney, Ammertensattel, Sella, Scerscen, Brunni, and many others in all parts of the Alps.

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In Memortam. 147 Exercise in the open air was still a passion with him. A light, sinewy figure, of active build, quick step, almost unconscious of fatigue, he rarely failed to take his daily walks. Methodical in all things, in these later and more leisured years he turned out regu- larly in all weathers about eleven in the forenoon, and again in the afternoon, for a brisk walk; his rule being at least seven miles a day. During the last year of his life, as strength failed him, it was pathetic to witness the conflict of relentless will with enfeebled limbs—the determination to keep up the old life even to the last. But this was the man all through: tenacity, strict method, resolute work, high purpose. In Cambridge he dined in Hall, walking from his house to College and back. He never worked after dinner; he went to bed at ten o’clock, so as to be ready for his work early the next morning. Bonney was a charming companion: grave, earnest, and exact in temperament, but with a reserved sense of humour, and glad in the society of his friends. He was not a man of swift resolve, and therefore not a man lightly to change. He talked with a gentle note of authority and the easy argument of a master; and this not in his own speciality only. He was a very staunch friend, that best kind of friend who is not uncritical. This meant rather trenchant mislike of certain types of fellow-creatures not unrepresented on the list of Fellows in his younger days. His clear vision and quick mind were not very indulgent to duller folk. If this side of his nature had been less frankly shown, he would probably have been Master of St. John’s. That he was not elected Master was one of his great trials, and it was a loss to the College and to the University. Moreover in that generation the College would have done well to have given more heed to his advice both in geology and architecture. Dr. Bonney was an excellent preacher, as broad, clear, and rational in his opinions as he was earnest in his spiritual life. As Whitehall Preacher, Hulsean Lecturer, in Manchester Cathedral,. in the pulpit of St. Mary’s and of the churches of his friends, his sermons were very telling. Naturally restrained in his feelings, these rarer appeals were the more impressive, while the breadth and independence of his views won the respect of hearers of all shades of opinion. And even on such occasions he was not incapable of a shrewd and at times ironical wit. Such is the imperfect story of a long and _ beneficent life, full of manifold work which has borne much fruit, literary, scientific, and social. [Amongst his honours may be mentioned the following :— Doctor of Science, Cambridge, Dublin, and Sheffield; LL.D., Montreal; Fellow and sometime Vice-President of the Royal Society; Secretary and President of the Geological Society of London; President of the Mineralogical Society, and of the Alpine Club; Whitehall Preacher; Hulsean Lecturer; Rede Lecturer; Hon. Canon of Manchester.] C. A.

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148 In Memoriam. EDWARD NORTH BUXTON. 1840-1924. THE late Mr. Buxton was elected to the Club before he was twenty years of age. Between 1860 and 1865, with his brother, Sir T. F. Buxton, Tuckett, Stephen, and other well-known mountaineers, he carried out a series of expeditions which rank among the most notable of the day. Thus he made, in 1861, the first ascent of Nordend, of the E. Piz Pali, the first passage of the Studerjoch, seldom done since, and an ascent of the Weisshorn, at that time a very notable performance. The following year he made, with his brother, H. E. Buxton and Tuckett, a new route across the Bernina chain by the Fuorcla Crast’ Agiizza, Zupo Pass and Passo di Verona, the first ascents of the Monte Cristallo and the KGnigsspitze, the fifth ascent of the Ortler, and with Stephen, the first ascent of the W. summit of Lyskamm by the W. aréte. The following year, with F. C. Grove and Reginald Macdonald, he made the first ascent of the Aig. de Bionnassay and a very notable traverse of the Dome du Goiter from Chamonix to Courmayeur. On this occasion the descent by the Glacier du Dome was first made, thus opening the present usual route from the Italian side. This expedition was the subject of a very vivacious paper read before the Club ( (‘ A.J.’ ii. 332). He was a man of very vigorous phy- sique and writes of his adventures in a manner savouring more of the style of a much later period. After 1865 he abandoned mountaineering and during the next thirty years became one of the most noted big game hunters, the pursuit taking him to the Alps, Pyrenees, Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, Algeria, Sardinia, Asia Minor, Sudan and Sinai, Somali- lind, Daghestan and East Africa. These journeys were admirably described in ‘ Short Stalks ’ (two series) and ‘ Two African Trips.’ Mr. Buxton’s services to the Nation in connexion with education, t'1e preservation of commons, and many other subjects are too well known to need recapitulation here. By his will he left to the public about 350 acres of the Old Deer Park of Hatfield Forest, near Bishop’s Stortford, thus supplementing his services in safe- guarding and adding to Epping Forest. HENRY TUKE MENNELL. 1835-1923. In ‘A.J.’ xxxi. 138 there appeared a letter from a vigorous veteran of 82, whose decease we now have to record. The letter was an exhibition of that delightful enthusiasm with which ounce seems to console the latter days of its devotees. Mr. Mennell was elected to the Club in 1865, proposed by his

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© a6 BLE (in 1865). HENRY TUKE MENS EDWARD NOEL BUXTON (in 1865).

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In Memoriam. 149 close friend and fellow traveller, Mr. Robert Spence Watsor, and seconded by Mr. G. Whitwell, on what was for those days a good qualification, viz. Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Levanna, Mont Pourri, Breithorn, Adler, Col du Géant, Triftjoch, Weissthor, Col Carro, and other expeditions. Even up to his seventy-fifth year Mr. Mennell paid regular visits to the Alps, and when in his seventy- third year he attained an altitude of 12,000 ft. on the Grand Combin. In 1884 he paid a visit to the Rocky Mountains, and the following extract from a letter in 1901 from his son, Mr. R. O. Mennell, then in Montreal, makes an interesting disclosure : * Prof. Macoun [at that time head of the Geological Survey of Canada] wants me to tell you that when you and he were climbing together and saw that wonderful view, near Field, of a lake (Sher- brooke Lake) with a great glacier and creek in the distance north- ward, you discovered—and you were the first white men to discover—the now world-famous Yoho Valley, the Mecca of the Rockies. Prof. Macoun went there two years ago and found to his delight that Yoho was the very same as you and he had gazed at together in 1884. It was opened up by the C.P.R., and proper horse tracks made in 1903. Lord and Lady Minto, and their daughter, went over to see it, riding straddle hike the Indians on horseback.’ Mr. R. O. Mennell has been good enough to present to the Club one of those old axe-alpenstocks used in the ’sixties. He also sends us the bill for an ascent in 1865 made by his father and Dr. Watson with three guides and a porter, in which wages account for 295 fr. ; wine for 38 fr.; provisions for 42 fr. ; ‘ firing cannon’ 6°10 fr.; certificates 10 fr.—rather more moderate than the earlier and more recent ascents. Mr. Mennell was a member of the Society of Friends, and took a worthy share in the Relief Work in devastated France in 1870-1, and in the Irish Famine of 1880, while later he was instrumental in transferring the Dukhobors to Canada. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society and much interested in scientific pursuits, especially botany, his Alpine rock garden being a great joy to him. Mr. J. CoLeBy Moruanp writes : ‘H. T. Mennell was a very close fricnd of Robert Spence Watson, of Newcastle, a very distinguished member of our Club and for many years a leader in Liberal thought in the North of England. It is a matter of much interest to note how many Quaker members of the A.C. there have been. Speaking from memory only, the names of Tuckett, Fox, Spence Watson, Mennell, Doncaster, Backhouse, occur to me, and there are others among past and present members. Alpine exploration evidently makes a strong appeal to the Quaker temperament. *Mennell was nearly 30 years my senior, but I had known him from boyhood. I did not meet him in the Alps until after

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150 In Memoriam. 1900, when for some years I was frequently at Fionnay and Mauvoisin, meeting Mennell, Girdlestone, Orde, and _ others there. The expedition I remember most clearly with Mennell was a traverse of La Salle and Pleureur in 1902 when Mennell must have been about 69 years old. We slept at the Vasevay Chalets, leaving at 4.25 a.M. and reaching Mauvoisin at 5.55 p.m. It was just about as much as he could do; I remember Maurice Bruchez, our guide, spending three hours in hard cutting on a black ice slope to the shoulder of La Salle, with a wind so cold that I had to give Mennell all my spare clothing to keep him going. Our last expedition together was in 1903, when, with Maurice Bruchez and a fairly numerous party, we did the Ruinette, from Chanrion, descending te Mauvoisin. Mennell was a climber of the old school, sound on ice and snow, horribly fast uphill in the early morning, but with no love for rock work, which he did not understand. I never heard that he had an accident of any sort. He was a most delightful companion, cheerful, and always thoughtful of others.’ WILLIAM ALFRED WILLS. 1862-1924. Dr. W. A. WILLS, who died on April 1, 1924, in his sixty-second year, at his home at Midhurst, was the second son and third child of the late Sir Alfred Wills, who was one of the founders, and the third President, of the Alpine Club. He was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh, and subsequently studied medicine in London, where, after obtaining minor diplomas, he eventually secured the highest distinctions in the ‘medical,’ as contrasted with the ‘ surgical,’ side of his profession—viz. the M.D. of the London University and the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians. He served for many years on the honorary stafis of the N.E. Hospital for Children and of the Westminster Hospital, and he contributed important articles to the medical press and to two leading encyclo- pedias of medicine, while gradually establishing his position as a London consulting physician. But his work during these years was frequently broken by ill health, and in 1905 he decided to retire from the active pursuit of his profession. He left London and went to live at Midhurst, where, however, his professional attain- ments were put to excellent use in the discharge of public duties, to which he unstintedly gave his time and his energies; for, both as a County magistrate, and as a member of the County Council, his expert knowledge was of the greatest value, and was highly appreciated by his associates as an invaluable addition to the more general services in which he shared. In 1894 Wills married Miss Rosamond Powell, whom he survived by five years, and he leaves behind him a son and a daughter, both

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In Memoriam. 151 how in their twenties. All through his adult life he was pursued by the anxieties incident to ill health, both in his own person, in that of his wife, and also in the case of various members of his father’s family—his brothers and sisters. His judgment was so sound that his assistance was invariably invoked in every family emergency. And, indeed, when trouble of any kind came to any of his relations or friends, the natural instinct was to write to ‘ Billy,’ as he was throughout his life affectionately styled by all his intimates; and no one ever applied to him in vain. With the highest ideals as to conduct and integrity, he combined a true sympathy for suffering and trouble of all kinds, the results of which were generally evi- denced more in practical help and valuable advice than in mere words of comfortable intent, though these were by no means lacking. The true geniality of his disposition was perhaps somewhat obscured to those who did not know him well by a softened seriousness of mien which is not uncommon in those who have suffered uncom- plainingly for years, as he had done. But his sincerity could never be doubted by anyone who came in contact with him even for half an hour, while his rare and lovable disposition became manifest to all who had opportunities of enjoying his society for a few days. No memoir of Wills, however brief, should omit some reference to his astonishing inborn aptitude and skill as a mechanic. There was practically nothing he could not make or mend in wood and metal work; and his workshop at Midhurst contained every imaginable tool, including a wood lathe, a metal lathe, a drilling machine, and hundreds of little boxes with glass tops, each con- taining nails, screws, rivets, etc., in graded sizes, and suited for every conceivable emergency in the construction or repair of any household requisite. As a boy he made, single-handed, a model locomotive about two feet in length, which ran, on lines of his own making, all over his father’s garden at Esher, and about the exploits of which many wondrous tales were at one time current. But he could have made anything, from a bookshelf to a chiming clock, a motor car or a steam launch. These activities, added to a love of books and pictures, formed his chief indoor recreation. Out of doors he was always happy in any coastal, rural, or mountain dis- trict where walks could be indulged in; but he was never devoted to games, fishing, or shooting, and mountaineering may be said to have been his only ‘sport.’ Most of his holidays were spent amongst the mountains, but he was fond of travel, and had visited the Argentine, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Wills joined the Alpine Club in 1888 ; he served on the Committee 1893-96, and he acted as Honorary Secretary 1897-1900. In this last-named capacity he worked hard, as indeed all those who have filled this office have done, and his name will live in the Club lists . among that devoted band to whom the rest of us can never feel sufficient gratitude. His climbing career began almost in his infancy, for he spent the summer holidays of his childhood at the Eagle’s Nest, where,

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152 In Memoriam. as a boy, he learned all that is to be known about steep grass, about smooth limestone—that most difficult of all rocks from the climber’s point of view—and about crumbly schist, on which, as his brother Jack once said, the footholds are * good enough to step on, but not to stand on.’ He also learned how to find his way up and down mountains in all weathers, and he acquired a fair knowledge of snew and ice. In 1871, when under nine years of age, he was taken by his father to Chamonix and up to the Grands Mulets, though carried much of the way on a guide’s back. It was said at the time that he was the youngest person who had visited the Grands Mulets. During his adult years there were many seasons when his health prevented him from climbing at all. But he never allowed health considerations to interfere with his mountaineering when he felt himself physically able to do it; and, as late as 1921, he made a number of first-rate expeditions, including the traverses of the Schreckhorn and of the Matterhorn, while in his last Alpine holiday (1922), though suffering from bad nights and serious physical disabilities, he made, among other expeditions, the sensational traverse of the Cima del Largo in a day from the Maloja and came in at a pace which sorely tried the writer of these notes. A majority of his climbing holidays were spent for the most part at Sixt, but he had made many of the best expeditions in many Alpine regions, including Dauphine, the Graians, the Mont Blanc Group, the Pennines, the Oberland, and the Bregaglia. In his earlier years he climbed chiefly with his brother Jack, but he had also been with his father and M. Loppé, and, later on, with Sir Alexander Kennedy, Sir George Savage, Sir George Morse, and Captain Farrar. He first joined our guideless party in 1899, and was with us during six seasons before the war and in three seasons since, though in the two last (1921 and 1922) we often took a guide. During the war his health suffered from the development of a serious complication, and it seemed at one time hardly likely that he would ever climb again. He was, however, able to accompany the writer for a fortnight each year to Cumberland, where he became familiar with many of the best Lakeland climbs. In one of these vacations we were joined by his daughter, and in one by his son and daughter, and both were with us at Argentiére in 1920, when we made an ascent of the Aig. du Chardonnet, a traverse of the Périades, and several expeditions among the Aiguilles Rouges. In 1921 his daughter was again with us at Grindelwald, when we made, with Bradby, Hasler, and Farrar, an ascent of the Wetterhorn, which. was alluded to in these pages (‘ A.J.’ xxxiv. 177); and, later on, Wills and his daughter accompanied Farrar and the two Almers on a number of arduous expeditions. This was his last season of hard climbing, but, as already mentioned, he was at the Maloja in 1922, whence, in addition to a few climbs from the Forno and Albigna huts, he made two or three single-day climbs of twelve to fifteen hours’ fairly continuous exertion.

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‘STTIM L i -Ajiuey Surseoureyunow yeas V SPIEM: V =.” ee *. + “M c. a c rr - te SVE Mi ae ‘STTIM GAYATV

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In Memoriam. 158 Of Wills’s qualities as a mountaineer it 1s impossible to speak too highly. He was absolutely reliable on every kind of surface, at any angle, and in all conditions of mountain and of weather. If he had a ‘special’ gift it lay, perhaps, in his wonderful aptitude in threading his way down unknown precipitous descents which threaten an impasse above the glacier or the valley. Our party has had much experience in this kind of situation when climbing in fresh districts and without local assistance, and we have generally managed to find a way down. But I can recall at least two occa- sions when we might well have been benighted, had it not been for his splendid leading, and one occasion when, had he been with us, we might very likely have escaped that unpleasant experience. Wills never hurried unless for an emergency ; but then, especially in his younger days, he could go at an almost incredible speed. But, for his years, and in spite of his infirmities, he was always a fast goer on mountain, path, or road. He walked on the level and on gentle slopes with a peculiar lilt of gait which was quite individual, and so characteristic that one could pick him out of a group on a road, or tell if he was with a party, as soon as they came in sight round a corner, say, half a mile away. As a travelling and climbing companion he was ideal—always genial, always considerate, and, in this as in every other aspect of life, always ‘reliable.’ If one were to try to sum up his character in a single word, this would be it. His passing from our midst marks a period in the mountaineering record of his family. He is the last of the second generation to climb mountains, though two sisters survive him. But in his daughter the climbing aptitude is inherited in a very exceptional degree, while his nephew, Colonel E. F. Norton, who owed his selection for the Everest Expedition of 1922 to his uncle’s suggestion and advice to the Committee, will, we may hope, carry on the fame of the family to the supreme achievement. Wills had known for many years that his tenure of life hung by a fine thread, and many times when stricken by painful and alarm- ing symptoms, he went to bed fully realising that the end might be very near. But he never grumbled, and as soon as he was able he was up and doing again. But last year he was not well enough to go abroad, and during the last few months of his life his strength waned, and the ‘ will to force his heart and nerve and sinew to serve his turn long after they were gone’ (Kipling) was bound at last to lose in its unequal fight; so that to those who knew his serious plight the news that the end had come was no surprise. No one can put into words what his loss will mean: he will be missed very sorely by the few, and very widely by the many, for, besides being the wise and trusted counsellor of his family and friends, there were many—hardly more than acquaintances—who turned to him when in doubt or difficulty. He was trusted by everyone and was an influence for good on all who knew him. This influence and the kindly memory of his comradeship will live as

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154 New Expeditions. long as his friends live, and none of us would wish to call him back, for, even to his nearest, the irreparable loss is tempered by a feeling of thankfulness that his long-drawn sufferings are over and that his brave spirit at last sleeps the peaceful sleep of the just. C. W. NEW EXPEDITIONS. Mont Blanc Group. Mont ROUGE DE PEUTERET (2951 m. = 9680 ft.), ascent by E. aréte, descent by N. aréte. August 30, 1923. MM. J. and T. de Lépiney. Only one ascent of this peak is recorded, viz. in 1905 by Wilson, Wicks and Bradby, by the N. aréte (‘ A.J.’ xxii. 615). Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Jones and the guide Truffer were killed in attempting to gain the N. aréte from the Gamba hut. Leaving the new hut on the Fauteuil des Allemands at 11.20 a.m. (after rain), the rocks were attacked at about the same level and the HE. aréte gained direct and followed, finally by a couloir facing S.E., to the top (13.55). The difficulties are scarcely greater than on the ordinary route up the Aig. Noire. At 14.35 the descent was commenced by the N. aréte, a veritable cockscomb of rocks of the most elegant aspect. The first group of gendarmes was turned on the Fauteuil side. A descent of about 80 m., then a delicate traverse to rejoin the aréte at a well-marked gap. The aréte was then followed almost exactly, the descent of one tower requiring 30 m. doubled rope ; Col des Chasseurs 18.30, hut 10.15. ‘The route, involving very abrupt faces, sharp cut-off crests of no solidity, is difficult and needs rather skill than strength.’ La Montagne, 1923, p. 257 (with sketch). Punta BaRETTI (3966 m. = 13,009 ft.), of the Mont Brouillard, by the E. flank and the 8. aréte. August 21-22, 1923. MM. H. Bregeault, P. Chevalier, J. Lagarde, J. and T. de Lépiney, and A. Migot of the G.H.M., C.A.F. The intention was to ascend M. Blanc from the Gamba hut by the Brouillard aréte, involving a new route from the hut to the Punta Baretti. The party on two ropes (to avoid stones) left the hut at 3.10 and 5.0. The much-crevassed Brouillard Glacier was crossed at about 2900 m. and a long steep couloir about 400 m. high in the foliated and loose KE. flank of the 8S. aréte of the Mont Brouillard ascended to a Col (about 3260 m.), which the climbers propose to name Cot DU BROUILLARD,! separating the Aig. Rouges from the Mont 1 See however a prior claim on this name—A.J, xxxiv, 171, 335.

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New Expeditions. 158 Brouillard. It is best to follow the rocks of the S. bank of this couloir to avoid objective danger. A long, easy, unstable aréte, which can be either followed closely or its W. flank used, leads to the Punta Baretti. The very diverse nature of the constituent rocks is pointed out. From the summit the two parties gained the Col Emile Rey, 4007 m. (17 h.), over the Mont Brouillard. . At midnight they were forced by imminent bad weather to break up their bivouac, and regained by lantern light the Punta Baretti, and, in a snowstorm, the above-mentioned Col, whence they descended a couloir over 1200 m. high to the Italian Glacier de Miage. This arduous descent, which would have involved a less competent party in great danger, ended at Courmayeur at 15.15.—La Montagne, 1923, p. 258. Pennines. RIMPFISCHHORN (4203 m. = 13,790 ft.), By THE N.W. Face. July 13, 1923. Mr. E. R. Blanchet, with Heinrich Imseng of Saas-Fee.—This face consists of a very steep ice slope, dominated by the end of the N. aréte. The height from the rimaie to the summit is 400 to 450 m. or more. The rimaie was crossed without difficulty at 7.50 a.m. After 34 hours’ cutting in extremely hard ice, the first of the three tiny rock-islands at A was reached. A further 1} hours’ cutting in still hard and even steeper ice led to the lower end of the rock-mb X, where a long halt was made. The upper end carries the last gendarme of the N. aréte. The rock improved with height, and climbing slowly the summit was reached in 10 m. from the gendarme (3 P.M.).

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156 Alpine Notes. ATTEMPT ON THE N. FackE oF MATTERHORN. August 12, 1923. Herr Alfred Horeschowsky, with Herr Franz Piekielko as companion. —‘ Left Hérnli hut 5 a.m. Followed Swiss aréte for about three ropes’ lengths, and then traversed glazed rocks on N. face as far as the ice-slope, which was crossed diagonally upwards. A steep rib, consisting of loose frost-bound rock pillars, was very slowly ascended, the climbing being really uncommonly dangerous. The only possible line of ascent which we could see is the narrow couloir which seams the flank to the right of the jutting-out shoulder. Unfortunately we had to give up all hope, as the continuous stone- fall made it impossible to gain a single inch of height in the couloir. So we sought to escape up vertical, at times overhanging, rocks below the shoulder. We finally emerged at 5.30 P.M. at about 4000 m., a few steps from the Solvay hut. This section of about 700 m. had cost us 124 hours of hard, dangerous work. Leaving the hut at 4 a.M. next day, we reached the summit at 7. Left at 8 for the Col Félicité, crossed the Galerie to the Z’Muttgrat, and gained the Z’Mutt glacier at 1.30 and Zermutt at 5!’—O.A.Z. March 1924, p. 52. ALPINE NOTES. ‘Bautu’s ALPINE GUIDE,’ THE WESTERN ALPs.—The edition (1898) by Mr. Coolidge covers the Maritimes, Graians, Dauphiné, M. Blanc group, and Pennines to the Simplon. With maps of each district, 1 : 250,000, anda general map. Price 10s., or 10s. 4d. post free. Obtainable from any bookseller or the Assistant Secretary. ‘Baui’s ALPINE GUIDE,’ THE CENTRAL ALPs. Part I.—The | edition (1907), by Rev. A. A. Valentine-Richards, covers Switzer- land N. of the Rhone and the Rhine. With nine maps, 1 : 250,000 and a general map. Price 5s., or 5s. 4d. post free, or 2s. 10d. unbound. Obtainable as above. ‘Bawtwi’s ALPINE GUIDE,’ THE CENTRAL ALPS. Part IJ].—The edition (1917), by Rev. G. Broke, covers the Alpine regions 8. and K. of the Rhone and Rhine as far as the Adige, 7.e. the Lepontine, Grisons, Rhaetian (including Bernina), Ortler and Adamello groups. With nine maps, 1 : 250,000, and a general map. Price 5s., or 5s. 4d. post free, or 2s. 10d. unbound. Obtainable as above. Mr. Coo.ipGe’s edition of Ball’s ‘ WESTERN ALPS’ is still the only complete guide to the country described, and, save as to the detail of inns, 1s as instructive and sufficient to the mountaineer —and to the climber with eyes—as when published, while the maps are admirable.

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Alpine Notes. 157 The volumes of the ‘ Central Alps’ are, for the mountaineer, the best general guides to the districts described and contain the w-ll-known Ravenstein maps. ‘GUIDES DES ALPES VALAISANNES.’— Vol. I. Col Ferret to Col de Collon, by M. Kurz, 10s. Vol. II. Col de Collon to Col Théodule, by Dr. Diibi, 9s, Vol. III. Col Théodule to Weisstor, by Dr. Diibi, 8s. Vol. IV. Col Simplon to Furka, by M. Kurz, 8s. At Stanford’s, Long Acre, W.-C. 2. A CLIMBER’S GUIDE TO THE Rocky Mountains or CANAaDA.— By Howard Palmer and J. Monroe Thorington, published for the American A.C. by the Knickerbocker Press, N.Y., 1921. This very useful summary, with several maps, of what has been done in the Rockies to 1921, can be obtained from the Assistant Secretary, price 7s. 6d. THE ‘CLUBFUHRER DURCH DIE BUNDNERALPEN.’—Vol. IV., covering the Bregaglia and the Disgrazia group, by H. Riitter, with the assistance of Christian Klucker, can be obtained from Sauerlander and Co., Aarau, Switzerland. Date of THE ALPINE CLUB OBITUARY: Election. Buxton, Edward North . : : . 1860 Mennell, Henry Tuke. : : . 1866 Fisher, John . : : ; ; . 1883 Wills, William Alfred : ; : . 1888 Barnes, A. E. . : ; . : . 1913 Dimier, G.C. . ? : : : . 1920 Mr. FRESHFIELD’s Hon. DEGREE aT THE UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA. —In his introductory speech Professor Martin, doyen de la faculté des Lettres, said : *, . . Poéte en plusieurs langues, écrivain déjé classique, ex- plorateur et naturaliste, historien et psychologue, capable sans autre effort de tourner une ode latine, d’écrire une savante disserta- tion sur un point de géographie physique, d’apprécier une observation scientifique délicate, de composer une biographie ou une relation de voyage, d’interpréter un document d’archive ou un phénoméne naturel, M. Freshfield nous apparait, par la nuultiplicité de ses aptitudes, comme un héritier des hommes de la Renaissance, auxquels d’ailleurs son héros Saussure ressemble par tant de cdtés. Nous saluons en lui non seulement |’auteur de la biographie de Saussure et d’autres ouvrages estimés, |’ami de notre pays et l’un des pionniers de ]’Alpinisme, mais encore le représentant d’une haute culture générale, & la fois humaine et scientifique, esthétique et savante,

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158 Alpine Notes. dont les porteurs se font chaque jour plus rares. C’est 4 ce titre en méme temps qu’é ceux que je viens d’énumérer que la Faculté des Lettres a proposé de conférer 4 M. Freshfield le grade de Docteur és lettres honoris causa, dont j’ai maintenant l’honneur de lui remettre le dipl6me au nom de |’ Université.’ THE DE SaussuRE Prints.—Mr. R. W. Lloyd bought recently from an old Genevese family two oil colours, signed ‘ Olivier V° de Nérac, 1790,’ resembling closely these prints. The question was submitted to M. Montagnier, who writes : * I am afraid there is very little chance of the two paintings you describe being the originals from which the celebrated coloured prints of H. B. de Saussure ascending and descending Mont Blanc were made. It seems to me more likely that they are simply copies of the two plates made by Chrétien de Méchel (of Bale) in 1790. ‘De Saussure took with him to Chamonix in 1788 a young Genevese painter named Henri L’Evéque, who remained in the village making barometrical observations while the party camped on the Col du Géant. L’Evéque evidently accompanied the party some distance on the glacier, for he made two water-colours of de Saussure and his son, with their guides, on the way to and returning from the Col du Géant. My theory is that these two water-colours (both of which were reproduced as coloured prints) are the prototypes of all the so-called prints of de Saussure’s party on Mont Blanc. Chrétien de Méchel, who reproduced them in 1790, deliberately changed the title, apparently with de Saussure’s _ connivance, by substituting ‘“‘ Mont Blanc ”’ for “Col du Géant.” It is quite obvious that the de Mechel prints show de Saussure on the Col du Géant expedition, as the latter’s son Nicolas-Théodore appears in each of them, whereas the great naturalist was alone with his guides on Mont Blanc. ‘The two water-colours by L’Evéque have been copied and redrawn many times. I have examined dozens of variants of them, but all of them are clearly derived from a common source. ‘I do not recall ever having met with the name of the Vicomte de Nérac in the de Saussure papers, and it does not appear in any of the biographical dictionaries in my library. In all probability he was an aristocratic amateur painter who cherished a warm admiration for de Saussure. * You might refer to Baillie-Grohman’s book, “Sport in Art,” in which there is an interesting chapter on the de Saussure prints, and you will remember that Mr. Freshfield has dealt with the subject very fully in his Life of de Saussure.’ The very rare de Saussure print shows him descending in a sitting position. It was suppressed, it is said, owing to his family’s con- sidering the attitude undignified. According to Mr. Baillie-Groh- man, only a few proofs were struck. One is in Mr. Godfrey Ellis’s collection, while Mr. Lloyd has in his collection two prints, one the

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Alpine Notes. 159 well-known Méchel print of 1790 and another signed ‘ Marq. Wocher illum. 1789.’ Mr. Lloyd’s recent purchases show de Saussure descending as in the suppressed print, but only nine figures instead of eleven. More- over young de Saussure’s clothes are black instead of green or blue, and de Saussure wears a brown or black hat instead of a yellow straw hat. The surrounding views also differ considerably from the Méchel prints. The pictures are of considerable merit, and it would be interesting to have further information about the artist and their origin. A HicuH-LEVEL RoutTE FROM THE GANT INN TO THE JORASSES Hut.—MM. Boissevain and Haefeli, in 1922, traversed round the Aig. Marbrées and in a curve along the 8. foot of the Aig. de Roche- fort, until a snow terrace was reached, whence over easy slabs the S.W. ridge of the Mont de Rochefort was gained and was followed to a snow saddle, whence the Jorasses hut was reached in 2 hours by ‘the ordinary way.’ Approximate time, 6 hours; but the description is very sketchy, and clear weather is desirable. Jahresbericht, A.A.C.Z., 1922. THE Brenva Rovute.—With reference to my paper, ‘ The Brenva Face of Mont Blanc,’ ‘A.J.’ xxxv. 228 seg., Monsieur Jacques Lagarde is good enough to point out that Jean Amiez, one of Monsieur Manouri’s guides in ’96, was from Pralognan, and that Adolphe Rey has made three ascents of this face—not two, as I stated. My friend, Mr. Allston Burr, of the Brenva Brigade, reminds me of my note in ‘ A.J.’ xxvi. 469, of Mr. Leatham’s ascent in 1899, not recorded in my summary, tbid., 171-6. Accordingly the discovery of M. Manoury’s ascent in 1906 sends down two places No. 11 and subsequent expeditions, and not one, as I stated in my footnote, ‘ A.J.’ xxxv. 229. I am delighted to find such critical readers.—J. P. F. Le Grépon.—Referring to ‘ A.J.’ xxxv. 249, Monsieur Jacques Lagarde kindly points out that the illustration of the Pic Balfour really represents Point 3417 (cf. Esquisse Orographique des Arguilles de Chamoniz, sur la carte B.I.K., 3° édition, by Monsieur Vallot). The same remark applies to the sketch on p. 284. It will be seen that this point 3417 is completely detached from the Grépon. It is the toothed peak on the right of the Grépon in the right-hand picture, ‘A.J.’ xxix. 200. The Pic Balfour is the ‘ minuscule gendarme’ just below the highest point of the Grépon in the sketch, ‘AJ.’ xxxv. 284. THE GreocrapHicaL Minirary INstituTE, FLORENCE, publishes a monthly review, L’ Universo, of Italian and foreign cartography and geographical publications,

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160 Alpine Notes. AN inn with ample accommodation has been built by the T.C.F. on the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme (2483 m.). Pierre Menta.—Reverting to ‘A.J.’ xxxiv. 491, M. Loustalot gives in ‘La Montagne,’ No. 155, Oct. 1922, a detailed account of the first ascent made on July 6, 1922, including two views and a route-marked sketch. A further new route was done on July 8, 1923, by MM. J. Payot and F. Peterlongo, who ascended by the K. face and the upper S. aréte and descended by the N. aréte. The full account in ‘ La Montagne,’ No. 166, Nov. 1923, is accompanied by three route-marked sketches. Le Mont Atcuitie.—Cf. ° A.J.’ xxviii. 369 seg., article by Mr. Kirkpatrick. On June 4, 1922, MM. M. Lughinbihl and L. Zvingel- wes Versant des P oy, "= Col du Laupet Mont Atguite (S.W. Face) eeececece Voie Nouvelle. ooecco Voie des Cables. {. -Fissure. — O64. Marche de flane. — U8. Couloir. stein made a variation by ascending the 8.W. face about 100 m. to the right of the ordinary route. The lower 60 to 70 m., nearly vertical, is climbed by three difficult chimneys, the upper one ending in a little cave. Then follows a horizontal traverse whence a steep scree slope leads to the summit. In the sketch, for which we thank ‘ La Montagne,’ No. 155, Oct. 1922, the left hand is the ordinary route, the right hand the variation now described. Les AIGUILLES RoucEs pE Cuamonix et la Chaine du Brévent. A monograph of this group, with a map and several illustrations

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Alpine Notes. 161 by M. Henri Vallot, with a detailed itinerary by M. Jacques de Lépiney, appeared in ‘ La Montagne,’ Nos. 145 and 146, 1921. Le Srrac.—A monograph of this striking mountain, with numerous illustrations, route-sketches, and a sketch-map by our honorary member, Colonel René Godefroy, will be found in ‘ La Montagne,’ Nos. 161 and 162, 1923. Le C.A.F.—The genera] meeting of the Groupe Haute Montagne was held on December 21, 1923. It now consists of 21 membres d’Honneur, 2 membres honoraires, 93 membres actifs and 55 membres postulants. M. le Dr. Thomas was elected Président d’Honneur in place of M. H. de Lépiney, whose term of office expired. MM. Paul Chevalier and Henry de Ségogne are the new members of committee. Our own pages bear frequent testimony to the activities of this enthusiastic and capable body of guideless mountaineers. Le COMMANDANT EMILE GAILLARD, M.C., author of the well- known guide-books of the French Alps, has been elected Président d’Honneur de la Section de Savoie C.A.F. Enouisa Lake Disrrict.—Reverting to ‘A.J.’ xxxv. 299, Mr. R. 8. T. Chorley, Hon. Editor of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club, . points out that Scafell belongs to Lord Leconfield, the boundary of the F. and R. memorial going along the watershed to the summit of Lingmell, but no farther S.W. Lord Leconfield’s gift was of the summit of Scafell Pike, and the memoria] goes down to the 1500 ft. contour. WE much regret to note the death of Herr Julius Meurer (1838- 1923), founder in 1878 and first President and Editor of the O.A.C. In the year 1887, however, the tendency of the new school of guideless climbing met with his disapproval, and he resigned all his offices in the Club. He was for some years a member of the A.C. He was the author of several usefu) guide-books to the Eastern Alps, and his name will go down as having deserved well of the great pursuit of mountaineering. An Eacir.—‘ When on the aréte of the Zapporthorn we were visited by a splendid big eagle, which approached us twice quite close, but then apparently found out that the wished-for prey would be of rather tough quality. The first time it flew away—a fine sight !—to the far-away Rheinwaldhorn, but as we were descend- ing the aréte it again appeared, having made an immense circult. Both times it was just as we were on the steepest part of the aréte. (V.B.—We had left our axes at foot of aréte !).,—P. Montanpon. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIII. M

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162 Alptne Notes. THE Cootrns.—Mr. Howard Priestman has, during the last five years, spent niuch of his spare time on the triangulations of this group, on which he has constructed a map recently published by the Scottish Mountaineering Club. He has now almost completed a raised map on a 6-inch scale, and has been good enough to offer a cast of it to the Alpine Club. S.A.C. Accounts For 1923: Fr. Expenditure on new huts, repairs, etc. ; . 380,026 - » Jahrbuch, vol. 57. , . 99,346 s , Alpina . : : ; . 937,055 Total expenses, excluding Jahrbuch . : . 137,148 5 receipts : : : : . 198,854 New members : : ; ; “s 1,629 Total ,, ; : : : : . 22,967 Tue Concise Oxrorp Dictionary, 1924 (7s. 6d.) is the first to recognise purely technical mountaineering terms such as ‘ needle,’ ‘ glissade ’ ‘ chimney,’ ‘ traverse,’ and even adopted words such as ‘ bergschrund,’ ‘ aréte,’ ‘ moulin,’ ‘ col,’ ‘ aiguille.’ It even defines ‘ stepcutting.’ Mrs. 8. AncELo (‘A.J.’ xxxv. 155).—Mr. Freshfield records, in his recently published ‘ Below the Snowline,’ an ascent of the central summit. THE AIGUILLE BLANCHE DE PEUTERET.—In my paper on the traverse of this mountain ( A.J.’ xxxili. 527), I referred to Sir H. Seymour King’s expedition in 1882 as having been led by Emile Rey. I am now informed that Sir Seymour’s own guide, Ambros Supersax, led practically throughout, and that Rey was only asked to take part as a compliment.—J. P. F. PURTSCHELLER’S ‘ HOcHTURIST.’—A new edition, in eight parts, of this famous guidebook is to be published by the Bibliog. Institut, Munich. The part covering the Alps between the Swiss border and the Brenner is announced for July. The Dolomite volume may be expected next year. The Editor is Herr Hans Barth, a very competent authority. ApAM’s PEak, CEYLON, was ascended by Miss Phyllis Broome in March. CapraIN CHARLES Gos, the well-known Swiss littérateur, has published in the ‘Journal de Genéve’ for January 4, 1924, an article on ‘ Byron et les Alpes,’ and a later article on ‘ Shelley et les Alpes,’ in which he gives his compatriots interesting details as to the sojourn of Byron and Shelley in the Alps, with comments on their respective attitudes to Alpine scenery.

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Alpine Notes. 168 WinTER ASCENT OF JUNGFRAU.—On February 4 Mr. and Mrs. G. Hasler, with Amatter and Fritz Kaufmann (Almis) and young Baregg-Kaufmann, took 2 hours from the Jungfraujoch to the Rottalsattel, and 2 hours 10 minutes to the summit, including halts. Weather fine, very cold, and high wind. The ice traverse above the Sattel was clear blue ice, and even with some old improv- able steps took 4 hour to cross. ‘The ice spreading down from the peak pushes one out on to the rocks on the Rottal side.’ Descent in 22 hours, including halts, and quitting the train at Kigergl., Grindelwald was reached on foot in 2 hours more. AIGUILLE DU Mipr1 (3840 m.) AERIAL RaiLway.—-The opening took place in December. An inn with 15 rooms is to be built on the summit ! THe CampripGeE UNIversiry MouNTAINEERING CLUB.—-The Club held a ‘ collective’ last July, the centre being the Hotel des Evettes above Bonneval-sur-Arc. It was thought that the knowledge of mountain craft gained in the Lake District or in Wales could be extended in safety by progressive practice in this comparatively easy district. The party, which numbered eleven, climbed on three ropes, but the three parties were never simultaneously on the same mountain. Amongst the peaks climbed were the Mont Seti, Punta France- setti, Albaron, Ciamarella and Levanna. The party also crossed the Piccola Ciamarella to the Rif. Gastaldi, and thence traversed the Bessanese. One cordée ascended the Pic Regaud by the N.E. ridge, a route seldom followed. The accommodation at Les Evettes (8600 ft.) was excellent, and the gérante provided admirable fare. After a pleasant and successful ten days in these Central Graians, the ‘ collective ’ disbanded, some going to climb the Grand Paradis, Grivola, Herbetet, &c., one to the Dent du Géant, others to traverse the Monte Viso and Aiguille de Chambeyron, and finally to Saas Fee. By choosing a ‘ minor’ district the party could climb guideless without ever being in the way of guided parties or suffering reproach by following in their steps. This list does not represent the whole activity of the Club, for as usual there were independent parties in the Oberland, Valais and elsewhere. One member visited the Carpathians.

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164 Himalayan Notes HIMALAYAN NOTES. THE Mt. Everest party left Darjeeling for Tibet on March 25, and it is hoped to make an attempt on the mountain about May 15. The personnel is : Brig.-General Bruce, in command of the expedition. Lieut.-Colonel E. F. Norton, in command of the climbing party. Messrs. Mallory, Somervell, Odell, Beetham, J. de V. Hazard, and A. C. Irvine—climbers. : Major R. W. G. Hingston, I.M.S., medical officer. Captain Geoffrey Bruce and Mr. E. ©. Shebbeare, transport officers. Captain J. B. L. Noel and assistants, photographs and kine- matograph. The oxygen equipment has been redesigned. A new type of cylinder has been manufactured by Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd., and after tests by the National Physical Laboratory and the Research Department, Royal Arsenal, has been adopted upon the advice of Messrs. Riley, Harbord, and Law. Three cylinders will carry 50 per cent. more gas than four cylinders carried in 1922 with- out any increase in weight. The carrying frames have been made on the pattern of those supplied in 1922 by the Bergans Meis og Rygsek, of Christiania, which proved so successful, and the greatest possible care has been given by the makers, Messrs. Siebe, Gorman & Co., to all the details of the valves and regulators. The Everest Committee are specially indebted to one of their number, Mr. P. J. H. Unna, who has been responsible to them for the control of the design and manu- facture of the apparatus. Mr. Unna has also given much attention to the supply of stoves, thermos flasks, and other high altitude equip- | ment, and special cooking apparatus for use in rarefied air has been made by the Meta, S.A., of Basle. The supply of tents, sleeping- bags, windproof clothing, high altitude climbing boots, etc., has been superintended by Colonel Norton, and the Committee are indebted to Messrs. Edgington (tents and bedding), Messrs. Burberrys (wind- proof clothing), and Messrs. Fagg (boots), for the care which they have given to the special requirements of the Expedition. They have also to acknowledge the assistance in many ways of the Army and Navy Stores, who have not only supplied and specially packed all the food, but have undertaken the shipment of the whole of the sees and their despatch from Calcutta to rail head at Kalimpong Road. ‘The Everest Committee have also to acknowledge with gratitude valuable gifts of stores from the following firms: Messrs. Allen & Hanburys, Ltd., Medical Stores ; Messrs. Brand & Co., Ltd., Medical Stores ; Messrs. Bovril, Ltd., Bovril, etc.; Messrs. Carsons, Ltd., Chocolate, etc. ; The Ever Ready Co., Ltd., Torches and batteries ;

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New Zealand Notes. 165 Messrs. Howards & Sons, Ltd., Medical Stores ; Messrs. Meta, 8.A., Stoves and Meta Fuel; Messrs. Virol, Ltd., Virol and Virolax ; Thermos, Ltd., Thermos Flasks. The instrumental equipment of the Expedition is very similar to that of two yearsago. They are taking with them a3-inch theodolite by E. R. Watts & Sons; aneroids by Cary-Porter and Short & Mason ; thermometers by Casella & Co. and Negretti & Zambra ; liquid prismatic compasses by Short & Mason; and Kata ther- mometers by Hicks. Various special apparatus for physiological research at high altitudes has been lent to Major Hingston by the Medical Branch of the Air Ministry. Captain Noel takes with him the same kinematograph camera by Sinclair, but with considcrable special improvements. THE Everest EXxpPepDITIon.—The last four members, Messrs. Mallory, Beetham, Hazard and Irvine, sailed on February 29. On the previous evening they were entertained to dinner at the Exchange Club, Liverpool, by the Liverpool Wayfarers Club—the President, Mr. B. F. O’Malley, in the chair. The toast of the four guests was proposed by Professor Wilberforce, the first President of the Club, and was enthusiastically received. The company included all the local members of the Alpine Club, as well as Dr. Wakefield, of the 1922 expedition, and Canon Leigh Mallory and Mr. W. Ferguson Irvine, the fathers of two of the climbers. o NEW ZEALAND NOTES. Mr. A. P. Harper writes under date November 1, 1923: | *T find that in my article in ‘ A.J.” xxxv. 49 seq. I did less than justice to the Franz Josef as a climbing centre. This place has developed very much, partly owing to the completion of the trans- insular railway wa Arthur’s Pass Tunnel, and chiefly because Peter Graham and his brother, two of our best guides, have taken over the hotel there, and are making it a new climbing centre. * The new railroad and the motor road from Hokitika have made the journey easy and quick, and you can now get to the Franz Josef Glacier in two days from Wellington or Christchurch. This includes ninety miles drive between 9.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. through the most beautiful forest, lake, and mountain scenery. * All the peaks of the Divide from Tasman to Elie de Beaumont can be tackled as well from this side as from the other, and there are on the Franz Josef Glacier two good huts, and we hope to build one on the Fox Glacier. * Peter Graham tells me that the Franz Josef Glacier is advancing again very rapidly ; the ice is also “ piling up” in height, and in

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166 New Zealand Notes. several places is cutting into the scrub and vegetation. He says it looks as if it will get back to the old position as it was when Douglas and I marked it off in 1893. * This is very interesting, because in 1895 there was an exceedingly heavy fall of snow, the worst for twenty years. The old West Coast road was blocked for seven or eight weeks ; the high sheep stations in the Mackenzie Country lost some 300,000 sheep. In writing of this in 1896 I said that I expected to see the effect on the glacier in about thirty years. I believe that the effect of that big snow year is now showing up in the lower parts of the glacier.’ In further explanation of this prediction, Mr. Harper writes under date, January 31, 1924: ‘The Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers have very large névé basins, at a high altitude, with small outflow openings, and, in area, out of proportion to their trunks (see the map in my “ Pioneer Work in the Alps of New Zealand ’’). ‘These large accumulations of ice at their source, combined with the steepness of their descent, account for their rapid flow, and explain why their terminals reach such a low altitude, viz. under 700 ft. above sea level. To thoroughly understand the position, see Chapter XIX. of my book. | ‘An abnormal snow-fall would, in the case of the Franz Josef, deposit a large quantity: in the great névé basin at its head, and owing to the configuration of that basin 2 would stay there and increase the deposit of ice, whereas in the case of the other glaciers (except the Fox), the snow would fall chiefly on very steep slopes, and only a small proportion would accumulate in the actual névé basins at their heads. This snow would not consolidate, it would dissipate to a great extent by avalanche and melting, the steep country gwing it a quick “‘ get-away.” ‘Thus, you have, if I am right, @ very large permanent addition — to the normal rce-accumulations at the head of the Franz Josef, on the one hand, and very little permanent addition in the case of the other glaciers. My whole case depends on this point, and if my conclusions are wrong, I should like to know wherein lies their weakness. They seem to me to be sound, because if the ice in the head basin increases to any abnormal extent, it will send out a larger overflow into the valley, and the extra weight will surely quicken its pace, and cause an advance at the terminal face. You must remember that this glacier has a descent of over 1000 ft. to the mile from névé basin to the terminal—in a rock-bound valley. In addition to this its progress is well lubricated by an annual warm rainfall of some 150 in., therefore it MUST move quickly, and the extra weight is bound to show the above results. ‘Now, as to the 30 years—this was in the nature of a guess, arrived at after only approximate measurements of ice-flow in 1893, and if this present advance is in any way related to the 1895

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New Zealand Notes. 167 snow-fall, it was a pretty good shot! The point I meant to make in my letter to you was, that if that abnormal snow-fall is now affecting the terminal face, it confirms our old observations that the speed of this glacier is quite exceptional. “Graham estimates an advance of from 450 to 500 ft., and a general thickening at the “snout,” “as a big wave is coming down the glacier.” ‘I have asked him to keep photographic and other records, which will come in useful later, when anyone has time to syste- matically observe the ice movements. As I said in my reports of 1893, the extraordinary activity of the Franz Josef, its variations of advance and retreat, afford an unequalled opportunity for studying ice-action. ‘An authoritative criticism of the above ideas would be inter- esting, it is the only way we can learn. ‘P.S.—In referring to the chapter of my book, above-mentioned, you will notice that the Douglas Glacier has a very large névé in proportion to its trunk, but that glacier can be ruled out of this discussion, as it 1s one of the “ disconnected ”’ glaciers, of which we have several examples. The comparisons invited in my chapter, between the Douglas and the Balfour, however, still require investigation.’ Dr. E. TEICHELMANN writes under date September 17, 1923: ‘I am posting maps of the Fox and Franz Josef Glacier region, and prints of the huts and accommodation house at the Waito Gorge, which is the most developed centre, with three or four guides always available. This centre commands the whole of the Fox Glacier region, one of the finest in the New Zealand Alps... . Should any other members of the Club happen to visit New Zealand I feel sure a visit to the W. side would prove a delight.’ Mr. H. E. L. Porter visited the New Zealand Alps last autumn, and on February 6, with Mr. and Mrs. Algie and the guides Milne, Stout and Williams, made the ascent of Mt. Cook. Tur Mount Cook AccipENntT.—Mr. S. Turner writes : ‘They have discovered at the foot of the Hochstetter icefall pieces of skull, hand, etc., of the guide, Darby Thomson, who was with Mr. King when lost in 1914. I am making more careful inquiries about the party and will let you know. ‘I thought it would take fifteen to twenty years at least before the bodies reappeared, and it still may be a few years before any- thing except broken fragments appear. They have found a knife on a chain which I think was a gift from me to Darby Thomson, according to the description. ‘If any sign of Mr. King should appear I will let you know.’

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168 Canadian Notes. CANADIAN NOTES. Restenation oF Mr. A. O. WHEELER.—We much regret to note Mr. Wheeler’s decision to retire from his post of Director of the Canadian A.C., in which capacity he has in the last eighteen years done splendid work for his Club in particular, and for Canadian mountaineering in general. He writes: ‘ As first President, and subsequently as Director of the Club, I have been in harness for the eighteen years of its life. ... I feel that the time has come for a younger and more active man to take hold of the helm. With the advance of modern ideas and methods and an up-to-date expression of them, one who has so long been in harness is apt to find himself in a rut, and I feel it would be in the best interests of the Club to bring in new blood. I am, therefore, placing my resignation as Director in the hands of the President, and shall ask to be relieved of my duties at the coming annual meeting at Robson Camp. I do this in all sincerity for the best interests of the Club, and do not feel that any sentiment should interfere with the appointment of a suitable successor. The spirit is willing, but the flesh gets weaker.’ A camp at Mt. Robson will be held from July 22 to August 4, 1924. The main camp will be at Robson Pass summit, close to the site of the camp of 1913 ; a subsidiary camp to be placed on Calumet Creek, near Moose Pass, to give access to a splendid field of work — in that vicinity, and a pack-train will operate between the main camp and the subsidiary camp. It is intended, if feasible, to place a high shelter camp on the S.W. aréte of Mt. Robson, and to stock it with food, fuel, and blankets, so that parties attempting the ascent of the mountain may do so with a greater chance of success. The altitude is 12,972 ft., and it is an arduous two days’ climb (v. Mr. Putnam’s account in the 1923 ‘ Canadian Alpine Journal’). The guide Conrad Kain and one or two other Swiss guides are expected to be available. An invitation has been sent to Mr. A. L. Mumm, asking him to organise a party among the members of the A.C., who to the el of ten have been invited as guests at Club House and amp. The return fare from Liverpool to Robson Station, near Mt. Robson, including sleeping-car, would be about £100. Meals on train, about £1 per day. Time, about eleven days. —

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Canadtan Notes. 169 Jasper Station, 2 hours short of Robson Station, serves as the N. approach, either by the Athabaska or the Sun Wapta, to the Mt. Columbia Icefield (v. Dr. Monroe Thorington's paper, ‘A.J.’ xxxv. 178 seq.) ; but for a party with time the much finer approach is from the 8S. (Lake Louise) (ciid., 186 seg., and ‘ Climber’s Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada,’ 114-6). Mt. Robson was ascended in 1922 by Mr. Windsor B. Putnam, doubtless of the historic New England family, with the young packer Jack Hargreaves, who does not appear to have had much previous mountaineering experience, but is evidently a man of great determination and strength. They started from Robson Pass, and successively, by way of the three ledges of sloping scree round the N. face, gained the W. face, on which a bivouac was made. Up to this point they were accompanied by Mr. Putnam, sen. Next day in six hours they gained another bivouac near the S.W. aréte, at about 9000 ft. The ascent was made up the K. branch of this aréte, and at the end of three hours the base of the steep ice-rampart encountered by the 1913 party was reached. Thick weather made orientation difficult. Hargreaves cut 170 steps in ice up the summit ice-cap, and the summit was finally reached at 4.45 (time of start 1s not stated). The descent to the upper bivouac was made in three and a half hours (‘ Canadian A.J.,’ 1923, 39 seq.) The young climbers are to be congratulated on their successful enterprise. Robson will always need care on account of the change- able weather encountered, but it would appear that the technical difficulties, in the conditions of the expedition described above, are by no means excessive. A history of the earlier ascents will be found in the ‘C.A.J.’ for 1914, and in Mr. Mumm’s summary, ‘ A.J.’ xxx. 361. Mr. Logan, 19,539 F'r.—This mountain lies a little to the E. of Mt. St. Elias (18,024 ft.) ; first ascended by the Duke of the Abruzzi’s party in 1897. It is only surpassed in height in N. America by Mt. McKinley (20,300 ft.), and lies about forty-five miles from the coast. The Canadian A.C. have determined to send an expedition in April 1925 to attempt its aacent, provided the necessary funds can be raised. The estimated cost is put at about $11,000, of which to date about $3000 have been subscribed. Further subscriptions will be welcomed by the Treasurer, Mr. S. H. Mitchell, Sidney, Vancouver Island, or by Mr. A. L. Mumm, Alpine Club. The executive consists of :—Lieut.-Col. W. W. Foster, D.S.O. ; Col. F. C. Bell, C.M.G.; A. O. Wheeler, F.R.G.S.; A. H. MacCarthy (Leader of Expedition) ; H. F. Lambart, D.LS. (Assistant Leader) ; with Major E. O. Wheeler, M.C., R.E. (1st Mt. Everest Expedition) and Belmore Browne (1st Mt. McKinley Expedition) as technical advisers.

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170 Reviews. REVIEWS. Le Mont Olympe (Thessalie). Monographie par.Marcel Kurz. (Victor Attinger, Paris et Neuchatel.) Price 45 frs. Swiss. THERE is nothing about the Thessalian Olympus that is not picturesque. Like Homer (himself its first advertiser), the aspect and the records of this mountain are always in the grand style. Viewed from the gulf of Salonica, its appearance is grandiose in the extreme ; rising steeply from the sea, its 9700 ft. present a more imposing spectacle than do other mountains nearly double its height, but less fortunately placed. Its mythology is, to say the least, distinguished. The whole massi/is associated with some of the great scenes of history. By its western pass of Petra, Xerxes led his army into the Thessalian plain; on its northern and eastern flanks the Roman arms achieved the conquest of Macedonia; in compara- tively modern times, Greek ballad literature glorified the slopes of Olympus as the last asylum of liberty and patriotism. How is it that a mountain so famous and of such compelling interest, pre- senting at first sight no insuperable difficulties, was never actually ascended till the year 1913? It seems strange ; but reasons reveal themselves in the topography of the district and the narratives of early exploration now for the first time summarised and made intelligible in M. Marcel Kurz’s admirable monograph. Olympus is no definite or isolated peak. It is in reality a high mountain region, measuring some 30 miles north to south and 15 east to west. About half of this district is a tract of high wooded hills rising to some 5000 ft., north of the vale of Tempe; to the north again of this ‘ Lower Olympus,’ and separated from it by a valley and stream, the true Olympus rises to a height of more than 9700 ft., crowned at its summit by a group of rocky pinnacles, a semicircular ridge enclosing a narrow gorge which runs between cliffs north-west towards the pass of Petra. From the eastern face of the loftiest heights the deep ravine of the Enipeus descends to the sea; ‘ici,’ writes the traveller Heuzey, ‘l’Olympe est fendu profondement et dans toute sa hauteur’; and not only here but everywhere the whole face of the true Olympus is broken by gullies and ridges. Thus, though the peaks are of no great altitude, and their distance from possible sleeping places is not considerable, the problem of ascent has always been complicated: to find the way over so much broken ground has not always been easy; and among the half-dozen peaks forming the highest group travellers have often been unable to distinguish which was really the summit, Homer’s line, dxpordry xopupy roAvdetpddos OvAvpzrovo, shows that here as everywhere else the poet was true to nature. The top is dxpordrn, the highest among several ; and the whole mountain is par excellence mwoAvoeipas, Many-ridged.

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Reviews. 171 These difficulties are well brought out by M. Kurz in the summary of the narratives of earlier explorers which forms the second part of his volume. Modern Olympian exploration has been going on intermittently for nearly a century and a half; but some of its earliest records, such as the picturesque chronicles of Sonnini and Urquhart, who attempted to ascend Olympus in 1780 and 1830 ‘respectively, are apparently of no great orographical importance, though they make very agreeable reading. The first serious topo- graphical account is that of Heuzey, who explored the massif in 1855 and five years later published a description, with a map characterised by M. Kurz as ‘trés fantaisiste,’ but still a map. Heuzey was an archaeologist rather than a mountaineer or ‘geo- grapher. His conclusions as to the relative heights and distances of the various prominent summits appear to M. Kurz to be totally erroneous ; probably he did not ascend to a point whence it might be possible to take correct observations. Nevertheless his narrative has value, as supplying a base for further investigation. Much more important and much nearer to the truth are the records of two well-known travellers, Barth (whose expedition was made in 1862) and H. F. Tozer, who, with his friend T. M. Crowder, had a day on Olympus in 1865. Both these parties ascended to the northernmost peak of the mountain, the point known as Hagios Elias, the best-known, but lowest, of the crowning peaks; Barth went a little further, and estimated the height of the rest; Tozer also took observations, with results stated to be more correct ; but the highest rocks appeared to him to present actual mountain- eering difficulties far which his party was not equipped, and the ascent of them was not attempted. It is pleasant to find M. Kurz describing this distinguished English scholar and traveller (and member of the Alpine Club) as @ sagacious observer, whose conception of the massif is much clearer than that of his predecessors. In the present century Olympus was visited in 1904 and 1905 by Dr. Cvijics, a Serbian, whose researches on the mountain appear to be more valuable to geologists than to topographers: and in 1909 and 1910 by E. Richter, a German engineer. Richter, an experienced mountaineer and geographer, and a man of courage and enterprise, did his best to examine the various routes ; but bad weather prevented him from reaching the summit. Returning in 1911 to the scene of his endeavours, he had the misfortune to be captured by brigands, who shot his escort, and held him to ransom for several months ; at the end of which he was released, in circumstances which might have tried the strongest nerves. Butin 1912 Olympus became Greek territory, and brigand- age (always till then a menace to travellers) apparently ceased to be a danger. In 1913 M. Baud-Bovy of Geneva, with his friend M. Boissonnas, ascended from the east to ‘ Hagios Elias,’ and thence made his way along the rock-aréte of the summit till he came to a pinnacle which his guide (a local chamois-hunter) assured him was

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172 Reviews. the highest point ; and this he climbed, thus accomplishing the first known ascent of Olympus. Till much later, however, nothing seems to have been known of this feat. In the years of the war, F. P. Farquhar, an American professor, climbed in 1914 from the south as far as the summit ridge, but was deterred from further progress by the apparent difficulty of the final rocks; and two English officers flew from Salonica over Olympus and photographed it from the air. These photographs were reproduced in ‘ A.J.’ vol. xxxil. pp. 326-8, with an accompanying note by C. F. Meade, who himself in that year (1918) had ascended Hagios Elias. But it appears that neither in 1914 nor in 1918 was the true peak generally known, or the fact of Baud-Bovy’s ascent. Finally in 1919 the Genevese climber repeated his expedition ; described his 1913 ascent in ‘ La Gréce Immortelle’ ; and subsequently contributed a narrative of his second ascent, with an ‘ Essay in Nomenclature,’ to the Geographical Journal of March 1921—an article to which M. Kurz acknowledges his obligations, All these attempts and actual or partial successes—all these records, not to mention the many references to Olympus quoted in an appendix to the present volume—-had not really established knowledge of the Olympian region, or the history of its exploration, on a sound basis. Much still remained to be done; whoever was to deal finally and exhaustively with the whole district, co-ordinating records and endeavouring to bring them into line with geographical fact, had indeed an ample substratum for the work; but the foundations were rather ample than solid. No one could be better qualified than M. Kurz to make a thorough and complete survey and study of Olympus, and deal with its manifold problems. Himself a member of the Alpine Club, he is an experienced mountaineer and a practised topographer ; and the Greek Govern- ment, which employed him as a surveyor, and at whose instance the work of map-making and photographing was originally under- taken, gave him every assistance in his enterprise. Thus encouraged, | MM. Kurz and Bickel were able to carry out every detail of an elaborate plan, of which the official object was to test by experiment the stereophotographic processes recently introduced into Greece. Starting from Kokkinoplo, a village on the western slopes of Olympus above the pass of Petra, M. Kurz in the course of a fort- night of August 1921 surveyed and mapped from successive camps the entire circumference of the upper part of the mountain. His sojourn is described in detail with great liveliness. At the end of it, he climbed the actually highest peak (9725 ft., the third to the south- ward from Hagios Elias), which had been already twice attained by Baud-Bovy ; and, as an appropriate finale, made a first ascent of the * Throne of Zeus,’ an imposing and difficult pinnacle only a little lower than the summit itself. As an outcome of the enterprise, we have the present monograph, which really appears to deal conclusively with all the manifold problems of the historic mountain. It is a learned and most readable

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Reviews. 178 volume, embellished by excellent photographs and provided with the author’s own elaborate map of the higher slopes and crests, (described by a competent authority as ‘transforming Olympus into the best-mapped mountain in the world—or very near it’) as well as a reproduction, for purposes of comparison, of the Austrian map of the whole region, published in 1916; and proves M. Kurz to be (as Dr. Freshfield says in his Introduction) ‘ non seulement un topographe compétent mais un alpiniste expérimenté.’ It is the last word on Olympus ; henceforward the home of the gods has no secrets. D. G. The Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. xiii. (1923). THE latest volume of the Canadian Alpine Journal is of unusual interest. The place of honour is given to Major Wheeler’s account, largely, but by no means exclusively, from his own point of view, of the first Everest expedition, and a paper on the second by Captain Longstaff, which also appears in our own JouRNAL. Then follow a remarkable series of expeditions, mostly in the main chain of the Rockies, ranging from the Chown group to Mt. Queen Mary, and including ten or more first ascents. It will be convenient to deal with them in topographical order, from N. to 8. First comes the story of ‘ A Pack-Train Trip North of Jasper,’ which includes a plucky but unfortunate attempt on Mt. Chown, by Miss Caroline Hinman, a lady whose mountaineering enthusiasm takes the engaging form of organising and personally conducting parties of girl novices, whom she has introduced to the Rockies in considerable numbers almost every year since 1913. The tour here described took place in 1921; the others, with two exceptions, belong to 1922. Next comes the second complete ascent of Mt. Robson, achieved by Mr. Windsor Putnam and his packer, Jack Hargreaves, the route followed being apparently that of the second of the two attempts made from the W. in 1913; they are to be congratulated on a very remarkable exploit, though they have not wholly solved the question of the best route up Mt. Robson. Two very resolute attacks were made on Mt. Geikie by Messrs. H. E. Bulyea and C. G. Wates, of whom the former describes the trip from Jasper, the latter the actual climbing. This peak has greatly impressed all those who have examined it, and further attempts will be awaited with interest. Such attempts could be easily combined with a visit to Mt. Robson camp this summer. In the next two papers there is not much climbing, but that of Donald Phillips (‘ Athabasca Pass to Tonquin Valley’) gives a vivid picture of the problems which beset the leader of a pack-train in imperfectly known country; and Mr. Allen Carpe’s on ‘The Clemenceau Group ’ is, from the point of view of exploration, the most interesting of them all. His story is in part retold by his companion, Mr. de Villiers-Schwab, in our own JOURNAL.? 1 Cf. A.J. xxx. 361. 2 AJ. xxxv. 44.

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174 Reviews. The areas covered by the three last-mentioned papers are prac- tically continuous ; in the next a long leap is made to the Freshfield group, but the doings there of Dr. Monroe Thorington, as well as Mr. Fynn’s ascent of Mt. Victoria, are also accessible in our own JOURNAL.® Very interesting and thoroughly characteristic of the Rockies is a paper by the veteran, W. D. Wilcox, of his discovery (for so it may fairly be called) of the Valley of the Hidden Lakes in 1921, only 20 miles from Lake Louise. Still in the Lake Louise district, Mr. Carpe describes in detail his ascent of the N.W. ridge of Mt. Biddle in 1915, and finally we arrive at the great series of assaults on the peaks in the neighbourhood of Palliser Pass, the site of the 1922 Club Camp—Mts. Birdwood and Queen Mary, Robertson, Jellicoe and Maude, Sir Douglas and King Albert. Space forbids more than a bare mention of these names, but we cannot forbear from drawing attention to the first attempt on the last-mentioned mountain, which was made by a party of ten, of whom six, in- cluding two ladies, would seem to have been ‘ graduating ’ members, 1.e. novices. One party of five, after turmng back at 4 P.M., got into serious difficulties: ‘the descent became quite difficult and dangerous ... and it was found necessary that they should descend one by one, unroping as they did so, a member having an unnerving fall, but with no bad results.” They spent most of the night on the mountain, exposed to rain and with rocks falling un- comfortably near them. All ended well, and no doubt it was inevitable that sooner or later a tendency should manifest itself to stiffen the tests required by graduating members, but this method of doing so strikes us as rather drastic. Material for a new edition of the ‘ Climbers’ Guide ’‘¢ is accumu- lating fast and, with so much going on in the main chain, many signs of activity elsewhere were hardly to be looked for; but there 1s an excellent little paper on the Garibaldi group, and Miss Cora — Best writes entertainingly of a visit to Horse Thief Creek with, amongst others, Byron Harmon, in search of film pictures. A pack-horse, ‘ Old Bill’ by name, supplies most of the comic element ; a picture of a big rock avalanche, brought about by lavish use of dynamite, was ruined by his charging into a row of carefully placed cameras at the critical moment. We are sorry for Harmon, but something within us whispers ‘Good for Old Bill!’ A paper on ‘Small Mammals of the Rockies’ gives an alluring picture of the sport to be obtained by stalking wild things with a camera. * Mountain Worship ’ is not an essay on the lines of our Mr. Stutfield, but a dissertation on the literal worship of mountains by various races in all parts of the world—a good subject, but too briefly treated here to do proper justice to it. The scientific section contains stimulating papers on ‘ Forest Line ’ and ‘ Life on and about Snowfields and Glaciers,’ in both of 3 AJ, xxxiv. 387, 479. 4 Cf. A.J. xxxiv. 183.

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Reviews. 175 which a large number of curious and unexpected facts are collected. The remaining article on ‘ Mountain Reconnaissance by Airplane,’ is of absorbing interest, particularly Mr. Wheeler’s thrilling de- scription of a trip (his first) with Captain Tudhope northward from the Yellowhead Pass in the direction of Mt. Sir Alexander, and then through thick clouds to Macbride in the Fraser Valley, where they were very glad to find a landing-place. ‘ It is an eerie sensation to be driving at 70 to 80 miles an hour through a dense cloud-bank, knowing that sheer rock precipices are all round you, and not knowing whether you will break through the cloud belt in time.’ We can well believe it. F. N. Konig, 1765-1832. By Conrad de Mandach. Geneva: Albert Ciano. TuIs interesting book is well worth the attention of all who are interested in the Swiss artists of the period. As the preface tells us, the author has no intention of giving an exhaustive account of this artist’s life and works, as he states that M. Théodore Englemann has a book in hand giving a comprehensive account of F. N. Konig’s life and an exhaustive list of his works. Nevertheless M. de Mandach has given us a very instructive if brief account of this artist, which causes us to await with impatience M. Englemann’s promised work. Needless to say M. de Mandach’s book is written in his usual elegant style and is a pleasure to read. The illustrations are good and well chosen, and the general get-up of the book is excellent. We look forward with much interest to the work on S. Freudenberg which it is whispered M. de Mandach has in view. Doubtless he will consult the numerous works of the artist in this country. R. W. Lioyp. The Making of a Mountaineer. By George Ingle Finch. J. W. Arrowsmith (London), Ltd. Price 30s. Ir would be hard to name any man better qualified to impart instruction on mountaineering than the author of this imposing volume. Two years ago, on Mt. Everest, he and an inexperienced if indomitable young companion accomplished, as Mr. Freshfield writes, ‘one of the most surprising and bravest feats of mountain- eering on record.’ He and his brother were educated at the Polytechnic at Zurich, probably the finest mountaineering school in the world. The young students form graduated parties and attain in this way, with reason- able safety, an experience and proficiency that are very remarkable. Fynn, an unsurpassable master, is another of its pupils. I commend ‘ A Winter Night on the Todi,’ contributed by Maxwell Finch, the imperturbable and little short of equally capable mountaineer, as an example of what these young men face as all in the day and night’s work.

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176 Reviews. Save in the very few expeditions where he has been, by invitation or otherwise, a member of a guided party, Finch has been for some years past the recognised leader of his caravan, and this experience, in many cases, of inexperience justifies for any publication of his, very careful attention. The book consists of a series of papers, many of which have appeared in this Journaut and other Alpine publications. The climbs commence with the Wetterhorn and go on increasing in difficulty to the Bifertenstock, the E. face of Monte Rosa, the Z’Muttgrat, the N. face of the Dent d’Hérens, the Grépon (finishing by the Venetz crack), the Requin, the traverse of the two Dru, the S. face of the M. Blanc de Courmayeur, and finally Everest. A more representative list of expeditions, demanding in the leader a sound knowledge of mountaineering and the highest executive powers, it would be hard to make. Possibly in the description of the preparatory observations for and of the final carrying out of the ascent of the Dent d’Heérens is the author best shown at the height of his powers. That paper alone stamps him as a great master. Perhaps the most charming chapter in the whole book is Mrs. Finch’s description of her impressions of a traverse of the Matter- horn. She writes with a sense of humour and a delightful candour that I have never seen excelled. Scant wonder that the book is dedicated to such a gallant little lady. The publishers have done it full justice. The seventy-seven full- plate illustrations, nearly all from photographs by the author, a noted mountain photographer, are among the best and most instructive I have ever seen. All in all, the book is worthy to be set alongside Whymper’s immortal ‘ Scrambles ’ and Mummery’s ‘ My Climbs,’ as indicating, as they did in their day, the high-water mark of mountaineering © of the period. J. P. Farrar. Die Eroberung der Alpen. By W. Lehner, Hochalpenverlag, Munich, 1924. Price about 20s. THIs imposing volume of 750 pages, of which in two months 1500 copies are stated to have been sold, purports to be the ‘ most important, greatest, and most fundamental work in the Alpine literature of any language.’ It is certainly a monument of work. Part I deals with the Alps from Roman times right through the ages to the conquest of Mont Blanc. Part IJ—185 pages in 17 sections—deals with developments in the Eastern Alps and such subjects as the appearance of British mountaineers in the Eastern Alps, the great guides of the middle period, the introduction of guideless climbing, and finally with the results attained in recent times. Part III deals with the attainments in the Western Alps, from the ascent of Mont Blanc to the present day. Here, as might

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Reviews. - 177 be expected, the author is by no means so much at home as when dealing with the Eastern Alps. On p. 309 the first ascent of the Finsteraarhorn is ascribed to Meyer’s guides in 1812, as the result of the ‘more recent investigations.” I was under the impression a case had been made out on the other side. Section 7 deals with the foundation of the A.C.—the period from 1855 onwards. Sir James Ramsay’s virtual opening of the Midi route ought to have been mentioned, but, on the whole, the author gives to the early English climbers the credit they worthily deserved ; and the objects of the A.C. are fairly described. In Section 8, the very considerable results attained by the impulse of the new organisation are fully acknowledged : although it would have been well to have laid more stress in the text on the fact that, at times, the English climbers were dependent on their Swiss, French, © and Italian guides! The word ‘ Fiihrer’ occurs a single time ! Section 14 deals with the ‘dark ages’ [1865-1870] of British mountaineering, and Section 16 with the second golden age of mountaineering in the Western Alps. To the latter are ascribed such names as Freshfield (carried over from the ‘dark ages’ !), Dent, and Coolidge, of whom the author writes: ‘ Der hervorragendste, nicht so sehr als Hochturist, sondern vielmehr durch die allgemeine Wirkung, die von seiner alpinistischen Betitigung ausgehen sollte, ist W. A. B. Coolidge,’ and to whose exploration of the Dauphiné in particular and in other groups, more than a page is devoted. Section 18 deals with the great guides of the ’sixties and ’seventies in the Western Alps. The usual stereotyped views are put forward —Almer’s famous ascent of the Silberhorn was, however, by the N. aréte—his most difficult ascent in its then condition, so he once told me. To class as equal Almer’s ascent of the Jungfrau by the Guggi and Melchior’s first passage of the Rottalsattel is absurd. Croz would not be accepted generally as the equal of either Melchior or Almer in knowledge and powers. The doings of F. Dévouassoud in the service of Mr. Freshfield are duly appreciated. Section 23 treats of the Rise of the guideless climber. The author credits Steinberger with the first ascent of the Kénigsspitze. He is apparently ignorant of Friedmann’s conclusions on the subject—but, then, he did not know that Friedmann was at least as good a man on a mountain as with his pen. Due mention is made of our splendid Pilkington party, of the two Montandons, the survivor of whom, our hon. member, is going as strong as ever. Mummery, whose greatest ascents were certainly done with guides, is not mentioned as a guideless climber ; nor are Wicks, Wilson, and Morse, and later Bradby and Wills, the most persistent and enduring of all the guideless parties. But we must not expect too much of a foreign author. He who has not actually played a part in the happenings cannot know every light and shade. Section 24 treats of the dawn of the present day. -Here we English seem to fill the bill! One misses few of the famous names: VOL, XXXVI.—NO. CCXXVIIL. N

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178 Renews. Full appreciation is given to Mummery, Stafford Anderson, Seymour King, and many another indomitable mountaineer, including Mrs. Jackson. The great name of Paul Giissfeldt is worthily recorded. Section 25 has to do with the guides of the eighties in the Western Alps. Few who knew those days will class Alex. Burgener, good as he undoubtedly was, as ‘the most brilliant and best guide the whole Alps had ever seen.’ The W. face of Weisshorn is not an “ice-tour of the greatest danger.’ Nor did Kéderbacher and I ‘in 1883 make the first traverse of the Weisshorn (nearly ending in a catastrophe) from Zinal to Randa (descending the avalanche- west-face in a snowstorm).’ God forbid ! Section 26 treats of guideless Germans in the Western Alps, and full and well-deserved credit is given to Purtscheller, the Zsigmondys, and many another famous name. In the remaining Section 29, treating of the most recent mountaineering, an attempt is made to show that the German guideless climber stands now supreme over all others, and in proof the ascents of the Mont Blanc by the Peuteret aréte are quoted ; but of the four guideless German ascents two turned tail at the Aig. Blanche! There is no difficulty in this expedition, but it is extremely long and endangered by any serious change of weather. Four German guideless ascents of the Meije are also quoted, but none of ours! Moreover, every member of a guideless party is by no means guideless. I wonder how far many of R. H. Schmitt’s companions would have got without him in front all day and behind in the night they often chose for descent or bivouac! Pfann is probably the greatest all-round guideless mountaineer the Germans have ever produced, and his superior would be hard to name; but his candid view of his various companions abilities might be interesting! Yet one swallow does not put ‘ Deutschland iiber Alles’ once again! We have young climbers who would do anything in the Dolomites or on any of the Kalkgebirge, and of whom no foreigner has ever heard. A fortnight in the English Lakes or Wales would open their eyes. The English share in Alpine literature is fully set out, thus Mr. Coolidge and Mr. Freshfield each occupy eight lines in the Index, Dr. Diibi almost as many. The book is really a monument of industry. There are, of course, errors, the whole of which probably no one but a Coolidge (or in his time Dr. Karl Diener) could have avoided, and the opinions expressed are not entitled to any great weight; nor is the author, whether as an Alpine littérateur or a mountaineer, qualified to do much more than compile this monumental record of over 700 pages. His industry is profound, and the book can be well recommended. The illustrations are good throughout. The price is astonish- ingly low. No English publisher could look at it at anything like the price. J. P. Farrar.

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Reviews. 179 Med Telt og Husbaat I Kashmir. By C. W. Rubenson, A.C., and member of other mountaineering clubs in Scandinavia and the Himalaya. Published by Steenske Forlag, Christiania. Tus book, which is copiously, as well as beautifully, enriched by sixty excellent illustrations, is a welcome addition to mountain literature, and is one which must certainly, at an early date, be translated into English. The printing could hardly be better. If there be a weak place, it is in the want of maps. The illustrations, however, more than supply this want. W. C. S. Les Alpes de Savoie, vol. iv. (Les Massifs de Beaufort et des Bauges). Par Emile Gaillard. Chambéry, 1924. 25 fr. Tus volume of the Commandant Gaillard’s (M.C.) series of Climbers’ guides, the previous volumes of which have been reviewed in the JOURNAL, covers two groups W. of the Upper Isére little known to English climbers. The descriptions are clear and concise, and the aréte plans are useful. First Steps to Climbing. By George D. Abraham. Pp. 126, with 24 illustra- tions. Mills & Boon, London. Price 5s. WE dislike cordially to criticise adversely another man’s well-meant efforts but, frankly, this is one of those books which may be quite dangerous. The teaching is often wrong, and it cannot assist a Beginner to become even what the author describes as an ‘ Alpinist,’ far less a Mountaineer. There is nothing true in these pages that has not been better said, years ago, and at half the price. We are in doubt whether the book is intended as a guide of how to arrive at a certain Centre in Cumberland or whether it is meant as an outline sketch of how the Alps, Rockies, Himalaya, etc., may be reached from the said Centre. The illustrations are fair, the sensational being ingeniously staged. We seem to have seen many of them in the form of Chamonix picture postcards. Azguille Blatiére, Aig Grépon, Arg Charmoz, Saas Fée are printer’s errors that should have been avoided. The book deals, inter alia, with Equipment, Rock Climbing and Snow Craft. The first two—one smacks somewhat of tradesmen’s advertisements—are possibly adequate for a beginner in Great Britain. In the illustration facing p. 27, the amount of nails on all the boots shown is both ridiculous as well as highly dangerous. But the chapters on Snow Craft are full of almost comically grotesque errors, where among other gems of bad advice, pp. 104-5, the author states ‘if glissading is undertaken the rope should be discarded,’ or, p. 94, where apparently the way to ascend an ice slope is to zig- zag. Again, on p. 35, if the method recommended of descending rocks be adopted, the party should be careful to provide themselves with a pulley and boat davit. In the Alps, although he once claimed to have climbed with N2

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180 The Photographic Exhilition, 1928. Melchior Anderegg, the author does not appear to have been happy in his choice of professional companions, since he permits himself the outrageous statement that ‘teetotalism or even temperance is almost unknown to the guides.’ No wonder that travelling with such men, most known faults or prehistoric methods are recom- mended for adoption by our unfortunate Beginner, who, emulating the guides, is not even to be allowed to drink water ! Let Mr. Abraham turn to a real authority, severest critic of modern guides. In ‘Mountain Craft,’ p. 126, will be found the following remark: ‘No good guide drinks to excess, some not at all.’ We are glad to learn that ‘in Britain we have no glaciers or true ice slopes ... or true bergschrunds,’ this being un- doubtedly.the most accurate statement in the entire book. Even the author’s historical facts are—to put it mildly—somewhat inaccurate. The reviewer is not aware that ‘the Mount Everest expedition was largely composed of rock-climbing specialists whose experience of snow and ice craft is almost negligible.” Only one rock specialist was included and he was not of the High Altitude parties. Again, why should our hard-worked Honorary Secretary be called upon to furnish the Beginner with the address of the Secretary of the British Association of the Swiss Alpine Club ? Who knows not the indefatigable J.A.B.B. ? As for the Alpine Centres recommended, one of which possesses the dubious joy of ‘ two fine Anglicised Hotels,’ we will be content with stating that the vast majority of tours in the Engadine are pre-eminently suited for beginners. We really thought that authors had given up confusing the Bregaglia with the Engadine ! Mr. Abraham has long been known as a British Isles rock expert. With every manner of good will and bonne camaraderie (p. 19), we should recommend the author of ‘The Complete Mountaineer ’ 7 devote his writings to the rocks and boulders of this country | alone. KE. L. 8. THE PHoToGRAPHIC ExHIBITION, 1923. Co SIDERED topographically, the outstanding feature of the Exhibition of last December was its strictly Alpine character. Four small delicately beautiful photographs—two of them tele- photos—by Mr. G. Johnstone, of the Sikkim Himalaya were sent by the Rev. J. Pearce ; Scotland was displayed to us in three charming scenes in the Coolins, by Mr. Priestman, and two in Sutherlandshire, by Mr. Hooper, whose ‘ Gate’ pass was a very pleasing study ; Mr. Mumm sent some results of his wanderings in Japan, China and New Zealand, and Sir Alexander Kennedy provided a most inter- esting novelty in a series of views of the strange rocky region of

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Photo, G. T. Fineh. STORM.

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Photo, A. Gardner. ZINAL ROTHHORN, from slopes of Pointe d’Arpitetta,

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The Photographic Exhibition, 1928. 181 Petra. These latter were all, it need hardly be said, of very high quality, ‘The Edge of the Desert’ and ‘The Gateway of Petra’ being perhaps the most effective. With the exception of these seventeen frames, the Exhibition was confined wholly to the Alps. In technical skill and artistic feeling it fully came up to the standard which we have become accustomed to expect. The average was a high one, and the exceptional successes reached a very high level of excellence indeed. Perhaps the chief honours were carried off by Messrs. A. and H. Gardner ; that veteran contributor, Mr. F. N. Ellis, sent _ only two contributions, but both these also showed a rare combina- tion of technical and artistic merits. _ Amongst other principal contributors Mr. and Mrs. Finch, working from Zermatt as a centre, sent twelve pictures between them, of which the studies of ‘ Storm,’ ‘ Morning,’ and ‘ Sunset ’ were notably successful. Mr. Tribe, another veteran, and Mr. Roger Smith did justice to the Dolomites (views by the former of the Cadini Spitze and of Lago Misurina and Sorapis being particularly good); and Mr. Hasler to his favourite hunting ground, the Bernese Oberland. Mr. Donald and Mr. Morrish sent interesting contributions from several districts, including a fine Mont Blanc by the latter. The Bernina range was well represented by Mr. Graham, and Dauphiné by Mr. C. H. Brook; his ‘ Three Valleys near La Berarde’ were all the more attractive inasmuch as the Exhibition contained comparatively few scenes below the snow-line. In this respect also it was, for the most part, severely Alpine. Mr. J. Gaberell’s views of the ill-fated Il Gallo and other peaks in the Bregaglia district, sent by Dr. Wilson, attracted much attention ; they were of special interest to rock-climbers, as was the Cleopatra’s Needle of Dr. Finzi, who sent besides several other exhibits of ex- cellent quality and very varied in character. Striking panoramic views were contributed by Mr. Lister (from the Pigne d’Arolla), and Mr. L. W. Clarke (from the Bortelhorn), and the blaze of sunlight on Mr. G. T. Western’s ‘ Siidlenzspitze’’ was some- thing to remember. Good work also came from Messrs. J. C. and iH. J. Gait (in the Mont Blanc district), V. Ellwood and Holland, the Rev. A. E. Murray and others too numerous to mention. It has frequently been remarked that our photographers are, as a rule, inveterate centrists. A quite cursory perusal of the catalogue suffices to reveal the fact that last December this feature was even more pronounced than usual, and that, photographically speaking, the Alps are still full of ‘ neglected districts.’ Among the exceptions were Mr. Waterlow, who found many attractive subjects in the out- of-the-way regions of Haute Savoie and the Cottians, and Mr. L. Ellwood, who sent a Mont Aiguille. Mr. Osler, another wanderer, showed, in addition to other views, a number of successful auto- chromes in the Tarentaise. Among the ladies, Mrs. Allen and Miss King supplied the some- what defective sub-alpine element. Miss Tiarks struck out a line

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182 The Alpine Club Inbrary. of her own at Saas Fee; her audacious attempt to take a street- scene during a snow-storm resulted in one of the most remarkable photographs in the Exhibition ; the brilliant portrait of ‘Clara’ was no less successful. We note with interest that Miss Morse’s one contribution, a view of Mont Blanc, was taken from the summit of the Grépon. The Club is as usual indebted to Mr. Spencer for taking charge of all the arrangements connected with the Exhibition, including the hanging. It is hardly necessary to say that he carried out the task, as always, with perfect skill and success ; we must, however, add, that for the first time for many years he was not himself a con- tributor, the reason being, not that his interest in Alpine scenes is flagging—far from it—but that he has taken up another and more arduous mode of representing them. THE ALPINE CLUB LIBRARY. The following books, etc., have been added to the Library :— Club Publicattons. Akad. A.C. Bern. 18. Jahresbericht 1922-23. 9 x 6. 1923 Neue Touron: O. Hug, M. Kurz, Gde. Fourche N.O.-Grat: O. Hug, A. Stmmen, K]. Wannehorn S.0.-Grat : H. Krupskt, P. v. Schumacher, Gwasmet N.-Wand : £. Hauser, P. v. Schumacher, Gemefayer N.E.-Grat ; H. Brauchlt, H. Salvisberg, W. Richardet, Techingelgrat Abst. S.-Wand: H. Salvisberg, W. Richardet, Tschingelsp. O.-Grat. Akad. Alp. Ver. Innsbruck. 9 x 6: pp. 40. Bericht 1922-3 Neuve Touren: R&. Jenny, Paniiler-Schrofen W.-Wand: K. Krall, A. Mayr, Sulzleklammsp. W.-Wand: A. Frohlich, K. Krall, Knoppenjochsp. S.-Wand: Lechtaler Zwélfersp. S.0.-Wand: A. Fréhlich, G. Schretter, _ Irzwand N.-Wand. | Alpine Journal. Index to vols. 16-34. A complete index to the above vols. has been compiled by Mr. A. J. Mackintosh, covering some 700 typewritten sheets. One continuous list has been made of subjects, authors, peaks, etc. Expeditions are entered alphabetically under the names of those who took part, with dates and routes: and chronologically under the names of peaks, etc.—again with routes and dates and names of climbers. There are a number of special headings, such as : Accidents, Old age climbing, Solitary, Youth. The entries under such a heading as Mont Blanc give a nearly complete history of ascents, dates, climbers, bibliography, routes, etc. The British Ski Year Book, published by the Federal Council of British Ski Clubs. Vol. 2, no. 1. 84 X 54: pp. 221: plates. Uxbridge, King & Hutchings, 1923 Among the articles are: H.C. 7. Dowding, May in Oberland, Jungfrauj., Agassizh., Galmih. : The foehn : B. J. Marden, Engadine glaciers in March : F. E. Smythe, Solitary run thro’ the Silvretta, March 1923, Fluchth. ete. : P. Montandon, Early mountaineering on ski, Aig. de Chardonnet, March 1910 : list ascents winter 1897-1917. C.A.F. Provence Bulletin 1922, 1923. 8} x 54: pp. 39, 48. First ascents: Borelli, Abdou, Pellicé, 1900, W. Dents de Roquefourcade : E. Bellanger, 1913, same new route by W. face.

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‘SSWq USSIOQYOSIMZ 9AOGE WOT ‘zz61 ‘9 “¥dag ‘MONS HSAYUA NI LVYONALLYOd “fOUpLve) YON] 0J0Ud

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eS. as Photo, Victor Ellwood. DENT d’HERENS AT DAWN.

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The Alpine Club Lnbrary. 188 Canadian Alpine Club Journal. Vol.13. 9 x 6: pp. (iv) 274: plates. 1923 The articles are: EH. O. Wheeler, Mt. Everest, 1921: 7. G. Longstaff, Some aspects of the Everest problem: W. B. Putnam, Mt. Robson, 1922 : C. G. Wates, Mt. Geikie: J. M. Thorington, The Freshfield Group, 1922: A. S. Sibbald, The 1922 attempt on Mt. Robertson : A. Carpe, The Clemenceau Group : H. E. Sampson, First ascent of Mt. King Albert: F. N. Waterman, First ascent of Mt. Queen Mary: C. F. Hogeboom, First ascent of Mt. Bird- wood: M. D. Geddes, Climb of Mt. Jellicoe and first ascent of Mt. Maude: T.O. A. West, Second ascent of Mt. Sir Douglas : 7’. Ulke, Life on and about snow fields and glaciers: A. O. Wheeler, Mountain reconnaissance by air- plane: A. O. Wheeler, Motion of Robson Glacier: M. Bright, 14 days in Pyrenees: D. Phillips, Athabasca Pass to Tonquin Valley: A. H. Bent, Mountain worship: W. A. D. Munday, Peaks at the head of Pitt River: A. Carpe, First ascent of Mt. Biddle by W. ridge: V. A. Fynn, N.E. face Mt. Victoria, new route: F. W. Godsal, Mt. Warre and Mt. Vavasour. Centre Excursionista de Catalunya. La Costa Brava. 7} X 5: pp. 40: map, plates. 1923 La Maladetta. 74 x 5: pp. 41: map, plates. 1923 C.A.F. La Montagne. 19e année. 9 x 6: pp. xvi, 336: plates. 1923 Among the articles are: R. Godefroy, Le Sirac, routes, history ascents, etc.: M. Sarraz-Bournet, Quatre jours en Haute Maurienne 1922, Pte. Francesetti, Pte. Mezzenile, Ouille du Midi, Albaron: R. Richard, Le Mont Dolent : O. Mengel, Stratification des glaciers: In Mem., H. E. Boileau, d. Castelnau: Courses nouvelles: J. Morin, 1922, Pic Lézat aréte N.N.W., E. Bec du Corbeau: A. Verney-Amtez, 1921, tr. arétes Pte. de 1l’Echelle— Ptes. de la Partie: Segonzac, 1922, Djebel Ifni: M. et Mme M. Paillon, 1907, Col du Monestier: H. Bregault, P. Chevalier, J. de Lépiney, 1923, Aigs. du Diable, pte. 4109 m. : J. and T. de Lépiney, Mont Rouge de Pétéret E. aréte, descent N. aréte: H. Bregeault, etc., 1923, Pte. Baretti d. Mts. Brouillard: Mlle Y. Milltvére, L. Zeuingelstein, J. P. Lousalot, 1923, tr. Col du Diable: J. Girouz, M. Gysin, J. Morin, 1923, Pic Quairat S.W. aréte: N.E. Aig. Pic de la Mine: J. Mortn-Bouruard, 1923, Pain de Sucre d’Envers du Plan: EF. Gaillard, 1923, Aig. du Gr. Fond: J. Payot, F. Peter- longo, 1923, Pierra Menta E. face S. aréte: P. Dalloz, G. Gasllard, 1922, Gr. Pic de Belledonne S.E. face: R. Godefroy, A. Girard, H. Ripert, 1923, Gargan: P. Mengaud, J. Bonay, J. Arlaud, 1923, Pic Russell by aréte d. Bouquetins : J. Coste, EH. Couttolenc, 1923, Aigs. d’Oronaye: H. Bordeauz, F. Leclere, V. Palluel, H. Ripert, 1923, Aig. d’Olan N. aréte. C.A.I. L’Alpe. Boll. d. Sez. Ossolana e Verbano. 94 x 63: pp. 96. Anno 4, 1923 New ascents : A. Bonacossa, Marchesina Ester, Sna. G. Matricardt, Primo Frere, Bréche des Molaires. C.A.I. Fiume (formerly Club alpino fiumano) Comunicato mensile. Anno 1, nos. 1-12. 93 x 6}: pp. 112: ill. 1923 —— Liburnia, vol. xvii, no. 1. 1924 Padova. JBollettino mensile. Anno V, nos. 1-3. 14 x 10: pp. 4 each number. 1924 D.u.0e.A.-V. Austria. Nachrichten. 10 x 9. 1923 D.u.0e.A-V. Donauland. Nachrichten. 103 x 9: ill. 1921-1923 Among the articles are: JL. Patéra, Weisseckkamm: H. Kaufmann, Carnische Voralpen : O. Gerhardt, Gdes. Jorasses : R. Metzl, Drusenfluh. Fell and Rock Climbing Club Journal. Vol. 6, no. 2. 84 x 5}: pp. 127-271: plates. 1923 Among the contents are: H. M. Kelly, Pillar Rock and neighbouring climbs—a guide: L. Pilkington, Bygone days—ascent Pillar Rock at age of 15: C. F. Holland, Fifty hours on the Langkofel: H. S. Gross, Girdle traverse of Doe Crags: 7. H. Somervell, Climbing N. of Kanchenjunga. New ascents: 1923, Langdale, H. B. Lyon, White Ghyll Chimney, Gimmer Crag S.E. face, Chimney Buttress: Cwm Spout Crags, Napes Tophet Wall, Green Crag Gully, 1889, ete.

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184 The Alpine Club Library. Fell and Rock Climbing Club, List of Members, etc. 84 x 53: p.18. Nov. 1923 Foreningen til Ski-Idraettens Fremme. Aarbok for 1923. 84 x 54: pp. 192: _ plates. Kristiania 1923 Among the contents are: B. H. Schlytter, Gjennem Jotunheimen og paa Store Skagastelstind paasken 1923: F. Ovale, Hoifjeldet om vinteren : O. R. Thoresen, Pasa ski pasa Kanarione. Ladies’ Scottish Climbing Club. 16th ann. record. 5 x 4: pp. 32. 1923 Mazama. A Record of Mountaineering in the Pacific North-west. Vol. 6, no. 4. 10 X 6}: pp. 99: plates. Dec. 1923 Among the articles are: M. W. Manly, West side climb of Mt. Hood: C. H. Sholes, Perilous ascent of St. Helens: F. W. Stadter, Around Mt. Hood: O. B. Ballou, Top of the world. The Mountaineer. Vol. 16, no. 1. Mt. Garibaldi Park. 11 x 74: plates: pp. 104. December 1923 Norges Skiforbund. Rules. 9 x 6: pp. 58. 1923 Den Norske Turistforenings Aarbok. 94 x 6}: pp. 220: plates. 1923 Among other articles this contains: Fr. Lyche, Fra Dovrefjeldtraktene : F. Bull, Dovre i sagn og digtning : A. Bergh, Over Bergensfjeldene, 1865 : F. Schjelderup, Tindere ved Raftsundet og en sommer iblandt dem: O. D. Tauern, Paa bryllupsreis i Tromse amt: 7. Vogt, Omkring Sulitelma: ' KK. Nissen, Kongefaerden over Dovre 1733. Oesterr. Touristen-Zeitung. 43 Jahrg. 1134 x 84: pp. 140. Wien 1923 Oesterr. Alpenzeitung. 45 Jahrg. 103 x 7: pp. 236. 1923 Among the articles: H. Ptichler, N.-Wand. d. Kl. Priakt: A. Hore- schowsky, Allein iti. d. Teufelsgrat: G. Kdinne, Erste Ersteig. d. Nassen Wand: E. Schulze, Ueberschreitung d. Bietschhorns: H. Ptichler, Gr. Oedstein ii. d. N.W.-Kante. . First ascents: H. P. Cornelius, P. Jenatsch Q.-Grat: P. Ot. N.-Grat : P. d’Err N.-Wand: Letterspitzl v. N.O.: K. Hagspiel, Seejochturm W.- Grat : Habicht N.-Grat: Schaufisp. N.W.-Wand : Bachgrubenturm O.-Wand : Maldenkopf S.-Grat: Parsinnsp. O.-Grat: Hint. platteinsp. S.-Wand : Fallenbachersp. S.-Wand: G@. Oszkattis, Kl. Griesstein O.-Wand : Thurm _ W.-Wand : Bischofmauer S.0.-Wand: H. v. Zallinger, Temelberg O.-Wand : K. Baumgartner, Fusstein, N.W.-Wand: Plattenkopf v. N.: F. Herdlicka, Ruander Gamssp.: Fiinfte Scharecksp. O.-Grat: H. Ptichler, Langes Schéberl: Hochschober S.-Grat : R. Damberger, Wasserkarturm W. Gipfel: O. Wurm, Nied. Kreuz O.-Wand: Gr. Priel N.-Wand: F. Rudovsky, EKisenshuzz S.W.-Grat: R. Damberger, Creta di Chianaletta: F. Malcher, Gr. Seehorn W.-Grat: Torwache v. N.: P.’Linard N.O.-Grat: Pflunsp, N.O.-Wand: P. Gelmo, Hohe Wildstelle N.-Wand: A. Horeschowsky. Aletschhorn neuer Weg v. N.: H. Moschitz, Habicht N.O.-Wand: K. Hagspiel, Kl. Ochsenwand N.-Wand: Auss. Ilmsp. S.W.-Wand: Gliicksgrat N.-Grat: Geisschneid N.O.-Grat: Erlsp. N.W.-Wand: KI. Solstein 8.-Grat: Pleisensp. N.W.-Grat: Larchekkarsp.: Kuhlochsp. v. 8.0. S.A.C. Echo des Alpes. 59me année. 9 xX 5}: pp. 438. 1923 Among the articles are the following: H. R. Blanchet, Deux nouvelles routes aux Perrons de Vallorcine: F. Kursner, Aigs. de la Persévérance et d. Chamois : G. I. Finch, A la conquéte de l’Everest : Z. Lauchlt, La Paloma : M. Etienne, Tempéte sur l’aréte de Zmutt: A. Lassere, Traversée de la Meije: F. Naasbaum-Reber, Finsteraarhorn: C. Long, Cerro de Ajusco: L. W. Colet, Montagnes de la Bregaglia: F. Montandon, Dents d’Oche : P. Struve, Ascensions, Wellenkuppe et Obergabelhorn par le Col d’Arben : H. Ferrand, Col Major : C. Jacot-Guillarmod, Climat de l’Everest : C. Topali, J. and O. Barbey, Premiére ascension du Mont-Briélé par le face nord: C. Topal, Pigne d’Arolla par la face nord: H. R. Blanchet, Aréte du Clocher du Luisin. Death: L. Keep, Muraigl, 1922. First ascents: H. Lauper, F. Egger, Jan. 26, 1921, Bietschh.: A. Z., cr. May 1923, Getatensattel. Seottish Mountaineering Club Journal. Vol. 16, nos. 91-96. 9 x 52: pp. viii, 350 : plates. 1921-1923

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The Alpine Club Library. 185 Among the articles are: J. H. Bell, The Dubhs and Sgurr Alisdair fr. Coruisk: D. H. Menzies, Sgurr a’Ghreadaidh: R. F. Stibart, The Chasm, Buchaille Etive: 7. F. Campbell, Mountaineering in Iona: FE. W. Steeple, New climbs from Glen Brittle: J. G. Inglis, Carn Mairg Range: An early climb on Blaven: J. A. Parker, Beinn a’Bhuird : J. G. Stott, Stob Coire an Albannaich : E. W. Steeple, Lower crags of Coir a’Ghrunnda: G. Barlow, Relative heights of Cuillin peaks. Soc. escurs. milanesi. Le Prealpi, rivista. 92 x 62: pp. 244: ill. Anno 22, 1923 Among the contents: #. Fasana, 1921, Pta. d. Rebbio, new fr. S.: C. Prochowntck, A. Andreoletti, 1908, 1st ascent Corno di Canzo occid. S.W. face: EH. Fasana, 1910, Corno di Canzo centr. E.N.E. face: G. Tonazzi, 1922, Pta. Como, Cima merid. d. Calvo: #. Fasana, 1922, Gr. Combin S.E. aréte : G. Tonazzt, 1922, Ago di Sciora: P. Fasana, etc., 1922 : W. Aig. Verte de Valsorey N.N.E. aréte: C. Bramanit, 1922 Mont Velan, Gde. Téte de By. New Books and New Editions. Abraham, G. D. First steps to climbing. 7} x 4}: pp. 126: plates. London, Mills & Boon, 1923 Baillie, G. Ski-ing simplified for beginners. 7} x 52: pp. viii, 93: plates. London, Selwyn & Blount, 1923 Barcroft, Joseph. Physiological effects at high altitudes in Peru. Roy. Instit. Gt. Brit. 8} x 5}: pp. 10. June 9, 1922 Barcroft, J.; Binger, C. A.; Bock, A. V.; Doggart, J. H.; Forbes, H. S.; Harrop, C.; Meakins, J. C.; and Redfield, A. C. Observations upon the effect of high altitude on the physiological processes of the human body, carried out in the Peruvian Andes, chiefly at Cerro de Pasco. In Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, ser. B, vol. 21. 12 x 9: pp. 351-480: ill. January 1923 Bell, Charles. A year in Lhasa. Jn Geog. Journ. London, vol. 63, no. 2. 9? x 6}: pp. 89-105: map, plates. February 1924 Der Bergsteiger. Deutsche Wochenschrift fiir Alpinismus u. Schilauf. From Sept. 7. 12 x 94: pp. 180. Wien 1923 Among the contents are: E. Sporrer, Ueberschreitung d. Dreiherrensp. : L. Schickl, 1921 : S.W.-Grat d. Hohen Kasten: K. Folta, K. Korunka, 1915, Costa del Pin new d. to W. Erste Ersteigungen: LZ. Obersteiner, J. Ross, 1923, Hochrinneck fr. N.: G. Sixt, 1922, Kaisergebirge S.-Wand: W. Ackerl, K. Greenitz, K. Tauss, 1923, Zwoélfer S.-Wand: G. and K. Sitz, 1922, Regalpwand S.-Wand : . E. Habel, E. Siller, 1923, Fallbachkarsp. W.-Wand : H. Pichler, F. Rydlo, 1923, Rauhenberg N.-Grat: H. Ptichler, L. Magyar, L. Atchberger, 1923, Mittl. Rebenzaunkarkopf N.E.-Wand: ZL. Magyar, L. Atchberger, 1923, Mittl.-Nérdl. Rebenzaunkarkopf: K. Jtllek, F. Schoen, Plansp. N.-Wand. Blue Guides. See under French Alps, Switzerland, Wales, 1922-3. Bordeaux, Henry. The house that died. 7} x 4}: pp. 270. London, Unwin (1923) A well-translated, well-told, gloomy tale of the Maurienne. There is much chamois hunting, though no climbing proper in the story. Bruce, C. G. L’assaut du Mont Everest, 1922. Traduction frangaise par A. de Gruchy et E. Gaillard. 10 x 7: pp. xx, 304: plates, maps. Chambéry, Dardel, 1923, Fr. 30 Camenisch, Carl. Graubiinden in der deutschen Dichtung. 6 x 4}: pp. 96. Leipzig, Haessel, 1923 Campbell,O.W. Shelley and the unromantics. London, Methuen, 1924 p. 142: During the summer of 1816 the glorious Swiss scenery profoundly thrilled him, ‘ with excess of satisfied astonishment.’ But here also the power and peace and grandeur of which the mountains spoke seemed

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186 The Alpine Club Inbrary. infinitely remote, and almost hostile to the vacillating human heart; and he seems to have looked upon them with something of dread—a place where ‘ Power dwells apart in its tranquillity, Remote, serene, and inaccessible.’ But he had realised that all these manifestations of nature’s might were meaningless in themselves, for he ends his poem to Mont Blanc by asking : ‘ And what were thou, and earth and stars and sea, If to the human mind’s imaginings Silence and solitude were vacancy ?’ Compton, E. T. u. E. H. Berchtesgaden. 64 x 9}: 24 col. plates. Berchtesgaden, E. Richter. 4 R.M. 1923 Plates excellently produced from water-colour sketches. Fa-hsien. The travels of Fa-hsien (399-414 a.p.), or Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms. Re-translated by H. A. Giles. 6} x 4]: pp. xvi, 96: frontisp. Cambridge University Press, 1923, 5s. Fa-hsien walked from Central China across the Desert of Gobi and the Hindu Kush into India. Ferrand, H. Histoire de la Soc. d. Touristes du Dauphiné, 1875-1920. 8 x 5: pp. 16. Paris, 1921 ——- Grenoble and thereabouts. 9 x 6: pp. 154: ill. London, Medici Soc., 1923. 7s. 6d. Ferreri, Eugenia. Guida dei monti d’ Italia. Pubbl. d. C.A.I. Alpi occi- dentali. Vol. iii. Alpi Cozie settentrionali. Parts la, Sottogruppi: Granero-Frioland : Boucier-Cornour: Queyron-Albergian-Sestriéres : Assi- etta-Rocciavré. 64 <x 44: pp xii, 510: maps, ill. Torino, Editr. Subalpina O.P.E.S., 1923 Flaig, Walther. Bilder Beriihmter Bergsteiger von Toni Schénecker mit einer Lebensbeschreibung von Walther Flaig. 1. Blatt. Ludwig Purtscheller. 114 X 9}: pp. 4: portrait. Wien, Reichenstein, 1924 Flickiger, Otto. Die Schweiz aus der Vogelschau. 114 x 9: pp. 172: 258 plates. Erlenbach, Ziirich, Rentsch, 1924. Fr. 22 These plates are from photographs taken by W. Mittelholzer in an aero- plane. This new point of view requires some study before one is able to interpret the scenes. About half of the pictures are of the High Alps and are most interesting. All parts of Switzerland and of Mont Blanc are represented. One of the most interesting views shows the Mer de Glace and the two glaciers which form it, in their whole length, showing the medial moraine from the base of the Aig. du Tacul becoming a lateral moraine of the Mer de Glace. There are 13 reproductions of old maps from 1578, which show that the old representation of mountain country was an attempt to take the bird’s-eye point of view. The French Alps. The Blue Guides. Edited by F. Muirhead and M. Mon- marché. 6} xX 4: pp. xxxiv, 255: maps, plans. London, Macmillan: Paris, Hachette, 1923, 10s. Freshfield, D. W. Conquest of Mt. Everest. In Geog. Jour. London, vol. 63, no. 3. 93 X 6: pp. 229-237. March 1924 Notes on history of development of Everest expeditions. Frédin, Gustaf. On the analogies between the Scottish and Scandinavian portions of the Caledonian mountain range. Ueber die Geologie der Zen- tralschwedischen Hochgebirge. In Bull. Geol. Instit. University Upsala, vol. 18. 10 x 64: pp. 195-238 : 58-194. 1922 Furrer, Ernst. Kleine Pflanzengeographie der Schweiz. 7} x 5: pp. viii, 331 : plates. Ziirich, Beer, 1923 Gardner, Arthur. The peaks, lochs, and coasts of the western highlands : Penned and Pictured with One Hundred Photographs. 84 x 5}: pp. 169: plates. London, Witherby, 1924 A rich collection of fine photographs of Scots mountain scenery. Gariboldi, Italo. Le grotte di Canziano. In L’Universo, vol. 4, no. 11. 94 X 64: pp. 833-8: plates. Nov. 1923

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The Alpine Club Library. 187 The Geographical Journal. Vol. 62. 93 x 6: pp. vii, 488: maps, plates. July—Dec. 1923 Among the contents are : July—F. K. Ward, Yangtze to Irrawaddy. Sept.—C. J. Morris, Gorge of the Arun: J. H. Reynolds, High Tatra in 1878 and 1922: J. W. Arthur, 6th attempt on Mt. Kenya. Dec.—K. Mason, Kishen Singh and the Indian explorers. Gibert, André, Une cellule des grandes Alpes frangaises: le Valgaudemar. In La Géographie, Paris, t. 40, no. 5. 10 x 6}: pp. 557-73. Deo, 1923 Girardin, Paul. L’extension des levés au 20,000e dans les Alpes frangaises. Les montagnes de Sixt. In La Géographie, vol. 40, no. 4. 10 x 64: pp. 440-452 : ill. Nov. 1923 Glaciers. Bollettino del Comitato glaciologico italiano, no. 5. 10 x 7: pp. 129: plates. Roma, 1923 Contents: U. Monterin, Il ghiacciaio di Macugnaga dal 1780 al 1922: G. Mercia, Osservazioni sui principali ghiacciai d. Presenella: G. Fantol:, Cenno s. natura giuidica d. ghiacciai: F. Sacco, Il glacialismo nel gruppo del Gran Paradiso. Godefroy, René. Le Sirac. 9 x 6: pp. 36: plates. Chambéry, Dardzl, 1923 Gos, Charles. Histoire du Cervin par Image. Avec 27 reproductions de vizilles estampes et de tableaux modernes, 7} X 6}: pp. 40: plates. Chambéry, Dardel, 1923. fr. 9 Gotteland, Jean. Manuel d’alpinisme scolaire. Publié par 1l’Association sportive de Monaco. 84} x 5}: pp. xvi, 105. Chambéry, Dardel, 1921 A book of instructions. Graber, Alfred. Berge. Fahrten und Ziele. 72 x 54: pp. 231: plates. Miinchen, Verlag Bergland (1923) Ascents, etc., Bristenstock, Tédi, Diablerets, Piz d’Acletta, Piz Palii, etc. Les Guides Bleus. De Paris aux Pyrénées. M. Monmarché. 6 x 4: pp. xxxii, 502 : maps. Paris, Hachette : Londres, Macmillan, 1921 — De Paris aux Alpes et & la Méditerranée. 6 X 4: pp. xl, 534: maps. 1921 Hartmann, P. Plazidus. Neue Gedichte. Fimengliihn. 9 x 5: pp. 91: ill. Luzern, Haag, 1923 Verse on Monte Rosa, Abend am Matterhorn, Rosengarten, Dolomiten- zaubar, etc. Heim, Maurice. Sur les pentes du Pamir. 7} xX 4}: pp. 334. Paris, Chiberre, 1922. fr. 7 Herzog, Theodor. Vom Urwald zu den Gletschern der Kordillere. Zwei Forschungsreisen in Bolivia. 19 x 6}: pp. xv, 240: plates. Stuttgart, Strecker u. Schréder, 1923 Inaka, or reminiscences of Rokkosan and other rocks. Vol. 17. 9 x 64: pp. 100 : plates, some col. Kobe, 1923 Jaksic, Dusan. Planinarski Kalendar. 54 x 4: pp. 105. Godina, 1924 Kurz, Marcei. Le Mont Olympe. Monographie. 10 x 6}: pp. x, 232: maps, plates. Paris, Neuchatel Attinger, 1923 Lehner, Wilhelm. Die Eroberung der Alpen. 10} X 7: pp. xi, 727: mapas, plates. Minchen, Hochalpenverlag (1924) Contents: Erschliessung der Alpen bis zum Ausgang d. 18. Jahrhundert : Ostalpine Entwicklung v. Ende d. 18. Jahrhunderts bis Heute : Entwicklung d. Alpinistik in d. Westalpen : Mont Blanc bis zur Jetztzeit : Erschliessung d. Eroberung d. aussereuropéischen Gebirge. Lewin, W. H. New values in altitudes, Everest dethroned. In Individualist, London. 7 X 5: pp. 15-19. January, 1924 Longstaff, T. G. Meteorological notes from the Mt. Everest expedition of 1922. Ex Quart. Journ. R. Meteor. Soc., vol. 49, no. 208. 9} x 6}: pp. 273-6: plates. October 1923 Lunn, Arnold. Ski-ing for beginners. 64 x 4: pp. ix, 127: ill. London, Methuen (1924). 5s.

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188 The Alpine Club Inbrary. La Montagna. Settimanale d’alpinismo. Anno ]. 12 X 8}: pp. 8 each number. Torino, 1922 This contains: EH. Ferrert, Becca Bianca N. and S., 1 ascent by S.S.W. : E. Bartsone, Aig. Noire du Pétéret: A. Balabio, R. and A. Calegari, 1921, Mte. Zebru, first ascent by E.: A. Balabio, A., R., and C. Calegari, G. Scotti, 1921: new ascents—Mte. Aya by N.E., Pta. di Poddavista: A. and C. Calegari, A. Balabio, 1921, first ascent Pizzo Mater. Monterin, Umberto. Sulla geomorfologia dell’ alta valle d’ Ayas. In l’Universo, Firenze, anno 5, no. 1. 94 xX 6}: pp. 47-72: plates. Gennaio, 1924 Nieberl, Fr. u. K. Blodig. Das Gehen auf Eis und Schnee. 8 x 5: pp. 93: plates. Miinchen, Rother, 1923 A short handbook on mountaineering. La Patrie suisse. Journal illustré. Vol. 29. 114 x 8}: pp. 344: ill. Genéve, 1922 Among the articles: H. Gex-Collet, with portrait: Peter Taugwalder, with portrait. — — Vol. 30. 114 x 8}: pp. 344: ill. Genéve, 1923 Paulic, D. Vodic na Plitvicka Jezera. Izdaje Hrvatsko Planin. Drustvo. 64 x 44: pp. 120: maps, ill. Zagreb, 1923 Pegge, Emil: Moissl, Rudolf. Jahrbuch des Wintersportes fiir 1924. V. Jahrg. 7} X 43: pp. x, 523: ill. Wien Oester, Schulbiicherverlag, 1924 Among the contents are: R. Moissl, Flora in Eis u. Schnee: C. Egger, Skisport Schweiz : F. Schaller, Héllengebirge : R. Malcher, Venedigergruppe : R. Léschner, Winterfahrten Rieserfernergruppe: Wintersportbaedeker, Oesterreich : Wintersportliteratur : Praktische Winke : Skiverbinde. Ratti, Achille (Pope Pius XI). Scritti alpinistici. Raccolti e pubblicati in occasione del cinquantenario d. Sez. di Milano del C.A.I. G. Bobba e Fr. Mauro. 93 xX 74: pp. 189: portr., plates. Milano, Bertieri e Vanzetti, 1923 Contains Monte Rosa, 1889: Matterhorn, 1889: Mont Blanc, 1890. Revue du Touring-Club Suisse. 27e année. 103 X 7: ill. 1923 . This contains the various laws and rules as to motoring in the Swiss cantons. Roelli, Hans Schnee. Verse fiir empfindsame Skileute. 6 x 44: pp. (43), ill. Arosa, 1923. Fr. 2.50 Roessel, Albin. Sportliches Bergsteigen. 5} x 32: pp. 95: ill. Wien, Pimmer, 1922 Sacco, Frederico. I] glacialismo antico e moderno nelle alte valli di Ayas et di Gressoney. In Boll. R. Com. Geol. d’ Italia, vol. 47. 10 x 64: pp. 111-31. 1920 ——- I] glacialismo nel gruppo del Mte. Emilius. In Boll. Soc. Geol. Ital., vol. 39, no. 1-2. 10 x 64: pp. 111-131. 1920 St. Moritz Annual, 1923. 8} x 5}: pp. 199: plates. Sanderson of Oundle. London, Chatto & Windus, 1923 Pp. 7-8 : ‘ He was introduced to rock climbing by his sons when staying at Wastdale in 1906. Although then nearly 50 years of age, he took it up with whole-hearted enthusiasm and with a success surprising in a man of his years and unathletic habits. He had previously visited Switzerland with his family, and there enjoyed both ski-ing and tobogganing, but he cared little for these once he learned the joys of rock climbing, and from 1906 till the outbreak of war his holidays, whenever possible, were spent among the Cumberland mountains, with occasional visits to Wales and the Isle of Skye. He loved the comradeship of a mountaineering party and the struggle with difficulties and triumphs which were shared in common.’ Saussure, H. B. de. La premiére ascension du Mont Blanc. 54 x 2}: pp. 95. Neuchatel, Paris : Delachaux & Niestlé, 1923 Well printed and neatly bound. : cee a ee.

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The Alpine Club Library. 189 Schmid, Hans. Biindnerfahrten Engadin und siidliche Taler. 7 x 4}: pp. (vi) 257 : ill. Frauenfeld, Huber, 1923 Contents :—Avers, Sommer im Oberengadin, Ein Tag im Bergell, Fahrt a Puschlav, Unterengadiner Spaziergiange, Streiferei im Misox, Ferien am pliigen. Siegen, J. Le Létschental. Guide du touriste. Etude générale d’une des plus curieuses vallées alpestres. 64 < 4}: pp. 110: ill. Lausanne, Editions Spes, 1923 Contents :—Description, Villages, Histoire, Premiers touristes et descrip- tions, Guide du touriste, Les maisons et les arts décoratifs, La culture, Les alpages, Coutumes, Fétes de famille. La Suisse. Guide de l’Automobiliste. 10me éd. 113 x 6: pp. 212: maps, plans. Bern, Hallwag, 1923 The Swiss Monthly. Vol. 1, no. 7. 9% x 72: pp. 133-156: ill. Lausanne, April 1924 Switzerland. Swiss Travel Almanac. Swiss Tourist Information Office. Winter season, 1923-24. 8 x 5: pp. 111: plates. 1923 Among other articles contains: W. @. Lockett, R. L. Stevenson’s winters on the Alps: A ski-ing glossary. Switzerland. The Blue Guides. Edited by Findlay Muirhead. 6} x 4: pp. lviii, 512 : maps, plans. London, Macmillan : Paris, Hachette, 1923. 15s. This has mostly been written by Jas. F. Muirhead. The general plan of the work is that of a slightly varied Baedeker. (Tamburini, Angelo) Alpinismo. 8 x 4}: pp. 42: ill. Bellinzona, Grassi, 1923 Tents. Poseteltet. 11 x 8}: pp. 10: plates. 1924 Advertisement of a new form of tent, weighs 2 lbs. to 6 lbs., the last for ‘ Alpine.’ Thorington, J. Monroe. Topography of a Canadian watershed—Divide of the Columbia icefield. In Bull. Geog. Soc. Phil., vol. 22, no. 1. 9} x 6}: pp. 1-14: plates. January 1924 Toll, Roger W. The Mountain Peaks of Colorado. Col. Mn. Club. 9 x 6: pp. 59. January 1923 The highest point is Mt. Elbert, 14,420 ft. There are some 850 peaks over 11,000 ft. U.S. National Parks, Season 1923. Five pamphlets. Wales. The Blue Guides. Edited by F. Muirhead. 6} x 4: pp. lvi, 260: maps, plans. London, Macmillan: Paris, Hachette, 1922. 9s. The writer of the greater part of this work is J. E. Morris. Weston, Walter. Influence of nature on Japanese character. In Geog. Journ., London. Vol. 63,no.2. 9% x 64: pp. 106-120: plates. February 1924 Wildenhainski, R. Bosna i Hercegovina. Na svijet izdalo Hrvatsko Planin. Drustvo. 12} x 9}: pp. xx, 156, vi: plates. Zagreb, 1908 Withers, Percy. Friends in solitude. 8 x 54: pp. 256. London, Caps (1923). 7s. 6d. A pleasant work on Lake District wanderings and conversations. Wright, C. S.: Priestley, R. E. Glaciology. British (Terra Nova) Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913. 12 x 9: pp. xx, 581: maps, num. plates, etc. London, Harrison, 1922 Among the articles are chapters on :—Mechanism of glacier motion: Structure of glaciers: Crystalline structure of ice: Review of causes of glacierisation : Physical properties of ice. Young,G.W. April and rain. Poems. 7} x 5: pp. 64 London, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1923 Zam, Adolphe: Barblan, Pierre. L’art du ski. Gymnastique et technique du ski. Traduction par F. Krahnstoever. 74 x 5: pp. 258: plates. Ziirich, Bopp, 1922 Ziircher, Otto. Das Berner Qberland im Lichte der deutschen Dichtung. 6 X 4}: pp. 102. Leipsig, Haessel, 1923

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190 The Alpine Club Library. Older Books. Baedeker, K. Switzerland. ... 7th remodelled ed. 6} x 4}: pp. xliv,. 456 : maps. | Leipsic, etc., 1877 Presented by Mr. Sydney Young. Chausenque, V. de. Les Pyrénées, ou voyages pédestres dans toutes les régious de ces montagnes . . . avec une carte et quelques vues. 8 x 5: 2 vols., pp. 379, 306. Paris, Lecointe et Pugin, 1834 ‘Le livre de Chausenque provoque |’éclosion du tourisme Pyrénéen.’ Bull. Pyr. A corrected second ed. was issued 1854. Cunningham, C. D., and Abney, W. de W. The pioneers of the Alps. 15} x 12: pp. xi, 287: portraits. London, Sampson Low, 1887 No. 2 of large paper edition of which 50 were printed. Forsyth, Sir Douglas. Autobiography and reminiscences. 9 x 5}: pp. vii, 287 : map, port. London, Bentley, 1887 Gonella, Francesco. Alla guida Emilio Rey. In occasione dell’ inaugurazione del monumento eretto . . . Courmayeur. 11} xX 8: pp. 8. Torino, Candeletti, 1896 Horne, Thos. Hartwell. The lakes of Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cumber- land; delineated in forty-three engravings, from drawings by Joseph Farington, R.A. With descriptions historical, topographical, and pictur- esque; the result of a tour made in the summer of the year 1816. 15 x 10}: pp. viii, 96 : 43 col. plates, map. London, Cadell & Davies, 1816 Hue. Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China, during the years 1844—5-6. 3rd ed. 74 X 5: pp. xii, 576: ill. London, Nelson, 1856 Condensed. 63 X 44: pp. viii, 313. London, Longmans, 1852 Powell, C. H. Four pen-and-ink sketches of Nanga Parbat made in 1893. Reid, Mayne. The plant hunters; or, Adventures among the Himalaya mountains. 64 x 4: pp. vii, 482: ill. London and New York, Routledge, 1890 Royal Geographical Society. Proceedings and Monthly Record. Vols. 1-11. 93 x 52: maps, ill. London, 1879-89 Contents of interest here :— 1. C. R. Markham, Mountain passes on the Afghan frontier, 38-62: E. Kaye, Mountain passes to valley of Bamian, 244-58 : Explorations in western Tibet, 444-51: J. Ball, Origin of flora of European Alps, 564-88: F. A. A. Simons, Topography of Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, 688-93 : J. W. Goad, Exploration of Oregon in 1878, 694-700: H. D. Morgan, Pevtsof’s expedi- tion in N.W. Mongolia, 701-4: Boundary line of Chili and Bolivia, 785-6. 2. Severtsof’s journey in the Pamir, 1877-8, 499-505. 3. R. Temple, Lake region of Sikkim, 321-49: J. B. Minchin, Fast. Bolivia and the Grand Chaco, 401-19: HL. Whymper, Journey among the Great Andes, 449-70: W. @. Lock, Askja, 471-82: F. A. A. Simons, Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, 705-22. 4, C. E. Peek, Across Iceland, 129-39: H. D. Morgan, Excursion to Askja, 140-7: V. de Gorlof, Journey in Atlas, 358-67: J. B. Minchin, Andean tableland of Bolivia, 671-5: Mt. Kenia, 747-52. 6. W. S. Green, Southern Alps of N.Z., 57-70: H. H. Godwin-Austen, Mountain system of Himalayas, 83-6: D. W. Freshfield, Alpine notes of Leonardo da Vinci, 335-9: W. W. Graham, Travels and ascents in the Himalayas, 429-46 : Giissfeldt’s work in the Andes, 458-660. 7. J. T. Walker, Four years through Gt. Tibet, 65-92: H. H. Johnston, Kilima-njaro expedition, 137-159: D. W. Freshfield, Two recent Russian travellers in the Caucasus, 597-602. 8. J. T. Walker, Notes on Everest, 88-93: D. W. Freshfield, Further notes on Everest, 176-188: J. 7. Walker, Last note on Everest, 257-62 : D. W. Freshfield, Alpine Pass of Hannibal, 638-43.

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Proceedings of the Alpine Club. 191 9. A. D. Carey’s journeys in Tibet, 175-6: Prejevalsky’s Central Asia, 213-32: Potanin’s Journey E. Tibet, 233-4: H. W. Seton-Karr, Alpine regions of Alaska, 269-84: D. W. Freshfield, The Caucasus, 617-20: A. D. Carey, N. frontier of Tibet, 731-52. 10. A. Houtum-Schindler, Demavend, 85-8: M.-H. in Tibet and Nepal, 89-90 : D. W. Freshfield, Suanetia, 325-50: F. HE. Younghusband, Mustagh Pass, 485-518: J. 7’. Walker, Hydrography of S.E. Tibet, 577-83: D. W. Freshfield, Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers of the Caucasus, 677-703: On the conservative action of glaciers, 779-789. ll. J. Thompson, Atlas Mountains, 1-17: W. S. Green, Selkirk Range, 154-169: A. F. Mummery, etc., Further explorations in the Caucasus, 351-73: H. W. Topham, Glaciers of Alaska and Mt. St. Elias, 424-34: Ascents in Caucasus, 1889, 671-6: Lt. Stairs’ ascent of Ruwenzori, 726-9 : Rockhill’s attempt to reach Lhasa, 730-4. Thomson, Joseph. Au pays du Masai. 7} x 4}: pp. 388: maps, plates. Paris, Hachette, 1886 Whymper, E. Berg- und Gletscherfahrten in den Anden in den Jahren 1860 bis 1869. 4. Aufl. 9 x 6: pp. xxiv, 536: map, plates. Braunschweig, Westermann, 1922 The Zermatt Valley in Winter. In All the Year Round. 9} x 6}: pp. 325-30 London, April 7, 1894. Items. Note. ‘J. G. C.,’ of H. M. Atkins’ Ascent of Mont Blanc, 1838, is given in the Alpine Club Library Catalogue as J. G. Children. This is evidently a mistake, for ‘J. G. C.’ writes that Atkins was his nephew and Atkins’ mother was Anne Cooke, daughter of John Cooke of Hothorpe. The editor should, therefore, be J. G. Cooke, not Children. Note from Timbs’ Curiosities of London, c. 1854. A. Smith’s lecture on Mont Blanc in the Egyptian Hall in two seasons was represented 528 times, once privately to Prince Consort: up to 1854, 192,929 persons attended : the largest audience was 471 : £17,000 was taken, of which only one half- crown was bad. Burford’s panoramas exhibited at Leicester Square; size, 90 ft. diameter, 40 ft. high: 1837, Mont Blanc: 1847, Himalaya: 1849, Switzerland from the Rigi: 1850, Lake of Lucerne : 1852, Bernese Alps. Stamps. Swiss aeroplane stamps, with mountain views: 15c., 25c., 35c., 40c. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALPINE CLUB. THe ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the Club was held in the Hall, 23 Savile Row, London, W. 1, on Monday, December 4, 1923, at 8.30 p.m., Brig.-Gen. The Hon. C. G. Bruce, C.B., M.V.O., President, in the Chair. The following candidates were balloted for and elected Members of the Club, namely, Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bart., Mr. Alfred Joseph Clark, Mr. Ernest Kidder Lindley, Mr. Ivor Armstrong Richards, Mr. Hugh Frederick Bower Sharp, and Mr. Eustace Thomas. The PRESIDENT, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 29, there being no other candidates, declared the following Members nominated by the Committee to be duly elected as Officers of the Club and Members of Committee for 1924:

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192 Proceedings of the Alpine Club. As Vice-President: Mr. A. D. Godley, in place of Mr. G. A. Solly, whose term of office expires. New Members of Committee: Mr. H. J. Mothersill and Mr. R. P. Hope, in the places of Mr. G. E. Howard and Mr. L. G. Shadbolt, whose terms of office expire. The President, Brig.-Gen. The Hon. C. G. Bruce, C.B., M.V.O., the Vice-President, Dr. Claude Wilson, the Honorary Secretary, Mr. Sydney Spencer, and the other Members of Committee, being eligible, were re-elected. Sir ALEXANDER B. W. KENNEDY proposed, and Mr. R. P. BICKNELL seconded, that Mr. W. M. Roberts and Mr. H. J. Macartney be appointed Auditors to audit the Club Accounts for the current year. This was carried unanimously. A cordial vote of thanks was accorded the Honorary Secretary, Mr. Sydney Spencer, for his work in connexion with the redecoration of the Club premises, and the Photographic Exhibition. Two distinguished visitors, namely, Monsieur M. P. Jorimann, President of the Geneva Section of the Swiss Alpine Club, and Monsieur le Dr. J. Jacot-Guillarmod, were heartily welcomed by the President and the Members present. Dr. CutauDE WItson then read a Paper entitled ‘ Climbing in the Bregaglia,’ which was illustrated by lantern slides. Mr. D. W. Freshfield, D.C.L., Lt.-Col. E. L. Strutt, C.B.E., D.S8.0., Mr. E. H. F. Bradby, Mr. H. G. Willink, and Dr. N. 8. Finzi took part in the discussion which followed, which was closed by the President, who proposed a vote of thanks to Dr. Wilson. This was received with acclamation. An EXHIBITION oF ALPINE PHOTOGRAPHS was held in the Hall of the Club from Tuesday, December 4, to Saturday, December 15, 1923, and in connexion therewith an ‘At Home’ was held on Tuesday, December 4, when about 400 persons—Members and their friends—attended. THe ANNUAL WINTER DINNER was held in the Edward VII. Rooms at the Hotel Victoria on Tuesday, December 4, 1923, at 7 P.m., Brig.-Gen. The Hon. C. G. Bruce, C.B., M.V.O., President, in the Chair. There were present 226 Members and guests, among the latter being Monsieur M. P. Jorimann, President of the Geneva Section of the Swiss Alpine Club, Monsieur le Dr. J. Jacot-Guillar- mod, Sir Anthony A. Bowlby, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., K.C.V.O., F.R.C.S., Sir H. Bryan Donkin, M.D., F.R.C.P., The Hon. Mr. Justice Russell, The Hon. Mr. Justice P. O. Lawrence, and Rear- Admiral M. H. Hodges, R.N., C.B., C.M.G., M.V.O. A GENERAL MEETING of the Club was held in the Hall, 23 Savile Row, London, W. 1, on Tuesday, February 5, 1924, at 8.30 pP.m., Dr. Claude Wilson, Vice-President, in the Chair.

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Proceedings of the Alpine Club. 198 The following candidates were balloted for and elected Members of the Club, namely, Mr. Thomas Guy Burton Forster, Mr. Charles Raymond Greene, and Mr. Hugh W. Pasteur. The CHAIRMAN announced with regret the deaths of The Rev. T. G. Bonney, an ex-President of the Club, elected in 1859, Mr. E. N. Buxton, elected in 1860, Mr. H. T. Mennell, elected in 1866, and Mr. Georges C. Dimier, elected in 1920. Further, that the Hon. Secretary had received a letter from Mr. G. Sang with regard to the distress of the crofters in the island of Skye, and the efforts that are being made by the Scottish Mountaineering Club to raise a fund for their relief; £100 had already been raised, and Mr. Sang would be very glad if they could get something more to send, through the kind offices of the Alpine Club. Professor J. Norman Collie, F.R.S., was able to give the Members present first-hand knowledge of the conditions in Skye and the Hebrides. Mr. R. P. BickNELL then read a Paper entitled ‘ Jungfrau, Schalligrat, and other Climbs in 1923,’ which was illustrated by lantern slides. Dr. T. G. Longstaff, Mr. Sidney Young, and Mr. R. W. Lloyd took part in the discussion which followed, and a vote of thanks to Mr. R. P. Bicknell concluded the proceedings. A GENERAL MEETING of the Club was held in the Hall, 23 Savile Row, London, W. 1, on Tuesday, March 4, 1924, at 8.30 p.m., Dr. Claude Wilson, Vice-President, in the Chair. The CuarrMAN called upon the Honorary Secretary to present the Accounts for 1923. The Honorary Secretary, Mr. Sydney Spencer, said that copies of the Accounts had been sent to all Members. The deficit shown in those Accounts was mainly attributable to the cost of repairs to the premises undertaken on the terms of the New Lease, and incidental refurnishings. There was also one considerable item which represented the cost of the New Subject Index to the Library and the Index to Vols. xvi—xxxiv. of the ALPINE JOURNAL, which were now available for the use of Members in the Club Rooms. Mr. R. W. Luioyp said that in view of the work that had been carried out in repairing and redecorating the premises he thought the Honorary Secretary should be congratulated on his Accounts, and he had much pleasure in moving their adoption. Mr. J. E. C. Eaton seconded the motion, and the Accounts were unanimously adopted. Mr. H. J. MoTHERSILL proposed that a vote of thanks be accorded Mr. W. M. Roberts and Mr. H. J. Macartney for their work in connexion with the Audit of the Accounts. This was duly seconded and carried with acclamation. Mr. R. W. Luioyp then read a Paper entitled ‘Le Col dit Infranchissable,’ which was illustrated by lantern slides.

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194 Proceedings of the Alpine Club. Discussion followed, and Mr. J. J. Withers said that he con- sidered the Périades one of the finest view-points in the Mont Blanc District. Capt. J. P. Farrar said he thought that Mr. Lloyd should be congratulated on the very thorough manner in which he conceived and carried out his expeditions. Capt. G. I. Finch said that he had looked at the Col Infranchissable, and realised the difficulties of the expedition so successfully undertaken by Mr. Lloyd. The discussion was closed by the Chairman, Dr. Claude Wilson, who proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Lloyd for his Paper and the extraordinarily interesting series of slides he had shown. The vote of thanks was duly carried. Printed in England at THE BALLANTYNE PRESS, SPoTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & Co. LTD. Colchester, London & Eton leet a =

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THE ALPINE JOURNAL. NOVEMBER 1924. (No. 229.) ” HIS MAJESTY THE KING TO SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND ‘Tue Kine is greatly distressed to hear the sad news of the death of Mr. Mallory and Mr. Irvine, who lost their lives in making a final attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest. ‘His Majesty asks whether you will be good enough to convey to the families of these two gallant explorers as well as to the Mount Everest Committee an expres- sion of his sincere sympathy. “They will ever be remembered as fine examples of mountaineers—ready to risk their lives for their companions and to face dangers on behalf of science and discovery.’ VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. 7 O

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196 The Mount Everest Dispatches. THe Mount Everest DISPATCHES. [We print below Colonel Norton’s Dispatches, from the arrival of the Expedition in the Rongbuk Valley to its withdrawal after the loss of two of its members. They tell in vivid language a tale of devotion and of self-sacrificing team-work such as we knew our men would exhibit.] | CoLoNEL Norton’s DISPATCHES. No. 6. Base Camp, Rongbuk. May 13. [Published May 31.] HEN I last wrote hence on April 29 things had gone so smoothly that we were wondering when the crash was coming. We had reached the Base Camp exactly according to plan and, amply provided as we were with local labour, the way seemed clear before us to a possible assault on the moun- tain somewhere about May 17. Portraits of the gods guarding Everest are painted on the walls of the Rongbuk Monastery. We studied them with interest and smiled. The first task, after Camp IJ. had been established and stocked by local labour with all stores for the higher camps, was to transport the necessary proportion to Camp III. with . our own specially enlisted porters. On May 8 Mallory, Noel, Odell, Hazard, and Irvine started for Camp III., accompanied by twenty of these porters. On the following day Havildar Umar, 6th Gurkhas, followed with twenty more porters. These two parties were to complete the establishment of Camp III., close under the glittering wall of the North Col, with all stores required for itself and the higher camps, and then to proceed with stocking Camp IV. on the North Col itself, as soon as the snow and ice staircase to that point had been reconnoitred and constructed by Odell and Hazard. A reserve of twelve porters, including some of the toughest veterans of two years ago, was maintained for the moment at the base, under Geoffrey Bruce. Somervell, Beetham, and I left the Base Camp on May 6. It was a very clear, cold morning, after a night when the temperature at the Base Camp fell to minus 10° F. We arrived without incident at Camp II. on the morrow, finding Noel there. The same evening it began to be clear that all was far from well. A party of porters based on Camp II.

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 197 had made two trips towards III., but encountered such low temperatures, combined with head winds, that Mallory decided to establish a dump for stores at a point on the glacier about a mile short of the camp. But who are these weary, crippled men coming staggering and straggling through the séracs of the glacier into Camp IL, between 4 and 6 p.m., from the direction of ITI., looking for all the world like the stragglers of the British Army I once saw blocking the roads south of Le Cateau on August 27, 1914 ? It appears that they are porters of the first party from Camp ITI. They have made one ‘ carry ’ to that camp two days ago, and are now clean driven out by exposure and exhaustion after spending forty-eight hours practically confined to the tents, with only bare necessities in the shape of food and clothing— in other words, a blanket apiece and the local barley meal to eat. The ample and varied supplies of food and spare blankets and most of the fuel are still dumped on the glacier a mile short of their camp. As at St. Quentin, Chauny, and Noyon in 1914, there is now no time to count the cost nor look far ahead. The stores dumped at II. for all the higher camps must be ruthlessly broken up and expended. The high-altitude tents are, pitched, the priceless stores of Meta solidified spirit are broached, high-altitude sleeping-bags are issued. The capacity of Camp II. is doubled for the night and some degree of comfort is extended to the sufferers. On the morrow Mallory arrived at breakfast from Camp ITL., and we held a council of war. Mallory’s story was short and sweet. Temperatures as much as minus 22° F., 10° lower than anything met in 1922, coupled with terrible wind and the failure of the majority of stores from II. to reach Camp IIL, explain the rout of the first party. Mallory himself ordered the retreat, and had practically to man-handle many men out of the tents on to their feet, so. completely had the hardships taken the heart out of them. Such weather conditions surely must be exceptional, and it was decided to rest and recuperate the first party at Camp II., and next day to send the second party from Camp II. without loads to the Glacier dump, thence to carry all essentials up to Camp III., where they were to remain, changing places with the first party. The situation was explained to the men, and the second party went off on their third trip in four days in good heart, under Somervell’s escort. Geoffrey Bruce now arrived at Camp II. with the Old Guard, affording neither the first nor the last instance in history

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198 The Mount Everest Dispatches. when the commander blessed his reserve. This day Odell and Hazard attempted to reconnoitre the route to North Col, but the conditions were such as precluded their reaching more than half-way, making a dump of rope pickets. The next day Mallory, Geoffrey Bruce, and I left for III. with a convoy, very much more cheerful than the first party, and a reserve carry- ing stores partly to the dump and partly through to Camp III. Hazard, who was sent to the base to relieve Shebbeare, met us en route. I have a sharp silhouette of him in mind as I write, making famous going down the glassy surface of the glacier in the teeth of the gale, with his beard and moustache iced, so that he looked like Father Christmas. Shebbeare’s special qualifications as transport officer now called for his presence at Camp II., where it was hoped under more favour- able conditions to dispense with an officer. Now began a blizzard lasting continuously for forty-eight hours. Strictly speaking, it only snowed for perhaps twenty- four hours, but the conditions subsequently were identical, or worse. The wind increased after the snow ceased to fall, driving the fresh-fallen powdery snow before it in incessant gusts, producing much the same results as if snow were falling, combined with a lower temperature. All woke at Camp ITI. on the morning of the 10th to find the tents filled with inches of powdery snow. It was now apparent that it was inadvis- able to maintain more sahibs than were necessary under such conditions at Camp III. The carriage of provisions and con- sideration of the condition of those climbers destined for an early attempt outweighed the acclimatisation question and decided Mallory and Irvine to return to Camp II., which they | did after breakfast. Somervell and I escorted a party from Camp III. back to the dump, and returned well laden in the teeth of driving snow, while Geoffrey Bruce stimulated the reluctant camp into activity, and did what could be done under impossible conditions to evolve order out of chaos and comfort out of misery. The night of the 10th—-11th served the purpose, perhaps, of testing the wind resistance of our apparently flimsy high- altitude tents; for all other purposes it is best forgotten. The wind appeared to be shot high in the air over the North Col, Rapiu-La, and Lhakpa-La, the three passes surrounding us, and, from some point high in the zenith, descended on the camp like a terrier on a rat-pit, and shook our little tents like rats. The minimum temperature was minus 7°, and the tents were again filled with drifted snow. At 9 a.m. on

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 199 the 11th the temperature was still minus 1°, a gale was raging, and everything was deep in snow. The North Col route would in no circumstances be safe for some days. The much-enduring second party of porters were now reduced nearly to the condition which the first party had reached three days before. There was nothing for it but retreat—retreat to the Base Camp for a few days’ recuperation before making a fresh start. Messengers were dispatched to Camp II. with instructions to evacuate it in hopes that they would reach there in time to stop any upward convoy. Then Geoffrey Bruce did a fine bit of work, though it was very much in the ordinary day’s work for him. Taking up a commanding position in the centre of the camp in the teeth of the gale, he proceeded to order the striking and packing of the camp, for it was impossible to risk standing or even collapsed tents in such weather. How he got the men to work, the tents struck and packed in bags and boxes, bedding, stores, and fuel all neatly dumped, only he can tell. Perhaps his stinging words cut more than the wind, but it is on record that he found time and opportunity to give exactly the nght amount of sympathy to the really sick and to those who thought they were more sick than they were. Such loads as were to accompany our downward course were fairly and justly appor- tioned, and to his credit, be it said, a comparatively cheerful party thankfully turned their backs on what had an hour ago been Camp III., and which was now something resembling a neat pile of stones. ° Half-way down that weird corridor, with blue ice pinnacles, resembling nothing so much as a transformation scene at Drury Lane, which forms the lower road from Camp II. to Camp III., we met the convoy for Camp III., our note having arrived too late to stop it. Never mind, they can go right through to the base next day. Our convoy goes through to Camp I., with Mallory, Noel, Irvine, and Beetham in charge, and Somervell and Odell as far as Camp II. Geoffrey Bruce and I spend the night at Camp II. to look after and escort om the morrow a man who had broken a small bone in his leg on the glacier. So by 2 P.M. on the 12th the whole expedition was again at the base. And what a different base from that which we thought so bleak a fortnight ago! Bleak it still is, with no sign of the stir of the Tibetan spring in scanty vegetation and grey moraine heaps, but a garden of roses after IIT. The end of Round One finds us discomfited, but very far from defeated. A hitch, but by no means the crash we feared, has

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200 The Mount Everest Dispatches. come. We have one man with seriously frostbitten feet, one with a broken leg, and two severe cases of bronchitis, and, worst of all, Lancenaik Shamsherpun, of the 6th Gurkhas, suffering apparently from hemorrhage of the brain and in a serious condition. We lose inevitably five or six days of the original programme. On the other hand, when we reoccupy Camp III. in three or four days, we shall have no need to look over our shoulders. Everything will be up and the proportion of stores to go up higher will be a fleabite compared with what has been done. Porters and sahibs are acclimatised and tested up to 21,000 ft. We know our good carriers. Already, twenty-four hours after arrival at the Base Camp, the porters have got over most of their minor ailments and fatigues, and are showing normal cheerful faces. We hope to get them and the expedition as a whole blessed two days hence by the Head Lama at Rong- buk Monastery, who was too sick to do this when we passed through Rongbuk. The British members of the Expedition are in perfect health, despite their roughish experience. Give us but the weather encountered in 1922 and nothing will prevent the smooth con- tinuance of the plan, with ample time to carry it out. The brightest spot on our arrival at the base was to find that Hing- ston had rejoined, after leaving General Bruce at Darjeeling, in the nick of time to relieve Somervell of some of the arduous duties of medical officer. Since writing the above I have to record with the greatest regret the death of Shamsherpun, painlessly, and without re- covering consciousness. The death of this splendid young man in the prime of youth is much felt by all the members of the Expedition, who, in tendering their sympathies with his relatives and the regiment, feel that they have lost a friend and a most loyal assistant. No. 7. Camp I. East Rongbuk Glacier. May 26. [Published June 16.] ‘No game was ever worth a rap for a rational man to play into which no accident, no mishap, could possibly find a way.’ This sentiment must be our consolation as I start the seventh dispatch from the Everest Expedition, for since I last wrote we have done little but provide Everest with games worth raps enduring [? message mutilated]. The task of describing our doings in detail I am leaving to the ready pen of Mallory, con- fining myself to a brief epitome of the events which led to our

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 201 finding ourselves once more temporarily defeated and strung out in echelon between the Base Camp and Camp II. for two or three days’ recuperation from the ngours of Camps III. and IV. We advanced for the second time to the attack on May 17, the day originally planned for the first assault on the summit. As luck would have it, this was, perhaps, the most perfect day I have ever seen on the mountain, certainly the only day of the sort seen this year. We arrived on May 19 at Camp III., and on the 20th a party consisting of Mallory, Odell, and myself established a route to the site of Camp IV. and on to the North Col itself. | On the 21st twelve porters, escorted by Somervell, Hazard, and Irvine, established a camp on the old site. Incidentally, no sign could be found of the old camp established there in 1922. All was buried deep under the snows of two winters and two monsoons. Somervell and Irvine returned to Camp IIL., leaving Hazard in charge of the twelve porters, pitching camp in a snowstorm at 5 P.M. On the 22nd a similar party under Odell and Geoffrey Bruce were to have repeated the trip, but as snow had started falling at 1 p.m. on the previous day and continued unintermittingly for twenty-six hours, the attempt was impossible. The night of May 22-28 produced the lowest temperature recorded by the Everest Expedition, viz. 56° of frost. Many of the party at Camp III., which now included five climbers, did not sleep. The eiderdown sleeping-bag is a wonderful invention, but it has its limitations. Emboldened by the low temperature, the brilliant morning, and other reassuring indications, and urged on by the consideration that priceless days were slipping past, a party of sixteen porters, under Bruce and Odell, left on the morrow for Camp IV. Half-way up the steep snow and ice slopes the party encountered such dangerous conditions under- foot, aggravated by the fact that it began to snow hard again, _ that the attempt had to be abandoned, and the party returned to Camp ITII., dumping their loads at the highest point reached by the porters. From there they saw Hazard descending through the snow- storm above them, escorting what it was hoped would be his whole party. At about 5 p.m. the party arrived, Hazard having rightly judged that there was nothing for it but evacuation. He had shepherded the party safely down the unpleasant descent, but most unfortunately, while he was in the post of danger ahead, going first to test the treacherous new snow, the last four men lost their nerve and turned back to Camp IV.,

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202 The Mount Everest Dispatches. where they remained marooned, their food supply, it turned out, confined to a sack of barley meal, as, two days before, a complete load of mixed luxuries had been accidentally dropped over an ice cliff by the porter who had been carrying it. Here was a pleasant situation. The snow continued to fall until midnight, increasing in volume, and, what was worse, in softness. In fact, the indications were multiplying that some form of monsoon current was undoubtedly upon us. Yet the four unfortunate marooned men had to be extricated, and that without another day’s delay. One man had already been reported frostbitten, and it was impossible to say if he would be fit to descend even on the next day. The whole party in Camp III. were in none too fit condition. Five days of alter- nate heavy climbing and lying snowbound in 16-lb. tents and five nights with temperatures averaging 50° of frost had played havoc with the health of all, British and Himalayan, and to some extent also with the moral of the latter, many of whom were shaken. The route to the North Col would obviously be unsafe for some days to come. Meanwhile our stores of food and fuel— the former replaceable from below, the latter irreplaceable— were being consumed at an alarming rate. There was nothing for it but once again to withdraw to the lower camps, where sleep and some degree of comfort could be obtained and where the usual yak dung could be burnt instead of artificial fuel. Accordingly a twofold operation was carried out on the 24th— the evacuation of Camp III. and the rescue of the marooned men from Camp IV. Of this Mallory will tell the story. That he was himself suffering from the prevalent high-altitude cough —which prevents sleep at nights and handicaps the climber— and yet was the mainspring of two fine climbs, he will probably not tell, but few would, or could, have done what he did. Hence, to-day finds us echeloned up the Hast Rongbuk Glacier, ready to repeat our attempts on the mountain with but a day’s delay when the weather permits. Once more the via dolorosa, threading the moraines of the glacier, has witnessed a melan- choly little procession of sick, frostbitten, and snow-blind men painfully wending their way to the comparative comfort of the Base Camp, where there are adequate medical arrangements. At Camp I. we are occupied in recasting our plans. If the mon- soon is really on us—and who ever anticipated the beginning of the monsoon as early as May 19 ?—our only hope is largely to modify our plan and snatch fleeting chance in some fine interval. If it is only the preliminary current, to be followed even now by

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 208 a real spell of the fine weather we have looked for in vain, we must be prepared to take advantage of it. But we have our warning. Prudence must recognise the third alternative, which, however, I prefer not to discuss. Here I let Mallory take up the story. Mr. Mantory’s Story. ‘This pause in our protracted struggle does not seem the moment for telling a story ; Norton probably thinks so, as he hands over this part of his task tome. Actionis only suspended before the more intense action of the climax. The issue will shortly be decided. The third time we walk up East Rongbuk Glacier will be the last, for better or worse. We have counted our wounded and know, roughly, how much to strike off the strength of our little army as we plan the next act of battle. ‘In making plans, however, though we turn from the story of the past to the brighter future, we have been brought to con- sider certain events of the past few days. The events all belong to one stage—between Camp III., 21,000 ft. up, and Camp IV., 23,000 ft. up, and still 6000 ft. short of the summit. In 1922 the way here consisted of a brief hour’s easy going up the stones of the glacier, followed by a steeper ascent of about 1400 ft. on snow and ice slopes, and up and down these slopes the men went freely, without thought of the difficulties, until the party of seventeen were swept off them by an avalanche and seven porters were killed. That was on June 7, after the first big snowfall of the monsoon on June 8-5. Naturally now in 1924 we do not mean to be caught in the same way again, not if we can help it. * It is when we think and think how we can make safe the way to Camp IV. up on the snowy shelf among the great ice-cliffs of Chang-La that we begin to appreciate the immense difficulties Everest holds in store. It must be remembered, in the first place, that our great ally, the Sherpa porter, is not a practised mountaineer. Give him good hard snow where nails can grip, slopes where he can just walk comfortably on good steps carved by the sahib’s ice-axe clean and clear, unencumbered by fresh powdery snow; give him a rope for a handrail here and there at danger points; give him, above all, to believe that at the journey’s end he will find good food and a warm bed, and he will go up and down steep tracks without a qualm, happy, confident, and safe. * But the mountain does not always acquiesce in this cheerful view. The first weapon of defence is simply the cold. It seems cold beyond a certain point somewhere about — 10° F. at night.

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204 The Mount Everest Dispatches. The cold at these altitudes and under these conditions, whether in camp or on the mountain, tends to cause the expansive Sherpa’s nature to contract. It is not surprising, when the hard conditions of their life are considered, that the porters, with few exceptions, lose their vitality most quickly in great cold. Nor can it be said that the British sahib is unaffected. * The second weapon is the snow. The fewest inches of snow enormously increase the labour of carrying a load from Camp III. to Camp IV. All that was firm and sure becomes slippery and uncertain. The porter no longer distinguishes clearly the hole where his foot may be placed in the new snow, and is inclined to slide on the hard old snow or on the ice beneath as the powdery stuff blows up into his face. Instead of stepping in glad confidence, body erect, he begins hesitatingly to crawl, with his body hugging the slope. All sense of security is gone; the splendid fellow who bore his load so proudly has become a veritable child, a child for whom the British officer is at every turn responsible. ‘The fortune of this Expedition in 1924 is sharply differen- tiated from our experiences in 1922 by the greater cold this year, and the greater snowfall todate. Itis, of course, the snow- fall which has chiefly affected the mountaineering difficulties be- tween Camps III. and IV. The particular slope of the corridor where the avalanche occurred in 1922 is not dangerous every day, and was in perfectly good condition when Norton, Odell, and myself set forth to reach Chang-La on the 20th. Never- theless, warnings of bad weather already received convinced us that we must establish at the outset a way independent of this slope in case of heavy snow. ‘ The rules of this game, so to speak, are that you may directly ascend a slope in comparative safety, but must never cross a slope, where the snowis likely to slip just by crossing it, and break- ing the surface, since you are likely to start an avalanche. The corridor in 1922 was unsafe after the monsoon snow had fallen because the floor was on a slant, so that, though one might feel that one was going directly up a slope, one was really cross- ing one all the time. Now, as one looks up at the intermingled masses of white broken snow and bluish broken ice below the long snow-saddle called Chang-La, or North Col, it is almost unimaginable, if one does not take the corridor leading directly to the strategical point, that it will be possible to regain this line and reach this point without crossing one or other of the snow-slopes, all of which are dangerous to cross after sufficient snowfall. |

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 205 ‘ Away to the right, separated from the corridor by a series of ice-cliffs, we saw the long slopes used for the ascent by the first 1921 Expedition. The place has changed a good deal since, but the lower slopes remain substantially as they were, while higher an immense crevasse curves across the face and stretches to the upper end of the corridor. Would it be possible to use this crevasse if we came up to the right to take us back to the head of the corridor? Clearly on the lower lip, if we could work along, we should be protected from an avalanche from above. Any party making fresh tracks up to Chang-La from Camp III. will find they have a full day’s work, though on the 20th we had favourable conditions and went slowly enough. * At length the steep slope brought us to the crevasse and the one real difficulty of the route. On the lower lip, which we wanted to follow, impinged hereabouts a line of ice-cliffs. It was necessary to climb up the steep wall to the foot of the little chimney which here represented our crevasse. The snow in the bed of this chimney gave no foothold; steps could not be cut in its sides, so inconveniently narrow it was. Before we emerged and found ourselves on the big crevasse proper, with the lip fortunately accessible, we had climbed 200 ft. as steep and difficult as one could wish to find on any big mountain. ‘The rest of the way gave no trouble, though taking the straight way in order to avoid traversing the final slope up to the old site of Camp IV. involved more step-cutting. We con- gratulated ourselves on having shared the labours of the day, so each could feel satisfied at his part and also at having elimi- nated the principal dangers on the way up. But it remained to be seen how the porters would manage the loads up that steep 200 ft. ‘On the following day, the 21st, Somervell, Irvine, and Hazard set forth to escort the first lot of loads to Camp IV. It was snowing slightly when they started, and the day grew worse. Somervell found our tracks covered or could not find them at all. The ice chimney no doubt they rightly decided was too narrow for the majority of the loads. Somervell and Irvine established themselves at the top while Hazard directed Operations from below, and all twelve loads were hauled up. Tremendous efforts must have been required of those two who hauled and the two or three porters who helped. Two hours and a half were thus spent. Having seen Hazard up to the foot of the final slope, Somervell and Irvine returned. According to plan the porters were to rest next day at Camp IV. before going on with Bruce and Odell to establish Camp V. This operation

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206 The Mount Everest Dispatches. has to be conducted with oxygen. Irvine was now wanted in camp to prepare the apparatus for the next day. In such thick weather Somervell judged that Irvine must have a companion on the descent. ‘A further illustration of the mountaineering difficulties in reaching Camp IV. is the story of the party conducted by Bruce and Odell on the 28rd, a day later than they were due to go up. Fresh snow had greatly altered the easy walk up the stones of the glacier. Instead of a brief hour up to the foot of the slopes nearly three hours were required. On the slopes themselves snow was found to be in the most disagreeable state. Hazard’s party were coming down the ice chimney as Bruce and Odell, having left the porters lower down, were approaching the crevasse. They did not reach the crevasse, deeming the snow dangerous. Hazard was apparently deaf to their shoutings, and for an hour or so the two parties were never in touch. ‘The two stories we heard in Camp III. that evening, with the news that not all Hazard’s party had descended, mingled as we lay in our tents with the sound of ever-increasing snowfall, produced the nearest thing to gloom I remember during the expedition. -As night came on the snow had a moister and stickier quality. Was this really the monsoon then? Four men caught on Chang-La for the first snow of the monsoon. One of them reported frostbitten. It was this circumstance that compelled rescue the next day and no later. I woke in the early part of the night for a coughing fit. The tent was brighter, and Norton murmured: “The moon.’’ Sure enough, looking behind me, I made out through the canvas a bright unclouded moon. The snow had stopped. It was not the monsoon this time. * Was there ever such a party as set out straggling up the snow-covered stones next morning? Norton, Somervell, and myself, the three who have climbed together on Everest before, must have appeared like a party of thrashed curs. I suppose we were half sick with the cold and the altitude. Never can three men have looked less like accomplishing a hard task; never, I confess, has a task appeared to my mind so utterly far away and unlikely to be accomplished. We drove ourselves some- how or other over the fresh snow of the glacier basin and up, up, slowly and wearily, puffing and coughing. “If only it were not for that blessed cough,” I thought, ‘“‘ even in snow up to my knees I could have gone on well enough.” ‘We started at 8 a.m.; at 1.80 p.m. we were at the foot of the steep place below the ice chimney. Every ledge and step

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 207 were filled with snow. But there remained the thin descending line of rope, fixed by Somervell’s party to help the porters. That blessed rope! How pleased we were to grasp it with both hands and pull ourselves up the steep places! On two dangerous - sections above the crevasse Norton and Somervell in turn went ahead on the long rope, while the remaining two secured them. * While Somervell was leading up and across the final slope the four porters above were held in conversation. As there was no time to lose, we wanted to know whether all were ready to move. The question appeared to puzzle them. Eventually one asked, ‘‘ Up or down ?’”’ Norton’s reply seemed to surprise no less than delight them, so little had they realised the situation or appreciated the threat of more bad weather. It was 4.80 P.m., and we were already in cold shadow when Somervell reached the shelf, or, rather, reached within a few feet of it, for the rope on which we held him was just too short for the purpose. The quickest way, we had decided, was to make a handrail and send down the men one at a time to where Norton and I were posted ; but now the proposed handrail did not reach far enough, and the men had to move two or three steps before they could reach it. * Watching with some anxiety, Norton and I suddenly saw two of the four men sliding down the steep snow-slope. By some miracle they stopped some 15 ft. below. Somervell was entirely equal to the occasion. We heard him shout: ‘“‘ What’s Khaskura for: Stay still? ’’ Norton gave the night expression, and the two, clinging in their precarious situation, with fingers dug into the snow—neither had an ice-axe—were duly instructed not to stir for their lives. The others were passed along the rope. Somervell stuck his ice-axe into the snow and passed a rope round it, and in a few minutes we saw him apparently gather to his bosom the errant porters in a paternal manner worthy of Abraham. The two were passed along the rope. ‘It had been our great good fortune to find that the frost- bitten member of the party of porters had suffered not in his feet but in his hands. We had not to use our one man-carrier brought up by Norton. He could go down on his own feet. He was a very sick man nevertheless. The ice chimney was no place for one hardly able to bear holding the fixed rope, and in our race with the oncoming darkness he necessarily suffered. But it was well for him, as for us, that the race was ours. ‘As I headed the party trudging a little grimly across the glacier basin in the last light of day I dimly made out a party

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208 The Mount Everest Dispatches. approaching. It was Noel and Odell, with two or three porters bearing hot soup in thermos flasks. Svc tur ad astra. They will deserve their thrones in heaven. But not every party descending from Chang-La will find good tracks and an un- troubled evening, still less will they meet hot soup. We know now what we have to do to make safe the way. We expect no mercy from Everest. Yet perhaps it will be as well he should not deign to take much notice of the little group of busy ones on the great north side, or, at all events, that he should not observe among the scattered remnants he has half put to flight the still existent will, perhaps power, to sting his very nose-tip.’ No. 8. Camp III. East Rongbuk Glacier. June 8. [Published June 26.] I dictate the eighth dispatch from Camp III. I say dictate, as I am unable to write, as I am just recovering from an acute attack of snow-blindness, whereof more anon. Geoffrey Bruce, jack-of-all-trades, is my secretary. Both of us having had a go at high altitudes feel that this particular kind of work for the moment is what exactly suits us. Above towers Everest, somewhat powdered with fresh snow, still and windless, and half shrouded in that type of damp, sticky cloud which surely this time presages the advent of the monsoon proper. Every eye in camp is turned on the final pyramid. Expectation 1s at its keenest, for somewhere there the final attempt, as it must inevitably be, is at this moment deciding the success or failure of the 1924 Expedition. When last I wrote I explained that the original plan would re- quire modification, partly owing to uncertainty, more definitely owing to the exhaustion, physical and moral, of the porters. I propose shortly to describe the psychology of these interesting men in more detail. At present it must suffice to say that Geoffrey Bruce and Shebbeare, who know them best, agreed that twelve to fifteen at the time of the return to the assault was the maximum to be depended upon to go beyond the normal 28,000 ft. It behoved us to cut our coat according to our cloth. At a conference of climbers at Camp I. on May 27 it was de- cided that for the present the use of oxygen must be discarded ; that a series of at least two attempts without oxygen, sleeping two nights on the mountain, above 23,000 ft., with the absolute ‘minimum of organisation should be made ; ; afterwards as the

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 209 fates might decide. Another precious day of fine weather was sacrificed on the 28th to the recuperation of the climbers; no doubt the results repaid the msk. The day, further, was utilised by those ingenious and infallible mechanics, Odell and Irvine, in constructing a rope ladder from Alpine rope and tent- pegs, to enable the loaded porters to negotiate safely the ice chimney leading to Camp IV., of which you have already heard. Like all the work of the well-known firm of ‘ Odell and Irvine,’ this proved a most complete success. The weather now was apparently almost perfect for our purpose. The mountain day after day was standing clear-cut in azure ; day after day even the streamer cloud, the hall-mark of the master peak, was lacking from the master of all. The preliminary monsoon symptoms had entirely disappeared, yet we well knew that the monsoon might at any moment be on us in full force. The parties selected for the first two assaults were Mallory and Bruce, and Somervell and myself, with Odell and Irvine supporting on the North Col. The party reached Camp III. on the 80th, accompanied by Noel and his kinema outfit. Hazard, destined to support from Camp IITI., arrived a day later. Beetham, unluckily suffering from an attack of acute sciatica, determined not to be out of the hunt, had broken off from the doctor’s supervision at the Base Camp, and struggled manfully to Camp III. with his usual determination, prepared to cook, climb, or carry, indeed, to support the climbers in any way possible. It was my painful duty to return him to the Base Camp with an order to release Hingston, so that a doctor should be available to ascend to here and look after possible casualties. It must not be forgotten that the 1924 Expedition is two under strength. With the above climbing parties at Camp III. were assembled that picked gang of porters who were considered still reliable to go high. They were fifteen in number, and distinguished by the name of ‘ Tigers.’ At the stage set for the final attempts on the mountain the weather continued perfect. On June 1 Mallory and Bruce, accompanied by nine of the ‘ Tigers,’ camped at the North Col [Chang-La], establishing en route a rope ladder. Odell and Irvine were to remain in support at Camp IV. On June 2, still apparently under perfect weather conditions, the two climbers and eight porters started up the great north ridge to establish Camp V. But the weather on Everest is not always what it seems. Once past the jumble of crevasses and séracs separating Camp IV. from the true col, a bitter north-

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210 The Mount Everest Dispatches. west wind, one of the most formidable foes we have to face on Everest, smote the little party on the flank. This wind must be felt to be appreciated. HKvery member of the party was equipped with every device of windproof clothing experience could invent. Yet such is the keenness of the wind that it appeared to have the double quality of penetrating through and yet nearly blowing the laden porters out of their steps. Progress up the north ridge of Everest does not lend itself to description. It is a fight against wind and altitude, generally on rock, sometimes on snow, at an average angle of 45 degrees. It will appeal to those who have ever tried mountain climbing above 28,000 ft. Camp V. was to be situated on the east or shel- tered side of the ridge at about 25,800 ft. At about 25,000 ft. the endurance of the porters began to flag, and of eight only four made Camp V. under their own steam. The remainder deposited their loads, unable to go on. While Mallory set to work to organise the camp, Bruce and one Lobsang, meriting the distinction of being one of the leaders of the ‘ Tigers,’ made two trips back from the level of the camp and brought up the missing loads on their own backs. Whites cannot carry loads at these altitudes with impunity, and it is scarcely to be wondered at that Bruce’s heart was strained, happily only temporarily, in this fine performance. Camp V. was now established—two fragile 10-lb. tentlets perched on an almost precipitous slope. The tents occupied by the non-oxygen party in 1922, collapsed and held in position by big stones, were clearly seen 200 ft. below. According to plan, five porters now returned to Camp IV., three picked ones being retained to sleep the night and carry a tinier camp some 2000 ft. higher on the morrow. Obviously everything depended upon the physical condition and moral of these three men. The most persuasive powers of Bruce could elicit little enthusiasm from them as to their next day’s task. Apparently the wind had taken the heart out of them. With no rosy anticipations the party went to bed, with the sun still gilding the tops of the surrounding mountains, after the truly miserable but inevitable routine in high altitudes of cooking the dinner. It was intended to make an early start next morning. This has been done, therefore is not impossible, but when Tibetan porters are concerned it certainly approaches the limits of the possible. Making a long story short, a series of visits to the men’s tent while the climbers’ breakfast was being prepared produced in the end nothing but the most unwelcome informa- tion that only one was fit to proceed. The other two professed

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 211 to be sick and totally unable to carry a load. Bruce talks their language fluently and has great influence over them, and there is not the slightest doubt that 1f anybody could have stimulated them to go on it was he. It was fairly evident that the three porters had shot their bolt, and that nothing more was to be got out of them. After a brief consultation it was decided to return to CampIV. Half-way down the party under Somervell and myself, timed to follow the footsteps of the first party one day behind, was met. The doings of the second party will be separately chronicled by Somervell. Mallory and Bruce, on arrival at the North Col, were met by Odell and Irvine, who were fulfilling, for the first time in the history of Everest climbing, the official réle of supporters. Since 1922 we have recognised the necessity of this réle, picturing the comfort to a returning party of weary climbers such support might afford. The most optimistic imaginations fell short of the reality, as produced by that ‘ well-known firm.’ For over a week those two have lived on the North Col (23,000 ft.), and have cooked every meal—and only those who have done it can appreciate the recurring hatefulness of this operation. They have gone out day and night to escort and succour returning parties of porters and climbers over the intricate approaches to the camp, carrying lamps, drinks, and even oxygen to restore the exhausted. They have run the camp and tended the sick, and Odell, for one, has been down to Camp III. and returned to Camp IV., escorting parties or fetching provisions on three con- secutive days. Whether we reach the top or not, no members of the climbing party can pull more weight in the team than these two by their unostentatious, unselfish, gruelling work. The following is Somervell’s story of our climb to 28,000 ft. : Mr. SOMERVELL’S STORY. * The weather was looking more and more settled every day. On May 30, as Norton and I toiled up the glacier the third time this year to Camp IITI., we felt at last we were really going to be allowed a shot at the peak itself, and not merely baffled and foiled by a blizzard or hurricane at some comparatively low leyel. On June 1 we went up the steep ice-wall of the North Col with a few porters, and on arrival at the camp at the top of the pass heard that the other party had got off early, and were probably even then settling in at 25,000 ft. * We slept well that night—beds of snow are much more com- fortable than those of the stores at the camp below. LHarly on VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. P

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210 The Mount Everest Dispatches. west wind, one of the most formidable foes we have to face on Everest, smote the little party on the flank. This wind must be felt to be appreciated. Every member of the party was equipped with every device of windproof clothing experience could invent. Yet such is the keenness of the wind that it appeared to have the double quality of penetrating through and yet nearly blowing the laden porters out of their steps. Progress up the north ridge of Everest does not lend itself to description. It is a fight against wind and altitude, generally on rock, sometimes on snow, at an average angle of 45 degrees. It will appeal to those who have ever tried mountain climbing above 28,000 ft. Camp V. was to be situated on the east or shel- tered side of the ridge at about 25,300 ft. At about 25,000 ft. the endurance of the porters began to flag, and of eight only four made Camp V. under their own steam. The remainder deposited their loads, unable to go on. While Mallory set to work to organise the camp, Bruce and one Lobsang, meriting the distinction of being one of the leaders of the ‘ Tigers,’ made two trips back from the level of the camp and brought up the missing loads on their own backs. Whites cannot carry loads at these altitudes with impunity, and it is scarcely to be wondered at that Bruce’s heart was strained, happily only temporarily, in this fine performance. Camp V. was now established—two fragile 10-lb. tentlets perched on an almost precipitous slope. The tents occupied by the non-oxygen party in 1922, collapsed and held in position by big stones, were clearly seen 200 ft. below. According to plan, five porters now returned to Camp IV., three picked ones being retained to sleep the night and carry a tinier camp — some 2000 ft. higher on the morrow. Obviously everything depended upon the physical condition and moral of these three men. The most persuasive powers of Bruce could elicit little enthusiasm from them as to their next day’s task. Apparently the wind had taken the heart out of them. With no rosy anticipations the party went to bed, with the sun still gilding the tops of the surrounding mountains, after the truly miserable but inevitable routine in high altitudes of cooking the dinner. It was intended to make an early start next morning. This has been done, therefore is not impossible, but when Tibetan porters are concerned it certainly approaches the limits of the possible. Making a long story short, a series of visits to the men’s tent while the climbers’ breakfast was being prepared produced in the end nothing but the most unwelcome informa- tion that only one was fit to proceed. The other two professed

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 211 to be sick and totally unable to carry a load. Bruce talks their language fluently and has great influence over them, and there is not the slightest doubt that if anybody could have stimulated them to go on it was he. It was fairly evident that the three porters had shot their bolt, and that nothing more was to be got out of them. After a brief consultation it was decided to return toCampIV. Half-way down the party under Somervell and myself, timed to follow the footsteps of the first party one day behind, was met. The doings of the second party will be separately chronicled by Somervell. Mallory and Bruce, on arrival at the North Col, were met by Odell and Irvine, who were fulfilling, for the first time in the history of Everest climbing, the official réle of supporters. Since 1922 we have recognised the necessity of this réle, picturing the comfort to a returning party of weary climbers such support might afford. The most optimistic imaginations fell short of the reality, as produced by that ‘ well-known firm.’ For over a week those two have lived on the North Col (28,000 ft.), and have cooked every meal—and only those who have done it can appreciate the recurring hatefulness of this operation. They have gone out day and night to escort and succour returning parties of porters and climbers over the intricate approaches to the camp, carrying lamps, drinks, and even oxygen to restore the exhausted. They have run the camp and tended the sick, and Odell, for one, has been down to Camp ITI. and returned to Camp IV., escorting parties or fetching provisions on three con- secutive days. Whether we reach the top or not, no members of the climbing party can pull more weight in the team than these two by their unostentatious, unselfish, gruelling work. The following is Somervell’s story of our climb to 28,000 ft. : Mr. SOMERVELL’S STORY. * The weather was looking more and more settled every day. On May 80, as Norton and I toiled up the glacier the third time this year to Camp III., we felt at last we were really going to be allowed a shot at the peak itself, and not merely baffled and foiled by a blizzard or hurricane at some comparatively low leyel. On June 1 we went up the steep ice-wall of the North Col with a few porters, and on arrival at the camp at the top of the pass heard that the other party had got off early, and were probably even then settling in at 25,000 ft. * We slept well that night—beds of snow are much more com- fortable than those of the stores at the camp below. as on VOL. XXXVIL—NO. CCXXIX.

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210 The Mount Everest Dispatches. west wind, one of the most formidable foes we have to face on Everest, smote the little party on the flank. This wind must be felt to be appreciated. Every member of the party was equipped with every device of windproof clothing experience could invent. Yet such is the keenness of the wind that it appeared to have the double quality of penetrating through and yet nearly blowing the laden porters out of their steps. Progress up the north ridge of Everest does not lend itself to description. It is a fight against wind and altitude, generally on rock, sometimes on snow, at an average angle of 45 degrees. It will appeal to those who have ever tried mountain climbing above 23,000 ft. Camp V. was to be situated on the east or shel- tered side of the ridge at about 25,800 ft. At about 25,000 ft. the endurance of the porters began to flag, and of eight only four made Camp V. under their own steam. The remainder deposited their loads, unable to go on. While Mallory set to work to organise the camp, Bruce and one Lobsang, meriting the distinction of being one of the leaders of the ‘ Tigers,’ made two trips back from the level of the camp and brought up the missing loads on their own backs. Whites cannot carry loads at these altitudes with impunity, and it is scarcely to be wondered at that Bruce’s heart was strained, happily only temporarily, in this fine performance. Camp V. was now established—two fragile 10-lb. tentlets perched on an almost precipitous slope. The tents occupied by the non-oxygen party in 1922, collapsed and held in position by big stones, were clearly seen 200 ft. below. According to plan, five porters now returned to Camp IV., three picked ones being retained to sleep the night and carry a tinier camp © some 2000 ft. higher on the morrow. Obviously everything depended upon the physical condition and moral of these three men. The most persuasive powers of Bruce could elicit little enthusiasm from them as to their next day’s task. Apparently the wind had taken the heart out of them. With no rosy anticipations the party went to bed, with the sun still gilding the tops of the surrounding mountains, after the truly miserable but inevitable routine in high altitudes of cooking the dinner. It was intended to make an early start next morning. This has been done, therefore is not impossible, but when Tibetan porters are concerned it certainly approaches the limits of the possible. Making a long story short, a series of visits to the men’s tent while the climbers’ breakfast was being prepared produced in the end nothing but the most unwelcome informa- tion that only one was fit to proceed. The other two professed

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 211 to be sick and totally unable to carry a load. Bruce talks their language fluently and has great influence over them, and there is not the slightest doubt that if anybody could have stimulated them to go on it was he. It was fairly evident that the three porters had shot their bolt, and that nothing more was to be got out of them. After a brief consultation it was decided to return toCampIV. Half-way down the party under Somervell and myself, timed to follow the footsteps of the first party one day behind, was met. The doings of the second party will be separately chronicled by Somervell. Mallory and Bruce, on arrival at the North Col, were met by Odell and Irvine, who were fulfilling, for the first time in the history of Everest climbing, the official réle of supporters. Since 1922 we have recognised the necessity of this réle, picturing the comfort to a returning party of weary climbers such support might afford. The most optimistic imaginations fell short of the reality, as produced by that ‘ well-known firm.’ For over a week those two have lived on the North Col (28,000 ft.), and have cooked every meal—and only those who have done it can appreciate the recurring hatefulness of this operation. They have gone out day and night to escort and succour returning parties of porters and climbers over the intricate approaches to the camp, carrying lamps, drinks, and even oxygen to restore the exhausted. They have run the camp and tended the sick, and Odell, for one, has been down to Camp III. and returned to Camp IV., escorting parties or fetching provisions on three con- secutive days. Whether we reach the top or not, no members of the climbing party can pull more weight in the team than these two by their unostentatious, unselfish, gruelling work. The following is Somervell’s story of our climb to 28,000 ft. : Mr. SoMERVELL’S STORY. * The weather was looking more and more settled every day. On May 80, as Norton and I toiled up the glacier the third time this year to Camp III., we felt at last we were really going to be allowed a shot at the peak itself, and not merely baffled and foiled by a blizzard or hurricane at some comparatively low leyel. On June 1 we went up the steep ice-wall of the North Col with a few porters, and on arrival at the camp at the top of the pass heard that the other party had got off early, and were probably even then settling in at 25,000 ft. * We slept well that night—beds of snow are much more com- fortable than those of the stores at the camp below. Early on VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. P

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212 The Mount Everest Dispatches. the morrow we set out for the upper camp, six porters carrying extra food and bedding to replace what Mallory and Bruce would have taken up with them to a still higher bivouac. As we crossed over the snowy shoulder of the col to the windy western side the blast was most chilling.. We drew our fur caps over our ears, tightened our belts, and went as fast as the altitude permitted, in order to keep warm. For though the sky was cloudless and the weather settled, Everest can provide on the finest day a wind chilling to the marrow. .We had not been going long when Mallory and Bruce and their porters appeared above, coming down fast, an unexpected and unwelcome sight. They told us hqw they made a camp with two little tents, how the stoutest porter was sick, and the others unable or unwilling to go on. So there was nothing for it but to come back and hope for success of our attempt in the second of the series. * Rather apprehensive as to the attitude of our own porters on the morrow, Norton and I plugged along up the easy scree on the shoulder leading for over 4000 ft. from the North Col up towards the north-eastern summit ridge of Everest. We found Mallory and Bruce’s tents pitched on the steep but sheltered south-eastern side of the shoulder. Keeping four of our porters in the camp, where they spent avery fair night in a space 6 ft. by 5 ft., we then proceeded to settle down in the other tent of similar size. The floor had been well levelled by our predecessors, and, after making a good meal of pemmican and bully beef, coffee and biscuits, we spent a very fair night, during at least half of which we slept, finding no discomfort from the altitude or difficulty in breathing. * Another glorious sunny day followed, and we were delighted to find three of the porters willing to proceed and carry loads, tent, bedding, and food to the next stage. One porter especially deserved credit, as he had cut his knee rather deeply on a stone the previous evening. The easy scree of yesterday became looser as we got higher, and energy as well as temper suffered in the weary plod from 25,000 ft. to 26,700 ft., where the scree gives place to sloping slabs covered with small stones, which render footing rather precarious. | ‘ We all found the views most attractive, not only for their magnificence, but as excuses for frequent halts. Indeed, halts were necessary as we went along, as they enabled us to keep breathing sufficiently for our bodily needs. Finally, at the height of 26,700 ft., in a rocky little basin on the ridge we had to stop and pitch our tent. The situation was far from ideal, = ~—_ —_

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 218 but it seemed the best available in the vicinity, and on Everest you have got to take what you can get and be thankful. A lot of levelling had to be done, but the wind was kind, and, although by no means what we could have desired, the tent was at least habitable. The three faithful porters returned to Camp IV. quite fit, and armed with a note setting forth their prowess, and suggesting its reward with food at the lower camps, where no doubt they had the meal of their lives. In our tiny tent we - cooked a good brew of coffee and a little soup, but the altitude was attacking our appetite and we could not fancy more than a morsel of solid food. Filling the thermos with coffee for the morrow, in order to avoid having to cook before an early start, we settled down for the night. Both of us were surprised that we got some sleep, at any rate, though not very much, but when morning arrived we were well rested and untroubled by breathing and other effects of great altitude. ‘We got up full of hope as the dawn was breaking, but there was an early disappointment. Alas! the thermos had shed its cork during the night, and we had to waste nearly an hour melting snow in order to make more liquid. For both of us remembered how, in 1922, at a somewhat similar altitude, thirst, above everything, destroyed stamina and going-power, and we were determined to start our final climb with plenty of fluid inside us. At last we got going about 6.45 a.m., and trudged slowly up a broad rocky shoulder slanting across towards our right in the direction of the summit, for there the going seemed easiest ; moreover, in that direction was a patch of sunlight. Our side of the ridge was in shadow and very cold, and we thought climbing in the sunshine correspondingly attractive. At length, panting, puffing, and sometimes slipping back on the scree and compelled to stop for a minute to regain our breath, we attained the sunlight, and soon began to get warm. We crossed the snowy patch, with Norton gallantly chipping steps in front, and reached the broad yellow bank of rock which is such a conspicuous feature in distant views of the mountain. This rock has weathered into horizontal ledges some 10 or more feet wide, and provides a safe and easy route towards the summit ridge ; so up these ledges we went, pulling ourselves, with heavy breathing, from one to another, and walking along them occasionally for respite, but always keeping upwards and to the right, hoping by these means to avoid some of the loose-looking rock on the north-eastern mdge above. * But the altitude was beginning to tell severely onus. About

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914 The Mount Everest Dispatches. 27,500 ft. there was almost sudden change. A little lower down we could walk comfortably, taking three or four breaths for each step, but now seven, eight, or ten complete respirations were necessary for every single step forward. Even at this slow rate of progress we had to indulge in a rest for a minute or two every 20 or 80 yards. In fact, we were getting to the limit of endurance. At a level of somewhere about 28,000 ft., I told Norton I could only hinder him and his chances of reaching the summit if I tried to go any further, as an intensely sore throat added greatly to the misery of the fight. I suggested that he should climb the mountain, if he could, by himself, and settled down on a sunny ledge to watch him doit. But Norton himself was not far from the end of his tether. From my seat I watched him slowly rise, but how slowly, and after an hour I doubt whether he had risen 80 ft. above my level. He realised that a successful issue to the fight was impossible, and after a little returned. We agreed reluctantly that the game was up. On the way to the summit was a patch of loose rock where it was desirable that two fit men should be roped together, but two men more or less “‘ done to the world ’’ were unable to hope to reach the top within a good many hours, and it was now 2.80 in the afternoon. ‘So with heavy hearts, beating over 180 to the minute, we returned and retraced our steps ; but slowly, for even downhill movement at this level is rather hard and breathless work, and both of us required frequent rests for regaining our breath and resummoning our energy. The view from the topmost point that we reached, and indeed all the way up, was quite beyond words for its extent and magnificence. Gyachang Kang and Cho-Oyo, among the highest mountains of the world, were over 1000 ft. beneath. Around them we saw a perfect sea of fine peaks, all giants among mountains, all as dwarfs below us. The splendid dome of Pumori, the finest of Everest’s satellites, was but an incident in the vast array of peak upon peak. Over the plain of Tibet a distant range gleamed, 200 miles away. The view, indeed, was indescribable, and one simply seemed to be above everything in the world and to have a glimpse almost of a god’s view of things. ‘ But we were far from being gods ourselves, tired and breath- less as we were, the very epitome of human limitations. We revisited our high camp, and there packed our rucksacks and set off again downhill. We found the scree-covered slabs slow and annoying, and when we finally reached the snowy shoulder at 25,000 ft., where going becomes easier, the sun had set, and

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SOMERVELL’S PHOTOGRAPH OF SUMMIT OF EVEREST MR WITH COL. NORTON STILL ADVANCING Taken from 28,128 ft.

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 215 we still had 2000 ft. to negotiate in darkness. How well we remembered the same place in 1922, when we two, with Mallory, were exerting every effort to get down the invalid Morshead to the North Col alive! But this time I was the invalid, and my congested throat only allowed me to breathe at a certain and all too moderate arate. I fear that my extremely slow progress must have annoyed Norton fearfully, though of course he said nothing about it. Flashes from our electric torch aroused the North Col to activity, and Mallory and Odell came up to meet us with lanterns while Irvine brewed tea and soup in camp against our return. How we welcomed their presence as sup- porters in camp and contrasted our experience in 1922, when four of us returned to an empty camp and went to bed with empty stomachs! This time we reached camp at 9.80 p.m. Within an hour we were fed, warmed, and fast asleep. Norton is still recovering from severe snow-blindness, unfortunately con- tracted on the climb. I can almost speak aloud again. We are both rather done in, too, in general condition, but are satis- fied that we had the weather and a good opportunity for the fight with our adversary. There is nothing to complain of. We established camps, the porters played up well, we obtained sleep even at the highest, nearly 27,000 ft., we had a gorgeous day for the climb, almost windless and brilliantly fine, yet were unable to get to the summit. So we have no excuse—we have been beaten in fair fight ; beaten by the height of the mountain, and by our own shortness of breath. But the fight was worth it, worth it every time, and we shall cherish the privilege of defeat by the world’s greatest mountain. * We now await news of Mallory and Irvine, who to-day are making another attempt, hoping that they may reinforce the feeble summit air by artificially provided oxygen, and by its means be enabled to conquer the chief difficulty of reaching the summit. May the Genie of the Steel Bottle aid them! All of us are hoping that he may, for nobody deserves the summit more than Mallory, the only one of our number who has been at it for three years.’ This ends Somervell’s story. The two attempts without oxygen failed to reach the summit. I hope to discuss later in your columns the vexed question whether success on these lines was possible or not. In any case, I was delighted to find on my arrival at Camp IV. on the night of June 4 that Mallory had rightly determined in my absence that there must be one more attempt, and that immediately

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216 The Mount Everest Dispatches. and, if possible, with oxygen. Bruce, the condition of whose heart definitely prevented him from taking part in another attempt, had already gone down to Camp III. to see if it were possible to supply sufficient porters to put on oxygen so as to make the attempt with an absolutely minimum load. The men were forthcoming. Mallory had already decided that the climbers to make this final assault should be himself and Irvine. Unremitting and indefatigable work which had been put in by the latter on the most defective of the oxygen apparatus fully justified his inclusion in the party. On the morning of June 6 these two, with eight porters, started for Camp V., intending to sleep the following night at Camp VI. and to make the assault on the summit to-day. Their movements are shrouded in mist and mystery, but one brief note reached us yesterday from their perch near the top of the North Ridge by the hand of a returning porter. It is to the effect that Noel, with the kinema, should be on the look-out for them about the base of the final pyramid that starts 650 ft. from the top at 8 o’clock this morning. The returning porters report that the pair were going exceedingly strongly with oxygen yesterday ; from every point of view the situation is dramatic. One more small incident is worth noting. During the night of June 4-5 on the North Col I was smitten with acute snow-blindness, and for sixty hours was completely and absolutely blind. At 10 a.m. on June 6 Hingston and two porters arrived from Camp III. to relieve and, if possible, escort me down. I was anxious to descend, as my presence at Camp IV. could only be an embarrassment to Odell and Hazard, who had now taken the place of Irvine in the réle of supporters. Hingston, being unable to perform the miracle of restoring my sight at the moment, performed, with the help of Hazard and the two porters, another miracle. The route to North Col is admittedly an Alpine climb. They shepherded me down some 1500 ft. of sheer ice and snow, placing my every footstep, leading me by the hand, and sup- porting me with ropes, fixed and unfixed, with complete security Hazard turned back after roping me from the top of the chimney to the bottom, and Hingston saw me the rest of the way into Camp ITI. Hingston is a famous goer on a hillside and has a limited experience of snow and ice conditions in the Pamirs, but he has never done any Alpine climbing, so I think it must be admitted that his performance was remarkable, and it was certainly one that I shall not forget in a hurry.

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— men ON ee or The Mount Everest Dispatches. 217 Base Camp. June 1l. With the deepest regret I add these few lines continuing the above dispatch. Mallory and Irvine perished on the mountain beyond all doubt. They were last seen by Odell from Camp VI. going strong for the top. I have not yet seen Odell, but esti- mate that this was about 11 in the morning of the 8th, and that . Camp VI., 26,700 feet. . The point reached by Somervell in 1924. The point reached by Norton in 1924. - ‘ The Second Step,’ where Mallory and Irvine were last seen. ‘ The First Step.’ The point reached by Finch and Geoffrey Bruce in 1922. . The point reached by Mallory, Norton, and Somervell in 1922, . The summit, 29,002 feet. A B C. D E. F. G H the point reached at that time by the climbers was about 28,000 ft. Nothing has been seen or heard of them since. Odell returned to Camp IV. that night, and until about noon on the 9th the absence of news occasioned only anxiety, as the climbers might well have passed the night in Camps V. or VI.

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218 The Mount Everest Dispatches. At noon on the 9th Odell and two porters started from Camp IV. and spent the night at Camp V. About 1 p.m. on the 10th Odell reached Camp VI., whence he signalled that there was no sign of the missing men. Camps V. and VI. were under con- tinuous observation by Hazard from Camp IV. throughout. These were provided with magnesium flares for distress signals, and there is no doubt that the climbers did not return to them. This puts any possibility of their survival out of the question, for no one could spend two nights on the mountain under existing conditions except in one or other of the two high camps and live. The only likely explanation of the tragedy is that there was & mountaineering accident, unconnected with questions of weather or the use of oxygen. This is borne out by my own observations four days previously of the nature of the ground they were crossing when last seen. I remained at Camp IIL., directing operations by messenger, watching for a signal through the telescope, until 5.80 in the afternoon of the 10th, by which time I saw Odell reach Camp IV. safely. My condition and that of Captain Bruce, the only climber with me, precluded our reaching Camp IV. in time to be of any help, and, beyond a letter of instructions and the use of a system of signals, I had to give the supporting party in Camp IV. a free hand. They appear to have done all that was humanly possible. I should add that I myself forbade any reconnaissance beyond Camp VI., as the weather was extremely threatening and con- ditions on the mountain appeared to be as bad as they could be, and I had to consider the lives of the two Bnitish and three Himalayan members of the Expedition who were still at or above Camp IV. I shall, of course, give you all details in my next dispatch. No. 9. Rongbuk Base Camp. June 14. [Published July 5.] The Expedition leaves the Base Camp to-morrow, bound for a short period of recuperation in the Rongshar Valley, under Gaurisankar, before starting on its homeward march. The fickle weather, which has played so many dirty tricks this year, continues to be brilliantly fine, and there are indications that the monsoon has ceased for the moment. But there is no question of a resumption of hostilities on the mountain. Every one of the surviving climbers has shot his bolt. I have before

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 219 me a medical report showing that each of us has a more or less dilated heart, besides various minor disabilities. The trouble will right itself at the lower altitudes to which we are bound, but would probably be permanent if further high climbing were attempted. This the medical officer [Major Hingston] definitely forbids. There is yet another casualty to report. Man Bahadur, a Nepalese, the assistant bootmaker, who was very badly frost- bitten in the feet, as reported in my message of May 18, died of pneumonia.at the Base Camp under Hingston on May 25. Perhaps it was merciful, as he would have lost both feet had he lived. We leave here with heavy hearts. We failed to establish success, for who will ever know whether the lost climbers reached the summit before the accident which it may be as- -sumed caused their death ? The last point at which they were seen was determined by the theodolite as 28,227 ft.—less than 800 ft. from the top. Together with the height reached by Dr. Somervell and myself, which, measured by the theodolite, was 28,128 ft., these constitute a world’s ‘ record ’ for climbing with and without oxygen respectively. But the price is out of all proportion to the results. Much will be written by those at home of both Mallory and Irvine in regard to the various departments in which they distinguished themselves. Ishall only say a few words on how we knew them here. Mallory was for three years the living soul of the offensive on Everest. I believe the thing was a personal matter with him, and was ultimately somewhat different from what it was to the rest of us. The story of his determined, and ultimately success- ful, reconnaissance in 1921 is now well known. In 1922 he formed one of the party which reached 27,000 ft. without oxygen and established what was then a world’s height ‘ record.’ This year he was earmarked for the first attempt with oxygen, but this was prevented by the weather. Then he took part in the first attempt without oxygen, but had to turn back at 25,000 ft. Only three days later he started on the last fatal attempt with oxygen, and this time who will say whether victory was at last his or not before he died ? We always regarded him as an ideal mountaineer, light, limber, and active, gifted with tremendous pace up and down hill, and possessing all the balance and technical proficiency on rock, snow, and ice which only years of experience give. But the fire within made him really great, for it caused his spirit constantly to dominate his body to such an extent that, much

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220 The Mount Everest Dispatches. as I have climbed with him, I can hardly picture his ever succumbing to exhaustion. As a man he was a very real friend to us all, a cultured, gentle spirit curiously contrasting with the restless, fiery energy he displayed in action. His loss is irreparable no less to his friends of the successive Everest expeditions than to the very much larger circle of those who loved him in England. Irvine was described in an earlier dispatch by General Bruce as our © experiment,’ for he was a mountaineer of limited ex- perience and twelve years younger than the average age of the lixpedition. But the experimental stage was short indeed, for it was a matter of hours rather than of days. The qualities which made him such a success when sledging in Spitsbergen brought him to the front ; his first winter’s ski-ing in Switzer- land placed him, and the Oxford boat made all realise im- . mediately that we had here no untried boy, but one of the most valuable members of the new Expedition, and, what is more, one who could take his place modestly, but with absolute equality, with men of so much senior age. Then in no time his cheery camaraderie, unfailing good nature, and untiring mechanical ingenuity and resource made him not only valuable, but invaluable. . I do not know how we are going to get on without him. Physically he was the strongest of us. He did surprising feats in carrying and hauling loads; his times up some stages of the Kast Rongbuk Glacier were unequalled. In my last dispatch I spoke of his work on the North Col in the réle of supporter—a true test of a man’s mettle, but nothing new to him, for ever since Khamba Dzong he had been working unremittingly and unostentatiously every day and all day for the good of the expedition and of its individual members. We mourn in him the loss of a true friend to every one of us, and a most gallant gentleman. I have asked Odell to amplify his previous brief account of the final attempt and tell the story, as he took part in it from the position in support at Camp IV. His performance in climbing once to 25,000 ft. and twice to 27,000 ft. in seven days con- stitutes, I consider, a remarkable feat to be accomplished on Everest or on any other of the great Himalayan peaks. Perhaps more remarkable still is the fact that he suffered less than most other climbers in doing so. It remains for me to say a few words about the evacuation of the glacier camps. Throughout you have heard little of Shebbeare, yet he played a most important part inthem. After

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 221 the first evacuation of Camp III. on May 11 it was decided that Shebbeare’s knowledge of the language and of the psychology of the porters called for his presence on the lines of communi- cation rather than at the Base Camp. Accordingly, he was established as king of Camp II. From that moment we at the higher camps never had to look over our shoulders or give a moment’s anxious thought to our line of supply. Food for the sahibs and porters, fuel and stores of all sorts, arrived smoothly as required, and, more important still, we knew that the com- fort and health of the porters on the lines of communication were well cared for. When the time came on June 11 to evacuate all the camps from Camp III. downwards—the higher camps we decided to abandon all standing—Shebbeare took the matter in hand, and in three days, by good organisation and the use of every porter who could carry a load, he had cleared to the Base Camp every single article the value of which justified transport home across Tibet. So smoothly was the operation performed under his skilful leadership that there is nothing to write of it. Our one free day here before we finally leave this old Base ‘Camp of conflicting memories, so bleak and inhospitable after the sunny plains of Tibet, so homelike and cosy after the far bleaker glacier camps, is fully occupied. Every man that can ‘be spared is at work arranging the loads for to-morrow’s march, or employed on erecting a monument on one of the great conical moraine heaps which overlook the Base Camp to commemorate the names of those who lost their lives in the three Mount Everest expeditions. Odell’s story of the final attempt on Everest—and victory ? —1is as follows: Mr. Opetu’s Story. * Colonel Norton has requested me to relate the events con- nected with the last great climb of Mallory and Irvine, a climb @ good many aspects of which I had the advantage of witness- ing during a protracted period of eleven days, while acting in support at the North Col (28,000 ft.). The duty of being in sup- port, from meaning readiness to support at need an exhausted member of the party on the mountain, largely transformed itself into cooking and preparing meals for whatever climbers made the North Col Camp a place of call. This function kept us fully occupied, particularly as all water had to be obtained by melting snow, snow that at this altitude was of an exceedingly dry and powdered variety.

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222 The Mount Everest Dispatches. ‘On June 6, follow:ng an early breakfast of fried sardines, joyfully acclaimed though but moderately partaken of, Mallory and Irvine left the North Col Camp for Camp V. (25,000 ft.), ac- companied by five porters, with provisions and reserve oxygen cylinders. Yesterday, using oxygen, they had already ascended from Camp III., 2000 ft. below, in two and a half hours. They were highly pleased with their performance, which seemed to augur well for the final attempt on the mountain. The next day they ascended to Camp VI. (27,000 ft.), which had been estab- lished by Norton and Somervell on their “ record ’’ climb three days previously. The same day I ascended in support to Camp V., Hazard by this time having arrived at the North Col to replace me. Porters returning from Mallory that night were the bearers of a hopeful message in a note which said that they had only used a minimum of oxygen up to 27,000 ft., and that “‘ the weather was perfect for the job.” The latter I could well appreciate, for, looking out that evening from the little rock ledge on which the tent was pitched at Camp V., I saw that the weather indeed seemed most promising for the morrow. ‘The situation of the camp was unique and the outlook commanding in the extreme. Westward there was a savagely wild jumble of peaks, culminating in Cho-Oyo (26,750 {ft.), bathed in pinks and yellows of most exquisite tints. Right opposite were the gaunt cliffs of Everest’s north peak, inter- cepting a portion of the wide northern horizon, of a brilliant opalescence which threw into prominence the outline of a mighty peak far away in Central Tibet: was it General Pereira’s supposed rival to Everest ? Hastward, floating in the thin air, the snowy top of Kangchenjunga appeared, and lastly, the beautifully varied outline of the Gyangkar range. Sunset and after at that altitude is a transcendent experience never to be forgotten. ‘The early morning of June 8 was clear and not unduly cold at such an altitude. The two porters I had brought with me to Camp V. complained of sickness and headache, and altogether I was not unthankful for an excuse to send them down to Camp IV. at the North Col, for I especially wished to be free during the ascent for as wide a geological survey of the mountain-face between Camps V. and VI. as possible. Soon after I had started on my task banks of cloud began to form, which periodically immersed one in gloom, but the wind remained quite light for such an exposed ridge. Now and then there would be an accompaniment of sleet or light snow. I could see above me frequently during these squalls that there was

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 298 a glow of light, indicating clearness at a higher altitude, and hoped that Mallory and Irvine were above the mist. * At 12.50, just after I had emerged from a state of jubilation at finding the first definite fossils on Everest, there was a sudden clearing of the atmosphere, and the entire summit ridge and final peak of Everest were unveiled. My eyes became fixed on - one tiny black spot silhouetted on a small snow-crest beneath a rock-step in the ridge; the black spot moved. Another black spot became apparent and moved up the snow to join the other on the crest. The first then approached the great rock- step and shortly emerged at the top; the second did likewise. Then the whole fascinating vision vanished, enveloped in cloud once more. ‘There was but one exp'anation. It was Mallory and his companion moving, as I could see even at that great distance, with considerable alacrity, realising doubtless that they had none too many hours of daylight to reach the summit from their present position and return to Camp VI. by nightfall. The place on the ridge referred to is the prominent rock-step at a very short distance from the base of the final pyramid, and it is remarkable that they were so late in reaching this place. According to Mallory’s schedule, they should have reached it several hours earlier if they had started from the high camp as anticipated. That they had encountered bad conditions and snow-covered rocks and other obstacles was likely. However, in my opinion, from the position at which they were last seen, they should have reached the summit at 4 p.m. at latest, unless some unforeseen and particularly difficult obstacle presented itself on the final pyramid. This seems to be most unlikely, for we had scrutinised the last slopes with telescopes and binoculars and had seen that technically the climbing was easy. Perhaps the two most likely explanations of their failure to return were a fall or inability to reach camp before darkness set in. I rather incline to the latter view, and consider it very probable that they sheltered in some rock recess and fell asleep, and a painless death followed, due to the excessive cold at those altitudes. ‘After the brief glimpse of the party above described I continued up to Camp VI., which was reached just as a rather severer blizzard started. The camp consisted of one small mountain tent perched on a ledge, backed by steep rocks by no means conspicuous or easy to find. I brought up with me pro- visions for the camp, and, after placing them in the tent and sheltering for a while, I decided to go out in the direction of the

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22.4 Phe Mount Everest Dispatches. peak along the mountain-side, in case the bad weather should have compelled the party to turn back. I whistled and yodelled through the driving sleet to give the returning party the nght _ direction, but soon realised that in point of time it was a worth- less task, for they would still be beyond hearing even if they were returning. Perhaps they were nght above the blizzard in sunshine. Within two hours the storm had blown over and the whole north face was bathed in sunshine. I searched the upper crags for another glimpse of the party, but nothing could be seen. : ‘In accordance with earlier arrangements suggested by Mallory himself, I returned to the North Col, and with Hazard kept watch till late for signs of the returning party. As they had not returned next morning we assumed that perhaps they were still sleeping at Camp VI., having reached it at a late hour the night before, but we were unable with field-glasses to detect any movement around the distant tent. At noon I decided to ascend to Camp V., stay the night, and proceed to Camp VI. the next day to ascertain if they had returned and whether help was needed in consequence of some mishap. I arranged a code of signals with Hazard, by means of sleeping-bags placed con- spicuously on the snow in case assistance, medical or otherwise, should be required. Two porters again came with me to Camp V., but again they had to return to Camp IV. because of indisposition. | ‘ After a very cold night I pushed on to Camp VI., this time carrying with me an oxygen apparatus, and also provisions for the missing party. I reached the tent of Camp VI. in the after- noon, only to find everything as I had left it two days previously, and as Mallory and Irvine had left it on the morning of their climb. Leaving the tent, I climbed some distance, and worked out along the face in the direction of their route, searching for some clue. But what hope was there on such a vast mountain- face? Weeks of diligent search by a party fully equipped for such difficult and particularly trying work at that altitude might not produce any result or unravel the mystery. ‘ At length, as the day was drawing to a close, I reluctantly gave up the search and signalled down to Hazard at the North Col, over 4000 ft. below, that no trace could be found. Closing up the tent, and leaving it with the last relics of our lost com- panions, I made my way down the north ridge, having now and then to take shelter behind rocks from the violent and bitterly cold west wind in order to restore warmth and prevent frost-bite, and at dusk reached the North Col Camp, with its profound

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 225 comforts of hot soup. The next day we evacuated this camp and the others in succession down the East Rongbuk Glacier. ‘Has Everest been climbed ? Colonel Norton has referred to this question. It will ever be a mystery. Considering all the circumstances and the position they had reached on the © mountain, I personally am of opinion that Mallory and Irvine must have reached the summit. At least they have established & mountain altitude “ record.” ’ — No. 10. Kyetrak. June 19. (Published July 15.] I write this en route to the Rongshar Valley, for the expedi- tion has shot its bolt and the Rongbuk Valley is for us already a thing of the past. The monsoon, which kept us on tenter- hooks for so long, has definitely begun, and our jaded party are bound for ten days’ recuperation under the shadow of Gaurisankar. I hope later to give an account of the wild and little-known country to which we are heading. In all the accounts of our doings the factor of altitude, of course, has been mentioned, but almost exclusively in regard to its effect on the actual efforts of the climbers and so far as it affected their pace. I feel that no account of this Expedition can be appreciated without a somewhat fuller description of what is really meant by altitude. I sometimes think when I enlarge upon the hardships endured, in giving the actual tem- peratures of 10° to 24° below zero F., that a large proportion of readers are inclined to contrast the figures with well-known instances of low temperature in Canada, the Arctic, and the Antarctic. What of the winter journey so graphically de- scribed by the author of ‘ The Worst Journey in the World’ [Mr. Cherry-Garrard’s account of Scott’s expedition to the South Pole], with daily minima of nearly 70° below zero? I do not suggest for a moment that any Everest expedition has been called on to endure anything approaching the hardships of this last unique performance. The point is that the factor of altitude introduces a new element which very markedly accentuates what otherwise would be hardships of a not very serious nature. Between the Rongbuk Monastery and the place where for two years now the Base Camp of the Expedition has been pitched, the old terminal moraines of the Rongbuk Glacier have nearly blocked the valley with great piles and mounds of boulder and scree, and through these a narrow pass runs.

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226 The Mount Everest Dispatches. Here is the gate of altitude. Below are the sunny plains of Tibet, where there are birds and butterflies and flowers, and where & man may enjoy life. True, he may suffer the minor effects from shortage of oxygen in the air even outside the gate, but he can enjoy life. Above, altitude holds sway; in a word, man does not enjoy life. The height of the gateway is, perhaps, 16,000 ft., and in putting this as the boundary I am consulting my own feelings. Others may disagree on the exact point where life ceases to be enjoyable, but all will agree, I think, that it is within 1000 ft. and 2000 ft. of my figure. Within the gate life is not. To be exact, plant life struggles for another 2000 ft. if you like to search for it. I did meet a chough at 27,000 ft. He only came to look at me, thinking me mad. But, broadly speaking, everything is dead rock, snow, and ice, the three elements of which that upper world is composed. Within the gate the temperature drops with a bump; you know it the moment you arrive, and you dress accordingly. The result is a windproof suit, fur ear-flapped cap, and extra sweater. Here I have never seen rain even in June (though rain was actually recorded in 1924 on two occasions for the first time), and for snow is substituted the powdery snow of the upper world. Above all, here the wind is incessant, a searching, penetrating, blustering wind, sweeping off the great snowfields above; but much has already been written of this wind, and I would only emphasise the fact that it is a special brand within the gate. These are only side issues ; the thing that really matters is the lack of oxygen, which not merely begins to make itself felt when you start for the wild uphill; it permeates and dominates every minute of your life, affects appetite and sleep, forbids the smoking of a pipe without the expenditure of innumer- able matches, makes a labour of dressing and undressing and getting into one’s sleeping-bag, the undoing of one’s boots, the rising from a chair, saps the springs of all energy and enthusiasm, and affects the whole well-being as much as on a summer day you are affected if the sun goes in and a chill breeze gets up. All this refers to the Base Camp when one first arrives, for happily acclimatisation 18 a very real thing. On return to the Base Camp after four or five weeks spent at a higher point, one may well forget that he is still a prisoner within the gates of altitude. I believe the effects of altitude increase fairly consistently with the actual height risen night to the top of Everest. Let

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 227 me now describe an extreme case, say between 27,000 ft. and 28,000 ft., and an intermediate one, say at Camp IIL, at 21,000 ft. A good night may be spent at 27,000 ft.—one at least has had such an experience—but it is unlikely often to be repeated ; so let us wake after a thoroughly bad night, just at daylight, in the bitter cold. The thermos flask, a two-pint one, intended to provide drink for breakfast without more snow melting, has shed its cork during the night. The un- fortunate climber, cherishing it in his sleeping-bag, makes the discovery at 3 a.m., for the coffee has not remained warm. It is necessary, therefore, to melt snow over the ‘ Meta’ burner, @ nightmare procedure that seems to have filled our every spare moment at all the high camps. It sounds simple enough. You crawl out of bed and then out of the tent, fully dressed, and pick up two aluminium pots, fill them with snow at a snowbed 20 yards away, return to the shelter of the sleeping- bag, during which time your tent mate has started the ‘ Meta’ solidified spirit burning in the stove. Here altitude enters. The above simple proceeding I have repeated a good many times. It requires hardly anything, demanding mere will- power and determination. But by the time you reach the outside door of your tent you are completely exhausted. You sit and pant and rest for several minutes in the cold, then continue the journey and fill two pots with powdery snow, pressing it in with your thumb, which of necessity is inside one of the pots and in contact with the snow loses all feeling immediately. The next moment the pot is bounding down the steep slope below the tent. It comes to rest by pure chance 50 ft. down- hill. You retrieve it and refill it and hand both pots through the tent door. The next minute you fall exhausted on the bed. It seems touch and go for a minute or two whether by rapidly panting you will ever catch up the deficit of oxygen in the lungs the exertion has caused. Perhaps three-quarters of an hour later you have cooked and eaten—who will describe your hatred of the scant but loathsome meal ?—and filled the thermos for the day and donned your frozen boots. The energy expended already is enough to have carried you half-way up most Alpine peaks. You start climbing. Curiously enough, this is not perhaps as bad as what preceded. The process is largely mechanical but incredibly slow. Above 27,000 ft. you may aim at doing twenty consecutive paces before you pause, arm on bent knee, to pant and rest. You will seldom get beyond thirteen.: You VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. Q

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228 The Mount Everest Dispatches. sit down for some minutes at least every 100 ft. The least slip or stumble, and recovery almost beats you in this miserable business. I cannot conscientiously record that dulling of the intellect often described as a feature of high climbing. I be- lieve the intellect remains clear, and it is the will-power which is sapped. There is no doubt that all the best qualities, the energy and determination to conquer, will be at the lowest ebb. You must draw on the recollection of what you determined perhaps the day before yesterday that you would do. Now and again the altitude produces its last weapon. The constantly and rapidly repeated intake of breath and catching at the back of the throat seems to have a curiously drying effect. Whatever the cause, the effect is a pronounced desicca- tion of the whole system. In the great cold the thirst seems not to make itself felt until late in the day, when it becomes intense. There is little doubt that this tremendous desiccation of the body is one of the primary causes of breakdown and failure at great heights. If, as so often happens, the climber starts with a common high-altitude cough and throat (half of the whole party suffered from it in 1924), this dryness is the one thing needed to put him out of action some time before the day is finished. All day there is depression of spirits ; there 1s no spring, no exhilaration, no enthusiasm. One can- not even move fast enough to keep oneself warm. The whole thing is a desperately unpleasant duty until at about 2 p.m., with an unattainable summit obviously beyond its reach, the party turns back dejectedly to the distant haven of comparative refuge at Camp IV. ) I have said that acclimatisation is a very real thing. The fact was definitely proved in 1924, but with it was proved the companion fact that at altitudes of 21,000 ft. and over what we gained in one direction by acclimatisation we more than lost in another, if conditions were severe beyond a certain point. Conditions of cold and discomfort, which at lower altitudes are completely without effect upon a healthy party, are at this altitude fatal to the efficiency of British and Hima- layans alike. For example, between May 19 and 25 seven climbers and a dozen porters lived in Camp III. All did either one or two trips in unfavourable conditions to the North Col, 2000 ft. above, and nothing else but work in camp. The night temperatures were as low as were ever experienced here, and it snowed most days. The food tents and sleeping-kit were all of the usual high-altitude type. As a result, at the end of six days practically every member was temporarily useless

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 229 for high climbing, 50 per cent. had bad coughs and throats, and their voices were gone. Many had had little or no sleep for some nights, and all were obviously weak and almost ill, though the moral of the climbers continued to be good; but the heart had been taken out of the porters, and it was necessary to retreat to the lower camps to recuperate for some days. This would have been caused neither by altitude alone—for in favourable conditions most climbers improve up to 21,000 ft., or even 28,000 ft.—nor by the temperature con- ditions in which they lived, for, as I have said before, in the Antarctic and similar countries, men thrive and put on weight in such conditions. | The cause was a combination of altitude and comparative hardship. Just watch with me for one minute a party starting from Camp III., this time a routine trip to the North Col. Surely these men are just returning from a long and tiring day and not starting a short climb of 2000 ft. in the freshness of the morning. Their shoulders are hunched and they are simply crawling; there is no spring or swing in their gait: perhaps they are sick. Not so, they are suffering from altitude: Have I painted the picture in too dismal colours? Perhaps for myself, but I have just escaped from the gate. No. 11. Rongshar Valley. June 24. [Published July 17.] The following account of the Sherpa and Bhotia porters has been written by Captain Geoffrey Bruce : ‘A gay and motley throng of hillmen assembled to greet us at Darjeeling on our march, all eager to take part in the expe- dition to Everest. The news had preceded us that we would require about seventy suitable men. Here there were two hundred and fifty at least, mostly Sherpas and Bhotias, but among them could be seen Limbus of Hast Nepal, Lepchas of the deep valleys of Sikkim, and wild-looking men of the northern provinces of Tibet. It 1s quite certain that money alone could not be the chief attraction to many of them, who to my knowledge could earn better wages by sticking to their jobs in and around Darjeeling than by following the fortunes of an expedition through Tibet to the mountains. There was no motive with most of them other than sheer love of adventure, which, coupled with their light-hearted, care-free manner, makes the hillmen of these parts such attractive people.

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280 The Mount Everest Dtspatches. ‘ To those of us responsible for their selection it was a difficult task picking out the best with nothing but appearance to go by. Appearance is proverbially deceptive, and to that rule the hillmen are no exception. We were mainly guided in the selection by the principle of taking men obviously of good breeding and of slight though well-proportioned build in pre- ference to the bulkier and at first sight more impressive-looking giants. For the moral is more important than the physical when attempting to scale Everest. On the whole the selected amply justified themselves, and it was especially noticeable how the porters who went the highest up the mountain were all very much of a type, smallish, lithe, and trim, while all the bigger men seemed to fade away lower down. ‘ When we left Darjeeling the porter corps consisted of seventy men, of whom about half were Sherpas and half Bhotias. The Sherpas are natives of the southern slopes of the main Hima- layan chain, and the Bhotias of the Tibetan plateaux to the north of the range. Both speak Tibetan as their mother tongue. Except one Gurkha, who acted as cook to the Gurkha non-commissioned officers, no other clans were represented in the corps, all others being eliminated in the process of selection. The five weeks’ trek to the Rongbuk Base Camp was spent in getting the men well nourished and in the best possible physical condition before the work on the mountain began. As in 1922, they were given no loads to carry, and they always had the best food, clothing, and tent accommodation. The policy was amply repaid, for on our arrival at the Base Camp not one of them was sick. | ‘This period of camping and marching across Tibet had the further advantage of affording unique opportunities of observing the porters collectively and individually, especially with a view to earmarking those likely to go high later. As a people they have many virtues, being simple, hard-working, and cheerful. When once they get to know the sahibs they are loyal and affectionate. Among themselves they are generous, always ready to give a helping hand to one in need. But for all that they are not saints, and to ascribe to them qualities purely angelic would be a grave error. We observed no signs of angels’ wings sprouting on any of them, not even on the back of Norbu Yshay or Lobsang, who so gallantly led the little parties to Camp VI. at 27,000 ft. Further, I am convinced that butter will melt in their mouths. I have occasionally known other delicacies not to be found in the scale of porters’ rations also melt away in a mysterious fashion.

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 231 « But, given the opportunity, the bottle is apt to prove a very serious source of trouble, though I must say in fairness to them that since we left Darjeeling cases of drunkenness were happily few and far between. On the return journey, however, it is futile to expect such a high standard of good behaviour, and _ the radiance of the kindly jar will undoubtedly prevail before Darjeeling is reached and the porters are finally paid off. But these are characteristics of which we were already aware from our experience of the Expeditions of 1921 and 1922. Then the porters were never really up against hardship for a prolonged period, and were never asked to go on making continuous efforts in face of extreme weather conditions and acute bodily discomfort. In neither of those years were the men subjected to the terrific searching tests that this Expedition has under- gone. ‘These tests, of a nature necessarily severe, enabled us. unerringly to separate the sheep from the goats. The faces so doubtfully scanned at Darjeeling six weeks before now read like a book. Townee, who till now seemed to value himself above his comrades and give himself airs, fades into the back- ground. The real natural leaders stand out and the others fall in their proper places. Until a trial such as was imposed on us by the mountain elements takes place, the true form and value of the Sherpa and Bhotia porter are most deceptive to gauge. At first the endurance in carrying capacity of all of them appears amazing; they go gaily along with a big load, showing little or no signs of tiring, long after we would have thought it impossible for them to continue. ‘ But it is not so astonishing, really, when one reflects that they had carried huge loads daily from childhood upwards, always in steep places and frequently at altitudes up to 19,000 ft. It has become natural to them to walk loaded. Thus until the real test is made all appear equally good. There is little or no indication how big is the margin of strength and determination left. This year’s experience tended to prove that in nine cases out of ten they reach their limit without previous warning, and then become utterly hors de combat once the limit is reached. Whether on account of wind, cold, fatigue, or sickness, the man will not come again to any hard work at high altitudes in that season. _ ‘Seeing men suddenly fail in this way is a bitterly disappomt- ing and exasperating sight. There is only one factor capable of delaying and postponing to some extent this collapse, and that is the presence of a sahib who may by influence and

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232 The Mount Everest Dispatches. personality succeed in urging the man to further efforts before the crash comes. Once he has given in I do not believe any- thing can set him going again; the limit has been reached for him and there is nothing beyond. The Sherpa and Bhotia porter at one moment ceases to be an object of admiration and sinks to that lowest level to which the Oriental 1s wont to sink when he is a sick man. With a few notable exceptions he literally does not possess that little extra reserve of will-power which the white man can produce in emergency and which makes all the difference between success and failure in a crisis. Fortunately exceptions exist, and this year has produced some supermen. ‘The two advances up to 28,000 ft., which were each accom- panied by blizzards and a temperature down as ‘low as 56° of frost, and followed by disheartening withdrawals to the lower camps, failed to damp the spirits of a few of these men. To develop and encourage those who from the start had been &@ magnificent example to the others the experiment of employ- ing some of them as non-coms. was made, and on the whole proved very successful. Two of these non-coms. showed them- selves to be of quite outstanding character. I shall describe them and their performances briefly. ‘First, Norbu Yshay, a Sherpa from Sola Khombu, an “ old soldier’ of 1922. Physically of medium height, sturdy, well knit, he possesses an iron constitution, and when he thinks the occasion sufficiently important (it must not be forgotten that he is quite the “ old soldier ’’) he shows signs of great deter- mination also. Thus it was that he and his party of two porters erected Colonel Norton’s and Dr. Somervell’s camp at 27,000 ft. at Camp VI., although three other porters had failed only the day before. Nothing could have been easier than that the rot should spread to his party too. It is entirely to Norbu Yshay’s credit that his gang went on resolutely and succeeded. ‘ Equally wonderful, if not more so, is the record of Lobsang, a pure-bred Tibetan. A man of varied experience, he had among other accomplishments been a Gurkha rifleman in the Afghan War of 1919, presumably under a nom de guerre. He also distinguished himself in 1922 by reaching Finch’s and my camp, over 25,000 ft., with a full load. In 1924 he was in the party which on June 1 carried loads to Camp V., 25,300 ft., and with Mallory and me went down again to Camp IV. in charge of the returning porters. After a few days’ rest in Camp II. he was ready for further efforts, and on June 6 with

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 233 a party of eight carried a load to Camp V., the camp of Mallory and Irvine. He and two others spent the night at Camp V., and the following day accompanied the two climbers to Camp VL., 27,000 ft., with the necessary loads. ‘T must confess to one unfortunate selection among the non- coms., and he will be anonymous. He is a man one would pick out of a thousand, tall above the average, beautifully proportioned, and a wonderful mover. He had a fine face, too, which would lead one to expect great things of him. In 1922 he twice ascended to 25,500 ft. Although his work through the first three weeks of our occupation of the glacier was admirable and evoked praises on every hand, yet when the great day came he failed. Medical examination at Camp III. was unable to throw any light on the cause of his failure, which was one of moral rather than physique ; in short, he was not “ for it.” ‘Had Providence granted us perfect weather from the start I do not in the least doubt that the majority of the porters would have been capable of carrying their loads to Camps V. and VI. They would have achieved wonders. But after the ~ two failures to establish Camp IV. on the North Col, 23,000 ft., I estimated that only twelve to fifteen porters would be ready to face the music again. This estimate proved extremely accu- rate. Beyond the fifteen ‘“‘ Tigers ’’ I do not think any would have carried loads farther than the North Col this season. This was the chief reason for the modification of the original plan of making two non-oxygen attempts, beginning on June 1. ‘ The unforgettable terrors that the mountain holds for these ignorant people are not all physical. They are most super- stitious. Some declare that on the North Col at night the fierce barking watch-dogs that guard the goddess of the moun- tain can be heard warning intruders to keep clear of her sacred dwelling. Still, in spite of these setbacks, the standard of what the porter is capable has been raised since 1922. In 1924 fifteen reached 25,300 ft. Of that number six put loads into camp at 27,000 ft. ©In this Expedition we were fortunate in having no fatal casualties among the carrying porters. Only two serious cases were treated in hospital, one of frost-bite of the hands and the other a broken leg, both getting on well. The broken leg case is not altogether without its humorous side. The patient, in the march across Tibet, had been the doctor’s servant. Some time before the accident the doctor complained of having mis- laid sundry underwear, but the garment could not be found.

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934 The Mount Everest Dispatches. The doctor happened to be at Camp III. when the stretcher arrived. As it drew near he noticed that the patient showed curious symptoms, leaning forward and apparently massaging violently his legs upwards from the ankles. The doctor was just in time to catch a glimpse of his high-altitude pants disappearing in a roll over his late servant’s knee. ‘In regard to the Sherpa and Bhotia porters and their employment in future expeditions, they will be forthcoming, and there can be little doubt that from among them six or seven will erect a camp under any conditions even higher than Camp VL., but to ensure this they must be systematically looked after and cared for from the start. No detail, however small, tend- ing to increase their comfort and happiness must be overlooked. The results will repay trouble and forethought a hundredfold. The porters fully appreciate the situation. When the detach- ment taken by General Bruce back to Chumbi rejoined the expedition near Shekar Dzong they were asked how they fared in crossing Tibet. ‘‘ We managed all right,” they replied, “ but we had no sahib to look after us.” ’ No. 12. Tingri Dzong. July 5. [Published July 25.] Our little rest cure in the Rongshar Valley is over, and the expedition is again on the ‘long road that is always new,’ homeward bound to Darjeeling. The primary object of the trip—recuperation at a moderate altitude—has in this respect been a great success. It is not too much to say that the party, almost without exception, starts for home sound in wind and limb, and is certainly a very different party from the one that left Rongbuk a fortnight ago. Most of us have got weight to recover still. Big calf development is not, apparently, a characteristic of the Everest climber; many of us still look best with a pair of thick socks. But it is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Our little Bhotia ponies will be the gainers when we return to the plateau. If the Rongshar Valley has come short of expectation in some other respects, I take the blame, for, moved by recollec- tions of the Kama Valley two years ago, I painted a highly coloured picture of the delights that awaited us for the benefit of those who had not seen that lovely spot. I first predicted a descent from a barren pass to fields studded with the smaller and daintier alpine flowers in successive stages, azaleas, rhodo- dendrons, and primulas (a dozen varieties), and stunted pine

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 235 trees outlined against the snows of Gaurisankar ; and, finally, the forest, primeval with cypress, silver fir, and hemlock, any- thing up to 150 ft. high, concéaling strange subtropical flora and fauna, a camp-fire and balmy air, and unfamiliar delicacies, such as chickens and potatoes and green vegetables. Well, some of this we found at Rongshar, but by no means . all. The first sensation as we descended the barren Phuse-La was caused by a delicious whiff of such air as we had not met for months, soft and laden with the aromatic scent of shrubs and flowers. But the promise was scarcely fulfilled, as almost immediately we entered a deep, narrow, rocky gorge. The scenery was grand, great cliffs towering above a racing, raging torrent, but the vegetation lacked the luxuriance of the Kama Valley. There was scarcely room for forest, and the flowers were limited in their variety. Of Gaurisankar and its satellites no peep was obtained once the gorge was entered. ' During three rather longish days’ marching, as we wound down this endless gorge, the view was a constant repetition of the same features, the towering cliff on one side, a similar towering cliff on the other a little farther off, and a steep hill- side blocking the next turn in the valley. Soon the predomi- nant flowers became and remained a carpet of mauve irises underfoot, a bower of pink and cream roses over the path. On the third day we reached our destination, Tropdo, a rockbound little village, deep under the base of Gaurisankar. To find a camping site was not an easy task, but, bursting through a riot of rose-bushes nearly blocking a tributary torrent, we discovered a small glade carpeted with irises, a great cliff overhanging with a regular smugglers’ cave at the foot. ‘This, our base camp, was in sufficient contrast with that base camp we had recently left. It was a blow to find that chickens might not be killed in the sacred precincts of Gaurisankar and that the potatoes were not ready to be dug. Three days after our arrival we separated to explore the neighbourhood, Somervell and I upwards to try the view and sketch the elusive Gaurisankar, and the remaining five going down the gorge to the Nepal border. The latter party marched for two days, finding the gorge ever deeper and steeper. For two miles in one place a vertical cliff of 2000 ft. towered over a milky torrent fairly racing between its banks, much as the Arun River races—that is, one continuous rush, not a series of waterfalls and pools. In patches of big forest we. met trees almost equalling those of the Kama Valley, but always restricted in extent by the surrounding cliffs. The vegetation

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236 The Mount Everest Dispatches. there is almost in every respect a replica of that of the Darjeeling hills. The inhabitants of the one village were cheery and open- hearted folk, speaking Nepalese fluently, though of Tibetan origin, and presented a marked contrast with the more boorish peasantry of the plateau—a primitive people these, largely cut off from contact with the outer world, the womenfolk working in the scanty fields naked to the waist. There were other aspects of this gorge expedition on which I prefer not to dwell at length. There were Gargantuan re- pasts of fowls and potatoes and succulent bamboo shoots, partaken in spacious Whymper tents, and no one suggested the bringing back of such delicacies for two hardy mountaineers now perched 5000 ft. above in the mist. What became of the last of the Expedition sugar ? Meanwhile the said mountaineers, Somervell and I, had found a delightful camping site on a shelf 2000 ft. above the valley. Near here many flowers, missed in the gorge below, were found for the first time this year, all the azaleas, three of the more beautiful missing primulas, and many other old friends. From here we saw Gaurisankar, a dream mountain. Gaurisankar is a paltry 23,000 ft. odd, but it rises from its base between 8000 ft. and 10,000 ft. at an acute angle, and finishes in @ cone of snow and ice, perfect in outline and proportions. Facing us was that long knife-edge of ice familiar to all readers of Colonel Howard Bury’s book, ‘ Everest: The Reconnais- sance, 1921 ’—in Wollaston’s photograph taken from the same direction, but from 80 miles farther away. There is only one way to see a really beautiful snow moun- tain, and that is as we saw Gaurisankar. Bit by bit, through a rent in a curtain of cloud, we got a glimpse, first of the summit floating high in mid-air, then great sheets of rock and ice and subsidiary buttresses, whetting the appetite for that brief two-minutes’ view of the whole mountain, the base still wreathed in swirling clouds; 15,000 ft. of it we saw, top and bottom, a sight to make one giddy. When we all forgathered again at the base camp great rival claims were put forward, one school extolling the joys of the subtropical scenery and the table, the other the magnificence of this unique view and the pleasures of the simple life. Some gorgers—I should say, gorge explorers—were tempted to put in & night on the shelf. For Beetham and his camera the chance was not to be missed, but the fickle mountain remained shrouded in mist, and the party returned, half-convinced that —_—

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 237 our vaunted view was a figment of the imagination and our sketches a deliberately concocted plot for the unwary. So, on June 80, we left the Rongshar Valley and threaded our devious way towards the upper world again, sad to leave the soft, fragrant air, the greenery and the flowers, but con- soling ourselves with the promise of sunshine and the charm of wide horizons. No. 138. Yatung. July [ Published 5 be 1.] I feel that the series of letters I have written to you would be incomplete without some final discussion of the feasibility of climbing Everest in the light of the experience of 1924. First let me say a few words on two kindred questions : ‘Should Everest have been attempted ?’ and ‘ Will Everest be re-attempted ? ’ We have little doubt that the sad loss of Mallory and Irvine, following the death of seven porters in 1922, will raise con- siderable controversy on the former question. I know there was & large body of opinion in England previous to the 1924 tragedy which stigmatised the whole undertaking as a wanton risk of valuable lives, and this point of view will doubtless be accentuated by what has occurred. The old question: ‘ What is the good of it ?’ will be reiterated with added point. This question has been dealt with at some length by Sir Francis Younghusband in his preface to ‘The Assault on Mount Everest,’ and I can add but little to his able and, to me, con- vincing reply. It is true that there can be no immediate material gain either to the members of the expedition or to the public at large from a successful attempt to climb the moun- ' tain; indeed, the former will generally be considerable losers from this point of view. Is not this, in the material age in which we live, an argument in favour of making the attempt— is it not a good thing to run some risks and to undergo some hardships for an ideal divorced from sordid considerations ? In the absence of the great purifier, war, there must be some- thing in favour of an undertaking which, as Jorrocks would say, may be likened to ‘the himage of war with only 25 per cent. of the danger ’ (25 per cent. Jorrocks, not mine). In the piping times of peace, how else than by such undertakings as Polar and Everest expeditions is the last flicker of the old spirit of adventure and enterprise which made the British Empire to be kept alive ?

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238 The Mount Everest Dispatches. Will Everest be attempted agam? This question I am not in a position to answer. A member of the Expedition 1s, happily, free from the difficulties of finance and organisation confronting the Everest Committee. But we are a persistent people. War proves that we have a certain genius for attain- ing through failure success, and the things which most stimu- late and harden the determination of Englishmen are obstacles, failures, and casualties. JI can speak for the members of the 1924 Expedition in saying that the loss of friends and the set- backs endured made us at least feel strongly that now, if never before, Everest must be climbed—perhaps not in the year 1925, perhaps not for some years. I know only some of the difficulties of the preliminary organisation, but sooner or later the torch lit by Mallory and Irvine must be carried on lighted to the summit. | Can Everest be climbed? Assuredly. It is possible that it has been climbed. If the 1924 Expedition has dashed the hopes and modified the opinions of some of the more optimistic of us (and I was among these), if it still leaves one very serious gap in our knowledge essential for ensuring success, it has filled all the remaining gaps. We started in 1924 with the fullest consciousness of these gaps. The Expedition has proved that porters can carry the requisite loads to nearly 27,000 ft. None of us now has any doubt that under favourable conditions a camp can be established at least 500 ft. higher, say 27,300 ft., just under the north-east shoulder of the mountain. It has proved that there is nothing to prevent climbers from sleeping well about 27,000 ft. and starting comparatively fit and well on the morrow. Our doubts on these two points were two of the most serious gaps in our experience when we started opera- tions in 1924. On the march to Everest last spring it was constantly reiterated that if a non-oxygen party could camp at about 27,000 ft., and an oxygen party at 26,500 ft., if both could get sleep and start fairly fit on the morrow in fine weather, the trick was done both ways. We were optimistic. It is by no means proved, but the evidence increases that the advent of the monsoon is normally preceded by a spell of comparatively fine, settled weather. Further evidence on this subject must be procured and would be valuable. It is abundantly proved that each year’s experience increases the comfort obtainable at moderate altitudes by good equipment, and that, except in really bad weather, the height where reason- able comfort can be provided can be progressively raised. We had even schemes for comfort in that vile spot, Camp III.

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The Mount Everest Dispatches. 239 And with comfort go health and efficiency. On acclimatisa- tion we have now clear and definite ideas. Previously we were but groping a way to these ideas. Finally, as General Bruce has more than once pointed out, the standard of achievement is automatically rising. In 1922 four of us set out to discover whether human beings could live without oxygen at 25,000 ft., and, if so, could they sleep? In 1924 Odell and Hazard took a walk at 25,000 ft. in an interval in their duties as supporters of Camp IV. (23,000 ft.), just to _ study geology and enjoy the view; four climbers slept at nearly 27,000 ft.; in ten days Odell went from 23,000 ft. three times down to 21,000 ft. and twice up to 27,000 ft.—a per- formance that we should hardly have considered possible in 1922. So much to the good; but we had also learnt lessons of a different sort, and these must be laid to heart by any future party. One serious gap in our experience which we failed to fill is the possibilities of the oxygen apparatus. Below 28,000 ft. there seems little doubt that the apparatus as so far designed and modified does not pull its weight. In other words, the benefit derived from inhaling oxygen does not compensate for the drawback of its weight on the climbers’ back. Above 23,000 ft. Odell is the only surviving climber who used it. He carried one cylinder only and used it up to about 27,000 ft. Even with this modified weight on his back his verdict 1s that he gained little, if anything, over his previous trip to the same height without oxygen. Mallory and Irvine were reported by the accompanying porters to be going strong on oxygen. On the other hand, the time and place where they were last seen on the morrow indicated that either a very late start was made, possibly due to their having to repair some defect of the apparatus, or they were going as slowly as the non-oxygen party four days previously. In spite of the then much more favourable impressions of Finch and Bruce in 1922, it would seem that the value of the oxygen apparatus is doubtful, unless its weight is materially reduced, for it must not be forgotten that its use entails a most severe strain on the organisation of the porters. The possibility of really bad weather almost throughout May came as a very unpleasant surprise to us in 1924. The effect on the whole party was so serious, the conditions produced on the mountain above 21,000 ft. were so hopeless, that it would appear advisable in the future not to make a move above, say, 19,000 ft. until really favourable weather sets in, and this,

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240 The Mount Everest Dispatches. even though the remote possibility must be faced that the party might fail to get beyond or even reach the North Col in any given year. The physical difficulties of the last thousand feet of the mountain were probably underrated before 1924—rather, it is more correct to say, the dangers—for the final pyramid and its approaches appear to consist of that unpleasant type of rock which is dangerous because it appears to offer no diffi- culties. The strata slope outwards and downwards at a some- what sharp angle, and the rocks are by no means firm when their surface is covered with a powdering of light snow, which, while giving no support to the climber, conceals possible foot- holds and makes the going all dangerous. The general slope of this part of the mountain is such as to render a slip probably fatal. The lesson to be learnt from this is that the final assault should not be undertaken deliberately when fresh snow is lying on the rocks. This alone, to my mind, precludes the idea, mooted more than once, of an attempt in September after the monsoon. When the rocks are bare of snow there should be little danger for a party of experienced climbers. The last unpleasant surprise we met in 1924 was that ap- parently there is a point somewhere between 27,500 ft. and 28,000 ft. at which the lack of oxygen in the air begins to render progress so slow that it remains uncertain whether without oxygen the party would have time to reach the summit safely. This is a very important point, but I do not consider the evidence of 1924 sufficient to establish it. For the party of two whose experience supplies the only data had already suffered too much from prolonged exertions and exposure to provide a real test. It is probable that a fitter and fresher party would not have slowed down to anything like the same extent. If, then, we strike the balance of the favourable and unfavourable lessons we have learnt in 1924, the result evi- dently favours the view that success will crown the effort to ascend the 800 ft. of the mountain which remain to be climbed. There is little doubt that by camping at 250 ft. higher on each of two successive nights above the North Col an improvement of some 500 ft. could be made on the height of Camp VI. Thus, on the last day, the party may be called on to do some 1800 ft. to the summit, against the average of 1400 ft. or 1500 ft. achieved by the two parties in 1924. Allow for a descent only to Camp V., postulate a party fresh and fit, and not exhausted by exposure or severe exertion, give us but as favourable weather a8 was encountered by the first party in 1924, few of

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Joint Meeting of the Alpine Club and of the R.G.S. 241 us doubt that the summit can be safely reached with or with- out the improved oxygen apparatus. Half the battle 13 won if the climbers and porters start off from the North Col in really good condition and good health. _ This is easy to talk and write about, but is most difficult to accomplish. But the experience of two years has taught us much in regard to the conflicting claims of acclimatisation and conservation of energy, and something, if not a great deal, of how it is possible to improve the comfort of the glacier camps. The rest depends on the patience, patience, and again patience, that is the most difficult type of patience, which will wait, and await the fine weather essential to success, even though all indications point to an early arrival of the monsoon, and with it the end of another year’s efforts with, perhaps, nothing accomplished. And so, whatever the verdict, whether Everest should or will be attempted again, we of the 1924 Expedition are confident that it can be climbed, despite the dictum of our good friend the Shekar Jongpen. Commiserating our misfortune he summed up by saying: ‘ Myself think God’s mountain will never allow.’ JOINT MEETING OF THE ALPINE CLUB AND OF THE R.G.S. THIs meeting, to receive the reports from the Mt. Everest Expedition of 1924, was held on October 17 at the Albert Hall. It was attended by a large number of members of the two Societies. | The meeting was opened by the Earl of Ronaldshay, President R.G.S., and the following reports were then made :— THE ORGANISATION AND START OF THE EXPEDITION. By BriIGapIrerR-GENERAL THE Hon. C. G. BRUCE. | FIND that I am down to follow the President of the Royal Geographical Society both in my capacity as President of the Alpine Club and as the original leader of this year’s Expedition. As President of the Alpine Club I consider myself free to offer my warmest congratulations and to express my admiration to Colonel Norton and to the members of the Expedition, for his . (Colonel Norton’s) wonderful leadership, and to all for the

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242 The Organisation and Start of the Expedition. heroic efforts which they all made. I must also express on the part of the Alpine Club the deep sorrow felt for the loss of our two gallant members who made their sacrifice in the most terrific of all mountaineering history. They were two magni- ficent personalities, and have the finest cenotaph in the world, and are worthy of that splendid monument. Speaking now as the original leader of the Expedition, I must pass on to its organisation. Colonel Norton, Captain Bruce, Mr. Shebbeare, and myself found ourselves in Darjeeling in the last days of February. There we found a large collection of porters, both true Tibetans and Sherpas, for us to choose from. We also found local supplies which had been ordered by our excellent agent, Mr. Weathered, all ready for forwarding to Tibet. Our old interpreter and our old headman of porters were also ready to re- engage. Owing to the experience gained on previous expeditions, and our exact knowledge of the geography of the district, and of where the high camps would be placed, it was found possible to earmark our stores for the different camps, so as to save time at our Base Camp. These arrangements were made by Norton and Bruce, and Shebbeare was despatched to Kalimpong to take delivery of the stores and forward them on by our con- tractors into Tibet. All went swimmingly, and as soon as our ‘whole party was collected, which was at the beginning of the last week in March, we were able to set out. We marched in two parties in order not to overcrowd the rest-houses on our route, and collected in the beginning of April in Yatung. Certain arrangements had to be made there, but the party and its entire stores were gathered in Phari by April 5. We were a day earlier than in 1922, but experienced the whole way up an infinitely milder climate. Phari, to our intense relief, and somewhat to our surprise, was almost balmy. There we had rather more than our expected troubles with the local authorities, who are of a peculiarly grasping nature, and had taken the opportunity of putting up the prices of every- thing 25 per cent. over 1922 rates. We had a two days’ battle, and a dramatic finale, when a telegram to the Prime Minister of Tibet reporting their conduct was torn up in their presence as soon as a suitable agreement had been arrived at. We had previously discovered that orders had come from Lhasa direct- Ing every assistance to be given us, but the final collapse of the Phari authorities was both dramatic and amusing.. From Phari began the second stage of the march across Tibet to the Base.- We left Phari on April 7, the main party,

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The Organisation and Start of the Expedition. 248 owing to the curious district restrictions on transport in Tibet, marching via the Dongkar-La to Khamba Dzong, and Major Hingston, Mr. Macdonald, our postal expert, and myself going with a light outfit by the Tuna, Dochen, and Tatsu route. However, I was obliged through illness to relinquish the command of the Expedition at Tuna, and hand it over to Colonel Norton. Disappointing as this step was, it was partially made up to me by the personality of my successor, for no finer or more inspiring leader could have been found, and this is borne out by the manner in which he dealt with the immense difficulties and hardships occasioned by the terrible conditions met with this year. One word about the weather. All through May there was a wave of cold and wet weather over the whole of the Western and Central Himalayas, brought by strong winds from the west, and giving in the Punjab and North-West Provinces almost the lowest temperatures ever experienced for that time of year. These storms and winds had nothing to do with the monsoon, which itself was favourable, in that it was about a week later in arriving in the Eastern Himalayas than is usual. This condition was a thorough bit of bad luck, and very unusual. I think it will be seen that at the time of the final effort on Everest the weather was extremely favourable, which was probably due to the slight delay in the monsoon. With regard to the porters, they had an extraordinarily rough time, but to get so large a percentage as six men who were able to carry loads to the terrific height of 27,000 feet is in itself remarkable, considering the way the men had to be chosen ; for, after all, with the exception of certain old hands, they were picked from a crowd of men who had come for daily labour to Darjeeling. I will leave it to other members of the Expedition to give an account of the personal prowess of its members, but I must draw attention to the results of the Expedition. It is perfectly clear that the summit of Everest can be reached —certainly with oxygen, and in all probability without it—for there is no doubt that the very severe conditions experienced before the weather cleared up left the members of the Exxpedi- tion less fit than they otherwise would have been. We have quite clearly increased the standard of expectation. Who would have thought four years ago that men could climb without oxygen to over 28,000 feet ? Who would have thought that three ascents between 25,000 feet and 27,000 feet would VOL, XXXVL—NO. CCXXIX. R

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244 The Personnel of the Expedition. have been accomplished inside the same week by the same climber ? And who, again, could have forecast that men were to be found who could possibly carry loads to a height of 27,000 feet ? i A slight addition has also been made to the geography of the mountain. The West Rongbuk Glacier and its neighbourhood have been surveyed, and other additions to the map have been made. At the head of the Dzakar Chu another great Himalayan gorge has been further explored. Later on, no doubt, Major Hingston will give an account of his physiological observations on members of the Expedition, and he has brought back also an immense collection of insect and plant life. I will now hand the story on to Colonel Norton, who will tell you about the personnel of the Expedition. THe PERSONNEL OF THE EXPEDITION. By Lievt.-Con. E. F. NORTON. I feel that an account of an expedition which omits some description of the members is a sadly colourless business. I should like to be able to make these men real flesh and blood to you instead of mere lay figures. Unfortunately, the time available is too short for me to hope to do this, even had I the talent, and I must content myself with a very brief introduction. I have an uncomfortable feeling that, as I go on, you will conceal a smile at what you may term a mutual admiration society. I would be the last to suggest that we were a party of little tin saints, but it is a matter of common knowledge that expeditions involving some hardship have a way of bringing out the best that is in every man and of obscuring his faults. In this lies the greatest virtue of such enterprises. It is not my business to-night to talk of the faults. When General Bruce went sick we sustained a loss which— irreparable as the loss of such a leader must be to any expedition —was doubly so in an exceptional year. For it was just in the conditions which we met this year that General Bruce’s well- known influence over our Himalayan personnel might have made so great a difference. Yet it must not be forgotten that we owe him much of what was achieved this year. To him must be given the credit of

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The Personnel of the Expedition. 245 having collected the very strong party we were, for with him rested the last word in the selection of the British members, and it was he who actually chose the oe and other Hima- ‘layan establishment. The very name of Bruce is a charm to ‘conjure with all along the Himalayas, but more particularly in and around Nepal. He it was who, by his treatment of the people of the country, great and small, consolidated the permanent way across Tibet which a Mount Everest expedition now follows so comfortably. I would add that—much as I appreciated the chance of leading this year’s party—no one recognises more than I do what we lost when we lost our leader, and it was with nothing but regret that I got my opportunity under such circumstances. I think every one will agree with me when I say that the first task of an Everest expedition is to get to Mount Everest. So I speak next of the man who virtually took us across Tibet to the mountain, and well up its slopes to the higher glacier camps. Without Geoffrey Bruce’s previous experience and sound advice we should often have been sadly at a loss on our journey to the Base Camp; and, arrived there, it was organisation which established Camps I., IT., and III. in record time. But first and foremost it was Geoffrey Bruce who ran our porters : he it was who disciplined them, who attended to their wants and comforts, and who put heart into them when they were down on their luck. For he is gifted with the power of leadership, inherent in the first instance, and practised in eight consecutive years of war. I think that if our porters were asked to sum him up their verdict would be: ‘ The Captain Sahib is a hard man—but a just. Skrimshanking and malingering are useless with him, and he has an unaccountable lack of sympathy with the common failings of mankind ; perhaps he is a teetotaler. But he knows us and understands us and our language ; when we are really in trouble he is the manto go to. Further, he will never demand of us anything he is not prepared to do himself.’ Bruce is emphatic that he is no mountaineer: then he is a very good imitation of one. Two years ago he established with Captain Finch the world’s record by reaching a height of 27,200 odd feet. This year, when we recast our plans half-way through the campaign, he was selected to go with Mallory on the first attempt as being undoubtedly the fittest and strongest of us. Unfortunately, he temporarily strained his heart carrying into camp (at 25,500 feet) the loads of porters whose

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246 The Personnel of the Expedition. strength failed them short of camp. And so he could take no further part in the high climbing. . To my mind Somervell shares with Mallory the distinction of having been one of the mountain’s two most formidable antagonists. His physical toughness is remarkable: in 1922 he reached a height of nearly 27,000 feet, and was the only one of those who went high to be absolutely unaffected. His holidays in the Alps have always taken the form of climbing one first-class peak per fine day for weeks on end. This year his going power high up was seriously affected by a very bad cough and sore throat—the ‘ high-altitude throat’ which attacked so many. But Somervell has—as had Mallory—a moral reserve on which he draws to make good any physical disabilities, so that it hardly matters whether he is fit or not—he is always fit to go high on Everest; and it was this reserve of determination which carried him this year to the North Col under circum- stances of which you will hear again, and later to a height of 28,000 odd feet without oxygen. Gifted with an exceptionally quick and versatile brain he is a surgeon by profession, an artist and musician in his spare time. One of the most familiar sights on the Expedition was his figure perched on a rock sketching, or, surrounded by itinerant Tibetan musicians, jotting down their music on the back of an envelope. Not the least interesting thing in an interesting personality is that he has deliberately chosen to apply these many talents to the duties of surgeon in a Mission hospital in remote Travancore in preference to a sure success 1n Harley Street. Odell shared one characteristic with Somervell: he ere tised slowly. We did not in time this year draw what may well be the logical inference—that in this, as in other matters, slow is sure. Certain it is that these two slow acclimatisers have achieved more with less physical deterioration than anyone else in our brief record of really high climbing. I feel that Odell was never given the opportunity he should have had this year, and that our chances of success were Peace thereby. Odell’s reputation as a mountaineer and an explorer 1s known to most of you. Being also a scientist and a mechanic, he shared with Irvine the labours and responsibilities of the oxygen apparatus besides organising the important department of high-altitude cooking with Primus or Meta stoves. As a geologist not the least of his achievements was the

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The Personnel of the Expedition. 247 discovery of the long-hoped-for fossils at a height of over 25,000 feet. It was the famous firm of Odell and Irvine which gave so fine a display of the most unselfish team work in a year when team work was a salient feature. I refer to the way in which they created the réle of supporter on the North Col. Having experienced to the full the meaning of such support, I speak with feeling. On its way up the mountain each party was welcomed by the Old Firm, its tents were allotted, it was fed, waited on, and served in every way. I leave you to guess how these attentions were redoubled when the same climbers returned somewhat the worse for wear after going high, and the supporters met them with lights and drinks well on the Everest side of the North Col and took complete charge of the weary party. Odell alone has carried out the last and hardest task of a supporter—the forlorn hope search for a party fatally overdue. ~ If the performance of these duties denied him his chance of the top it gave him another opportunity: it gave him the opportunity of beating all records for continuous climbing at really high altitudes. For in addition to three previous trips from No. III. Camp to the North Col—one successful and two abortive—he, in ten days, did this same climb three times, and went from the North once to 25,500 and twice to 27,000 feet. The astonishing thing about this performance is that he finished up very little the worse for his exertions. The stars in their courses fought against Beetham, and so deprived us of the services high up of a mountaineer of excep- tional speed and endurance. Passing through Sikkim on the outward march he contracted a severe go of dysentery. By sheer determination and force of character he recovered by the time we reached the Base Camp from an illness that would have sent many of us back to the Swedish Mission in Sikkim. Just as he was getting fit again at the Base Camp he was attacked by sciatica and badly crippled. Heartbroken at being out of all that was going on, he got out of bed and, defying doctor’s orders, he struggled ‘dot and carry one’ up to No. ITI. Camp—determined to cook, to carry, to do anything to help the rest of the party. But here it was so evident—despite his sedulous efforts to conceal the fact— that he was a cripple that his brutal leader had to return him to the Base. He contributed the majority of the still photographs this

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248 The Personnel of the Expedition. year, and the public will have the chance of judging the very great success of his efforts in this direction. But his whole heart was above the North Col. I can only say that if an indomitable spirit coupled with every physical qualification of a first-class climber is what we want on Everest, you should hear of Bentley Beetham again. No mountain in the world can stand against the concentrated rage that he will bring to bear on his next attempt. Hazard, like Odell, acclimatised slowly, and that his part in the high climbs was not a greater one may be largely attri- buted to this. He went to 25,500 feet, and, on Irvine’s depar- ture on the last climb, took his place as supporter on the North Col, to which he had already twice escorted convoys of porters. When, heartily sick of the squalor and discomfort of high- altitude tents and feeding, we left the Base Camp for our little holiday among the trees and flowers of the Rongshar Valley, Hazard volunteered to lead a survey party back to the ice and snow of the West Rongbuk Glacier, of which the reconnais- sance was regarded as a task of some importance. Undeterred by the breaking of the monsoon the day after he started, he successfully carried out this operation, and we owe the results achieved to his hardihood, for—with the exception of Beetham, whose photographic skill was needed in the Rongshar—no one else would have volunteered for a prolonging of conditions of which we had had more than enough. Hingston was our doctor and naturalist. The qualities required for a doctor on an expedition of this sort are peculiar. Medical skill is one of them, and Hingston was well qualified in this respect. Far more important are the human qualities of common sense, sympathy, and energy ; the power to detect unerringly the really sick from the fancied sick, the power to enlist the confidence of the simple hill-folk with whom we had to deal. It was the possession of these qualities that made our doctor the right man in the right place. As a naturalist he probably enjoyed the whole Expedition even more than any of us; and when I tell you that his collec- tions include some ten thousand specimens it will give you some idea of his industry and keenness. Livery stone in Tibet was to him a potential gold-mine, for under it might lurk something really fascinating—such as a tick. Hingston professed himself no mountaineer, and I believe he was right in that he has only a limited experience of ordinary snow slopes in the Pamirs, and has done no climbing in the

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The Personnel of the Expedition. 249 Alpine sense. But it was characteristic of his all-round efficiency that he once escorted a blind man down the 2000 feet of formidable ice-cliffs, snow-slopes and glacier between the North Col and No. III. Camp, placing his every footstep and holding him up in complete security in a style that would have done credit to an Alpine guide. Shebbeare is in the Indian Forest Department : his work has taken him much into the foothills of the Himalayas in Bengal ; consequently he talks Nepalese and knows and understands the hill-men. These qualifications helped to make him the valuable transport officer he was. But it was his temperament that made him so great an asset to the party. Not for nothing has he the reputation of being the most popular man in the Darjeeling district, for he is peculiarly gifted with those qualities of good nature, equanimity and sympathy which made him as popular with our porters as with the British members of the party. Hence it was that once he was established as king of Camp II. i/¢ of lines of communication, we never had to give a thought to this department, no less important on an expedition of this nature than in war, while the porters were content in the knowledge that they had a ‘father and a mother ’ in the old * she bear.’ The name of Noel is as familiar to most of you as his work. This year he specialised on the kinema, leaving most of the still photography to Beetham. The results of his most assi- duous labours and of his organising ability will speak for themselves. Itis more of his part as a member of the Expedi- tion that I would speak now. For though he ran his own separate organisation he was out to help the main Expedition in every way, and his arrangements were so detailed and perfect that he was often able to supply us with equipment or man- power when these were most welcome. Even now I cannot think of his little tins of potted meat without emotion. From the loan of a magnesium flare as a distress signal to an offer to act as supporter up to any height, there was nothing he was not ready to do for the furtherance of our schemes. As he is entirely unaffected by cold and hardship, and has a happy gift of hitting it off with the hill-men, he was a most valuable member of the party, apart from his technical skill in his own department. In two years Mallory and I have spent many weeks together in a small tent ; we were friends, and if you share a tent with a friend you get to know him very intimately.

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250 The Personnel of the Expedition. Mallory had an ideal figure for a mountaineer, but it would have made little difference had he been of an inferior build— so entirely did his spirit dominate the flesh: of him might have been written the lines : ‘If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘ Hold on!’’’ A fire burnt in him, and it made him one of the two most formidable antagonists Everest has ever had. He was absolutely determined to conquer the mountain, and no one knows better than I do how, for several months this year, he devoted his whole mind and will to this object. At the same time those who suggest that he may have taken chances to achieve success in his last climb misrepresent him. For equally strong as his will to conquer was his sense of responsibility as leader of a party, and I know that he was prepared—nay, determined—to turn back, however near the summit, if it could not be reached in time to return in safety. To his organising power, his remarkable gift of concentration, his genius for detail, and his true appreciation of the task before us, we owed this year much of our plans and much of our organisation on the mountain. In the mess he afforded a marked contrast to what he was when actively employed: his temperament was singularly esthetic and cultured for such a man of action. Impatient by nature, time had taught him a great patience, and this was one of the things that made it so pleasant to work and plan with him. Such was Mallory. His death leaves us the poorer by a loyal friend, a great mountaineer, and a gallant gentleman. Irvine was once referred to by General Bruce as ‘ our experiment,’ for he was young—twelve years younger than the average age of the party—his mountaineering experience was limited, and he departed from what we considered the true Everest type in being big and strong rather than light and limber. It did not take him long to justify the experiment. If he was young he was a man full grown mentally and physically, and at once took his place with all modesty on equal terms with the rest ; if he was an inexperienced climber he proved one of the fastest of us, and I believe, though I never actually climbed with him, as sure and safe as any. If he was on the heavy side, he was strong and active to a degree.

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Journey through Tibet and Establishment of the High Camps. 251 Mechanically he was a genius: from a broken camp chair to the more complicated valves of the oxygen apparatus, nothing came amiss to him. His tent daily assumed the aspect of a fitter’s shop ; here, until late at night, he would be found hard at work on the oxygen apparatus or doing some job for a friend who had long been tucked into his warm blankets. He was always the willing horse. Selected to take part in the first attempt with oxygen, he was, in our revised plans, relegated to a later attempt, giving place to others who were to try first without oxygen ; as a result he, with Odell, became a supporter on the North Col. He never even hinted at disappointment, but tackled with unselfish energy and his usual enthusiasm the part of cook, or scullion, or nurse to a cripple. That Irvine was loved by all of us for his cheery unselfishness, his camaraderie and his manly qualities goes without saying. It is, perhaps, more significant that he was loved by the porters, not a word of whose language could he speak. Together these two went up the mountain for the last time: higher than ever man has been before they were last seen—one giving a hand to the other, and then—they were seen no more. Could either have wished for a better friend to hold his hand at the crossing into the unknown land beyond ? THE JOURNEY THROUGH TIBET AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HicgH CAMps. By CapraIn GEOFFREY BRUCE, 6ru GuRKuHas. The route taken this year across Tibet was almost identical with that of 1922. The uplands between Phari and Khamba Dzong, particularly the Dongkar-La, were as usual bleak and cold, but with the experience of 1922 behind us we were able to travel in far greater comfort than before. The baggage train consisted again of over 350 animals—yaks, donkeys, and bullocks—changed at each dzong (capital of a district) along our route. This year we had very little difficulty over transport arrangements. Several of the Jongpens we already knew. One and all seemed pleased to see us and to do what they could to help us on our way. . From Khamba Dzong onwards there were no hardships or difficulties to speak of. Evenings, on arrival in camp, were

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252 The Journey through Tibet and the generally spent in oxygen drills, conferences about plans of climbing the mountain, and so on. Beetham was very unlucky in suffering from an attack of dysentery in the early part of the march, but he refused to give in, and by the time we reached the Base Camp he had almost got over it. On April 23 the Expedition arrived at Shekar Dzong. Our old friend, the Jongpen, rode out to meet us, and it was at once obvious that he was ready to give us every assistance. Kiverest itself lies in his district, and it was a very great comfort to know that we had this capable and straightforward man to deal with. Our two days’ stay there was busily spent in arranging with the Jongpen for grain, meat, and fuel to be regularly supplied to the Base Camp during the next two months. He also gave us much personal help in collecting coolies to be used on the glacier in addition to our own specially enlisted porters. These coolies will be mentioned again. Four days later (April 28) we camped at the Rongbuk Monastery, only five miles from the site of our Base Camp. Unfortunately, the Lama was ill and unable to see us or bless the porters as he did on our way through in 1922. We sent the interpreter to him with messages and presents—among the Jatter a yak- load of cement, which he had specially asked for in 1922 for repair work to his monastery. The following day we came to the end of the four and a half weeks’ trek from Darjeeling, having experienced no really unpleasant weather the whole time. But conditions at the Base Camp were quite different. We arrived with snow falling and a bitterly cold wind. We were soon into all the warm clothing we possessed, and then buckled to the task of estab- lishing the camp and sorting out stores and equipment ready to push up the glacier on the morrow. It had been decided to reoccupy the old sites of Nos. I., II. and III. Camps, and to have them established for the first attempt on the summit to take place on May 17. The position and heights of the camps were roughly : Base Camp, 16,500 feet. No. I. Camp, at the junction of the Main Rongbuk and East Rongbuk Glaciers, 17,800 feet. No. II. Camp, half-way up the East Rongbuk Glacier, 19,800 feet. No. III. Camp, on the snowfield at the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier close under the North Peak, 21,000 feet.

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Establishment of the High Camps. 253 Following this, Odell and Hazard were to reconnoitre and construct the route up the North Col. Odell and I were to establish Camp V. and return ; then two simultaneous attempts should start for the summit, made by Norton and Somervell (without oxygen) and by Mallory and Irvine (using oxygen). To this end the tentage, rations, and equipment intended for each camp were selected and put into separate dumps on arrival at the Base, and the four Gurkha N.C.O.’s were entrusted with the important task of establishing Camps I. and II. and, in addition, putting into Camp II. all the loads required for Camps III. and IV., and the high camps on the mountain itself. In order to meet this big demand on porterage and to Save our own men we had, through the good offices of the Shekar Jongpen, started to collect local coolies at Shekar, and continued recruiting them between there and the Rongbuk Monastery. We now had at the Base Camp over 150 of them ready to begin work at once. Their terms were: pay at the rate of four tankas (about one shilling) a day and some rations. They were not to be employed on snow or ice, and requested to be quickly released when the work was done as they had the sowing of their fields to attend to. They undertook to look after themselves as .egards tentage and extra blankets, but, as a matter of fact, they scorned the use of either. On April 80, under better weather conditions, a convoy of 151 Tibetans under three Gurkha N.C.O.’s left the Base Camp for Camp I. Half the Tibetans were to remain in Camp I. and carry up to Camp II. on the next day, while the remainder were to leave their loads in Camp I. and return to the Base Camp for the night. On the following morning we were greeted with the news that of the 75 local coolies at the Base Camp 52 had deserted in the night. This was a very serious matter, and we feared that the Gurkha N.C.O.’s at Camp I. might be experiencing similar trouble. A transport strike at this juncture would effectively cripple our detailed programme, so Norton, Shebbeare, and 1 went up at once to Camp I. to see how they were faring. We were greatly relieved to find that there was no sign of discontent among the Tibetans, and that the N.C.O.’s had everything well in hand and running smoothly. While we were there the first convoy from Camp I. to Camp II. was Just returning. It consisted of men and women. We sat them down in lines and gave them extra rations and a promise of a rise in pay if they completed the establishment of Camp IT. by the following evening. They were delighted and showed no inclination to be off home. One of these coolies—quite an Ne rer $ oar — ws ee

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254 The Journey through Tibet and the elderly woman with grey hair—actually danced a pas seul, although she had just carried a 40-lb. load to Camp II. over rough and difficult ground. Another woman—a mother—had insisted on carrying her lusty baby all the way on the top of her already full load, and now came into camp fresh and smiling. What was more, she and all the others were prepared to sleep again in Camp [., with no tent accommodation or extra blankets, and repeat the performance next day. No more desertions occurred, and by the evening of May 2 we received a message from the Gurkha N.C.O.’s at Camp II. saying that Camps I. and II. were fully stocked as ordered. In these three days over 180 loads were put into Camp II. That evening all the local coolies were given a large feed and paid off, after which they set off towards Rongbuk in high spirits. In the meantime our own Porters Corps was organised for work higher up into two parties of twenty each and a reserve of twelve. Briefly, they were to be utilised as follows: No. 1 Party were to go through with some of the climbers to Camp IIL, establish it, and remain based there for getting the next camp on to the North Col. A day later No. 2 Party were to move into Camp II. for the purpose of working between IT. and III. The reserve were to remain for the time being at the Base Camp. The Gurkha N.C.O.’s were to be in charge of the three camps to see to the feeding and welfare of every one in thém, and to supervise the arrivals and departures of convoys. .The weather had now improved a little, but it was mainly cold and stormy, and the conditions on the mountain looked forbidding. Nevertheless we were able to go forward with the plan. On May 8 Mallory, Odell, Hazard, and Irvine left the Base Camp with No. 1 Party. No. 2 Party started on the 4th under one of the N.C.O.’8; and Norton, Somervell, and Beetham on the 6th. I followed with the reserve party on the 7th, while Shebbeare remained in charge at the Base. Our good luck was not destined to last long. To begin with, poor Beetham, having recovered from his dysentery, now succumbed to a crippling attack of sciatica which finally prevented him getting on to the mountain at all. I reached Camp II. on May 8. There things were far from happy. Most of the No. 1 Party of porters had been unable to remain in Camp III., chiefly owing to the failure of No. 2 Party to carry their loads the whole distance from Camp II. to Camp III. Instead they had made a dump on the glacier below Camp III., and the men in Camp III. did not receive their extra blankets or rations and suffered terribly.

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Establishment of the High Camps. 255 Mallory came down from Camp III. to see Norton, and explained that there had been a temperature of — 22° F. the first night there and very low temperature the next night. The men were all complaining of hardships and looked crest- fallen and weary. The situation was a difficult one, and it was fully realised that the moral of the porters must at all costs be raised. The first step was to send for Shebbeare to come up to Camp II. and take charge. It was essential that there should be an officer at this camp who could speak the language and ensure the safe arrival of convoys into Camp III. It is worthy of note that from the moment Shebbeare came up and established himself as king of No. II. nothing ever again went wrong on the lines of communication. In the meantime Somervell with a few men of the No. 2 Party got off to relieve the food situation at Camp III. The rest of the day was spent by Norton and Mallory in revising the plan, while I endeavoured to put some heart into the men. On the whole the results were good, for on the following morning Norton, Mallory and I with a convoy of twenty-six porters left for Camp ITI. The route over the glacier was somewhat changed from 1922, for instead of crossing the trough we followed along it for quite a distance. Here the scenery was wonderful, but one was in no mood to enjoy it. This part of the glacier is within the ‘ gates of altitude,’ and in addition produces a special brand of lassitude which saps one’s energy and enthusiasm for anything. Fantastic blue pinnacles surrounded us like a forest—some of them gigantic when we entered the trough, getting smaller as we emerged on to the glacier itself. The glacier surface consisted of absolutely smooth ice, varied by depressions and cracks of powdery snow. Snow began to fall shortly after we left Camp II. It continued to fall all day, getting heavier and heavier and finally assuming the proportions of a real blizzard, which was to last for forty-eight hours. The porters at Camp III. were wretched ; the cold was getting at them badly. Many became so apathetic that they would not even attempt to cook food for themselves, although I pushed Primus stoves and oil inside their tents for them. Wind and snow continued that night with unabating violence ; the snow drifted into our tents to a depth of an inch or two, making everything miserably uncomfortable. Morning came and the snow stopped falling, but fallen snow was being hurled along the surface of the glacier by the wind, producing the same effect as a blizzard. Kami, our cook, rose manfully to the

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256 The Journey through Tibet and the occasion, and produced for breakfast, at about 10 a.m., an unrecognisable mess in a Primus stove, followed an hour later by extremely unpalatable tea, which had been brewed in the same greasy pot. Still, it was hot and comforting, and we shall always be grateful to the faithful Kami. We then reviewed the situation, and it was decided that Mallory and Irvine should move down to Camp II. as a tem- porary measure and prepare for the possibility of evacuating altogether should the same weather continue. A message was also sent to stop Noel coming up with his kinema outfit, with which he subsequently obtained remarkable results. During the day Norton and Somervell did an excellent piece of work in braving the blizzard and getting down to the dump with seven- teen porters and bringing up nineteen loads. As evening came on the wind blew still harder in tremendous gusts from every direction; the tents were again filled with snow, and the temperature fell to 89° below freezing-point. Now there was no other course left but the evacuation of the whole line. The porters were in a bad way, the climbers were by no means improving, and in any case the North Col route would have been impracticable for several days. But to evacuate Camp III. was no easy matter, for the porters were all huddled up in their tents, having lost the will to move or even cook for themselves. After compelling them to cook and eat, we turned them out and struck camp, leaving tents, stores, and fuel piled in some kind of order. Then we took to what Colonel Norton has described as ‘ Via Dolorosa,’ first the wind-swept glacier down to Camp II., then the rough miles of the tumbled moraine; withdrawing every man to the Base Camp with a melancholy procession of snow- blind, sick, and frostbitten men being shepherded down by their comrades. But we knew that everything was ready for us to return up the glacier, and only a small amount of high-altitude stores remained to complete Camp III. for the first attempt. How had we all stood Round 1? The British members were in good health and full of optimism. They had all acclimatised themselves up to 21,000 feet. Further, a strong reinforcement had arrived in the shape of Hingston. He had left General Bruce in Gangtok and hastened across Tibet to rejoin us. He was in the nick of time to relieve Somervell of the heavy duties of medical officer. In the Himalayan ranks we ‘were not so fortunate. One man was severely frostbitten in both feet and subsequently died. One man had broken his leg; several had bad attacks of bronchitis, and, worst of all,

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Establishment of the High Camps. 257 the Gurkha N.C.O. Shamsher was in a very serious condition with hemorrhage on the brain. After twenty-four hours’ unconsciousness he died while being carried on a stretcher into the Base Camp. He was a very great loss to the Expedition, and to his regiment, where he undoubtedly had before him a brilliant career. The weather had by now improved, and after even one day’s rest at the Base Camp the men were beginning to look their normal cheery selves again. They were all very keen to pay a visit to the Rongbuk Monastery, five miles down the glacier, and receive the blessing of the Holy Lama, who had now recovered. This was duly arranged to take place on May 15, and was an unqualified success. The Lama conducted an impressive service and sent them away happy and full of courage for further efforts. That evening in the Base Camp the interpreter Karma Paul—a rather vain youth and apt to be a little carried away by his own self-importance—announced that the porters were very pleased that the interpreter and the Colonel Sahib (note the order) had arranged such a good show for them. A feature of the Base Camp about this time was a herd of burhel (wild sheep) which came grazing the scanty tufts of grass right down to our tents. The Lama’s blessings had apparently worked wonders with the weather and the men, so after sundry pieces of reorganisa- tion the advance was resumed, and by May 19 Camp III. was -reoccupied. Round 2 had now begun, and was remarkable for the spirit of team work displayed by everybody and the excellent comradeship which existed through all ranks of the Expedition. On May 20 Norton, Mallory, Somervell, and Odell left Camp III. to reconnoitre the route up to the North Col—that dangerous wall of ice, like a trap set at the foot of the mountain. Just below the slopes it became evident that Somervell was far from fit, and he had reluctantly to return to camp. He told me afterwards that he had taken his temperature the night before and found it to be 104°. It was little short of marvellous how he managed to start at all in the morning. Mallory, too, was suffering from a bad cough, and only his great heart carried him on. However, they succeeded in working out a new route right up to the No. IV. Camp site, designed to be safe from avalanches and satisfactory except for an ice chimney 150 feet high. The old route looked very unsafe and certain to avalanche. They did a fine day’s work and returned to Camp ITI. that evening.

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258 The Journey through Tibet and the On May 21 morning broke warm with a lot of cloud about. Light, dry snow kept falling at intervals. This day the North Col Camp was to be established. Somervell, Hazard, and Irvine got off at 8.80 a.m., with twelve porters, their plan being that Somervell and Irvine should return to Camp III. while Hazard remained in IV. till the next day, when Odell and I would arrive there, stay the night, and then proceed to establish Camp V. At 1 p.m. it began to snow in earnest— very soft, wet snow—and nothing could be seen of the North Col from Camp III. At 6.80 p.m. Somervell and Irvine returned, having left Hazard and his twelve men within easy reach of Camp IV. They told us that they had found the ice chimney too narrow for the majority of loads. Somervell and Irvine had established themselves at the top while Hazard directed operations from below, and all twelve loads were hauled up by rope. It was a tremendous effort, and over two hours were thus spent. | But Fortune had again ceased to smile on us. Snow fell all night and all the following day until 3 p.m. It was quite impossible to do anything but he in our sleeping-sacks and hope for the best. That night (May 22) the temperature fell to 56° of frost—the coldest ever recorded in an Everest expedi- tion. The morning of May 28 was, however, an improvement —a cloudless, briliant day. The wind had dropped, but the alr was keen and cold. Odell and I got off at 9.80 with seven- teen porters bound for Camp IV. The mountain towered _ above us, sharp and clear in every detail. The party was going well and all were in good spirits. At one of the frequent _ short halts on the glacier the men were discussing the mountain and saying how easy it looked toclimb. They asked me whether they would be allowed to go to the top or whether it would be climbed by Sahibs only. Again we were frustrated, for shortly after midday snow started to fall. Instead of a brief hour’s walk to the foot of the Col three hours were required. The slopes of the Col were in a dangerous condition, and we deemed it unsafe to take laden porters on. Accordingly we made a dump at the farthest point reached and retreated to Camp III. At about 5 p.m. Hazard arrived, but with only eight of his party. While he had gone ahead piloting his men along the steep traverse at the top of the Col, four of them had lost their nerve and remained there marooned. This was a terrible situation, especially as it transpired that a load of mixed porters’ rations for Camp IV. had been accidentally dropped over an ice cliff and the marooned party had nothing but

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Establishment of the High Camps. 259 barley meal to eat. Further, conditions all seemed to point to a real monsoon current. Norton therefore decided that while the rest of us were to evacuate Camp III. and get the men back to lower camps, he, Mallory and Somervell were to tackle the arduous and dangerous work of rescuing the four marooned men. Were men ever faced with such a task ? They were themselves far below par, from previous exertions and hardship, Mallory’s cough and Somervell’s throat being really bad. Their chances of being avalanched were consider- able. What if they failed to bring off the rescue? What would they do if they found some of the marooned frostbitten and unable to move? The Sherpa porter is very superstitious. These men might by now have gone off their heads with fright and hurled themselves down the ice-slopes. The porters told me some days later that during their night on the North Col they had distinctly heard the fierce barking of the watch-dogs, guarding the Goddess’ abode. The rescue party can have slept little, thinking over what lay before them and listening to the soft snow falling and lessening their chances of success. They started from Camp III. ' about 7.80 next morning, going so badly that their hopes of accomplishing the rescue were very low. Up the Col they led in turns, and so came to the last traverse. This was covered with fresh snow, which looked as if it might avalanche at any moment. Somervell was now leading. Norton and Mallory - belayed the rope and prepared to hold if Somervell slipped. The four marooned porters were waiting on the other side. It was doubtful whether the rope was long enough. Somervell cut steps all the way across, constantly stopping to lean his head on his arm and cough. He reached the end of the rope and found he was five to ten yards short of the goal. The men must cross to him—with no rope! The first came over safely and proceeded towards Norton and Mallory. Just as the second was joining Somervell the last two men slipped and began to slide towards certain death, but they miraculously pulled up in a few yards. Somervell was now superb, and perfectly cool. He told the two men to remain still whilst he passed the second man back along the rope, joking the while, so that one of the two men sitting shivering on the edge of the ice cliff actually gave a short bark of laughter. They sat like statues. Somervell then drove his axe in up to the head, pulled the rope tight, passed it round his axe, and so made enough rope to reach the men with one arm at full stretch, holding the very end of the rope with the other. He dragged VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. S

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2.60 The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet. them up in turn by the scruff of the neck and passed them along to safety. It was a first-rate performance. It was now 4.30 p.m. One man was badly frostbitten in the hands (he subsequently recovered) and two others slightly in feet and fingers. The men behaved splendidly on the way down, but the rescuers had their work cut out to bring them in. In the chimney, Norton held the full weight of the badly frostbitten man no less than four times, and Mallory and Somervell were, as usual, towers of strength. They reached Camp III. at 8 p.m. It was a gruelling day, but a triumphant success. Meanwhile the second evacuation had taken place, the climbers being distributed at Camps I. and II. So ended Round 2. We came to the conclusion that after all they had gone through only fifteen of our porters would be fit for further efforts at any great heights. These were collected in Camp I. and formed into a corps d’élite, and called the ‘ Tigers.’ On the efforts of this little band our success now very largely depended. It may possibly be thought from this that the Porters Corps as @ whole was a failure. Let there be no mis- understanding on this point. True, the majority had shot their bolt, but they had performed some stupendous feats of carrying, often on several successive days, and under terrible conditions. And as for the * Tigers,’ we never really got to the bottom of what they could do right up to the end. On May 27 a council of war was held in Camp I., and from this point the story will be continued by Colonel Norton, our leader and the inspirer of all our efforts. THe Ciimsp witH Mr. SomERVELL To 28,000 FEET. By Lievt.-Co.. E. F. NORTON. On our arrival at No. I. Camp after our second retreat, it was evident that we must recast our plans. For neither the very reduced number of dependable porters nor the time available before the threatened arrival of the monsoon justified any hopes of carrying out our full original programme. Very briefly, the original plan was an attack on the summit by two parties of two on the same day—one with oxygen from a camp about 26,500 feet, one without from a‘camp about

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The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet. 261 27,300 feet, the parties to act independently but to afford mutual support if necessary. In the event of failure the programme was to be repeated with necessary modifications by the remaining available climbers. Our revised plan was settled after two days’ discussion at No. I. Camp. In this nearly all the party took part. It was decided unanimously to scrap oxygen and to attack the mountain by a series of attempts starting from the North Col on successive fine days, each attempt to consist of two climbers with the irreducible minimum of equipment and porters. Our decision to abandon the oxygen and to climb in parties of two was dictated by the following considerations : As regards the oxygen: Firstly, neither the number of porters on whom we could now count even to reach the North Col, nor the time before the monsoon, which we expected any day, was sufficient to enable the necessary number of oxygen cylinders to be got up, for so far we had got only a few cylinders to a dump half-way up the slopes to the North Col; secondly, the verdict of Odell and Bruce—the only ones so far to test the oxygen apparatus—was very pessimistic as to its effects. As regards the parties of two: Firstly, there being only seven available climbers, the use of parties of three would have cut down the possible number of attempts to two, and it would have been almost impossible to arrange for these to be adequately supported ; secondly, each attempt would have required an extra tent besides other equipment and stores ; thirdly, two men climb more quickly than three. In this connexion it must be remembered that the whole of Mt. Everest above the North Col is an easy rock peak. The sequence of parties decided on was: 1st, Mallory and Bruce ; 2nd, Somervell and myself. Odell and Irvine were to be in support at No. IV. Camp and Hazard at No. III. Camp. The last three were to constitute a reserve for a third attempt. On June 1 Mallory and Bruce started on their attempt from the North Col, where Odell and Irvine were already established. Somervell and I slept that night at No. IV. Camp. On June 2, the weather being still fine, we two started at 6.30 a.m. with six porters, who carried loads of 20 lbs. or slightly less, for No. V. Camp, which Mallory and Bruce had presumably established the day before. No. IV. Camp lay some 200 yards north of the actual Col, to reach which it was necessary to cross a confused jumble of ice and snow cut up by crevasses. Hence you emerge on to the Col and traverse it just below its crest on the farther (or western)

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962 The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet. side. At this point we suddenly found ourselves in shadow and exposed to the full force of the west wind, which blighted us as the first frost of winter blights the dahlias. The whole of this day’s climb and the next was so uneventful that there is little to say about it. We followed the blunt angle which roughly divides the north face of the mountain into two parts. This is known as the North Ridge, and connects the North Col with the North-East Shoulder. The route was familiar to us from our experience of two years — before. The going is all slabby limestone rock at a fairly steep angle, varied by frozen scree with occasional patches of snow, and 1s entirely without difficulty or danger. When descending it is possible, by deviating a few yards, to glissade down on good hard snow for the last 2000 feet above the North Col. After climbing for some time we were much disconcerted to see Mallory, Bruce, and their porters descending to meet us. Their explanation was simple but conclusive. Apparently the wind on the previous day had completely taken the heart out of their porters, and this morning not even Bruce’s influence and command of the language could induce them to go any higher. This breakdown of the first party enabled us to reduce our porters to four, one of whom climbed unladen, as a reserve man. No. V. Camp, where we spent the first night, was pitched a little on the eastern side of the ridge, and so was somewhat sheltered from the west wind. Here, on the morning of June 8, I had some difficulty in inducing three of our four porters to continue the ascent. Their condition had not been improved by the fact that two of them had been injured by a fall of stones, probably. dislodged from the crumbling platform built up for our tent ; one of these men had a nasty gash across the knee-cap. I owe it to the three men who came up to the scratch that you should hear their names. They were Norbu Yshay, Llakpa Chedi, and Semchumbi, the last having the cut knee. All honour to a gallant man. He was lame for two months after. No. VI. Camp was pitched in a cleft in the rock on the actual ridge, and we estimated its height at some 26,800 feet. Its position was dictated principally by Semchumbi’s knee and the necessity for getting the porters down to No. IV. Camp in good time. I have little doubt that, on a future occasion, some im- provement could be made on the heights of both Nos. V. and VI. Camps; this is one of the factors on which I base my confidence in ultimate success.

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The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet. 268 At both Nos. V. and VI. Camps we spent the evening in the hateful routine of high-altitude cooking. It sounds simple. While one member of the party fetches snow from a neighbouring snow-bed his companion gets the cooker going and opens tins of food—such as pemmican, sardines, biscuits, jam, sweets, and tea. More trips to the snow-bed follow to enable thermos flasks to be filled for to-morrow’s breakfast and climb, and for washing up. I can give you no better idea of the conditions in which one works at these altitudes than by telling you that these appar- ently simple operations are most exhausting and call for some determination. We spent very fair nights at both high camps; in fact, I slept really well at No. VI. Camp, which proves that we had learnt something of how to make the best of a high camp since the time, two years before, when four of us spent what I might describe as a most unfair night at 25,000 feet. The first entry in my diary for June 4 is ‘Somervell pretty seedy with throat.’ I have already mentioned this throat trouble; it was much aggravated at these heights by the repeated intake of cold, dry air catching the back of his throat. He was handicapped by this throughout these three days. Late this same evening he very nearly choked, and was only saved by coughing up the obstructing matter along with a lot of blood. That he achieved what he did in this condition was a remarkable performance. We started at 6.40 a.m., having been much delayed by the necessity of boiling snow for breakfast, for our thermos flask had got rid of its cork in the night, and shed its contents inside my sleeping-bag. I have not much to say about ‘he climb, and this not by reason of any dulling of the intellect or memory—for this is, I believe, a myth—but because there is so little to tell. The weather was ideal, with singularly little wind. Even so, clad in two suits of windproof clothing and two sweaters, I found it very cold. Sitting in the sun I shivered so much that I once thought I had fever on me, and took my pulse. I was surprised to find it only some twenty above normal. But against men in oar condition the lack of oxygen was obstacle enough even in such favourable weather. Our pace was lamentably slow; on anything like a steep slope I con- sistently failed to realise my ambition of achieving twenty consecutive steps without pausing on forearm on bent knee, to puff and blow. Somervell’s throat further slowed him down. We had to sit down and rest frequently.

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964 The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet. So long as all went smoothly one achieved some degree of mechanical plodding, but trip or slip and the effort at recovery set one panting furiously to make up for the deficit of oxygen caused by the extra exertion. Step-cutting in the rare patches of hard snow was exhaustive work. After a short distance on limestone scree and a few small snow-beds, we got on to the 1000-foot deep band of yellow sandstone which runs nearly horizontally across the whole face of the mountain. We traversed it diagonally, and headed for the base of the final pyramid, keeping below and roughly parallel to the crest of the north-east ridge all the way. The going on this sandstone band was ahsolutely easy and almost devoid of snow until we approached the big couloir which cuts off the final pyramid from the great eastern shoulder of the mountain. Here, at noon, Somervell finally succumbed to his throat trouble, and I went on alone. I soon got on to much steeper rock as I turned a corner to enter the couloir. The slabs now were very narrow and sloping, like tiles on a roof; they were frequently covered with snow, which here was powdery like coarse salt and concealed without supporting. The general angle was steep enough to make a slip probably fatal. I went very slowly and had more than once to retrace my steps and find another route; my rate of progress was also affected by the fact that I was beginning to see double—a premonitory symptom of snow-blindness, 1 suppose—with the result that by 1 o’clock I was but a short distance on the western or summit side of the big couloir, and perhaps 80 feet higher than where I left Somervell. Here, in the shelter, the powdery snow was thickest, and I was confronted with a steep climb of some 200 feet before I could again traverse to the right and so gain the north face of the final pyramid and an easier gradient. It was obvious I could not reach the summit in time to return in safety, and it was very doubtful if I had the strength to go so far in any case. So I turned back and rejoined Somervell by 2 p.m. The view from the highest point we reached was, to me, disappointing, as is often the view from an aeroplane, for one looked down on all the surrounding mountains and the beauty of their outline was lost. It was a remarkably clear day, and one could detect snow peaks dimly appearing over the northern horizon like little teeth. They must have been hundreds of miles away.

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The Last Climb. 265 The descent was uneventful for me, but very painful for Somervell. Nightfall found us on the big snow-bed a little below No. V. Camp, and the electric torch came into use ; perhaps an hour later I succeeded in making myself heard at No. IV. Camp, whence we soon saw a light coming to meet us, and a voice shouted that they were bringing an oxygen cylinder. I shouted in reply again and again, ‘ We don’t want the d—d oxygen ; we want drink.’ My own throat was not at its best, and I remember how feeble sounded my querulous wail, ‘ We want drink, we want drink,’ losing itself in that vast waste of snow and ice glimmering under the stars. Odell and Mallory met us well above the North Col, and by 9.80 had escorted us into No. IV. Camp, where Irvine was brewing drink for dear life. As we lay in our sleeping-bags that night Mallory told me how he had organised a new attempt with oxygen. He and Bruce had been down to No. III. Camp to try to collect sufficient porters for an attempt on a minimum scale. This they had done by making use of some of the men who had already been to No. V. Camp with them, supplemented by ’ three or four others whom the continuance of fine-weather conditions had brought up to the scratch. Mallory had arranged for Irvine to accompany him, and was prepared to start the next day but one. It will be remembered that Geoffrey Bruce was hors de combat. I was entirely in favour of the plan, which now represented our last chance of success. The following morning I was snow-blind, and took no further part in active operations. So I now leave Odell to tell the story of the final stage in which he played so notable a part. THe Last Cures. By N. E. ODELL. Norton has described only too modestly his and Somervell’s remarkable attempt on the summit and their return to the North Col on June 4, the same day that Mallory and Irvine had come up from Camp III. The latter had climbed the 2000 ft. from Camp. III. to IV. in the fast time of 2} hours, evidently in an endeavour to prove to themselves the efficacy

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266 The Last Climb. of oxygen. June 5 was spent resting at the North Col Camp, Irvine and I meanwhile re-testing and putting final touches to the oxygen apparatus. A few words concerning the nature of Camp IV. and its surroundings may here be applicable. Perched on an ice- ledge in roughly the same position as the camp of 1922, it consisted of four tents. A high wall of ice, rising from the ledge on the western side, gave comforting protection from the prevailing chilling winds from that direction. The ledge was broad enough and long enough to allow comfortable movement all around the tents and leave an ample margin of clean snow for water-supply—a point that concerned me as camp cook. During my period of eleven days’ residence there I experienced all kinds of weather conditions, not the least: remarkable being two days when the sun-temperature at midday was 105° F., while the air-temperature at the same time was only 29°. I shall never forget some of the sunrise effects over the distant sea of peaks to the east, Chomoliénzo and Makalu standing supreme among them. In order to reach the actual saddle of the North Col and the foot of the North Ridge of Mt. Everest it had been necessary in 1922 to make a way from the camp-ledge up towards the ° North Peak, and then back again along the crest of the col. On the occasion of our first reaching the site of IV. on May 20, Mallory and I had forced a rather complicated route from the southern end of the ledge direct up to the col. This route, though a little treacherous from two doubtful snow-bridges, proved to be negotiable until the end. At 8.40 on the morning of June 6, in brilliant weather, Mallory and Irvine left the North Col Camp for Camp V. They took with them five porters carrying provisions and reserve oxygen cylinders. They used oxygen, and, in the opinion of the porters, travelled well. On June 7, when they were going from Camp V. to VI., I went up in support to Camp V. with the one porter that was available. Soon after my arrival Mallory’s four porters arrived from VI., bringing me a message which said that they had used but little oxygen to 27,000 ft., that the weather promised to be perfect for the morrow’s climb, and mentioning he was sorry the cooking- stove had rolled down the mountain side just as they were leaving Camp V.—an occurrence which meant a cold supper and breakfast for me! As Nema, my porter, was suffering from mountain sickness, I sent him down with the four others to the North Col, and having the tent to myself, and a couple

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The Last Climb. 267 of sleeping-bags, I {kept sufficiently warm to sleep well that night. | Next morning broke clear and not unduly cold. After a breakfast of ‘Force’ and a little macaroni and tomatoes, I started my solitary climb to Camp VI., taking with me provisions for that camp in case of need. My plan was to make a rather circuitous route out on to the north face in order to examine the structure of the mountain. Mist soon began to form, and although the wind remained light I found myself immersed now and then in squalls of sleet and light snow. By the glow of light above me I could sometimes see that I was experiencing worse conditions than quite probably Mallory and Irvine were at their higher altitude. At an altitude of about 25,500 ft. I came upon a limestone band which to my joy contained fossils—the first definite forms found on Everest.. I might very briefly refer here to the structure of Everest and its bearing on the problem of climbing it. The lower part of the mountain is formed of a variety of gneisses, and on these rests a mass of rocks, mainly altered limestones, which compose the greater part of its upper half. Here and there have been intruded granitoid rocks, but these are relatively little in amount. The general dip of the series is about 30° northward, and since the slope of this face of the mountain above 25,000 ft. is about 40° to 45°, the effect is to make a series of overlapping slabs nearly parallel with the slope and presenting a number of little cliff faces often up to 50 ft. in height. Trying enough for upward progress, these slabs are often sprinkled to a varying depth with debris from above, and when to this is added freshly fallen snow, the labour and toil of climbing at these altitudes may perhaps be imagined. It is not the technical difficulty so much as the awkwardness of a slope usually not quite steep enough for the use of one’s hands. At about 26,000 ft. I climbed a little crag, which could possibly have been circumvented, but which I decided to tackle direct, more perhaps as a test of my condition than for any other reason. There was, perhaps, 100 ft. of it, and as I reached the top there was a sudden clearing above me and I saw the whole summit ridge and final peak of Everest unveiled. I noticed far away on a snow-slope leading up to the last step but one from the base of the final pyramid a tiny object moving and approaching the rock step. A second object followed, and then the first climbed to the top of the step. As I stood intently watching this dramatic appearance,

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268 The Last Clumb. the scene became enveloped in cloud, and I could not actually be certain that I saw the second figure join the first. I was surprised, above all, to see them so late as this, namely, 12.50, at a point that, according to Mallory’s schedule, should have been reached by 10 a.m. at latest. I could see that they were moving expeditiously, as if endeavouring to make up for lost time. True they were moving one at a time over what was apparently but moderately difficult ground, but one cannot definitely conclude from this that they were roped—an impor- tant consideration in any estimate of what befell them. I had seen that there was a considerable quantity of new snow covering some of the upper rocks near the summit ridge, and this may well have caused delay in the ascent. Burdened as they undoubtedly were with the oxygen apparatus, these snow-covered, debris-sprinkled slabs may have given much trouble. The oxygen apparatus itself may have needed repair or readjustment either before or after they left Camp VLI., and so have delayed them. Or both these factors may have been operative. I continued my way up to Camp VI., and on arrival there, about 2 o’clock, a rather severer blizzard set in and the wind increased. After a short rest I realised it was just possible that, balked by earlier bad weather higher up, Mallory and Irvine might be returning, and the concealed position of Camp VI. would be almost impossible to discover in the blizzard. I remembered also that Mallory had told me in his note that he had left his compass at V., and asked me to retrieve it. So I went out in the direction of the summit, and having scrambled up about 200 ft. and jodelled and whistled mean- while, in case they happened to be within hearing, I then took shelter for a while behind a rock from the driving sleet. After about an hour’s wait, realising that the chances were altogether against their being within call, I found my way back to the tent. As I reached it the storm, which had lasted not more than two hours, blew over and the whole north face of the mountain became bathed in sunshine. The upper crags were visible, but I could see no signs of the party. The little tent at Camp VI. was only just large enough for two, and if I had remained and they had returned, one of us would have had to sleep outside in the open—an altogether hazardous expedient. But apart from this, Mallory had particularly requested me in his last note to return to the North Col, as he specially wished to reach there himself after their climb. Leaving Camp VI., therefore, about 4.80, and going down the North Ridge in quick

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The Last Climb. 269 time, I took to the hard snow near Camp V. and glissaded down to the North Col, reaching the camp at 6.45. That night Hazard’s brew of Maggi soup, made from a mixture of at least 81x varieties, went down really well! I was surprised, though, to find that I was not suffering from thirst—that bugbear of Everest—to anything like the extent I had expected. We watched till late that night for some signs of Mallory and Irvine’s return, or even an indication by flare of distress. Next morning we scrutinised through field-glasses the tiny tents of Camps V. and VI., far up above us, in case they had returned late and had not yet started down. But no move- ment at all could be seen. At noon I decided to go up to Camp V. and on to VI. next day in search, and I arranged a code of signals with Hazard, who remained at the North Col. Two porters came with me and stayed the night at V., but in the morning I had to send them back to the North Col on account of indisposition. It was a bitterly cold night, and we slept little, if at all. Using oxygen, I started off from Camp V., and when within an hour or so of VI. I came to the conclusion that I was deriving but little benefit from the oxygen, which I had only been taking in moderate quantities from the single cylinder that I carried. I switched it off, and experienced none of the feelings of collapse and faintness that one had been led to believe ought to result. On reaching the tent at VI. I found everything as I had left it: the tent had obviously not been touched since I was there two days previously. I dumped the oxygen apparatus and went in search up along the probable route that Mallory and Irvine had taken. There was a bitterly cold west wind, and now and then I had to take shelter behind rocks to restore warmth. After a couple of hours’ search I realised that the chances of finding the missing ones were indeed small on such a vast expanse of crags and broken slabs, and that for any more extensive search towards the final pyramid a further party would have to be organised. I returned only too reluctantly to the tent, and then with considerable exertion dragged the two sleeping-bags up to a precipitous snow patch plastrede on the little crag above the tent. With these sleeping-bags placed against the snow I had arranged with Hazard to signal down to the North Col Camp the results of my search. It needed all my efforts to cut steps out over the snow-slope and then fix the sleeping-bags in position, so boisterous was the wind. But fortunately the signal was seen 4000 ft. below, though the answering signal I could not make out. Closing up the tent and leaving its

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270 | The Last Climb. contents as my friends had left them, I glanced up at the mighty summit above me. It seemed to look down with cold indifference on me, mere puny man, and howl derision in wind-gusts at my petition to yield up its secret, this mystery of my frends. If it were indeed the sacred ground of Chomo- lungma, Goddess Mother of the Mountains, had we violated it ?—was I now violating it? And yet, as I gazed again, there seemed to be something alluring in that towering presence. I was almost fascinated. I realised that no mere mountaineer alone could but be fascinated ; that he who approaches close must ever be led on and, oblivious of all obstacles, seek to reach that most sacred and highest place of all. It seemed that my friends must have been thus enchanted also: for why else should they tarry ? In an effort to suppress my feelings, I turned my gaze downwards to the North Col far below, and I remembered that other of my companions would be anxiously awaiting my return, eager to hear what tidings I carried. Alone and in meditation I slowly commenced my long descent. But it was no place for silent contemplation, for, buffeted -by storm-blasts that seemed to pierce one through, it needed all one’s attention and calculation to negotiate safely the exposed slabs of the ridge and prevent a slip on their debris-sprinkled surfaces. I quickened my pace lower down, but at times found it necessary to seek protection from the biting gale behind rocks and reassure myself that no symptoms of frost-bite were imminent. Hazard had seen me coming and sent his one remaining Sherpa to meet and welcome me at the foot of the ridge. Arrived at the North Col Camp, I was pleased to find a note from Norton and to discover that I had anticipated his wishes that I should return to IV. and not prolong my search on the mountain, seeing that the monsoon seemed likely to break at any moment. Next day Hazard, the porter, and myself, leaving the tents standing, evacuated the North Col Camp and went down in good weather to Camp III., and later in the day with Hingston and Shebbeare to II., reaching the Base Camp on the 12th. I have already mentioned the possible reasons why Mallory and Irvine were so late in reaching the point at which they were last seen—namely, an altitude which Hazard later deter- mined by theodolite to be about 28,230 ft.—and I must now very briefly speculate on the probable causes of their failure to return. They had about 800 ft. of altitude to surmount to reach the top, and, provided no particularly difficult obstacle presented itself on the final pyramid, they should have got there

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The Last Clumb. 271 about 3 to 3.80. This would be three or four hours late on Mallory’s schedule, and hence they would find it almost impos- sible to reach Camp VI. before nightfall, allowing five or six hours for the return. But at the same time it must be remem- bered there was a moon, though it rose rather late, and that evening it was fine and the mountain clear of mist, as far as could be seen. In spite of this they may have missed the way and failed to find Camp VI., and in their overwrought con- dition sought shelter till daylight—a danger that Mallory, experienced mountaineer that he was, would be only too well aware of, but find himself powerless to resist: sleep at that altitude and in that degree of cold would almost certainly prove fatal. : The other possibility is that they met their death by falling. This implies that they were roped together, which need not necessarily be inferred from their observed movements when last seen. It is difficult for one who knew the skill and experi- ence of George Mallory on all kinds and conditions of mountain ground to believe that he fell. Of Sandy Irvine it can be said that, though altogether less experienced than Mallory, he had shown himself to be a natural adept and able to move safely and easily on rock and ice. Such had been my experience of him in Spitsbergen, in Norway, and on our home mountains. - They were hampered, of course, by the oxygen apparatus—a very serious load for climbing with, as Mallory had mentioned in his last note to me. But could such a pair fall, and where, technically, the climbing appeared so easy? Experts never- theless, I fear to remind you, have done so, under stress of circumstances or exhaustion. | It has been suggested that the oxygen apparatus failed and thereby rendered them powerless to return. I cannot accept the validity of this argument; for, from my own personal experience, being deprived of oxygen, at any rate when one has not been using it freely, does not prevent one from con- * tinuing, and least of all from getting down off the mountain. : Mallory in his last note to me said they were using little oxygen, and they hoped to take only two cylinders each from Camp VI. Hence I incline to the view first expressed, that they met their death by being benighted. I know that Mallory had stated he would take no risks in any attempt on the final peak ; but in action the desire to overcome, the craving for victory, may have proved too strong for him. The knowledge of his own proved powers of endurance and those of his companion may have urged him to make a bold bid for the summit. Who

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272 The Last Climb. of us that has wrestled with some Alpine giant, in the teeth of a gale or in a race with the darkness, could hold back when such a victory, such a triumph of human endeavour, was within our grasp ? The question remains: ‘Has Mt. Everest been climbed ?’ It must be left unanswered, for there is no direct evidence. But bearing in mind all the circumstances that I have set out above, and considering their position when last seen, I think there is a strong probability that Mallory and Irvine succeeded. At that I must leave it. A word in regard to the oxygen and the benefit derivable from it. I think that its importance has been exaggerated, and provided one has acclimatised at a sufficiently high altitude, say 22,000 or 23,000 ft., one can do practically as well without it. I am prepared to go further and claim that oxygen used liberally may be regarded as a source of danger, preventing the user from proper acclimatisation and greatly increasing the chances of his collapse if the apparatus break down. My own experience with the present apparatus is that its weight of about 380 lbs., combined with its bulk, quite obviates any advantage to be gained from it. It is interesting in this connexion to Compare Geoffrey Bruce’s opinion in 1922 with his experience of it this year. I believe I am right in saying that he found he derived altogether less benefit from it this year than he expected he would. And this I feel sure was largely due to his higher degree of acclimatisation. An inter- esting physiological point is that all members of the Expedition who had been out previously acclimatised quicker than the newcomers. Finally, I consider that if oxygen be used by a high-climbing party in the future, if only in small quantities or aS an emergency measure, it must be carried in an altogether lighter apparatus. Whether it be available in the gaseous state as at present, or can be carried in the much more con- venient form of a liquid, is a matter for immediate research. But my firm belief is that Everest can be climbed without oxygen.

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Memorial Services in Memory of Men Killed on Mt. Everest. 278 MEMORIAL SERVICES IN MEMory oF THE MEN KILLED on Mt. EvEREsT. A Service in memory of George Herbert Leigh Mallory and Andrew Comyn Irvine was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral on October 17. Besides their relations and close friends, re- presentatives of the King, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Duke of Connaught and Prince Arthur of Con- naught, it was attended by members of the previous Everest expeditions, of the Alpine Club, and of the R.G.5. The following address was delivered by the Right Reverend Henry Luke Paget, D.D., Lord Bishop of Chester: Ps. lxxxiv. 5: ‘ In whose heart are Thy ways.’ Many no doubt know what stands for these words in the Latin Version of the Psalms ; a version used even more largely than ours, and more familiar in its beauty to a vast number of our fellow-Christians—Ascenstones in corde suo disposuit: He has set ascents in his heart ; or, as we should phrase it, He has set his heart on ascents. It meant for the Psalmist no steep or dangerous climb. It meant at most a long and tedious journey, the sort of thing that is a venturesome undertaking to a quiet soul who is at far distance from the Temple and the City of God. But it led him upwards, it led him to the place he wished to reach. Whether in memory or in anticipation, the road was dear to him. He had set his heart on it: he loved the upward path. It was fixed in his affection. Ascensiones in corde suo disposuit. Far different from the attraction of that easy pilgrimage is the Challenge of the heights which has drawn into closest fellow- ship many of those who are here to-day. A great unanimity gives intense significance to your assembling in the House of God. For the lovers of the heights are a brotherhood more intimate, more closely united, more affectionately disposed to one another than almost any other group of men. It is as natural as it is beautiful that before your great meeting this evening you should meet here to remember, as in God’s pre- sence, those whose names are written in your Records in letters of gold. It is not for us timid pedestrians to pretend that we under- stand your love of the heights. But if even from a distance

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274 Memorial Services in Memory of the and from some miserably lower level we have looked from afar upon the mountains, or known the silence of the snowfields, and the widening vision, and the exhilarating keenness of the air and the perfect azure of the skies (and you are good enough to believe that even the humblest climber may breathe the Spirit of the Mountains), can any one wonder at the fascination those mountains have for the real climber, that you have so set in your hearts the love of the heights? Ascenstones in corde suo disposuit. Might it not almost be the motto of the Alpine Club ? It is simply because they both came from our county and diocese of Chester that I am asked to speak to-day. I am bidden, so far as such a thing is possible, to represent the homes from which they come, and those who love them best. They, I am sure, understand and value very highly what you wish to express by your presence. They are grateful to you for it. I got them to tell me something of the boyhood and early years of their glorious sons. In each instance there was the like story of quiet modest strength, of infinite perseverance, of a great and tender love of home, of a transparent purity of heart, of the deep and simple things that make fathers and mothers very thankful and very proud. I wish you could have been with us at Birkenhead, where, nearer home, an assembly not less significant, though it may be less august than this, tried to show love for them and theirs. And as we read what was so lovingly written, with all the eloquence of its reserve, it was not difficult to see in it the presage of what was to follow at Winchester and Shrewsbury, at Oxford and Cambridge, in the Alps and in Spitsbergen, and at last on Mount Everest. It was the same Leigh-Mallory who veiled the grace and brilliancy of his leadership under the im- penetrable cloak of his modesty ; who, when something like disaster occurred insisted on claiming responsibility for it, and when an incredible presence of mind on his part saved the lives of others never let us know that it was he; who reminded us that in a matter like this we are all comrades! Yes, and the same Andrew Irvine who, with all his brilliant, his amazing, his premature attainments as a climber, would laugh as he set himself to the humblest task, or use the splendour of his giant strength to bear the burdens of other men. Ascensiones in corde suo disposuit. Was it only the love of the high mountains that was set in hearts like these? No; but rather that with the love of the mountains was the ascent of spiritual altitudes, splendid peaks of courage and unselfish-

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Men Killed on Mt. Everest. 275 ness and cheerfulness, such as are reached not necessarily by the surefooted and the clear-headed, but always by the com- passionate, the brotherly, and the pure in heart. For indeed the record of Mount Everest may well help men, if not to feel the mystery of the mountain, yet surely to enter more deeply, more reverently, into the spirit of the mountaineer. Thankful as we are for what the Expedition is able to tell us of the way and the attempts and the great achievement and for its marvellous pictures, it 1s perhaps as a human record and a human document that it speaks most clearly and speaks to us in St. Paul’s to-day. The indomitable cheer- fulness, the amazing courage of it, the brotherly kindness and loyalty one to another, the passion for work, the refusal of praise. You have indeed set Ascensiones in our hearts: you have helped us more than you think to seek those things which are above ; Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely and of good report, if there be any manly virtue, if there be any praise, you have helped us to think on these things. George Mallory, Andrew Irvine, lovely and pleasant in their lives, in death were not divided. It seems as though when God means us to learn He is wont to clothe that by which He teaches us in some form of simple and solemn brevity, of which it is hard to mistake or resist the appeal. So it is here! The cloud clears away for a moment and you are allowed to see the two men making steadily and strongly for the summit. That is the last you see of them, and the question as to their reaching the summit is still unanswered ; it will be solved some day. The merciless mountain gives no reply ! But the last ascent, with the beautiful mystery of its great enigma, stands for more than an heroic eifort to climb a moun- tain, even though it be the highest in the world—Sic atur ad _ astra. Think of it how you will: as the ascent by which the kingly spirit goes up to the House of the Lord ; as the ascent through death to endless life; as the ascent by which the men of clean hands and pure hearts ascend into the hill of the Lord and rise up in His Holy Place; as the way He went who said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am ye may be also.’ Lofty designs must end in like effects, Loftily lying leave them ; still loftier than the world suspects Living and dying. For they go indeed from strength to strength ; They have set their hearts on the heights. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. T

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276 Memorial Services in Memory of Men Killed on Mt. Everest. A Service for Mr. Mallory was held at Magdalene College Chapel, Cambridge. The following address was delivered by Mr. A. C. Benson, Master of Magdalene: We must not lightly or tamely question the nght of men to risk their lives for great or glorious or chivalrous ends. Upon that right and upon those risks some of our highest freedoms and privileges have been founded. Moreover, the impulse to risk life for a cause, whether it be an uncalculating swiftness, or a calm survey and acceptance, is a spectacle that evokes instantaneously the most generous admiration of humanity, and kindles the noble desire of imitation. If we require a sanction, the Gospel, which provides many unexpected bless- ings, not only pronounces no blessing on the cautious husband- ing of life, but regards life thus saved as life most irreparably lost. To-day we are confronted by the problem in its most poig- nant and tragic aspect. George Mallory, whom many of us knew, and whom none could know without loving, has lost his life in a great adventure; twice before he had taken the risk, and two years ago his personal achievement was described by the leader of the Expedition as ‘not only the most successful and the most daring feat in high mountaineering yet recorded, but one of the greatest feats of human endurance in any field of activity.’ Yet he who earned this supreme commendation was one of the most modest and least self-conscious of men. He spoke willingly of his own experiences, but he never intro- duced the subject himself, nor showed the smallest desire for recognition. This was, I think, the essence of his wonderful charm, that he was so unconscious of his great personal beauty, his gifts, and his achievements, while his sympathy with those with whom he came in contact, their tastes, their preferences, their opmions, was deep and genuine. He had a great interest in all human questions and causes, in all the beautiful, moving, and civilising elements of life. He shared this freely; he laboured for peace, and thought it the first of duties to bring home, if he could, to others the visions and ideals which he held so dear. He was a great idealist, and the gentle equa- nimity with which he dealt with others grew and increased in him year by year; for in his early days at Cambridge he was _ often both peremptory and argumentative, while in later days he was remarkable for his serenity and bonhomie, and too much in earnest to risk either provoking or being provoked. Indeed, knowing him intimately as I did for twenty years, and

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The Battle with Everest. O77 recognising his stainless purity and simplicity, I say unhesi- tatingly that he had grown larger-minded, more _public- spirited, more unselfish year by year, and, though ever more enthusiastic, he had become at the same time more patient, tolerant, and reasonable. He had lately taken up a post at Cambridge which would have given full scope for his energies, and afforded him exactly the opportunities he most desired. He had established him- self here with great hopefulness and enjoyment, and in the happiest of homes. Our hearts go out in sympathy and sorrow to those nearest and dearest to him, whose loss is better imagined than described. The cutting short of so brave, high-minded, and energetic a life is a tragic mystery, however much we may seek for con- solation. And, indeed, the only victory that the spirit can win in this, as in other grievous catastrophes, is that we should be grateful for a beloved memory and a high example, and acknowledge at every moment a stronger and a higher origin for events than the will which we call our own. Everest: THe Last Cums. Climbing in air too thin for mortal breath These men stood poised on the World’s parapet: Watched by the stars, on the last height they met, Content in Victory, the Kiss of Death. D. W. F. THe BattLeE witH EVEREST. By A HIMALAYAN TRAVELLER. [Reprinted by Permission from the Morning Post of June 24, 1924. | ee attack on Everest has failed again. The first attempt two years ago resulted in the loss of seven Himalayan porters. This year two of the best young English lives have been lost, Is it all worth while? Lives are lost, money is

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278 The Battle with Everest. expended, time, energy, and resource are spent. What object 18 gained ? No mountaineer doubts the value. He has willingly run risks himself, and he knows that it is only through running risks that mountains are climbed. But the value of these efforts 1s not so evident to the general public. Let me explain what it is. | No man will willingly remain for all his days at the foot of a hill without trying to get to the top. Certainly English- men, wherever they travel, when they see a hill ache to be at its summit. The way up Mont Blanc has already been shown by a Frenchman over a hundred years ago, but Englishmen soon found their way to the Caucasus and the Andes and climbed their highest peaks. And not only Englishmen, but also the Italian Duke of Abruzzi, started the assault on the Himalayas. It could not be expected that Englishmen would long resist the challenge which Mt. Everest made to them to climb even its own towering height. Hence these efforts which have been made since 1921 with such ample preparation and careful forethought at headquarters, and such determina- tion, courage, and daring by the climbers on the mountain itself. | One quite tangible and evident result has already been obtained. Physiologists and the medical profession now know much that they would not have known, but for this Expedition, concerning the adaptability of the human body to the con- ditions prevailing at extreme altitudes. Once again it has been shown that, if an organism exerts itself in a given direc- tion, that is brought into being which will enable it to proceed in that direction. The Everest climbers discovered that within certain limits they did gradually get acclimatised to the altitude, and the Himalayan porters were able to carry small loads even to 25,000 ft. Twenty or thirty years ago this last feat would certainly have been ruled out as quite impossible. We do know, therefore, something more of the capacities of the human race, and we do know that those capacities can stretch themselves by exercise. It is not only physical powers, however, that can extend themselves ; the spirit, also by reaching out, can develop itself. The Everest climbers who returned in 1922, came back much more confident than when they started. At the time they set out they were by no means sanguine that the summit could be reached. When they returned, even though they had failed, they were sure that Everest could be conquered,

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The Battle with Everest. 279 This year they went out with that idea sunk deeply into their minds. Owing to the exceptionally severe weather they encountered in the one month during which Everest is open to attack they failed again, but I should be surprised to hear that this year’s Expedition will return believing that Everest is invincible. They will be more acutely aware than before of the risks and dangers which have to be run, but I doubt if they would hold that the summit will never be reached. And when it is eventually reached this will be the gain. . Man will once more have shown his mastery over his physical surroundings. By pitting his endeavour against the material forces of the world he heightens his spirit and sharpens his courage. | The practical value of the endeavour lies also in this fact. For centuries and centuries the Himalayan peoples have lived in the Himalaya looking up at the snowy summits, but never dreaming for a moment of attempting to scale them. The Tibetans are a hardy people, who have lived all their lives at altitudes often of 15,000 and even 16,000 ft. They would naturally be well acclimatised to great heights, but not one of them has ever attempted to ascend any of the really high peaks of the Himalaya. The Nepalese also live within sight of Mt. Everest, and they, too, are a hardy mountain people, yet not even they have essayed to climb either the greatest or any of the lesser peaks. Both the Tibetans and the Nepalese were totally unaware of what they could do until a party of Englishmen came from their island home and showed them that they could even carry loads to 25,000 ft., and that it was reasonably probable that, without loads, they could reach the summit of Everest. They had not attempted, they had not dared; they did not therefore know of what they were capable. It is through this knowledge of our capacities—the capacities both of ourselves and of the Himalayan peoples—that we are able to do so much more in the Himalaya. We move troops about with very much greater freedom than we believed possible thirty or forty years ago. And not only troops, but civilians, men and women, move about the Himalaya in a way that only surveyors thought of a generation ago. With this benefit they get that same enjoyment out of life that hundreds of thousands now get who visit the Alps every year. They will see the beauties which the Himalaya alone have to offer. For with the difference in scale goes the difference in

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280 The Battle with Everest. beauty and grandeur. It is not merely that the Himalayan peaks are so much higher than the Alps. When you are deep among them this additional stature gives them a difference in quality. The Himalaya possess a greater sternness and austerity which can only be seen and appreciated by those who live among them. The advent of the English with their spirit of adventure has awakened the native races to a consciousness of their surroundings. Expeditions to these regions benefit the English themselves, by keeping alive the spirit of ambition and endeavour, apart from the pleasure which they naturally derive from matching their brains and sinews against the forces of Nature, and feasting their eyes on the grandest spectacle that Nature has to offer. In the days of peace England will always hold some who are not content with humdrum routine and soft living. The spirit which animated the attacks on Everest is the same as that which has prompted arctic and other expeditions, and in earlier times led to the formation of the Empire itself. Who shall say that any of its manifestations are not worth while ? Who shall say that its inspiration has not a far- reaching influence on the race? It is certain that it would grow rusty with disuse, and expeditions like the attempt to scale Everest serve to whet the sword of ambition and courage. Three British lives have already been lost in these attempts on Mt. Everest. In the first expedition a Scotsman, Kellas, who had devoted years of his life to climbing Himalayan peaks, succumbed when within sight of this mountain which it was his highest ambition to ascend. He was worn through with the hardships that he had put himself to endure. And now Mallory and Irvine are gone. But they have left behind them a tradition of high endeavour—of high endeavour not merely in mountaineering, but in every branch of human activity—which can never be lost. And not only this. If there is one thing more evident than another in the story of Mt. Everest it 1s the chivalrous spirit that has been shown. All have realised that it is only by pulling together, by working as a whole, that they will ever attain their object. And there are few more chivalrous feats, . or more heroic, in the history of mountaineering than the rescue by Norton, Mallory, and Somervell of those four porters, who, through their lack of nerve, had been marooned on the North Col. There had been heavy snowfall, and the condi- tions were so dangerous that a single slip or the least error of

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 281 judgment in selecting a line must have meant instant disaster. But these three took the risk and safely brought the porters down. . So if Everest, as Mallory said prophetically in his last dispatch, “ shows no mercy,’ at any rate it draws out chivalry from those who battle with her. And if we sum up all that men. and women have felt the whole world over on hearing of the fight with Mt. Everest, he would be foolish indeed who said that those lives have been lost in vain. TeEN WEEKS IN THE SOUTHERN ALPs oF NEw ZEALAND. By H. E. L. PORTER. HE best investment I ever made was the purchase of a complete set of the ALPINE JouRNAL. I know no more fascinating occupation for the long winter evenings than the study of it from end to end. It was due to such a course of reading, reinforced by excursions into the writings of Harper, Mannering, Ross, and Miss Du Faur, that what had been for years ahazy aspiration to visit the Southern Alps some time was trans- formed into a definite resolution to do so at the earliest possible moment. Even from photographs one can realise the amazing beauty of the Tasman glacier and its flanking mountains, the giant bulk of Aorangi, the icy chastity of Mt. Tasman, the superb symmetry of Ehe de Beaumont and its satellites, and the buttressed strength of Malte Brun. The appetite for novelty is also whetted by the Alice-in- Wonderland fauna and flora—mysterious bird-names such as kiwi, weka and kea, and speculations as to the nature of such plants as the vegetable- sheep and the Spaniard. Before starting out I had made certain of a companion in Hugh Chambers, an enthusiastic New Zealand member of the Club, who unites an exhaustive knowledge of all that has been achieved there in the past with a keen eye for future possi- bilities. With him to look after me, all the difficulties that beset a stranger in a strange land vanished: no days were wasted or time lost through ignorance of where to go and what to do; but unluckily the weather seldom relented in the five weeks we were together. | : After provisioning ourselves on a lavish scale in Christchurch, we opened our campaign on December 15 up the Rangitata,

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982 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand one of several big rivers which deploy on to the Canterbury plains through narrow gorges, above which they expand into wide flats, where the old glacial bed, to judge by the contours, is buried under hundreds of feet of shingle. The head of the Rangitata leads over to the Godley glacier, and has hardly been visited since Dennistoun did his exploration there. Our objective was a range some distance below the head, named after its highest and most prominent peak, the Two Thumbs: this double-headed peak looks most attractive from the express as one travels south, and would certainly have been climbed long ago if it had been a little more accessible. Chambers had had an eye on it for some time, and had actually had a shot at it the year before with Clive Barker, a novice ; after much hard work they had been robbed of success, largely by the weather. They were both keen to try again, and as for me, who had never even seen a virgin peak above the snow-line, the prospect made my mouth water. | We left Barker’s home at Woodbury in a hired car, which carried us and our stores some forty miles up the valley over a villainous road to Ben Macleod, a station owned by a cousin of Barker’s, who fed and housed us, lent us horses and harness and cart, and generally smoothed our way for the task of getting into position to attack the mountain, a task more laborious than the actual ascent. As it was a busy time of year with the sheep musterers, no one was available to look after the horses while we were climbing: we concentrated therefore first on another virgin peak, named Alma, which was easier to get at. The spring-cart was loaded up; Barker drove, I acted as balancer, and Chambers rode behind. After eight miles we looked in for morning tea at Mesopotamia, the next and last station up the valley, once owned by Samuel Butler: it was the mystery of the unexplored valley and its remote, impassable gorges that inspired the scenery of the opening chapters of ‘Erewhon. After tea and a chat with the manager, we bumped and jolted over shingle and through numerous creeks for another eight miles to a musterers’ hut at the foot of Alma Creek. Having corralled the horses and shouldered heavy swags, we ascended the creek without undue difficulty for three hours to the highest patch of ribbonwood, and set up our little green tent. The night was cold, and one blanket apiece served only to em- phasise the fact. The next day was windy and bleak, but good enough for the ascent. The climb involved nothing but simple snow and rock, and at 9.15 I stood on my first untrodden summit. Imagine my chagrin when we spotted, neatly piled on the exact

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 2838 top, the bones of a defunct rabbit! Anticipated by a rabbit ! —never: it had clearly been carried there by a bird of prey ; anyhow it was soon decently interred beneath a mighty cairn, and happily forgotten. We saw nothing, and the cold speedily drove us down. The chief interest of the day was the discovery of a considerable error in the map: Alma proved to be on the main divide of the Two Thumb range, whereas the map placed it a mile off on a subsidiary spur. We were also intrigued by finding a huge square hole in the bed of the valley below the snow-line ; it was quite fresh, and the earth was splashed several feet away equally all round, so whatever made it must have come from directly above or beneath. We got back to the bivouac in just over eight hours from the start, and went on, after a meal, to the hut, rain setting in for the night shortly after. It cleared by 10 a.m., and we set to work to catch and harness the horses—that is to say, Chambers and I offered advice, while Barker, being young and competent, did the work. Eventually we got the charger into the trap, and the trap- horse under the riding-saddle: the first animal was clearly going to resent the impertinence, but imminent disaster was averted by prompt action. The next day, with the assistance of Barker’s cousin, we made an abortive attempt to force horses up Black Birch Creek, which leads out of the main valley in the direction of the Two Thumbs, and were driven back to our base, depressed by our failure and a furious nor’ wester. On December 21 we returned to the charge with different tactics. Our host had a nimble and sure-footed pony, whose life he was willing to risk in such a good cause: our require- ments, reduced to the uttermost, were packed into two sacks, and, with the pony carrying them, we set off in the teeth of the fierce gale, against which progress could be made only by leaning at a ridiculous angle, to climb the interminable tussock- clad slopes of Mt. Brabazon (5879 ft.). Luckily, as we mounted, the wind decreased. Near the top we saw some fine specimens of the vegetable-sheep, a cushion plant of the Daisy family which, seen at a distance of some yards and in a dim light, might easily be mistaken for a resting ewe. On the far side we had first to traverse and then to descend a long succession of screes of all consistencies and sizes. Barker was, of course, deputed to lead the pony, and by the combination of his agility and judgment with its sure feet, aided to some extent by Chambers and me, who shouldered the sacks for the last 1000 ft. of straight descent, the whole outfit reached the bed of Black Birch Creek above the impasse and a couple of miles below

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284 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. the musterers’ hut where we were to spend the night. It was: not much of a place, but we had brought with us a big tent-fly to cover the roofless portion of our palace, and we had a fine struggle with the playful wind before we got it in position. There was plenty of firewood, but, as so often happens, nothing to cut it with, until the deficiency was made good by our versa- tilesteed. In front of the hut, when we arrived, was a luxuriant growth of long snow-grass: the pony was small but ravenous, and within an hour or two had turned the jungle into a lawn, reposing on the centre of which lay the missing chopper. With the aid of some moth-eaten blankets we had quite'a warm sleep that night, somewhat interrupted by our horse, who would sneeze the quarter-hours throughout the night. Off at 5.20 next morning, we ascended a lateral creek for some miles of fair going, and then stumbled over a vast moraine, very reminis- cent of the Dauphiné. At the head of this we paused to select our route. We could either ascend easy snow to the col between the two peaks, and attack what were known to be steep and probably difficult rocks up to the Big Thumb, or make nearly certain of the big peak by working away to the left and mounting the 8.E. flank of the mountain by snow and rocks on to the main §. aréte. The first route, if successful, would give us the Little Thumb as well, for Chambers had been some way up it from the col last year and knew it would go ; but as the party was untrained, and its cohesion doubtful, we took the easier alternative. The ascent, without providing any thrills, was interesting all the way: unlike that of Alma, it required some knowledge of snowcraft and route-finding. We arrived on the summit (8888 ft.) hopeful of seeing the giants to the west, but the nor’wester was still discharging its venom on the main divide, robbing us of a unique view. We built a cairn and prospected a bit on the ridge leading to the col, and then returned in our tracks. We got back to the hut about 6 p.m.; to our relief the pony was still visible and still eating, and the fly was still defying the wind. Next day we returned to Ben Macleod, having completed our programme, watching without disgust new snow enveloping the hills we had just left. Out of the eight days we spent in the valley only two were at all fit for climbing ; on each occasion we were fortunate enough to be in position to attack on the right day. Well satisfied with the auspicious opening of our season, we transferred ourselves to the Hermitage, a Chamonix, Zermatt, and Grindelwald all rolled into one house. At the end of the year it is terribly crowded, and my first impressions were not

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 286 favourable. But, once the big rush was over, I found it a delightful spot, and enjoyed every minute of my long stay there. Good food, good service, and unlimited hot water never failed ; while all concerned in the management took keen interest in climbers and their plans, and paid unwearying attention to their comfort and safety. We escaped after one wet and noisy day to the quiet of the Malte Brun hut. I shall not easily forget my first walk up the Tasman glacier at dawn on a fine still morning: it is all the more wonderful by con- trast with the approach from the Hermitage up the Tasman flat and lateral moraine, which takes four hours, and is not very interesting after the first novelty has worn off. The next day Chambers and I ascended Mt. Darwin, a fine peak of 9715 ft. separating the Darwin glacier from the upper reaches of the Tasman, where it makes its great bend to the east. It bears a remarkable resemblance to a recumbent lion. The ridge 1s gained easily by the glacier slopes on its N. flank, and is followed to the summit. Our day on it was not wholly successful : soon after leaving the hut, Barker sat on his ice- axe, spiked himself and had to retire ; Chambers felt thoroughly ill all day, and only persevered for my sake ; there was a strong _ wind and much new snow. We got to the second peak some fifty feet below the highest point and half an hour from it, and then retreated. That was on December 81. The next eighteen days were a complete blank. The first four we spent stormbound in the Malte Brun hut, consoling ourselves with experiments in cookery, provisions being plentiful and various, and the reflection that we were better off there than in a crowded hotel. A few days later we were again detained for three days in the Hooker hut: a pocket edition of Hamlet was our only literature, and we amused ourselves by finding topical allusions in it. Some were far-fetched, but one was distinctly happy: ‘I am but mad north-north-west,’ says Hamlet. ‘ When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.’ We were also distinctly envious of Mercury ‘new-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill.’ One wet day in desperation we volunteered to help at road-mending, where the swollen creeks had washed away the track. In idea the day was to be a picnic; in actual fact it was a long and strenuous struggle to get various vehicles ranging from private cars to a 4-ton lorry to their destination—a struggle in which the total available man-power and engine-power were barely sufficient to secure an moons victory by midnight. a

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284 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. the musterers’ hut where we were to spend the night. It was not much of a place, but we had brought with us a big tent-fly to cover the roofless portion of our palace, and we had a fine struggle with the playful wind before we got it in position. There was plenty of firewood, but, as so often happens, nothing to cut it with, until the deficiency was made good by our versa- tilesteed. In front of the hut, when we arrived, was a luxuriant growth of long snow-grass : the pony was small but ravenous, and within an hour or two had turned the jungle into a lawn, reposing on the centre of which lay the missing chopper. With the aid of some moth-eaten blankets we had quite'a warm sleep that night, somewhat interrupted by our horse, who would sneeze the quarter-hours throughout the night. Off at 5.20 next morning, we ascended a lateral creek for some miles of fair going, and then stumbled over a vast moraine, very reminis- cent of the Dauphiné. At the head of this we paused to select our route. We could either ascend easy snow to the col between the two peaks, and attack what were known to be steep and probably difficult rocks up to the Big Thumb, or make nearly certain of the big peak by working away to the left and mounting the 8.E. flank of the mountain by snow and rocks on to the main §. aréte. The first route, if successful, would give us the Little Thumb as well, for Chambers had been some way up it from the col last year and knew it would go; but as the party was untrained, and its cohesion doubtful, we took the easier alternative. The ascent, without providing any thrills, was interesting all the way: unlike that of Alma, it required some knowledge of snowcraft and route-finding. We arrived on the summit (8838 ft.) hopeful of seeing the giants to the west, but the nor’wester was still discharging its venom on the main divide, robbing us of a unique view. We built a cairn and prospected a bit on the ridge leading to the col, and then returned in our tracks. We got back to the hut about 6 p.M.; to our relief the pony was still visible and still eating, and the fly was still defying the wind. Next day we returned to Ben Macleod, having completed our programme, watching without disgust new snow enveloping the hills we had just left. Out of the eight days we spent in the valley only two were at all fit for climbing ; on each occasion we were fortunate enough to be in position to attack on the night day. Well satisfied with the auspicious opening of our season, we transferred ourselves to the Hermitage, a Chamonix, Zermatt, and Grindelwald all rolled into one house. At the end of the year it is terribly crowded, and my first impressions were not

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 286 favourable. But, once the big rush was over, I found it a delightful spot, and enjoyed every minute of my long stay there. Good food, good service, and unlimited hot water never failed ; while all concerned in the management took keen interest in climbers and their plans, and paid unwearying attention to their comfort and safety. We escaped after one wet and noisy day to the quiet of the Malte Brun hut. I shall not easily forget my first walk up the Tasman glacier at dawn on a fine still morning: it is all the more wonderful by con- trast with the approach from the Hermitage up the Tasman flat and lateral moraine, which takes four hours, and is not very interesting after the first novelty has worn off. The next day Chambers and I ascended Mt. Darwin, a fine peak of 9715 ft. separating the Darwin glacier from the upper reaches of the Tasman, where it makes its great bend to the east. It bears a remarkable resemblance to a recumbent lion. The ridge 1s gained easily by the glacier slopes on its N. flank, and is followed to the summit. Our day on it was not wholly successful : soon after leaving the hut, Barker sat on his ice- axe, spiked himself and had to retire ; Chambers felt thoroughly ill all day, and only persevered for my sake ; there was a strong wind and much new snow. We got to the second peak some fifty feet below the highest point and half an hour from it, and then retreated. That was on December 31. The next eighteen days were a complete blank. The first four we spent stormbound in the Malte Brun hut, consoling ourselves with experiments in cookery, provisions being plentiful and various, and the reflection that we were better off there than in a crowded hotel. A few days later we were again detained for three days in the Hooker hut: a pocket edition of Hamlet was our only literature, and we amused ourselves by finding topical allusions in it. Some were far-fetched, but one was distinctly happy: ‘I am but mad north-north-west,’ says Hamlet. ‘ When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.’ We were also distinctly envious of Mercury ‘new-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill.” One wet day in desperation we volunteered to help at road-mending, where the swollen creeks had washed away the track. In idea the day was to be a picnic; in actual fact it was a long and strenuous struggle to get various vehicles ranging from private cars to a 4-ton lorry to their destination—a struggle in which the total available man-power and engine-power were barely sufficient to secure an moompicte victory by midnight. |

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986 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. At last, on January 17, we started once more up the Tasman. On the 18th we found the vicinity of the Malte Brun hut swathed in a blanket of new snow several inches deep. Peaks seemed out of the question for a day or two, and we decided to spend the 19th playing about on the Malte Brun glacier. An early start being pointless for this purpose, we got off at 6.30 with provision for one meal. At 1.15 we were sitting, rather to our own surprise, some ten feet above the top of the mountain, the just visible cairn being buried under that depth of snow. At intervals as we sped up the glacier, crossing a lot of fresh avalanche stuff, we agreed it would be folly to per- severe too long; but when we got in full sight of the N.W. ndge, which is the usual line of ascent, and saw that it was miraculously black (or rather red, the rock being a warm red sandstone), no more was said and on we went. The first ascent of this route is vividly narrated in Miss Du Faur’s book, and I will only add a few general impressions. Below the ridge there is no real difficulty, provided you know the best line to take. The ridge itself is wholly delightful, being splendidly firm till the final rise; and the famous 70-ft. knife-edge is as sensational a place as I know. It 18 often taken straddlewise—a method which looks and probably is painful; but it can be crossed swiftly and pleasurably with hands on top and toes skimming from nick to nick three feet below. In technical difficulty, however, it is not in the same class as the acrobatic routes on the Chamonix aiguilles. We would have liked to have made the first guideless traverse of the mountain, but it was late and Chambers had not been on the other route ; so, after munching an iron ration of a couple of figs and gingernuts, we returned as we came, getting in with the help of a glorious full moon just as night came on at 8.45. This expedition gave the coup de grdce to one of Chambers’s ankles, which he had ricked some days before. While he rested it, Barker and I set out at 4.80 on the 21st to have a look at Mt. Haeckel (9649 ft.). This mountain had been ascended only twice, in 1912 by the late Captain Head with Clarke and Murphy, and in 1914 by Mr. Frind with Conrad Kain. Both these parties had gone, by slightly different routes, to the col between Haeckel and Hamilton, and thence climbed the §.W. ridge to the top: both had commented severely on the extreme rottenness of the rock, and since then the ascent had been left alone. I had looked at it with some interest from the ridge of Darwin, and now had another good view of it, as we walked up the level Darwin glacier, the head

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‘UO]IWeET “IW Wolly UsyB], YaIOVID NOSIHOWNW AXLNAD NI “1AMOAVH “LW LAAT NO {LOIMLSIG HOOD ‘LW AO *N ‘Lda O00Q LNOAV SNVAd AO VAS gh uruoaYy J ‘d : 010d

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 287 of which it blocks. It seemed to me that a perfectly safe and probably shorter route could be made if one could get on to the Upper Darwin glacier above the ice-fall, which from here looked quite impossible, and after crossing it ascend a large square snowfield, connecting with the N. bank of the glacier; from the top of this we could certainly mount to the ridge at a con- spicuous patch of black rocks, well above the steep and serrated part of the ridge with the evil reputation. The first requisite was a sound route on to the upper glacier above the fall. Between it and the Bonney glacier a steepish 500-ft. snow-couloir runs up into the spurs of Hamilton: there were stones at the bottom of it; but not enough to deter one from using it in the early morning. After I had kicked and cut up it, an easy traverse on scree and snow took us from its head exactly where we wanted to be, and before very long we had reached a long rib of rock, which divides the upper glacier into approximately equal halves. Having breakfasted here from 7.80 to 8, we continued our traverse across the glacier, upwards and to the left, till we reached the schrund which guarded the square snowfield mentioned above. Its one weak point speedily proved fatal to it, but the snow above had its revenge by turning into ice and forcing me to ply the axe for ninety minutes on end. The black patch on the ridge was a dark and rotten shale, whose thin spiky laminae, turned up on edge, cut like a knife, if handled carelessly. This stratum reappears in other parts of the range, and I fancy a geologist who traced its ramifications and measured its angles might get a good insight into the nature of the folding hereabouts. The section of the ridge above the black patch was quite reasonably sound, and caused no anxiety at all. By 10.40 we were on the top. The day was unusually calm, and a superb panorama spread out on every side.. Away in the east the Two Thumbs greeted us familiarly ; in the middle distance that fine but rather inaccessible peak, d’Archiac, loomed tremendous; while an en- trancing sea of unclimbed and almost uncharted peaks chained our eyes to the north. The descent by the same route went without a hitch: we only deviated from it at the breakfast- rocks ; while we boiled the billy for tea, I was amazed to see a clear way through the ice-fall on to the level glacier below, one Immense crevasse being completely choked by old avalanche snow ; this discovery eliminated the long couloir, which might have been unpleasant in the afternoon. We were back at 5.10, so early that Chambers thought we must have been up Hamilton, its popular right-hand neighbour, full directions for which he

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288 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. had given us, in case we did not like the look of Haeckel on closer acquaintance. On the way down the glacier next day we were puzzled to account for two well-scored parallel ruts, about eight feet apart, running evenly in the direction of the flow, heedless of crevasses, for quite a long distance, for all the world as if the glacier-god had been driving his dragon-chariot on a tour of inspection of his icy domains. Barker left me a few days later after a joyous traverse of Mt. Montgomery at the head of the Miiller glacier. My next expedition was with the chief guide, Frank Milne, with whom I was to have several delightful and strenuous days later. Our alm was to conquer the virgin Unicorn (8894 ft.) on the Banks Range, which diverges from the main divide at Mt. Beatrice towards the S.W. Unicorn can only be reached from this side over the corpse of the two-headed Dilemma, the first peak of the range, climbed by Kain and Fyfe in 1914. On its W. side Dilemma breaks away in slabs of formidable appearance but unknown difficulty, and these were likely to be the crux of the venture. We left the Hooker hut at 3.20 on the 28th, and struck up almost at once on the rock-rib next to that used in the ascent of the Copland Pass. Where this merged into a steep wall, we sidled along a line of weakness where two strata met, and by a short descent reached ice. On this we traversed the flank of Raureka and in due course found our- selves on the divide within a few minutes of Beatrice. This interesting route, devised for the occasion by Milne, is an ingenious improvement on that previously taken, which follows the stony wilderness of the Hooker moraines for an hour or two before striking up. The two peaks of Dilemma were soon vanquished, though we lost half an hour by trying to turn a big gendarme between the horns, instead of chmbing a crack straight up it. At 9.45 we were looking down the 400 ft. of slabs, which were the only remaining obstacle between us and our goal. <A discerning eye could see at a glance that their uncompromising appearance was mainly camouflage— anyhow, in the upper 250 ft.; the lower part was steeper and barely visible from the top. A series of little felspar ribbons, projecting an inch or two from the greywacke, gave sufficient foothold, and occasional shallow cracks were helpful ; half an hour took us to the col, and twenty minutes later we stood on the untrodden head of the Unicorn. A horn was speedily added to the fabulous monster in the only available spot, a niche a foot or so below the razor-back top. From our eyrie

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Ten Weeks wn the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 289 the slabs of Dilemma looked rather like those rocks in the Odyssey where Scylla dwelt: ‘No mortal man may scale the cliff or set foot thereon, not though he had twenty hands and feet. For the rock is smooth and sheer, as it were polished.’ Foolishly I had chosen to fill my pockets with delicacies, when we left our sacks at breakfast, to the exclusion of my camera, and so missed an impressive photograph. Returning at leisure, we paused to study the W. face of Mt. Cook, for which purpose Dilemma is an ideal view-point. The whole expedition took 12} hours, the homeward journey being accelerated by some long glissades. On February 8, I traversed Mt. Sealy by the EK. aréte and S.W. face in company with Professor and Mrs. Algie, a pair so delightfully enthusiastic about mountains that you might almost say that their avocation is professing Law at Auckland University and their profession scaling the Southern Alps at the Hermitage. They had very kindly consented to my join- ing their party on their next attempt on Mt. Cook, and while the latter was discarding some of its superfluous snow, we took the opportunity of a fine day to see how we got on together on @ rope on a fairly easy mountain. The expedition was a com- plete success: the KE. aréte is a jolly rock-ridge with an awe- inspiring precipice on the §. side, looking down into a branch of the Dobson valley ; and the 8.W. face provides some practice in step-cutting downhill. On the morrow we three were escorted by Jim Stout to the Ball hut, where he kept us in fits of laughter by his flow of anecdote on episodes in his climbing career: Milne and Williams went right through to stamp out a track up the Linda. The next night we had all forgathered in the Haast hut. We started at 1.20 on the 6th on two ropes, Milne being responsible for the Professor and me, while Williams and Stout came behind with Mrs. Algie. By 4, when the lanterns were put out, we were far up the Linda glacier, and reached the foot of the summit rocks at 6. At 7.15 we paused for a meal on the highest rock, and gazed with some awe at the 800 ft. of ice-cap above us. Up the first 800 ft. of this Milne cut regular soup-plates, and then traversed under the schrund to the Hooker aréte, which lies at a gentler angle and saves much labour. From 10.45 to 11.5 we sat in a row on the level edge of the summit, eating the imevitable pineapple and drinking in the view of the world beneath us. The hut was regained at 5 without any incident worth recording, our time of 15 hours 40 minutes being the third fastest on this route,

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290 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. The Linda route has not the best of reputations, and a short critique of the various alternatives to the highest point might be useful. A clear description of the routes themselves is given by Mr. Newton in ‘A.J.’ xxix. 12, 18, with magnificent illustrations. (1) The Linda route. Since its first completion by Messrs. Chambers and Wright with Murphy and Clarke in 1912, sixteen parties have been to the top of the mountain: the Linda route has been used by these ten times on the ascent and no less than fifteen times on the descent. (2) The N.K. Ridge, Zurbriggen’s route, has not been followed to the end since 1906, its extra length and difficulty more than counteracting its advantage in point of safety. (3) Earle’s route by the W. aréte from the Hooker side, said to be the easiest and certainly the shortest way to the summit, suffers from several drawbacks. The Hooker glacier is inconceivably broken, and generally impassable by February, the usual month for the ascent : in this case the fall has to be circumvented by the Pudding Rock, which is by no means child’s play : carrying 40 to 50 lb. swags up it for a comfortless bivouac on an unsheltered slab, exposed to the first arrows of an advancing nor’wester, is hardly the best preparation for a tussle with a really formidable mountain. Things will be better when Milne gets the promised shelter-bivouac erected, a serious undertaking, but one which with his very willing staff of guides, his own energy, and the encouragement of Mr. Wigley may be put through any time. But apart from that, the steep rocks, by which the ascent is made, though of excellent quality when free from ice, face the full fury of the oceanic storms, and can only be tackled in an exceptional season. This year up to the middle of February they were one mass of- repulsive, bulging ice in the higher sections. (4) Fyfe’s couloir to Green’s saddle is a very evil place, one of those stone-raked abominations which make a prudent man sweat to look at, even in mid-winter. (5) The Grand Traverse along all three peaks (in appearance quite like the Meije on a large scale) can in the nature of things be but seldom accomplished. It requires a leader who can cut steps quickly and untiringly, and the absolute certainty of a windless day. It looks worthy of its reputation as one of the greatest ice-climbs of the world. There are, I believe, still two routes to be achieved, one to the central and the other to the low peak: but neither of these will supply the desideratum, a shorter and safer route to the

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Photo: D. Theomin MAIN DIVIDE FROM MT. HAAST TO MT. HAIDINGER Below part of Grand Plateau with Glacier. Dome on its right. Hochstetter Icefall below.

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 291 highest point. Therefore, as men will aspire to stand on Aorangi, and as the pony-track to the top marked on the tourist-map exists only in the imagination of the maker thereof, the Linda route gives in general the best hope of success. Even this was only feasible on three occasions last season : once in early December, when there was no one to use the opportunity ; again, probably on January 25 (on that night the Algies were in the Haast hut, ready to climb on the morrow, when at 11.80 p.m. a nor’wester arose out of the blue and drove them home dripping and disgusted) ; and thirdly on February 6 and 7. A strong party of guides on a joy-climb were driven back at the end of the month by a gale when above the summit rocks. The strength of the defence may be gauged from some statistics : forty-eight persons have reached the top in the twenty-five ascents made up to date, the first being in 1894; of the forty- eight those who succeeded at their first attempt can be counted almost on the fingers of one hand. As to the route itself, given a windless day after not less than five days of sunshine, freedom from impending séracs above Silberhorn corner, a carefully trodden-out track for the hours of darkness, and a leader who can construct a foolproof stair- case on the aréte above the summit rocks (all which conditions were fulfilled on February 6), the climb is a wholly enjoyable adventure, especially when one is in that state of exuberant health which I suppose Tyndall means to describe in his por- tentous remark: ‘ Every fibre seemed a repository of latent joy, which the slightest stimulus sufficed to bring into conscious action.’ I was almost calling it a picnic, but picnic is too light a word: there is an indescribable something about Mt. Cook which encourages happiness, but forbids hilarity and frowns on bravado. It is merely silly to shave on the top of the Napes Needle, but to balance an ice-axe on your nose on Mt. Cook is offensive as well. If I am asked to compare it with ice-climbs in the Swiss Alps, the nearest parallels I can suggest out of my own experience are the Guggi route up the Jungfrau and the Mont Maudit route up Mont Blanc. In each case the longest part of the day is the glacier work in the opening stages, which must be done by lantern light, and where mistakes in route-finding will probably be fatal to success; in each there follows a rock- passage of similar length and calibre: and except for the last few feet of the Jungfrau, each finishes with another episode on glacier, which may or may not be snow-covered. It is, of course, difficult to balance the respective merits of climbs in VOL. XXXVIL—NO. CCXXIX, U

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292 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. one country done with crampons and without guides against similar climbs in another country done with guides and without crampons: but my impression, for what it is worth, 1s that under equal conditions the Guggi route is distinctly the toughest proposition in the first stage and the easiest in the last, and that the ice-cap of Mt. Cook takes more conquering than the Mur de la Cote, apart from the effect that the extra 3500 ft. of the latter above sea-level have on the average lungs. In this connexion I may add that we felt no lack of oxygen on the top, and arrived perfectly fresh at the hut, Mrs. Algie’s step in particular being as elastic at the end of the day as at the beginning. Some days later Milne proposed an attempt on the uncom- pleted traverse of Mt. Blackburn, familiarly, but rather un- kindly, known as Rotten Tommy (7835 ft.), first ascended in 1908, when the party spent ten hours on the ascent and a night out. We were to make the fifth ascent of the usual S.W. aréte, and descend by the untouched N. mdge. Leaving the hotel on horseback in doubtful weather amid doleful prophecies, this not being one of Milne’s lucky mountains, we forded the Tasman and Murchison, and so reached the tiny musterers’ hut at the foot of Gorilla creek. As the evening wore on, we were dis- tressed to see obvious signs of an impending nor’wester, which developed further during the night. As far as anyone can do so, Milne knows his weather ; moreover, he had his defeats to avenge. He thought it good enough for a start, so at 5.40 we set out in a drizzle, and going at a great pace without rope or halt, except for five minutes where we struck the ridge at a col, reached the summit, a climb of more than 5500 ft. in 34 hours. Up to the ridge the going is on steep grass and scree: the ridge itself, considered by some to be technically harder than the better known N.W. ridge of Malte Brun, has a number of very interesting pitches, sandwiched between slopes of debris. The rain ceased near the top, and during breakfast we decided that the outlook was not too bad for the traverse. Almost at once we were forced off the ridge down to the west by a precipitous drop, and had much difficulty in finding an outlet into the couloir descending from its foot. The solution, when found, was a steep and rotten wall, down which we moved obliquely under an awkward bulge, and which with badly numbed fingers proved decidedly arduous. The ridge was soon regained and followed for a time to another sheer drop. Again we took to the W. face, but this time the exit was simpler, and we were soon careering down the vast screes which are a conspicuous feature in the view of the mountain from the Hermitage. Lower

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 298 down, the scree-chute degenerated into a waterfall, and we had to take to the scrub. Before we got back into Gorilla creek, we had been punctured by innumerable Spaniards. This peculiar and fearsome plant, well-named Aciphylla, is an Umbellifer with long, sword-like radical leaves, forming a verit- able armoury of spikes ; its flower-stalks are similarly armed with spinous bracts. Since there are no native grazing animals in the country, these elaborate precautions must be due either to inborn vindictiveness, or designed as a protection against drought. The hut was regained at 1.15. Fathers Murchison and Tasman were in an angrier mood for our return, in token of which I carried two bootfuls of muddy water back to the hotel : at times, as the swollen stream swirled round my horse’s flanks I expected a more complete baptism, but my trusty steed declined to be capsized. On Sunday the 17th, with Milne and Williams, I left the Miiller hut at 4.45 to climb Mt. Burns (8984 ft.) in dull, quiet weather with easterly clouds drifting uneasily along the icy sides of Mt. Sefton. Burns is on the divide, immediately north of Fyfe’s Pass at the head of the Miiller glacier, and was first ascended by Mr. Turner and Peter Graham in 1914. | Between Burns and the next peak, Vampire, there is a slight depression in the ridge, called Bernard Pass, once crossed by Captain Head and Mr. Earle. We struck up below this pass on snow-covered glacier, and for some time made fast and easy progress. When the time came to rope up, the omens of bad weather were getting momentarily more difficult to ignore. Sefton and all beyond was already in grey mist, and the sur- rounding gloom was visibly waxing. I expected and even suggested retreat, but Milne to my secret delight refused to give in yet. We proceeded, and got to within 800 ft. of the ridge before real difficulty confronted us at a big schrund. Bernard Pass was now well to our right and probably accessible by an upward traverse, mostly on sloping ledges. But we decided in preference to make for the ridge more or less straight above us. The schrund was vanquished by a delicate manceuvre, but the ice above was so steep, that to save time and labour we took to the rocks on our left, which looked to us all fairly simple: they proved, however, quite the reverse, providing one of those rare instances where an experienced judgment is hopelessly deceived even at close quarters. The holds were masked with new snow more than appeared from below, and also sloped adversely : luckily there were good belays here and there, which served to guard Milne, as,

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294 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. insecurely poised, he cleared out holds with lifeless fingers. We were frankly relieved to reach the ridge without a slip, and resolved at once and unanimously that, whatever happened, our way down lay elsewhere. At 10.20 we halted on the top for a snack of food, viewing with displeasure a sort of triple mushroom cloud reposing on Mt. Cook in the few glimpses we had of it when the mists parted. The alternatives now open to us were either to return along the ridge to Bernard Pass, traverse Vampire and try to get down the side-glacier short of Mt. Bannie ; or to go down to the west into the Landsborough valley by the untrodden Spence glacier. The first course was rejected, chiefly because it led us right into the thick of the weather : the second was chosen, because it would take us into new country, and give us a new traverse, and also because the west so far was still all clear and we could see from our lofty perch a sure way off into the valley, though a very long one. The extremely unpleasant predicament we could be in, if the clouds prevented us from finding Fyfe’s Pass to return by, did present itself to our imaginations, but was not considered a vital objection to the scheme. The upper glacier presented no obstacle and one feature of interest. Clinging to a vertical wall of ice 20 ft. high I saw a Mt. Cook flea, an insect about an inch long with powerful nippers, which lives as a rule among shingle by the side of creeks : what freak of fate had lifted it to this eminence, I cannot imagine. Further down the glacier we tried to abridge our original plan, and contour round into the head of the Landsborough, only to find that we were cut off by impossible drops, where the ice hung over steep rock- cliffs. We tried in various places to find a weak point, but again and again were driven back and had to reascend. It looked as if we would have to go back to our first design, which involved yet more ascent, the traverse of a lot of broken ice, and certain benightment, an event much to be dreaded on the wrong side of the divide. As a last hope we resolved to try to descend a long series of slabs which we could see in profile further down the valley : where they steepened at the bottom, it looked possible to get into a shallow avalanche-chute with a fan of debris at its foot. The prospect of saving a couple of hours at this stage was well worth the very slight risk of something breaking away during the five minutes we would be exposed to it. The slabs, when we reached them, were pretty smooth, but set at an angle where friction was useful in check- ing too rapid descent. Down we slid an immense distance, it seemed, destroying beyond hope of repair breeches, puttees

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Hochstetter Darwin Dome ~ 1 t Pie, C. S. Barker. FROM UPPER TASMAN GLACIER. _ Miller Glacie= | Photo. R. M. Alqgie. Photo. D. Theomin. LINE. OF ASCENT. IN FOREGROUND, HOGHSTETTER JICE- FALL. Behind, Glacier Dome and Haast ridge, lead- ing to Haast, on left. Ridge ftom Grey Peok: to Haidinger beyond.

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Photo. F. Milne. TAKEN FROM RAUREKA. GREY PEAK. THE KNIFE-EDGE ON N.W. On the left is Mt. Haast, and on RIDGE OF MALTE BRUN, look- the right, below, is the Fox Glacier. ing across the Tasman Glacier to the Main Divide. Photos. H. E. L. Porter. ‘

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 295 and stockings. Below, where gravity was too strong for friction, some delicate work on small holds had to be accom- plished before we could enter the chute. This was rushed with éclat, and at 4.15, 54 hours after leaving the summit, we paused for a short and scanty meal. The whole head of the valley was now obscured in heavy cloud. None of us had been in it before, but luckily I had looked down Fyfe’s Pass only three weeks ago from the ridge of Montgomery, and had some idea of the general topography. After an hour’s struggle up the glacier, I felt fairly confident where the bottom of the pass must lie, and Milne’s excellent bump of locality coincided with my view. The pass 1s known to be swept by hanging ice, and sure enough at the foot of the narrow trough we had selected, a confusion of dead séracs lay around. Very soon we took to the slabs which bound the couloir on the right, and by which the pass had been descended originally. They were not severely difficult but demanded continual attention, and after so many hours of unremitting exertion seemed interminable. We were unroped : Williams and I kept up what I thought was a very creditable pace under the circumstances, but Milne skipped on ahead prospecting the route at a simply phenomenal speed. A final traverse led us out on to the ridge of Mont- gomery 150 ft. above the pass at a point I was delighted to recognise. We had taken just over an hour to climb about 1700 ft. of slab. It was now 7.5, and an angry sunset was already dying away in the west. We had still to strike the passage through the much-crevassed upper reaches of the Miller glacier before the light failed completely. With Milne like a bloodhound in the van, this last intricacy was unravelled without a false scent, and soon we were skating down the nearly level ice with no anxiety left, save as to finding the hut in the utter darkness. So long as we were on the ice, the faint glimmer of moonlight filtering through the cloud-bank sufficed to preserve us from serious stumbles; but groping a way up the unstable moraines, tier above tier, in the direction of the hut was to me a foretaste of purgatory. As a matter of fact the guides went straight to 1t; Willams entered it first and held out a beacon light, while the kindly Milne lingered to direct my unspectacled fumblings. Our adventurous day ended at 9.30, ushering in one of those delicious nights when in warmth and comfort one runs over the events of a day full of episode and vicissitude with the trusty friends who shared them. Burns, of course, is not a great mountain ; but in the extent of ground covered, the variety of problems presented

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996 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. for solution, the thrills of hope and its opposite, and the high speed maintained, it provided one of the very best days I have ever had ; and I believe Milne and Williams think the same. I was due to leave the Hermitage on the 22nd, and could not have desired a better finish to my season. But Fortune smiled again. My symphony actually ended, like an Horatian ode, with a movement which, while perfect in its way, had a more subdued tone than that which preceded it. I had expressed @ wish to stand on the main divide somewhere between Mt. Tasman and Graham’s Saddle, and Milne filled in the details of this vague scheme by suggesting. a visit to Pioneer Pass, which separates the Haast glacier from the Fox ; a continuation along the ridge northwards to Grey Peak (9800 ft.), the highest unclimbed point in New Zealand ; and on to Haidinger, whose southerly peak (10,178 ft.) had not been scaled since Mr. Fitzgerald with Zurbriggen and Clarke first ascended it in 1895. They had started from the Haast bivouac, ascended Glacier Dome, gone round on the Grand Plateau to the Haast ndge, descended on to the névé of the upper Haast glacier below Pioneer Pass, and, contouring under Grey Peak, had reached the ridge north of it and so gained Haidinger. The 19th dawned clear, and that night we witnessed an unforgettable sunset from the Haast hut. Milne aims at giving every member of his staff at least one good climb every season, and we had with us a young porter, Keith Ritchie, who did very creditably on this his first big peak. Starting at 4.a.m. on the 20th, we followed Fitzgerald’s route to below the pass. This was protected by a huge schrund of forbidding aspect. Being very keen to make the pass, we went up to look at it, though without much hope. At one point only did there seem the least chance of success : in the inner angle, where the schrund took a sharp bend to the E.., the interior being protected from the sun by the gigantic wall at the back, was some hard-frozen debris, which permitted a passage across to a roomy ledge, on which we all assembled. The upper lip was still some fifteen feet above us ; the first few feet sloped up to a niche, in which Milne squatted uncomfortably, while morsel by morsel he hacked out a chimney in the strictly vertical section above. A curious rumbling noise now made itself audible overhead, the cause of which was suspected, but not proved, till Milne at last got his head over the top and nearly had his hat removed by an icy blast. The upper lip of the schrund was the very top of the pass—a phenomenon I have never seen elsewhere. On the far side a gentle snow-slope led down into the heart of the Fox, which lured me almost

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“AIJAO oy or ‘H nf Oke ev aes ‘N DNIMOOT UVa RAH)? YVAN AOGIM WON NANVL ' | doce yeag sejbnog “MAIDVTS NVASVL SSOUDV DNIAOOT AAOPV A90dIa AO SSVd YWHANO!Id WOU NAMVL pst te} Mig Oye | UOTE = fayDeeH IMJ ‘SO1OUd OL NO NVd4d ADTUYD WOW “M-N DONIMOOT ‘QDULISIP UL SpNO]D 19}S9M-1ON MAIOVTD XO JYSII IWI9IXd UO AISUIPIeEpY{ pue (qouy AYIOI 9y}) 91jU9D UT Yeog Adi) :)yJa] UO sseg Joouolg -d10} UT ‘Totoe[©) jseepyY doddn jo 9dAau punois a0d1a LSVVH WO ACIAIC NIVIN

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» 2—? > a ee — —

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Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 297 irresistibly by its incredible beauty. We hastily donned storm- clothes, and hurried up the ridge to Grey Peak, no great distance away. Its highest point is a 70-ft. obelisk of rock to the west of the ridge, to which it is connected by a little neck ; the route up it was steep and rotten, but sheltered from the worst of the gale, which we could now see driving its clouds before it in serried ranks from the W. coast. The time was 9.10. Back on the ridge we circled the horizon with our cameras, and regretfully renounced Haidinger. A most inviting aerial causeway with no visible hindrances led to it, but the least estimate of the time required to reach it and return was six hours, long before which the ridge would be a death-trap. By 1.80, when we got back to the hut, great billows of storm-cloud were boiling over the divide at every gap: our plight would indeed have been perilous had we persevered. We hurried down to the Ball. The rain reached us there about 7, and a perfect deluge set in soon after, which beat a multitudinous tattoo on our tin roof all night. Though not conducive to slumber, this was less irritating than the toboggan races which, on fine nights, take place on the same roof to the accompaniment of peals of parrot-laughter. So ended my season. I will conclude with some general remarks, subject to revision on better acquaintance with this glorious range. I was unable to visit Waiho on the W. coast, where Peter Graham has a hotel, from which the marvellous Franz Josef glacier is easily reached. At present not much seems to be attempted from here except the traverse of the Copland Pass and Graham’s Saddle, but it will be a fine base for big mountaineering when a permanent bivouac is put up on the Fox glacier. Till then the Hermitage remains the only centre well equipped with facilities. The huts for this district are good, and except at the Christmas season, when they are over- run with tourists, quite adequate to house the number of climbers likely to use them. They are liberally stocked with tinned foods and such stores as rice, oatmeal, cornflour, etc., and provided with most efficient spirit-stoves. I frequently started out in the early hours on porridge and bacon and eggs : in fact, I attribute the first-rate health I enjoyed throughout my stay very largely to the excellence of the commissariat, and only in a minor degree to the recuperation due to the large number of compulsory off-days. The system in vogue is that a fixed daily rate is charged, whether you are in the hotel or the huts, your room being reserved for you in your absence. This system is simply a godsend to the guideless climber, who

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298 Ten Weeks in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. need only carry bread and butter with him from the hotel. In former days, I was told, guideless climbing was not only discouraged but made nearly impossible. This is no longer the case; on the contrary, we were given every assistance both by Milne and his staff and by Mr. Long, the manager. As to the guides, I can fully endorse every word that Mr. Mumm has said in their praise. A charge has been made by a certain writer that New Zealand guides lack enterprise. The reason for this charge is patent to all who know the circum- stances, and reflects no discredit on the guides; it is certainly untrue of the present contingent. My account will, I hope, show what manner of man Milne is. As he hates advertise- ment, I must ask his pardon for repeating Mr. Mumm’s words with a corollary : he is a born mountaineer, sure in judgment and swift in execution. He has under him a number of keen men in different stages of development, who are on the road to making a name for themselves in an exacting profession. All they need is more climbers to give them encouragement. Iwas frequently asked why more members of the Alpine Club did not pay them a visit ; they would receive a very warm welcome if they did. On almost all the peaks over 10,000 ft.—which I believe number eighteen—icecraft is more important than _ rock- climbing ability: much more so relatively than in the Alps. One has only to look at a photograph of the E. side of the divide to realise this fact. .Owing to the big precipitation, there 1s more snow to be digested and eliminated ; hence the glaciers move faster than in the Alps. Faster movement in turn causes vaster fissures and schrunds; hence, as the season advances, some peaks get regularly cut off, either owing to physical impossibilities or to dangers too serious to be ignored. I was surprised to find that crampons are not used in @ range where they would be particularly helpful; Geoffrey Young’s great work, however, is being diligently studied, and it is to be hoped that his advice on the subject will pave the way to their introduction. I did not think that the rocks wholly deserved the reputation for rottenness which they possess. For a sedimentary rock the red sandstone of Malte Brun is splendid, while the great slab-faces, which are so prominent on the W. flank of the lesser peaks, are remarkably sound and clean. They run with the dip at an angle of 45 to 55 degrees, and Mr. Mannering has acutely suggested that this is the reason why the W. coast glaciers are so much cleaner than those on the E. Here, as the axis

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 299 of the anticline does not coincide with the divide, the dip is against the slope: the rocks are far more liable to disintegration, and the glaciers carry a huge load of debris. Ridges running more or less north and south seem to be the worst offenders, e.g. the notorious ridge of Mt. Sefton. Finally, there is an enormous field for new work. Though all the giants have fallen, many of them have only been con- quered by one route, and there are still fine alternatives to be elaborated, on perfectly sound lines. In other districts men prepared to endure hardship and discomfort for a sure recom- pense of imperishable memories will find occupation for a lifetime. THe MouNTAINS OF THE WHIRLPOOL.* By J. MONROE THORINGTON, M.D. * The first travellers called them the Glittering Mountains, on account of the infinite number of wmmense rock crystals which, they say, cover their surfaces, and which, when they are not covered with snow, or in bare places, reflect to an immense distance the rays of the sun. The name Rocky Mountains was given them, probably by later travellers, in consequence of the enormous isolated rocks which they offer here and there to view. In fact Millet’s rock, and M‘Gillivray’s above all, appear to me wonders of nature.’ GABRIEL FRANCHERE. I. Athabaska Pass and the Voyageurs. HE region surrounding the Athabaska Pass has acquired considerable historic interest because of its importance as a trans-Canadian route in the days of the fur trade.t For * The present paper contains a short history of the Athabaska Pass—its early travellers, the mountains adjacent thereto, the mountaineering, and the writer’s expedition of 1924. Cf. Sketch map, p. 94. Explanatory notes in quoted documents are in square brackets 1 For the relative importance of the Athabaska Pass route com- pared with other trans-continental routes, consult chapter on ‘Routes to British Columbia,’ in R. C. Mayne’s Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island (John Murray. London, 1862), chap. xii. p. 353.

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300 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. this reason, perhaps more than any other, descriptions of it are found in the journals of the early voyageurs. Athabaska Pass, the gateway between the basins of the Athabaska and Columbia Rivers, was crossed by white men in 1811, when the party of David Thompson, of the North-West Company, used it as a route to the Pacific slope, after hostile Piegan Indians had forbidden them the use of Howse Pass.? The route had been found by white men before Thompson ; at least Alexander Henry ? speaks of it as ‘a route by which a party of Nepisangues [Nipissings] and freemen passed a few years ago.’ It is at least certain that the pass and the Canoe River region had been visited earlier by both Iroquois and Nipissing Indians. Thompson's Narrative.-—Crossing westward in January 1811, Thompson writes: 4 *. . . the view now before us was a steep ascent of snow, in all appearances to the height of land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it was to me a most exhilarat- ing sight, but to my uneducated men a dreadful sight, they had no scientific object in view, their feelings were of the place they were; .. . when night came, we had only wood to make a bottom and on this to lay wherewith to make a small fire, which soon burnt out, and in this exposed situation we passed the rest of a long night without fire, and part of my men had strong fealings of personal insecurity, on our right about one-third of a mile from us lay an enormous glacier, the eastern face of which, quite steep, about two thousand feet in height, was of a clean fing green color, which I much admired, but whatever the appearance, my opinion was, that the whole was not solid ic2, but formed on rocks from rills of water frozen in their course ; westward of this steep face, we could see the glacier with its patches of snow in a gentle slope for about two miles. . . . My men were not at their ease, yet when night came they admired the brilliancy of the stars, and as one of them said, he thought he could almost touch them with his hand ; as usual, when the fire was made I set off to examine the country before 2 Description of and Guide to Jasper Park (edited by E. Deville, Department of the Interior. Ottawa, 1917), p. 16. 3 ‘ New Light on the Early History of the Greater North-West,’ Henry-Thompson Journals, 1789-1814, Elliott Coues (F. P. Harper. New York, 1897), vol. i. p. 253; vol. 11. p. 652. 4 Thompson’s Narrative of his Explorations in Western America. 1784-1812 (The Champlain Society. Toronto, 1916), p. 445 et seq.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 301 us, and found we had now to descend the west side of the Mountains: I returned and found part of my men with a Pole of twenty feet in length boring the Snow to find the bottom ; I told them while we had good Snow Shoes it was no matter whether the Snow was ten or one hundred feet deep. On looking into the hole they had bored, I was surprised to see the color of the sides of a beautiful blue ; the surface was of a very light color, but as it descended the color became more deep, and at the lowest point was of a blue, almost black. The altitude of this place above the level of the Ocean, by the point of boiling water is computed to be eleven thousand feet (Sir George Simpson).> Many reflections came to my mind: a new world was in a manner before me, and my object was to be at the Pacific Ocean before the month of August, how were we to find the Provisions, and how many Men would remain with me, for they were dispirited, amidst various thoughts I fell asleep on my bed of snow.’ Franchére’s Narrative-—Gabriel Franchére was a French- Canadian who had enlisted as a clerk in the Pacific Fur Company, had rounded the Horn in the Tonquin, and largely assisted in the establishment of Astor’s post at the mouth of the Columbia. In his journal ® he has recounted the arrival 5 While it has been supposed that Thompson later obtained certain of his figures for altitude from Sir George Simpson, there was another gentleman named Simpson who may have been equally responsible for the erroneous figures. At least, Thomas Drummond, Assistant Naturalist to the Second Franklin Expedition, who spent the winter 1825-6 near Jasper House, makes the following state- ment in his journal: ‘ The kindness of Lieut. Simpson, R.N., who was at this time surveying the country, gave me the opportunity of ascertaining the latitude of the commencement and termination of the Rocky Mountains Portage. ... The height of one of the mountains, taken from the commencement of the Portage, Lieut. Simpson reckons at 5900 feet above its apparent base, and he thinks that the altitude of the Rocky Mountains may be stated at about 16,000 feet above the sea.’ (See Hooker’s Botanical Miscellany, vol. 1. p. 190.) In none of the literature consulted is there the slightest evidence that David Thompson and Sir George Simpson ever met. David Douglas, however, became acquainted with Sir George Simpson, at Norway House, in 1827. 8 Voyage a la cétedu Nord-Ouest del Amérique Septentrionale (Mon- treal, 1820. English translation and edition by J. V. Huntington, Narrative of a Voyage to the North-West Coast of America, Gabriel Franchére. Redfield. New York, 1854), pp. 120 and 288.

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802 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. of Thompson’s canoes: ‘... a well-dressed man, who appeared to be the commander, was the first to leap ashore, and address- ing us without ceremony, said that his name was David Thompson, and that he was one of the partners of the North- West Company. ... Mr. Thompson kept a regular journal, and travelled, I thought, more like a geographer than a fur- trader. He was provided with a sextant, chronometer and barometer. . . .’ William Henry followed Thompson across the pass later in 1811, bringing supplies. In 1812 Thompson himself returned eastward. At the onset of the war of 1812, with the selling out of the Astoria post to the British, a number of men, unwilling to con- tinue in service, travelled eastward at various times, crossing the mountains by Athabaska Pass. In May 1814 Franchére travelled eastward with a brigade of seventy-six men, exclusive of their families. Of the crossing of the pass he writes: ‘. .. we pursued our journey and entered into the valleys between the mountains, where there lay not less than four or five feet of snow. We were obliged to ford the river ten or a dozen times in the course of the day, sometimes with the water up to our necks. ... We were obliged to stop every moment to take breath, so stiff was the ascent. Happily it had frozen hard the night before, and the crust of the snow was sufficient to bear us. After two or three hours of incredible exertions and fatigues, we arrived at the plateau or summit, and followed the foot-prints of those who had preceded us. ‘This mountain 1s placed between two others a great deal more elevated, compared with which it 1s but a hill, and of which, indeed, it is only, as it were, the valley. ... At last we arrived at a good hard bottom, and a clear space, which our guide said was a little lake frozen over, and here we stopped for the night. This lake, or rather these lakes (for there are two), are situated in the midst of the valley or cup of the mountains. On either side are immense glaciers, or ice-bound rocks, on which the rays of the setting sun reflected the most beautiful prismatic colors. One of these peaks was like a fortress of rock ; 1t rose perpendicularly some fifteen or eighteen hundred feet above the level of the lakes, and had the summit covered with ice. Mr. J. Henry, who first discovered the pass, gave this extraordinary rock the name of M‘Gillivray’s Rock, in honor of one of the partners of the N.W. Company. The lakes themselves are not much over three or four hundred yards in circuit, and not over two hundred yards apart. Canoe river, which, as we have already seen, flows to the west, and falls

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. — 808 into the Columbia, takes its rise in one of them ; while the other gives birth to one of the branches of the Athabasca, which runs first eastward, then northward, and which, after its junction with the Unjighah, north of the Lake of the Mountains, takes the name of Slave river, as far as the lake of that name, and afterward that of M‘Kenzve river, until it empties into, or is lost in, the Frozen ocean.’ Narrative of Ross Cor.—Returning eastward, in May 1817, with a large party under his charge, Cox,’ who reached. Astoria as clerk on Astor’s second ship, the Beaver, has left the following description of the pass: ‘ At one P.M. we arrived at two small lakes, between which we encamped. They are only a few hundred feet each in circumference, and the distance between them does not exceed twenty-five or thirty feet. They lie on the most level part of the height of land, and are situated between an immense cut of the Rocky Mountains. From them two rivers take their rise, which pursue different courses, and fall into separate oceans. . . . The country around our encamp- ment presented the wildest and most terrific appearance of desolation that can be well imagined. The sun shining on a range of stupendous glaciers, threw a chilling brightness over the chaotic mass of rocks, ice, and snow, by which we were surrounded. Close to our encampment one gigantic mountain of conical form towered majestically into the clouds far above the others (this is called M‘Gillivray’s Rock, in honour of the late Mr. William M‘Guillivray, a principal director of the Com- pany), while at intervals the interest of the scene was heightened by the rumblings of the descending avalanche ; which, after being detached from its bed of centuries, increased its bulk in its headlong career downwards, until it burst with a frightful crash, more resembling the explosion of a magazine than the dispersion of a mass of snow. ‘One of our roughspun unsophisticated Canadians, after gazing upwards for some time in silent wonder, exclaimed with much vehemence, “ I'll take my oath, my dear friends, that God Almighty never made such a place!” ’ Narrative of Alexander Ross.—In 1825, four years after the — merging of the North-West and Hudson’s Bay Companies, 7 Adventures on the Columlna River, Ross Cox (J. & J. Harper. New York, 1832), p. 246.

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804 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. Alexander Ross,® with the young Governor, George Simpson, crossed the pass, eastward bound. Ross gives us an entertain- ing picture of the scene: ‘ Turning around to the east [from Boat Encampment], the view is abruptly checked by the mountains, not in continuous ranges, but heights rising above one another, almost everywhere shrouded in a dark haze, which renders a passage over them extremely doubtful. Yet through the apparently inaccessible barrier the traveller has to make his way. . . . The Governor himself, generally at the head, made the first plunge into the river, and was not the last to get out. His smile encouraged others, and his example checked murmuring. . . . But although we were now on the top of the Grande Cote, or Bell Hill, let not the reader imagine we had reached the highest part of the Rocky Mountains ; for we saw heights towering above heights, until their distant summits were lost in the clouds. . . . On the summit of the Grande Cote we found the snow eight feet deep, and there we encamped for the night. . . . Leaving now the Grande Cote we advanced on the morning crust at a quick pace, through a broad level valley, thickly wooded with dwarf pines, for about six miles in an easterly direction, when we reached what 1s called the great height of land. At this place is a small circular basin of water, twenty yards in diameter, dignified with the name of a lake, out of which flow two small creeks. The one on the west side discharges itself into Portage River ; that on the east joins the Athabasca River at a place called the Hole. This elevated pond is further dignified with the name of the “ Committee Punch Bowl,” in honour of which his Excellency treated us to a bottle of wine, as we had neither time nor con- venience to make a bowl of punch, although a glass of it would have been very acceptable. It is a tribute always paid to this place when a nabob of the fur trade passes by.’ Journal of Drummond.—In October 1826 Thomas Drum- mond, Assistant Naturalist to the Second Franklin Expedition, who had spent the year in the vicinity of Jasper House, made a journey across Athabaska Pass to Boat Encampment and returned. He records ® that ‘at about 15 or 20 miles 8 Fur Hunters of the Far West, Alexander Ross (2 vols. London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1855), vol. ii. p. 189. ® “Sketch of a Journey to the Rocky Mountains and to the Columbia River in North America,’ Thomas Drummond, Assistant Naturalist to the Second Land Arctic Exploring Expedition, under the command of Captain Sir John Franklin, R.N.—in Hooker’s Botanical Miscellany, vol. i. pp. 178-219.

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aad = e . SIR GEORGE SIX ALEXANDER ROSS.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 805 above the commencement of the Portage, we left the main branch of ‘the Red Deer River, and followed a lesser stream that here joins it, winding along its banks, and not infrequently scrambling in the bed of it, until we reached a small lake, and the Height of Land. The lake is not more than 200 yards in length, and is called the Commuittee’s Punch Bowl. Out of its other extremity flows one of the tributary streams of the Columbia. On reaching the middle, I took a hearty draught, pleasing myself with the thought that some of the water I had tasted might have flowed either into the Frozen or Pacific Oceans.’ He adds, almost in afterthought, ‘ The first glacier I saw was about twenty miles before reaching the lake ; but I visited a very large one at ten miles nearer the lake.’ Edward Ermatinger’s York Factory Express Journal.— Ermatinger was the son of Lawrence Edward Ermatinger, Assistant Commissary-General, and was born on the island of Elba, off the west coast of Italy, in February 1797. Some- what of a genius, he attained fluency in the Latin, French, and Italian languages, and became a proficient musician, playing the flute and the violin—talents which were not unuseful in the later times of lonely winters in the trading posts. Being taken to Canada, he served in the employ of the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany from 1818 until 1828, eventually settling in St. Thomas, Ontario, where he became merchant, banker, and postmaster. In his journal, Ermatinger !° has recorded three crossings of Athabaska Pass: businesslike accounts with but little description of natural surroundings. On the first of these re- corded crossings the botanist David Douglas—of whom more will be said—accompanied him. (1827. East-bound.] ‘March — Tuesday, 20th. — Fair weather. The Express boat leaves Vancouver [Fort Vancouver, seven miles north of the present city of Portland, Oregon] at + before 6 o’clock p.m. A second boat accompanies us as far as the Chutes to assist in carrying over them, and to strengthen the party. Passengers Messrs. McLoughlin, McLeod, Douglas, Pambrun, Annace, and E. Ermatinger. ‘Saturday, 28th [April]— ... Two of our Iroquois who would not have carried snow shoes from the Boat Encampment, had I not insisted upon their having them, now found them very useful and were glad to put them on. A wolverine hovers about our camp. Mr. Douglas wounds him, but he escapes. 10 * York Factory Express Journal,’ Edward Ermatinger. Re- printed in Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, section ii., 1912, p 67.

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806 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. ‘Monday, 30th.— ... arrive at the foot of the Grand Cote at 8 o’clock. Ascend it for 2 miles and encamp at 11 a.m. Experienced some difficulty in finding the proper track. ‘ Tuesday, 1st.—Fine weather. Start at 4 past 4a.m. Snow not less than between 4 and 5 feet deep. Continue to ascend the Grand Cote by very short stages for about 2 miles till we meet the Rocky Hills on the right at 8 a.m., when we incline to the left a little and having journeyed I should say between 8 and 4 miles encamp nearly a mile on this side of the height of land at noon. We experienced again much difficulty in finding and keeping our road. In fact we could not ascend 50 yards before the people were wandering in every direction in search of the track. What few marks have been made to point out the way I conceive are concealed by the depth of snow. Killa partridge. ‘ Wednesday, 2nd.—Fine weather. Resume our journey at 8 a.M. in order to avail ourselves of the crust on the snow. Course north-east. Travel at a good pace for about 17 miles and stop at 11 a.m. to breakfast and give the people a rest during the heat of the day. (1827. West-bound.| ‘October 7th. — Fine weather. Started at 8 a.m. and encamped near the height of land, having passed thro’ some very bad swamps and mires during the day. View of the mountains very grand. ‘ October 8th.— .... the road was never better, we had not the least snow on the way. Apisasis killed a young grizzly bear at the height of land, and one of the men killed a marten on the Big Hill. | (1828. East-bound.] ‘Friday, 2nd May... . to the foot of the Grand Cote where we encamp at 2 p.m. We met with a few patches of snow to-day, but we have not yet had occasion to put on snow shoes. ‘Saturday, 8rd.—Fine weather. Start at 4 past 4 a.m. Found little snow till we get half-way up the Hill. We are then obliged to put on snow shoes—take breakfast at the top of the Hill between 9 and 10—resume at noon and proceed to within 4 miles of the Height of Land and encamp at $ past 8 p.m. ‘Sunday, 4th.—Rained and snowed during the whole of last night—day fine but cold. Start at half-past 4.a.m. Pass the height of land at 6. Proceed on deep snow near to Campe- ment de fusil—take breakfast. Afterwards snow diminishes fast.’ A journey across Athabaska Pass was, inTthose days,"a serious undertaking : fur traders could not be expected to keep

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DAVID DOUGLASS.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 807 extensive journals, still less to waste much time in admiration of scenic beauty. But what a pity Ermatinger could not have told us a little about David Douglas and his scramblings at the pass summit ! Douglas’ Journal.—In the spring of 1827, with Ermatinger’s York Factory brigade, Douglas came eastward across the pass. The young Scots botanist writes : 11 ‘Through 800 yards of gradually rising open low pine wood we passed, and about the same distance of open ground took us to the basin of this mighty river, a small circular lake 20 yards in diameter, in the centre of the valley, with a small outlet at the west end—namely the Columbia; and a small outlet at the east end—namely one of the branches of the Athabasca which must be considered one of the tributaries of the McKenzie River. This is not the only fact of two opposite streams flowing from the same lake. ‘ This, “ the Committee Punchbowl,” is considered the half- way house. We were glad the more laborious and arduous part of the journey was done. The little stream Athabasca, over which we conveniently stepped, soon assumed a con- siderable size. . . .’ Douglas, in his long journal written at the time, and in a shorter journal done at a later time, describes his ascent of a peak close to Athabaska Pass, and the naming of Mts. Brown and Hooker. The over-estimated altitudes, together with the opinions of contemporaneous writers regarding the elevation of the region, will be considered in a further section of this article. Narrative of De Smet.—In April 1846 the Jesuit Father, Pierre Jean De Smet,!2 en route to Oregon Missions, crossed the pass westward: *. . . Not far from our place of encamp- ment, we found a new object of surprise and admiration. An immense mountain of pure ice, 1500 feet high, enclosed between two enormous rocks. So great is the transparency of this beautiful ice, that we can easily distinguish objects in it to the depth of more than six feet. One would say, by its appearance, that in some sudden and extraordinary swell of the river, 1 Douglas’ Journal, 1823-1827. (Royal Horticultural Society. London, 1914), p. 72. 12 Oregon Missions and Travel over the Rocky Mountains, in 1845-46, Father P. J. De Smet (Edward Dunigan. New York, 1847), p. 201. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. xX,

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308 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. immense icebergs had been forced between these rocks, and had there piled themselves on one another, so as to form this magnificent glacier. What gives some color of probability to this conjecture is, that on the other side of the glacier, there is a large lake of considerable elevation.4% From the base of this gigantic iceberg, the river Trou takes its rise. . . . We fell in with the gentlemen of the Hudson Bay Company. .. . The leaders of the company were my old friends, Mr. Ermatinger, of the Honorable Hudson Bay Company, and two distinguished officers of the English army, Captains Ward and Vavasseur, whom I had the honor of entertaining last year at the Great Kalhispel lake.’ Warre’s Narrative.-—In 1845, when there was a possibility of trouble between England and the United States regarding the Oregon boundary, Captain Henry J. Warre,' and Lieu- tenant M. Vavasour, R.E., were sent on a secret mission to seek out routes for troops through the Rocky Mountains. Returning, they left Fort Vancouver on March 26, 1846, travelling via Fort Colville to Boat Encampment at the Columbia Loop. Captain Warre’s account of the crossing of Athabaska Pass is brief ; but he seems to have been none the less impressed, for he says: ‘We had for many days been surrounded by magnificent mountains, and had passed through such a beauti- ful country, that the effect of this grand and solitary scene (vide sketch of the Rocky Mountains, No. 20) was partially destroyed by the sublimity of that which had preceded it. The mountains are about 10,000 feet in height, unequalled in any part of Switzerland for the ruggedness of their peaks and beauty of form, capped and dazzling in their white mantle of snow. ... On the fourth day we ascended the “ Grande Cote ”’ to the height of land on which are situated two small lakes, from whence flow two rivers, the waters of which fall into different oceans—the Columbia into the Pacific, and the Athabasca into the Frozen Ocean. ... We had, however, scarcely walked 10 miles, when the joyful sound of human volces assured us of more immediate relief, and we soon 18 Tt is quite probable that the Indians of that day knew of Fortress Lake and had visited it. 14 Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, Henry James Warre (Dickenson & Co. London, 1849), p. 4, The plates in this very rare book are of unusual interest,

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 309 encountered a party of men who had been sent to meet us with provisions, accompanied by Le Pére de Smit, a Jesuit Tue Rocky MOUNTAINS FROM THE COLUMBIA RIVER, LOOKING N.W. Reduced from an illustration in Sketches in North America, by H. J. Warre, London, 1849. < * os -m | . _ Henry L. Warre Del.} priest from Belgium, and chief of the Roman Catholic mission- aries in the Columbia district, who was on his return to that part of Oregon.’

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810 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. Kane’s Narrative-—Following De Smet came the wandering artist, Paul Kane. In November 1846 he wrote 1 as follows : To-day we attained what is called the Height of Land. There is a small lake at this eminence called the Committee’s Punch- bowl ; this forms the headwaters of the branch of the Columbia River on the west side of the mountains and of the Athabasca on the east side. It is about three-quarters of a mile in circum- ference, and is remarkable as giving rise to two such mighty rivers ; the waters of one emptying into the Pacific Ocean, and the other into the Arctic Sea. We encamped on its margin, with difficulty protecting ourselves from the intense cold. .. . The lake being frozen over to some depth, we walked across it, and shortly after commenced the descent of the Grand Cote, having been seven days continually ascending.’ A year later, in November 1847, he writes of his return journey: ‘ We started one hour before daybreak to ascend the stupendous Grand Cote, and soon found the snow becoming deeper at every step. One of our horses fell down a declivity of twenty-five to thirty feet with a heavy load on his back, and, strange to say, neither deranged his load nor hurt himself. We soon had him on the track again as well as ever, except that he certainly looked a little bothered. The snow now reached up to the horses’ sides as we toiled along, and reached the summit just as the sun sank below the horizon ; but we could not stop here, as there was no food for the horses. We were therefore obliged to push on past the Committee’s Punch Bowl, a lake I have before described. ‘ It was intensely cold, as might be supposed, in this elevated region. Although the sun shone during the day with intense brilhancy, my long beard became a solid mass of ice.’ Palliser Expedition: Dr. Hector’s Narrative——In February 1859 Dr. Hector,!® exploring for the Palliser Expedition, had in mind a crossing of Athabaska Pass, but abandoned the idea : ‘ Tekarra’s foot is so much inflamed with his hunting exertions that he will not be able to guide us up the valley to the Com- mittee’s Punch Bowl, so I changed my plan and followed up 15 Wanderings of an Artist among the Indians of North Ameria, Paul Kane (Longmans, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts. London, 1859), pp. 160 and 340. 16 The Journals, Detailed Reports, and Observations relative to the Exploration by Captain Palliser (Eyre & Spottiswoode. London, 1863), p. 128.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 811 the main stream of the Athabasca instead. At noon we reached the mouth of Whirlpool River, which is the stream that descends from the Committee’s Punch Bowl, and I found the latitude 52° 46’ 54”. Leaving the rest to follow up the Athabasca, I ascended a mountain opposite to the valley of Whirlpool River, and had a fine view up it towards the boat encampment. Having been directed by Tekarra, I easily recognised Mount Brown and Mount Hooker, which are much like the mountains toward the source of the North Saskatche- wan. They seemed distant 80 miles to the 8. by W.’ Narrative of Moberly—During the summer of 1872 Walter Moberly, having been ordered to discontinue his survey for the Canadian Pacific Railroad through Howse Pass, came northward across Athabaska Pass. On the Columbia River, he says,?? ‘we ran many rapids and portaged others, then came to a Lake which I named ** Kinbaskit,”’ much to the old chief’s delight.” Moberly did not go all the way to Boat Encampment, but informs us that, on August 27, ‘ we resumed our journey and crossed a high ridge, from which the view was magnificent, part of the Selkirk Mountains, where we could see hundreds of snow-capped peaks. . . . We waded the [Wood] river many times, and camped at the foot of Mount Brown, opposite the old camping ground of the H. B. Company. . . . We now began the steep ascent by the old H. B. Company’s trail to reach the depression between Mounts Brown and Hooker—the “* Athabasca Pass ’—gaining an elevated valley, with grassy glades and groves of firs. Where the walking was fair we made good headway, and camped a short distance north of the celebrated ‘‘ Commit- tee’s Punch Bowl.” Following along, and gradually ascending Mount Brown, we saw a grizzly bear above us, and shot a ptarmigan, and then coming on a well-beaten cariboo trail, reached the top of a ridge, with a high conical peak immedi- ately on our right, and a mass of hard perpetual snow on the north side of the ridge, down which we went with difficulty, seeing the fresh tracks of four cariboo. There was a fine view from the top of this ridge, the mountains in the north forming 17 The Rocks and Rivers of British Columbia, Walter Moberly (H. Blacklock & Co. London, 1885), pp. 52, 81. For a condensed, parallel account, see Blazing the Trail through the Rockies: The story of Walter Moberly and his share in the making of Vancouver, Noel Robinson (Vancouver News Advertiser. Reprint, 1914), p. 79.

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312 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. a& magnificent amphitheatre, some five miles in width, and the innumerable torrents, dashing down the rocks, with white foam like silver spray, the thick groves of dark fir, the grassy flats and many small lakes, or ponds, rendering it enchanting. ‘ From what I saw of it, my impression is that there is a pass through from the Canoe to the Whirlpool River, which at some future day may be utilised, but I cannot be quite certain of the pass, as my examination was very limited, and, there- fore, imperfect. . . . The stream I followed is the true source of the Fraser River, and I had thus been within a compara- tively short time at the sources of the two large rivers of the Pacific Coast, the Columbia and the Fraser.’ Moberly later returned to Kinbasket Lake and assisted in getting the remainder of his outfit to the site of Henry House, where they wintered. His description?® indicates the diffi- culties under which the early survey parties laboured. ‘ On the evening of the 1st October the trail was passable, though not finished, as a great deal of corduroying was needed to the foot of Mount Hooker, a distance of about twenty miles from the Columbia, and nearly all the pack animals on the way between the Boat Encampment and the above point. On the 2nd I started back for Party T, from the foot of the mountain, taking Messrs. Green and Hall a part of the way up Mount Hooker to show them where to open the trail and get the supplies to. My endeavor now was to get the supplies all to the height of land, the ascent to which in one place is at an angle of about seventy-five degrees, so that should I not be able to pack them all the way to the Athabasca depot, before being stopped by the snow, they would be over the height of land, and there would be a descending grade along the Whirlpool and Athabasca rivers over which to convey them on dog sleds.’ Thus we have followed the stories of the voyageurs over a period of sixty years—forming an historic tradition excelled by no other area of the Canadian Alps. The narratives are many, scarcely two in exact agreement as to detail, exaggerated as were the tales of the early continental alpine wanderers, and all possessing a certain charm in their naive description and in the evident appeal of natural phenomena to men 18 Canadian Pacific Railroad. Report of Progress on the Explora- tion and Surveys, up to January 1874, Walter Moberly. Appendix G, pp. 162-73.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 818 unaccustomed in mountain travel. Athabaska Pass was one of the first trans-continental gateways ; through it passed pioneers to whom, in a measure, we owe the foundation of civilisation in North America. Fortunate are we that something of their story has been preserved. How strange that their difficult ‘height of land’ should become an alpine playground ! II. Nineteenth-Century Speculation in regard to Altitude at Athabaska Pass. Dr. Hector, of the Palliser Expedition, has summed up the traffic across the Athabaska Pass, writing: ‘ As late as 1858 there was a communication at two seasons by this post [Jasper House] with the Columbia district. In March, when the snow had acquired a crust, the express, with letters and accounts, started from Edmonton by the route I had just followed, and continued on to the boat encampment, to which place, by the time they arrived, owing to the earlier spring on the west side of the mountain, the brigade of boats had ascended from Vancouver. The mail from the western department was then exchanged, and taken back to Edmonton, and thence to Norway House, along with the Jasper furs. ‘The second time of communication was in the autumn, after the Saskatchewan brigade returned to Edmonton in the beginning of September, upon which the officers and men bound for the western department, taking with them the subsidy of otter skins that the Company annually paid the Russian Government for the rent of the N.W. coast, crossed the portage to Fort Assiniboine, then ascended the Athabasca in boats to Jasper House, with pack-horses, reached the boat encampment, and then descended the Columbia to Vancouver, where they arrived generally about the Ist of November. The journey from York Factory or Hudson’s Bay to the Pacific coast by this route generally occupied three and a half months, and involved an amount of hardship and toil that cannot be appreciated by those who have not seen boat travelling in these territories.’ Nearly every individual who has left a descriptive record of the Athabaska Pass region seems to have indulged in speculation as to the altitude of the nearby mountains. Thus we find Thompson stating: 1° ‘ To ascertain the height of the 19 Thompson’s Narrative of his Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812, pp. 402-3. See also Note 5.

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314 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. Rocky Mountains above the level of the Ocean had long occupied my attention, but without any satisfaction to my- self... . At the greatest elevation of the passage across the Mountains by the Athabasca River, the point by boiling water gave 11,000 feet, and the peaks of the Mountains are full 7000 feet above this passage, and the general height may be fairly taken at 18,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean.’ Washington Irving,?° in his book ‘ Astoria,’ has preserved a letter which confirms Thompson’s idea of great elevation at the pass. | ‘ Columbia College, New York, ‘ February 23, 1836. Dear §1r,—In compliance with your request, I have to com- municate some facts in relation to the heights of the Rocky Mountains and the sources whence I obtained the information. ‘In conversation with Simon M'Gillivray, Esq., a partner of the North-West Company, he stated to me his impression, that the mountains in the vicinity of the route pursued by the traders of that company, were nearly as high as the Hima- layas. He had himself crossed by this route, seen the snowy summits of the peaks and experienced a degree of cold which required a spirit thermometer to indicate it. His authority for the estimation of the heights was a gentleman who had been employed for several years as surveyor of that company. This conversation occurred about sixteen years since. ‘A year or two afterwards, I had the pleasure of dining, at Major Delafield’s, with Mr. Thompson, the gentleman referred to by Mr. M‘Gillivray. I inquired of him in relation to the circumstances mentioned by Mr. M‘Gillivray, and he stated, that, by joint means of the barometer and trigonometric measurements, he had discovered the height of one of the mountains to be about twenty-five thousand feet, and there were others of nearly the same height in the vicinity. ‘I am, dear sir, ‘Yours truly, ‘ James RENWICK. ‘To W. Irving, Esq.° It may be calculated from this that Thompson made his statement to Renwick about 1822; and, if the material be reliable, it would indicate that Thompson was responsible for 20 Astoria, Washington Irving (Philadelphia, 1836), vol. ii. p. 276. Renwick was at this time Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Columbia.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 315 the exaggerated altitudes. At least this dating of his state- ment precedes the crossing of Athabaska Pass by either Sir George Simpson or David Douglas. Franchére,24 more conservative, comes nearer the truth: ‘The geographer Pinkerton is assuredly mistaken, when he gives these mountains an elevation of but three thousand feet above the level of the sea; from my own observations I would not hesitate to give them six thousand ; we attained, in crossing them, an elevation probably of fifteen hundred feet above the valleys, and were not, perhaps, nearer than half way of their total height, while the valleys themselves must be considerably elevated above the level of the Pacific, considering the prodigious number of rapids and falls which are met with in the Columbia, from the first falls to Canoe river.’ Ross Cox #8 goes to the other extreme: ‘ The height of the Rocky Mountains varies considerably. The table land which we crossed I should take to be about 11,000 feet above the level of the sea. From the immense number of rapids we had to pass in ascending the Columbia, and its precipitous bed above the lakes, I consider that at their base the mountains cannot be much under 8000 feet above the level of the Pacific ; and from the valley of Canoe River to the level parts of the heights of land cannot be less than 8000 feet, but the actual altitude of their highest summits must be much greater. They are covered with eternal ice and snow, and will probably be forever inaccessible to man.’ Thus we see that by the time David Douglas crossed the pass, in 1827, there was already a well-established tradition as to the exalted heights supposed to flank the Height of Land. Douglas saw the mountains under the snow conditions pre- ceding spring, and this may also have added to his perplexity. Too much blame, therefore, must not be placed upon Douglas as the originator of the over-estimated figures of altitude. At this late date it 1s probably fruitless to discuss the problem —all that is to be said, has been said; and not to the satis- faction of everyone—and we had best be content to retain Douglas’ accounts of his doings as a charming historic story, and not inquire too earnestly into the facts of the case. Douglas wrote two journals: a lengthy one, at the time; 2 Voyage a la Cote du Nord-Ouest de Amérique Septentrionale, p. 299. 22 Adventures on the Columbia River, p. 255.

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316 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. and a shorter, done apparently after his return to England. From the shorter- journal we quote: °... we made a short stoppage to rest ourselves, and then descended the eastern side of the Big Hill to a small round open piece of ground, through which tlowed the small or east feeder of the Columbia and the same stream that we left yesterday at the western base of the Big Hill... . Near this poimt we put up at midday. ... After breakfast, about one o’clock, being well refreshed, I set out with the view of ascending what appeared to be the highest peak on the north or left-hand side. The height from its apparent base exceeds 6000 feet, 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. . . . The view from the summit is of that cast too awful to atford pleasure—nothing as far as the eye can reach in every direction but mountains towering above each other, rugged beyond all description; the dazzling reflection from the snow, and the rainbow-like tints of its shattered fragments, together with the enormous icicles suspended from the perpendicular rocks; the majestic but terrible avalanche hurtling down from the southerly exposed rocks producing a crash, and groans through the distant valleys, only equalled by an earthquake. Such gives us a sense of the stupendous and wondrous works of the Almighty. This peak, the highest yet known in the northern continent of America, I felt a sincere pleasure in naming Mount Brown, in honour of R. Brown, Esq., the illustrious botanist, no less distinguished by the amiable qualities of his refined mind. A little to the south is one nearly of the same height, rismg more into a sharp point, which 1 named Mount Hooker, in honour 23 Douglas’ Journal, 1823-1827, p. 71. 4 This should be compared with the version in the Companion to the Botanical Magazine, William Hooker, 1836, vol. ii. p. 136. The copyist has made remarkable changes: * Being well rested by one o’clock, I set out with the view of ascending what seemed to be the highest peak on the North. Its height does not appear to be less than 16,000 or 17,000 feet above the sea. After passing over the lower ridge, I came ta about 1200 feet of by far the most difficult and fatiguing walking I have ever experienced, and the utmost care was required to tread safely over the crust of snow.’ The map contained in vol. i. 1s the first on which Mounts Hooker and Brown are shown. The mountains are indicated as flanking the pass on either side. Drummond’s route is marked in red, Parry’s in blue, and Douglas’s in green. The date of publication is October 1829. Letters from Douglas to Hooker show that Douglas superin- tended this map. (Cf. Canadian Alpine Journal, ix. 49-53.)

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 317 of my early patron the enlightened and learned Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow, Dr. Hooker. .. .’ In the longer journal, evidently written on the trail, Douglas shows that his thoughts occasionally wandered far from the work at hand; for he says:*° ‘Dreamed last night of being in Regent Street, London! Yet far distant. Progress nine miles.’ And the following day, with more accuracy than is observed in the shorter journal: *. . . After breakfast at one o'clock, being as I conceive on the highest part of the route, I became desirous of ascending one of the peaks, and accord- ingly I set out alone on snow-shoes to that on the left hand or west side, being to all appearance the highest. The labour of ascending the lower part, which is covered with pines, is great beyond description, sinking on many occasions to the middle. Half-way up vegetation ceases entirely, not so much as a vestige of moss or lichen on the stones. Here I found it less laborious as I walked on the hard crust. One-third from the summit it becomes a mountain of pure ice, sealed over by Nature’s hand as a momentous work of Nature’s God. The height from its base may be about 5500 feet: timber 2750 feet; a few mosses and lichen 500 more; 1000 feet of perpetual snow; the remainder, towards the top 1250, as I have said, glacier with a thin covering of snow on it. The ascent took me five hours ; descending only one and a quarter. Places where the descent was gradual, 1 tied my snow-shoes together, making them carry me in turn as a sledge. Some- times I came down at one spell 500 to 700 feet in the space of one minute and a half. I remained twenty minutes, my thermometer standing at 18°; night closing fast in on me, and no means of fire, I was reluctantly forced to descend. The sensation I felt is beyond what I can give utterance to. Nothing as far as the eye could perceive, but mountains such as I was on, and many higher, some rugged beyond any descrip- tion, striking the mind with horror blended with a sense of ‘the wondrous works of the Almighty. The aerial tints of the snow, the heavenly azure of the solid glacier, the rambow- like hues of their broken fragments, the huge mossy icicles hanging from the perpendicular rocks with the snow sliding from the steep southern rocks with amazing velocity, producing a crash and grumbling like the shock of an earthquake, the echo of which resounding in the valley for several minutes. . . .’ Good description for a non-mountaineer; exaggerated of 25 Douglas’ Journal, 1823-1827 , p. 258.

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318 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. course, but containing no mention of naming the peaks or over-estimation of their altitude as does the short journal. Perhaps the latter, embellished at a later time, had the names and altitudes added as an afterthought; or at least upon information received from outside sources. It seems useless to speculate further. Archibald McDonald kept a journal of his canoe voyage across the Continent, when, in 1828, he accompanied Sir George Simpson across Peace River Pass. In notes added by Malcolm McLeod, editor of this journal, we find the following reference to Athabaska Pass.2® ‘... The “ Big Athabasca,” or Athabasca River proper, draws from the glaciers of Mt. Brown, the highest peak (16,600 feet) of the Rocky Mountains, and also from a much lower height called the Miette, not far from the Leather or Yellowhead Pass. I have seen, but remember not the glaciers that feed this noble river, having once passed them in very early life and once with “ thirty feet ’’ of snow after mid April, under foot in the pass (Atha- basca Pass), the highway, then, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, to the Columbia.’ De Smet, the priest, is most emphatic in his statement : 2” ‘Upper Athabasca is, unquestionably, the most elevated part of North America. All its mountains are prodigious, and their rocky and snow-capt summits seem to lose them- selves in the clouds. At this season, immense masses of snow often become loosened and roll down the mountains’ side with terrific noise, that resounds throughout these quiet solitudes like distant thunder—so irresistible is the velocity of their descent that they frequently carry with them enormous fragments of rock, and force a passage through the dense forests which cover the base of the mountain. At each hour, the noise of ten avalanches descending at once, breaks upon the ear ; on every side we see them precipitated with a frightful rapidity.’ Dr. Hector, somewhat in doubt, although more accurate than his predecessors, is influenced by them ; for he remarks,?® 26 “Peace River. A Canoe Voyage from Hudson’s Bay to the Pacific, by the late Sir George Simpson, in 1828.’ Journal of Archibald McDonald, edited by Malcolm McLeod (Ottawa: J. Durie & Son, 1872), p. 66, note xxxv. 27 Oregon Missions and Travel over the Rocky Mountains in 1845-46, Father P. J. De Smet, p. 197. 28 The Journals, Detailed Reports, and Observations relative to the Exploration by Captain Palliser, p. 149.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 819 ‘, . . Tam inclined to think that none of the Rocky Mountains rise above 18,000 or 18,500 ft., and that my estimate of the height of Mt. Murchison, which I made last year, is too great.’ In the foregoing pages we have the opinion of actual travellers, eyewitnesses, regarding the mountain heights of the upper Columbia Valley and of the Athabaska Pass area. Too much credence should not be given to the hearsay evidence embodied in the work of contemporary writers.2® Let us now turn our attention to the actual facts of the topography as it is known at the present time. III. Mountain Topography Adjacent to Athabaska Pass. The Whirlpool Group occupies the rough triangle enclosed between the Whirlpool and Athabaska Rivers on the W. and E., and by Fortress Lake and Wood River on the S. It includes the portion of the Continental Divide between Fortress and Athabaska Passes, an air-line distance of 20 miles, and its continuation to Whirlpool Pass. The air-line between Atha- baska and Whirlpool Passes is eight miles. Most of the area is covered by Sheets 25, 26, and 27 of the Interprovincial Boundary Survey, although the Whirlpool- Athabaska junction and the peaks immediately in the angle are not included. In fact the northern tip of the group, although visible and but a day’s trail-riding from Jasper, has yet to be mapped. In ‘this angle are two good peaks, known by local names, the easterly ‘ Mt. Derelict,’ and the western the ‘ Whirlpool Mtn.’ South of the latter, with its 29 Thus we find in Greenhow—Memoir Historical and Political on the North-west Coast of North America and Adjacent Territories, Robert Greenhow (Washington: Blair & Rives, 1840), p. 11—the following: ‘The highest pointsinthe Rocky Mountains, if not in the whole western continent, are those about the 53rd degree of latitude, near the northernmost sources of the Columbia River. Mr. Thomp- son, of the Hudson’s Bay Trading Company, has measured several of these peaks, of which one, called Mount Brown, is estimated by him at sixteen thousand feet, and another, Mount Hooker, as fifteen thousand seven hundred feet above the ocean level. It has been stated that this gentleman has recently found other peaks further north, which he considers to be more than ten thousand feet higher than either of the ones above mentioned.’ For a discussion of the errors in this passage, see C.A.J. ix. 52. Consult also The Wild North Land, W. F. Butler (Montreal, 1874), Appendix, p. 347.

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320 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. upper crags visible from Jasper above the eastern shoulder of Mt. Edith Cavell, is Mt. Fryatt, 11,026 ft., one of the out- standing mountains of the Park. Other peaks, E. of the Divide, included in the mapped area, are Mt. Lapensée, 10,190 ft., and Mt. Belanger, 10,200 ft., just S. of Mt. Fryatt ; while further I., Mt. Christie, 10,160 ft., and Brussels Peak, 10,370 ft., culminate a sub-group toward the Athabaska. 8.E., only a few miles N. of Fortress Mt., Mt. Catacombs, attaining 10,800 ft., is the chief peak in this direction. From Fortress Pass, 4388 ft., and Fortress Mtn., 9908 ft., the Divide westward includes no peaks of importance as far as the head of Alnus Creek. At the western end of Fortress Lake, Alnus Valley enters Wood River at an acute angle from the N.W. At the head of Alnus Creek, low passes lead over to Divergence Creek, a Whirlpool tributary, and form a major trench extending through the Whirlpool Group. It is chiefly with the area W. of Alnus and Divergence Valleys that the present paper is concerned, this portion of the group containing important peaks and many of the finest scenic features. At the head of Alnus Creek, on the Divide, is Divergence Peak, 9275 ft., whence the watershed swings sharply southward, crossing the summits of Alnus Peak, 9763 ft.; Mt. Ross Cox, 9840 ft.; Mt. Scott, 10,826 ft.; Mt. Oates, 10,220 ft.; and Mt. Ermatinger, 10,080 ft. The watershed now swings abruptly westward, crossing Mt. Hooker, 10,782 ft., and dropping across McGillivray Ridge, descends to Athabaska Pass. T's division of the group, it will be seen, lies between terminal sources of Whirlpool River and Wood River. On the British Columbia side of the Divide, Mt. Serenity, 10,573 ft., connected by spurs with the main watershed between Mts. Ermatinger and Hooker, fills in the great angle formed by Alnus Creek with Wood River. On the Alberta side of the watershed, Mt. Evans, 10,460 ft., and Mt. Kane, 10,000 ft., rising above the valley of the Whirl- pool, form supporting buttresses for the immense basin of the Hooker Icefield, nearly twelve square miles in area, discharging through the icefalls of Kane and Scott Glaciers as a chief source of Whirlpool River. The Hooker Icefield is spread across on to the British Columbia side of the watershed and includes perhaps another ten square miles: a total of from twenty to twenty-five square miles. Nearly a dozen small tongues discharge their streams southward into the gorge of Wood River, between

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320 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. upper crags visible from Jasper above the eastern shoulder of Mt. Edith Cavell, is Mt. Fryatt, 11,026 ft., one of the out- standing mountains of the Park. Other peaks, EK. of the Divide, included in the mapped area, are Mt. Lapensée, 10,190 ft., and Mt. Belanger, 10,200 ft., just S. of Mt. Fryatt ; while further E., Mt. Christie, 10,160 ft., and Brussels Peak, 10,870 ft., culminate a sub-group toward the Athabaska. §.E., only a few miles N. of Fortress Mt., Mt. Catacombs, attaining 10,800 ft., is the chief peak in this direction. From Fortress Pass, 4888 ft., and Fortress Mtn., 9908 ft., the Divide westward includes no peaks of importance as far as the head of Alnus Creek. At the western end of Fortress Lake, Alnus Valley enters Wood River at an acute angle from the N.W. At the head of Alnus Creek, low passes lead over to Divergence Creek, a Whirlpool tributary, and form a major trench extending through the Whirlpool Group. It is chiefly with the area W. of Alnus and Divergence Valleys that the present paper is concerned, this portion of the group containing important peaks and many of the finest scenic features. At the head of Alnus Creek, on the Divide, is Divergence Peak, 9275 ft., whence the watershed swings sharply southward, crossing the summits of Alnus Peak, 9763 ft.; Mt. Ross Cox, 9840 ft.; Mt. Scott, 10,826 ft.; Mt. Oates, 10,220 ft.; and Mt. Ermatinger, 10,080 ft. The watershed now swings abruptly westward, crossing Mt. Hooker, 10,782 ft., and dropping across McGillivray Ridge, descends to Athabaska Pass. This division of the group, it will be seen, lies between terminal sources of Whirlpool River and Wood River. On the British Columbia side of the Divide, Mt. Serenity, 10,573 ft., connected by spurs with the main watershed between Mts. Ermatinger and Hooker, fills in the great angle formed by Alnus Creek with Wood River. On the Alberta side of the watershed, Mt. Evans, 10,460 ft., and Mt. Kane, 10,000 ft., rising above the valley of the Whirl- pool, form supporting buttresses for the immense basin of the Hooker Icefield, nearly twelve square miles in area, discharging through the icefalls of Kane and Scott Glaciers as a chief source of Whirlpool River. The Hooker Icefield is spread across on to the British Columbia side of the watershed and includes perhaps another ten square miles: a total of from twenty to twenty-five square miles. Nearly a dozen small tongues discharge their streams southward into the gorge of Wood River, between

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 321 Serenity Creek and Athabaska Pass. North of and partially walled in by Mt. Serenity, the S. and N. Alnus Glaciers—of the alpine winding type—descend from the slopes of Mts. Erma- tinger, Oates, and Scott, to form sources of Alnus Creek. Between Mt. Hooker’s eastern wall and the point S. of Mt. Ermatinger where the western aréte of Mt. Serenity joins the watershed, there is a conspicuous pass, of relatively flat snow, about 8700 ft. in elevation, leading across the Continental Divide. The air-line distance between Divergence Pk., at the head of Alnus Creek, and the Committee Punch Bowl on Athabaska Pass, is 12 miles. On the Athabaska’ Pass summit, 5736 ft., are the Punch Bowl and two other adjacent lakelets, giving rise to terminal sources of the Whirlpool River on the E., and Wood River, through Pacific Creek, on the W. The Continental Divide contimues from the pass, rising westward to the summit of Mt. Brown, 9156 ft., thence turning northward and dropping to the icy lakes at the head of Robert Creek, and to Canoe Pass, 6722 ft., connecting Whirlpool River with a branch of Canoe River. Crossing Mallard Mtn., 98380 ft., the Divide reaches Whirlpool Pass, 5936 ft., imking the Middle Whirlpool with the Mazama Creek branch of Canoe River. It will thus be seen that there are no peaks of impor- tance immediately W. of Athabaska Pass and the Whirlpool ; the Divide is relatively low and can be crossed at several points. The feature to be noted is the large area of glacier and snowfield on the S.W. side of Mt. Brown, extending into the angle between Wood and Canoe Rivers. The Continental Divide bends considerably in rounding the head of Whirlpool River, consequently the air-line distance between Divergence Pk. and Whirlpool Pass is only about eight miles, practically equal to the distance botween Athabaska and Whirlpool Passes. IV. Mountaineering. The early days of mountaineering in the Canadian Rockies began when there was yet no railroad through Yellowhead Pass ; consequently most expeditions, at that time, started from points on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Coleman 2° and his companions are responsible for the early enthusiasm resulting in the repeated searches for the mysterious 80 The Canadian Rockies, New and Old Trails, A. P, Coleman (T. Fisher Unwin. London, 1911), pp. 79, 147, 170.

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822 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. high peaks of the Athabaska Pass. In 1888 they attempted to enter the region by way of the Columbia Loop, and actually reached Kinbasket Lake before abandoning the enterprise. _ In 1892 a second attempt, by way of North Saskatchewan and Athabaska headwaters, led them to Fortress Lake—which, but for the absence of Mts. Hooker and Brown, and the discrepancy in the size of the lake, might have been the Committee Punch Bowl. In 1898 a third expedition, led by Coleman, successfully reached the Athabaska Pass. The highest mountain on the western side of the pass was ascended, and was considered to be the peak which Douglas climbed. They also ascended M‘Gillivray’s Rock, the point where Mt. Hooker is indicated on the Palliser map, but noted that ‘ a much higher, finer peak rises a few miles E. of the Punch Bowl, with fields of snow and a large glacier, and was estimated at about eleven thousand ft.’ Because of the small size of the Committee Punch Bowl, a folding canvas boat, intended for use in rowing around the lake, remained in its pack-cover ! None of the other early expeditions actually reached Atha- baska Pass, although the search for the high peaks was by no means given up. Wilcox #4 and Barrett, in 1896, reached Fortress Lake. Wilcox triangulated the massive glacier-bear- ing peak to the W.—the present Mt. Serenity—at 10,500 ft. Habel,?2 the German explorer, in 1901 spent several days near the lake and mentions Mt. Serenity as “a very prominent snowy mountain, visible nearly from top to bottom, in shape similar to Mont Blane.’ | | Collie,3 who came out from England first in 1897, became interested in the Brown-Hooker problem. In those days, knowledge of the topography was so imperfect that it was thought that the North Fork of the North Saskatchewan had its source in the neighbourhood of Athabaska Pass.34 Collie 31 The Rockies of Canada, W. D. Wilcox (G. P. Putnam’s Sons. New York, 1909), p. 139. 32 « At the Western Sources of the Athabasca,’ Jean Habel, Appal. x., 1, p. 28. 33 Climbs and Exploration in the Canadian Rockies, H. EH. M. Stutfield and J. N. Collie (Longmans, Green & Co. London, 1903). 34 The writer has recently examined the mountaineering letters of the late C. S. Thompson, a well-known climber of Canadian peaks. In the collection are a number of letters from Collie, with pencilled sketch maps, drawn in 1900, indicating the Athabaska Pass area as

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McGILLIVRAY’S ROCK AND NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO ATHABASKA ‘PASS. PACK-TRAIN ARRIVING AT THE COMMITTEE PUNCH BOWL. ATHABASKA PASS. Photo. J. Monroe Thorington.

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SCOTT GLACIER AND MT. HOOKER, from camp-ground on Whirlpool River, whence first ascents of Mt. Oates and Hooker were accomplished. MT. EVANS AND MT. OATES, from Old Hudson’s Bay camp-ground in the Whirlpool Valley. This was the probable site of the Encampment de fusil, some nine miles below Athabaska Pass. Photo. J. Monroe Thorington.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 323 had seen high peaks in the north, from the slopes of Mt. Fresh- field, and, in 1898, visited many of them by way of the North Saskatchewan. The Athabaska Pass was not reached, but the climbers had their reward in the discovery of the huge Columbia Icefield. | Following the visit of Coleman, the next attempt at mountaineering from the pass was made, in 1918, by Howard and Mumm,** accompanied by the guide Moritz Inderbinen. ‘On the way in from Jasper, minor summits were attained ; but in the immediate vicinity of Athabaska Pass the weather became so unfavourable that little could be done. Mumm and Inderbinen ascended Mt. Brown and visited the Scott Glacier. The first ascent of importance was that of Mt. Serenity, 10,578 ft., made from Fortress Lake, in 1920, by Carpe,%@ Palmer and Harris. The route to the summit, by way of the Serenity Glacier and the southern aréte, required ten hours from a camp at the glacier tongue. In 1920 the Interprovincial Boundary Survey ®’ visited being at the head of the North Saskatchewan River. This impres- sion seems to have been derived from preliminary sketch maps by Dr. Hector, of the Palliser Expedition, made before the final Palliser map (in the folio report) was issued. 85 ‘The Whirlpool (1913),’ G. E. Howard and A. L. Mumm, C.A.J. vi. 74. The article is accompanied by a sketch map, the nomenclature of which has been superseded by, but partially adopted on, Interprovincial Boundary Survey Sheets 26 and 27. 36 ‘The Mountain West of Fortress Lake,’ A. Carpe, C.A.J. xii. 179. 87° The Location of Mts. Brown and Hooker,’ A. O. Wheeler, C.A.J. xii. 163. The work of the Survey in the Athabaska Pass area is described and reasons given for adopting its nomenclature in regard to Mts. Brown and Hooker. It is not the purpose of the present paper to enter into or further complicate the literature of the Hooker-Brown problem. In addition to references already given, one should consult the interesting paper, ‘ New Light on Mounts Brown and Hooker,’ KE. W. D. Holway, with supplementary note by James White, C.A.J. ix. 45. Those interested in the region should also consult two additional papers : (a) ‘ Characteristics of Passes in the Canadian Rockies,’ R. W. Cautley, C.A.J. xi. 155. (b) ‘ Athabaska Pass to Tonquin Valley, wa Goat and Fraser Rivers,’ D. Phillips, C.A.J. xiii. 209. Mr. Cautley describes, among other things, the discovery, just north of the pass summit, of the musket-balls lost by David VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCX XIX. Y

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324 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. Athabaska Pass and established the nomenclature of Map Sheets 26 and 27. A large number of stations were occupied, including Mt. Brown, McGillivray Ridge (Mt. Brown E.), Alnus and Divergence Pks. The Interprovincial Survey Commission has published 38 the following conclusions in regard to the Hooker-Brown problem : ‘Mt. Brown.—The mountain ascended by Douglas and named Mt. Brown by him is the one rising directly on the W. side of the pass summit, the altitude being 9156 ft., 8405 ft. above the pass. ‘ Mt. Hooker.—The location is not so clear. Douglas writes in his journal, (1) ‘ A little more to the S. is one nearly the same height, rising more into a sharp point which I named Mt. Hooker.” (2) “I set out with a view of ascending what appeared to be the highest peak on the N. or left-hand side.” Against these statements is the fact that the direction of the valley at the summit of the pass is practically N. and S. and consequently Douglas’ “‘ N. or left-hand side ” would truly be ‘¢ W. or left-hand side ”’; so also with reference to Mt. Hooker, ‘a little to the S. is one nearly the same height ” would truly be “ a little to the E. is one nearly the same height.” Douglas’ idea of his direction seems to have been as inaccurate as his idea of altitude. On a bearing 18° N. of K. lies a peak, rising into a sharp point, which is distant approximately six miles from the summit of Mt. Brown and which has an altitude of 10,782 ft., or 1626 ft. more than that of Mt. Brown. It seems more likely that this is the mountain Douglas refers to as Hooker. (This is the mountain seen by Coleman and Stewart, and estimated at 11,000 ft.) Thompson a hundred and ten years before. Thompson mentions the incident. ‘Sent the men to collect and bring forward the Goods left by the Way; which they brought except five rounds of Ball, which being in a leather bag, was carried away by a Wolverene’ (Thompson’s Narrative, p. 449). Mr. Cautley’s paper is especially valuable as being the first to describe accurately many of the passes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Mr. Phillips’ paper includes interesting route data concerning trail approaches to Athabaska Pass. It may be added that the mountaineering to date, with a summary of early expeditions and history of the region, and nates on the topography, will be found in A Clumber’s Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada, H. Palmer and J. M. Thorington (The Knickerbocker Press. New York, 1921), pp. 131-43. 88 C.A.J. xii. 163, 179.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 825 -From the vicinity of Fortress Lake this mountain peak stands up in a sharp white cone. It is not conceivable that the long, evenly crested ridge rising directly above the Punch Bowl from Athabaska Pass summit has anything to do with the question (i.e., McGillivray’s Rock). It was, therefore, recommended to the Geographic Board that the 10,782 ft. peak about six miles easterly from Mt. Brown be confirmed as Mt. Hooker, which has been done.’ The writer’s expedition in 1924, details of which follow, is the third to reach the Athabaska Pass for purely mountain- eering purposes. Within a short space of time we were able to make the first ascent of Mt. Hooker and other peaks of the vicinity, and to explore the intricacies of the Kane and Hooker Icefields, as well as the vast topography of the Mountains of the Whirlpool. V. Expedition of 1924. With fourteen horses, furnished by the well-known outfitter Donald Phillips, our party, including Mr. A. J. Ostheimer and Dr. M. Strumia, of Philadelphia, the writer, and the guide Conrad Kain, left Jasper on June 26, bound for Athabaska Pass. In charge of the horses came David Moberly, a Cree breed, grand-nephew of Walter Moberly, who years before served as locating-engineer for the Canadian Pacific. Our cook, Jack MacMillan, had assisted his father in building the first trails to Emerald Lake, and had worked for Tom Wilson in the old days. By road leading across the Miette bridge, towards the snows of Mt. Edith Cavell, we started up the Athabaska Valley, a broad trail bringing us to the mouth of Whirlpool River, the stream which we were to follow to its southern sources. Here was the location of the old ford—la Grand traverse—by which the voyageurs crossed to the Prairie de la Vache, or Buffalo Prairie, on their way to Jasper House. Past the snow-powdered crags of Mt. Kerkeslin, through a broad valley, there are glimpses of distant peaks on the Sun Wapta and the Chaba; while looming in the Athabaska- Whirlpool angle, companion to the dark towers of Mt. Derelict, the precipices and pinnacles of the ‘ Whirlpool Mountain,’ grim and repellent, with an enormous western gendarme, hide the towering mass of Mt. Fryatt, the loftiest peak of the Whirlpool Group. Through a small lumber-camp, where railroad-ties 89 For a description of the eastern appearance of the Whirlpool Group from the Athabaska Valley, see C.A.J. xiii. 81.

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326 The Mowntains of the Whirlpool. are cut and floated down to Jasper, we passed and camped by the Whirlpool, quiet pools nearby reflecting Needle Peak, guardian of the entrance to Simon Creek—the old ‘ North Whirlpool.’ Across the river, sunset colouring of the range blends with the dull, glowing embers of our camp-fire; soft wind-music in the jack-pine tops ; rush of the river; distant bells tinkling—first days on the trail are well remembered. Mt. Fryatt. 11,026 ft. Attempted Approach—The second elevation in the central area of Jasper Park ¢° has long been recognised by mountaineers as a2 mountain difficult to approach. It is at best a formidable-looking peak, and, rising so much above its neighbouring valleys, climbers have left it severely alone. The Interprovincial Survey had photographed it from the south-west, from the head of Alnus Creek, revealing the presence of three attractive lakes and high meadows at the sources of Divergence Creek, the Whirlpool tributary imme- diately west of Mt. Fryatt. On June 27 we crossed the Whirlpool by a lumber-camp bridge, and attempted to take our horses up the creek west of the ‘ Whirlpool Mountain,’ to a low pass leading over to the head of Divergence Creek, where we were desirous of making a high camp. We were unsuccessful in our effort. At an eleva- tion of less than 6000 ft., canyons and cut-banks make the creek bed impossible for horses ; it would have been necessary to spend one or two days cutting trail through the high tim- bered shoulder on the W. bank of the stream. While we were investigating the route, several restless pack-horses suc- ceeded in dislodging one of their fellows over a low rock ledge, the horse turning a complete somersault and landing head downward in the water. It required quick and skilful work on the part of the guides to cut the pack-ropes and prevent the struggling animal from drowning. As usual, more damage was done to the packs than to the horse ; but the delay assisted our decision not to proceed further.41 So we recrossed the 40 The altitude of Mt. Edith Cavell is 11,033 ft., and it is usually considered the highest point within the Park. This is, however, not true if the southern boundary of the Park be made to include any of the higher peaks of the Columbia Group. 41 Tt is a pleasure to acknowledge the many courtesies extended to our party by Colonel 8S. Maynard Rogers, Superintendent of Jasper Park. We are also indebted to Warden P. H. Goodair for assistance rendered during our stayin Area No.10. i.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 327 Whirlpool and camped on a terrace by an old cabin, not far from the mouth of Simon Creek. Later, on our return, we found that a sudden rise of water had carried away the Whirlpool bridge, and future visitors, approaching Mt. Fryatt from this direction, will cross a difficult ford. From our camping place, evidently a very old one, we could see far sunlit peaks—Scott, Hooker, Evans, Kane—toward the head of Whirlpool River. How thrilling is the anticipation aroused by the first distant view of an unexplored group ! Morning came, brilliant after a night of heavy showers. In two hours we had forded Simon Creek, happily without wetting any packs. Then over parallel timbered ridges, with inter- vening muskeg and shallow reedy ponds, emerging on river-. flats opposite the ribbed cliffs of Mt. Scott, with new snow melting and sparklmg. Then into the timber again, arcaded groves of cottonwood, with the Middle Whirlpool coming down - unceremoniously, with no apparent bed of its own, but spreading about the gnarled tree-roots, and the pack-train splashing through. It was as if one wandered in a splendid irrigated garden, a garden of primeval trees with tops so interlaced that only here and there might shafting sunlight penetrate the forest shadows. As we neared the timbered point which is the camp-ground, the magnificent ridges of Mt. Hooker, with walls of twisted strata above the Scott icefall, slowly revealed their grandeur. Near our tents was an old roofless log-cabin, of spacious dimension, with hand-forged nails in its walls. There are huge stumps in the clearing, so rotted that a touch will topple them over. We picked up bits of hand-made boxes with marks of the. Hudson’s Bay Company still legible. Not far away, on a bit of cliff, four goat looked down in silent astonishment at our caravan’s arrival. In the evening, white-tailed deer passed close to the campfire on their way to the river: graceful and unafraid they moved along the gravel-bars, from one silvery pool to another, and disappeared in the sun-glint at the edge of the bush. The Scott Glacier will be much visited in days to come, because of the tremendous spectacular icefalls in which it plunges down to the valley level, to spread in a broad flat tongue toward the wooded morainal fans far below timber-line. We passed close below it on our next day’s travel and were to know it better within a short time. The upper névé spreads below the northern wall of Mt. Hooker, and one must journey

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828 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. : far in the Canadian Rockies to find ice scenery which can Highest Rocks, Mt. Bras West, Mt, Serenity. Summit, West Tower, Oroche, Ool. Mr. Hooxkge FROM THE N.W., FROM THE SumMIT of Mt. Kane. (Labelled psints correspond with companion pictures.) ab Mr. HooKER AND THE HooKER ICEFIELD FROM THE TOP OF THE SCOTT GLACIER. Lateral distance between points 2 and 5 is about one and a half miles. compare with the wild splendour of this view. The western margin of the glacier is flanked by the symmetrical rock peak

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. $39 of Mt. Evans, contrasting with the sheer snowy wall of Mt. Kane just beyond and resembling the southern portion of the Victoria ridge above Lake Louise. From the col between Fivans and Kane, a slender precipitous icefall hangs in apparent defiance of the laws of gravity, its stream ending in an airy waterfall spraying into a rock-bowl close to the trail. Rounding the shoulder of Mt. Kane, trail leads through evergreen timber, thickets of pussy-willow, and patches of Spring snow. Crowded clusters of anemones and avalanche- lilies press up through the melting margins—in the shadow of McGillivray’sRock, with the snows of Mt. Brown ahead, we enter on the Athabaska Pass. The valley broadens above the gorge at the foot of Mt. Kane, snow becomes deeper, entirely covering the trail; pack-horses floundering at first, gradually gain confidence in the footing. A gaunt cariboo stalks up and over a nearby ridge, moving so slowly. How surprising it was to reach the summit lakes on the pass and stop by the central one—the Committee Punch Bowl! There was a skim of ice on the water, too cold for bathing, and—unlike Coleman—we had not brought a canvas boat; but one of us can at least be credited with having swum a horse across the Great Divide! The lakes are desolate, lonely tarns and in winter may be entirely covered. Of course there are no lofty mountains on either side, and one is almost at loss to pick out Mt. Brown, for on the western side of the pass are several summits all about equal in height and resembling each other in outline. It is all so plain in ‘ Douglas’ Journal’; a visit to the pass is the confusing thing. A traveller of to-day, writing on the spot, could never describe the pass and its peaks in Douglas’ words —the journal and the lay of the land simply do not agree. The mystery remains. On account of the snow, we placed camp on Pacific Creek about a mile below the pass summit, with a group of serrated splintered peaks in view down the valley of Wood River. Mt. Kane. 10,000 ft. First Ascent—On June 80 we left camp (5.20), hoping to reach Mt. Hooker. Following the N. margin of the glacier tongue coming from the shoulder of McGillivray’s Rock and the Kane Icefield, in two hours we had reached the upper snows. But on crossing to a higher ridge of the Divide, at 9800 ft., we found ourselves cut off from Mt. Hooker’s southern wall by an impassable snow precipice, over- hung with cornices and dropping to the broken Wood River glaciers of the Hooker Icefield. The aréte connecting with

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830 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. Mt. Hooker rises into an intervening peak which would have to be traversed and forms a route impossibly long for a single day. So realising that we were defeated, we followed our ridge north- ward and tramped the long stretches of snow to the Kane- Evans col, which we reached over a small schrund and up some slabby chimneys. We were now at the head of the hanging glacier which is so striking in appearance when seen from the Whirlpool, and upward over snow and ledges made our way to the summit (2.08). A little to the S.E. there is a break in the banded rock-wall separating the Kane Glacier and Hooker Icefield, affording a possible approach to Mt. Hooker; but from Athabaska Pass it will be a very long journey. Beyond the N. face of Mt. Hooker the view extends to far-away Athabaska sources, with Mt. Alberta, The Twins, and Mt. Columbia, stupendous even through the distances. The Wood River Group is seen from an unusual angle and presents a fine array of glacial cirques on the N.W., by which the flat upper snows of Mt. Bras Croche might be reached and other peaks explored. Yet one hesitates to recommend a visit by way of Athabaska Pass and the low, timbered reaches of Wood River. The northern snows of Mt. Kane, so steep they are, seem to overhang the Whirlpool. Far beyond the Rampart Group and southern Fraser sources, our gaze was held by Mt. Robson. Towering nearly two thousand feet above its highest neighbours, its elevation emphasised by low surrounding valleys, one is yet attracted more by the mountain’s isolation than by its appearance of height. No great group masks its precipices. From our viewpoint the peak is a steep pyramid, slightly blunted in the summit ice-cap, a streaming glacier continuous with the névé in a vertical height of nearly 4000 ft., and the S.E. shoulder, conspicuous from the Grand Forks Valley, so foreshortened as to be almost unrecognisable. The west 1s a chaos of unravelled topography : the northern peaks of the Columbia Loop, the Fraser-Canoe divide, the Gold Range, the Cariboos, and far peaks of the main Fraser Valley. Long familiarity with the main chain of the Canadian Rockies cannot dull the overwhelming sense of hopeless awe aroused by the extent of those unnamed western peaks. It is not easy nor profitable to describe precisely the Kane traverse. Suffice it to say that the aréte west of the summit affords a delightful climb of several hours, with work which does not lack in excitement. The snow ridges encountered

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 331 are quite narrow, with airy drops to the Whirlpool Valley ; the aréte possesses a blunt central tower, with opportunity for interesting hand and friction traverses on the southern slabs. A last curling ladder of snow leads to scree slopes and broken rock descending to the glacier. And so we walked home across the Kane Glacier, in the lengthening shadow of McGillivray’s Rock, and the evening glow on the ranges beyond Wood River. (Camp 8.20.) Mt. Brown. 9,156 ft—On July 1 we wandered up Mt. Brown, past ice-glazed lakelets on benches of snow, like gigantic steps, above the Committee Punch Bowl. Then following the eastern margin of the Brown Icefield, we took what climb- ing we could find—rope was unnecessary—and were soon walking up the long shale ridge to the top. (9.45-2.45.) Our time was slow, for the day was blistering hot and we were a lazy lot. Still, it makes one doubtful whether David Douglas, under winter conditions and with limited time due to a late start, could have reached this particular summit.* The Brown Icefield drains to Canoe River and to Wood River ; the peaks on its western margin are most attractive and should preferably be reached from a camp at the head of Jeffrey Creek. The unnamed pass through the Divide, immediately north of Mt. Brown, deserves a visit ; three lakes, icy and varying in hue, form the source of Robert Creek and drain to Canoe River. The Wood River and Columbia Groups are practically in line, Mt. Alberta and The Twins visible, but Columbia hidden by square-topped Bras Croche. Two hours passed ; cameras clicked busily, pipes were smoked, we snoozed in the sunlight. The view delighted us—we could not think of it as being ‘ too awful to afford pleasure.’ In another two hours (4.45-6.50) we had glissaded back to the camp-fire ; in fact it had been difficult to find a spot free of snow on which to pitch our tents. On July 2, feeling that we had made a satisfactory reconnais- sance of the pass and its surroundings, we returned down the Whirlpool and camped near the Scott Glacier, beside a shallow lake in the wooded moraine. It was a day of travel when Nature seemed pleased to show us her valley inhabitants—the soaring eagle that guards the rock of McGillivray ; a lonely startled duck skittering across the Punch Bowl; marmots playing and boxing in sunny snow-patches beside the balsam trees. Flowers everywhere, coming up through melting snow ; 42 Cf. Mr. Mumm’s opinion, C.A.J. vi. 90.

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$82 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. lilies and anemones, violets and bluebells, columbine and heather ; Dave, our Indian, riding ahead with an enormous bouquet nodding from his hat. Mt. Oates. 10,220 ft. Furst Ascent—After a night of thunderstorms, the morning of July 8 cleared slowly after a threatening dawn. We made a late start (9.30), expecting only to prospect the Scott icefall for a route to the upper basin. Our camp in the Whirlpool Valley was quite low, 4500 ft., and it was for this reason that we had first investigated the higher level of Athabaska Pass. We now had our tents within a quarter mile of the ice, and soon passed the huge isolated boulders of the terminal debris, and were on the flat tongue. The nearly level ice can be traversed for about a mile, and the eastern moraine, below Mt. Scott, brings one almost to 7000 ft. before it becomes necessary to rope and take to the ice again. The glacier plunges down from the Hooker névé, at an eleva- tion of 8000 ft., through the portal between Mts. Evans and Scott, with a width of nearly a mile. The fall is extremely broken, with gigantic séracs on the verge of tumbling. A fragmentary medial moraine is formed through the erosion of a buttress, partially exposed in the middle of the icefall, at which level there is a lessening of the ape-atope before the final drop to the bulbous tongue. From our roping place, one ascends another thousand feet before reaching the Hooker Icefield in the extensive basin between Mts. Evans, Hooker, Ermatinger, Oates, and Scott. This entails a good deal of step-cutting and some careful ice- manship. (1.80.) The basin is more than three miles across, and from cols in its bounding ridges—the eastern and southern are Continental Divide—other icefalls, all badly shattered, pour in until the field presents a wild scene of broken séracs and unsupported pinnacles over an extended area. There is very little in other Canadian icefields of the main chain with which to compare it; one thinks rather of the northern glaciers of Mont Blane as they come down from the Grand Plateau, but the Hooker Icefield gives an impression of greater breadth and breakage. - Turning eastward and rounding the cliffs of Mt. Scott, our — 43 C.A.J. vi. 90. Mr. Mumm writes, ‘ We were in the centre of an immense battlemented cirque, and straight ahead of us, in particular, stood out against the sky the most menacing array of towers and pinnacles that I have ever seen.’

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a ee Oe abe ed HOOKER ICEFIELD FROM THE SUMMIT OF MT. BROWN. McGillivray’s Rock rises above the foreground snow, with Mt. Hooker above and Mt. Serenity to its right.

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MT. ERMATINGER (10,080 FT.) from the North. MT. ERMATINGER AND MT, HOOKER, from Mt. Oates. Digitized by Google

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. | 838 way lay across a flat of snow, toward a tumultuous waterfall, a broad gully of shale bringing us quickly to an upper snow plateau between Mts. Scott, Oates, and Ermatinger. (2.15.) Mt. Ermatinger is a mountain of inspiring beauty: a long, knife-edged aréte, rising from the Hooker Icefield in a jagged crest of uptilted rock strata, continuing into the north face and merging with a sheer, fluted wall of shining, green ice. The ice-wall is nearly a thousand feet high, broad and unbroken ; in our combined experience we could think of but few so glorious. More than anything else it suggested the oncoming mass of a curling sea-wave, about to break and with the sun- light in its crest. Had time and weather permitted, it would have been ours within a few days, the difficulties being easily avoidable. We passed it by with regret, envying those who will first stand on its lovely heights. We had still the opportunity of making a climb and it was necessary to decide upon the most accessible peak. We had been heading for what seemed to be the highest of the group, believing it to be Mt. Scott. The peak adjoining Mt. Erma- tinger on the north we took to be Mt. Oates ; but on closer examination of the ground we saw that this is a lower, unnamed summit—which will give someone a strenuous climb—and that the peak we were approaching was really Mt. Oates. We climbed to a little col overlooking the south Alnus Glacier and followed up the ever steepening shale and rock to the summit. There was no difficulty and on the last thousand feet the rope was discarded. (Summit, 5.45.) | Not far away and only 600 ft. above us were the shale-tops of Mt. Scott, with a lengthy talus slope of moderate angle running down to the snow plateau. We had been told that the mountain would afford good rock-work, but from this side it looks monotonously easy. Our own peak was immensely preferable. The only enjoyable way to climb Mt. Scott will be by its western wall. Below us, on the N., there was a profound drop to the north Alnus Glacier, while down Alnus Creek the waters of Fortress Lake were completely in view. Alberta, The Twins, and Columbia limit the §.E. horizon, and one might trace the Divide around the head of the Chaba icefields, across Fortress Pass, up to the acute angle at Divergence Peak ; back again to the conquered peak where some of us—not all—are hard at work cairn-building ; thence southward and around the Hooker basin and the subsiding ridges, shimmering in the evening sun-glint, that carry it to Athabaska Pass. And beyond Mt.

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334 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. Ermatinger—we were always looking back—the majestic northern rock-walls of Mt. Serenity, its lower slopes in the long shadows that fill the valley of Fortress Lake and the head of Wood River. The return was a race with daylight. It took us only an hour (6.15-7.15) to return to the top of the séracs, and two hours more (9.15) to get down the intricate labyrinth. We were soon off the upper ice (9.80), and, thanking all natural forces for the long twilight of northland July, made camp (10.80) just as the darkness became tantalising. We are con- vinced that, in many instances, approaching darkness is tan- talising in inverse ratio to the distance from the frying-pan ! On the upper snows it doesn’t matter so much ; it is the last uncertain scrambling in the moraine and the glacial brook that brings out profanity. July 4 was a day of rest in camp, the National Holiday being celebrated with spasmodic efforts at bathing and laundry, and in futile attempts to construct steam-bombs out of jam tins. Conrad was the object of much photographic activity : the entire pack-train followed him into the pond—we had been out from Jasper for more than a week, and there were lots of salt on his hide ! Mt. Hooker. 10,782 ft. First Ascent—We began, on July 5, an ascent which eventually took more time than we had expected. In fact, it turned out to be an endurance record for a Canadian climb—a record that we have since been told we are quite welcome to. We started for Mt. Hooker (4.45), ‘taking forty-five minutes to the ice and an equal time to the rocks at the foot of the W. wall of the glacier. In selecting the wall, below Mt. Evans, it had been hoped to establish a quicker approach to the upper snows than had been found in the ice route to Mt. Oates. Further, the rocks offered a more direct route to the mountain. It proved not to be so short. Two 20-ft. chimneys were followed by ascending ledges and slabs, and consumed an hour. We traversed southward and upward across a slanting watercourse and crossed below a large waterfall in the centre of the wall. By re-entering this gully it seemed possible to ascend directly by broken ledges ; we had barely started when a whizzing and Conrad’s cry of ‘ Stonefalls !’ made us take what cover was available. It was the beginning of a raking fire in which we were all struck, but luckily without serious damage. Conrad, calmly saying ‘ Gentlemen, we must rete nn owen oe ee -

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 335 move a little to one side,’ relieved the tension ; we quickly got out of range, in time to avoid a heavy bombardment of larger boulders that came down over our intended path and would surely have done for us had we persisted. We realised after- wards that in Conrad’s cool leadership in emergency we had geen one of the finest things produced by the mountaineering art. So, selecting a new way, we went on; the ground became increasingly difficult ; in one narrow chimney of 35 ft. the axes Mt. HooKkER FROM THE S.W. 1. Mt. Evans. 2. West Col. 3. West Tower. 4, Highest Rocks. 5. Summit. 6. Mt. Serenity. x x Bivouacs. and sacks had to be roped up, and the last man, looking up at a@ wrong moment, got the returning coils full in the face, and. rather to the detriment of a treasured incisor. Above the chimney was a short bulge of exposed cliff, and the two formed a little section on which an hour was spent. EHasier ledges brought us up to the glacier (11), and we saw that the ice route would after all have been preferable. We halted twenty minutes for second breakfast. Mt. Hooker was now in front of us, across an extent of threatening séracs, with northern cliffs surmounted by a twisted, corniced aréte that makes direct ascent impracticable. The eastern end of the mountain swoops down in a fearful ice-bulge that seems

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386 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. to overhang, and, even from Mt. Oates, we had not seen a plausible way up. And so we chose the western col, knowing it might give us a long fight ; we had seen this side from the Kane Icefield and had found nothing better. Crossing, not without some windings through the crevasses, we reached a poorly bridged schrund, and thence cut forty-five ice steps to the col—9300 ft. (1.45-2.80); this time spent in crossing schrund and cutting into the col. The sharp buttress and tower rising from the col to the W. aréte was avoided by traversing and ascending ledges on the S. face, above the glaciers draining to Wood River. Steepening pitches of no great difficulty, close to the margin of a broad snow-gully, brought us to the mountain’s crest below the rocky tower near the junction of the middle and western thirds of the summit aréte. The top of the tower is shaly, but we avoided it entirely and maintained our altitude by crossing a broad snow-shoulder extending southward. Here was a really bad schrund, with flat, thin bridges, and a cornice-lip ; all of which we treated © with marked respect and crossed cautiously on all-fours. We adapted the slow motions of the breast-stroke to this particular situation, in a way that would have delighted a swimming- instructor. We now gained height on the main aréte, for the first time able to gaze over the northern wall. We pushed on rapidly, the heavy, compact snow-crust requiring superficial cutting, and pulled through some small chimneys to the highest rocks (7.80). From below, we had thought that these last. rock- towers might be the highest point, but, arriving, it was plain that the snow-crest beyond culminated in two wave-like points, with the eastern the higher. After making a tiny cairn and leaving a record, we followed along the cornice base to the steep snow of the highest point (8). More than fifteen hours had elapsed since we left camp; had David Douglas been with us he might have thought his estimate of height was not so far wrong! We anchored, and each, separately, had a look over the cornice down the N. wall to the icefield. Smoke had just begun to come in from a distant forest fire in the direction of Canoe River ; we gazed back along the line of dripping, curling cornices into a red sun—it was as if one were living in the atmosphere of a Pitschner lithograph of Mont Blanc, so gaudy it was. Our more rational interest, during the few minutes on the actual summit, lay in the fact that we appeared to overtop Mt. Scott by several hundred es Fe eC =a.

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 887 feet. We later confirmed this from Mt. Fraser, in the Rampart Group, and have become convinced that Mt. Hooker is the loftiest peak of the group. We would not, however, be under- stood as placing our eyesight in competition with the work of the Interprovincial Survey ; so for the present Mt. Scott must rule supreme.“ It was becoming late, and there was quite evidently insufficient time for us to get off the mountain and return by the way we had come. We had no desire to return down the rock-wall in the dark, nor, for that matter, at any time. So we started down a long snow-shoulder, direct from the peak and descending westward of the snow-flats which form an irregular pass between Mts. Hooker and Serenity. As we walked down, close to the edge, about sixty feet of cornice sank silently, its impact far below producing echoing crashes. We came to the southern extremity of the shoulder without seeing any way down until the terminal buttress was reached. Following down the margin of a broad couloir for a little way without trouble, another 600 ft. of ledges would have taken us to the glacier. We stopped for a moment to look at the sunset: the base of the Wood River massif half- hidden in violet mist ; the sky tinged with the faint green of arctic twilight, with a tracery of smoke-wisps, grey and red ; Clemenceau’s pyramid lifted into the heavens, with no apparent foundation, a floating thing, serene, above Bras Croche, with the pearl-pink colouring one associates with Oriental mosques. Perhaps we were hypnotised: the weather was fine, the view entrancing ; we had come down to the respectable level of 9600 ft., and it was too late to get home. We planned a night on the rocks. What more natural than, when we saw a perfectly fine cave close at hand, we should make for it ? It was roomy and dry, with doorway rather larger than one would have selected for a permanent habitation, but altogether 44 A similar and independent conclusion was arrived at by the first party to ascend Mt. Serenity. In a recent letter Mr. Carpe says: °. . . both Palmer and myself were very much surprised when the survey map came out showing Scott to be higher than Hooker. It definitely did not make that impression from Serenity. I should say that it (Mt. Scott) seemed lower than Serenity. On subsequent examination of photographs taken from the Fraser Group the previous year, however, Scott appears to hide Serenity. Owing to the late hour at which we reached the top of Serenity, I did not take instrumental levels on anything. I have no reason to question the Boundary Commission’s figures.’

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338 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. not to be sniffed at. There was a trickle of water only a few feet away, and we consumed most of our remaining provisions and thought little of it. We spread our things about, crawled near to each other, and for a while slept quite comfortably. And then the trouble began. About midnight there was a rumbling of thunder with flashes of lightning. Rain fell, soon turning to snow. A wind came up, gusty and carrying snow into the cave. We were fairly well protected and kept dry.. We got up at 4 4.M., with the first signs of daylight, peering out to find a dense fog which obscured objects more than perhaps fifty feet away. There was a light covering of snow on the ground, and the sleet continued. Roping, we started downward, thinking to reach the glacier, round eastward to the pass, and get over to the Scott icefall. We got down to the glacier margin without much difficulty, although care was required where the rocks had become icy. The fog was most deceptive, and we had difficulty in distin- guishing height and pitch of quite simple bits of cliff. And here we stopped. We had map and compass and knew our direction ; but the Wood River slope of the Hooker Icefield is so fearfully put together with different levels of sérac and twisted, insinuated buttress, that we simply could not tell, in the fog, just where the Hooker-Serenity pass might lie. There were several chances of going astray and wandering over farther on the Wood River side; which, away from our base of supplies, might be disastrous. We stamped around in the snow for two hours and attempted to reach the pass by keeping close to the southern buttress of Mt. Hooker. The fog did not break, and the snow kept coming down. So at 10.80 a.m., finding a protected corner, walled in on three sides and roofed over by a gigantic slab, we decided to wait out the storm rather than waste energy in fruitless effort. The wet snow had soaked us; our food was gone except for some bits of chocolate and cheese ; we had but a little extra clothing, and no means of making fire. We were at 9300 ft., and the snow kept on.45 We arranged things as well as possible, 45 To recapitwate : our reason for the first bivouac was to avoid working through the Scott icefall at a late hour, with the possibility of being halted for the night in an exposed position. We did not retrace our route over the long west aréte of Mt. Hooker because we wished to complete the traverse and get off the mountain by a way easier than that of the ascent. The second bivouac was purely a question of finding shelter in bad weather, We did more on the second day than a descent of ewer se

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. 889 flooring the cavern with slabs, blocking the open side with boulders and filling the chinks with snow. Fog hid everything but near objects. We were wet and cold, beginning to get hungry ; all suffered more or less with intermittent cramps in the thigh and abdominal muscles. There was a good deal of shivering, that was hard to conceal, done that night; and quite a bit of gastric burning, not so evident, but none the less painful—luckily we could get water in the cave. There was no way of keeping out the fine blown snow. Morning came, a cheerless dawn; but we had been watching for it. The snow seemed to be lessening; the fog ebbed and billowed. Just before 4 .4.m. the snow ceased ; the fog wavered and lifted, so that as we looked out we could see the ground below us and the way toward the pass. We were a stiff lot, but Conrad made a leap for his boots that startled us. It was desperate work getting those boots on, but Conrad was first out, pushing over the snow-crusted boulders in the door- way in his hurry. Uncomfortable as we were, it was impossible not to think of Samson and the pillars of the temple ! ’ Conrad went ahead to break trail; the ground was not difficult, once the way was seen, and the rest of us roped and followed. For a few minutes, as we zigzagged down to the glacier, we could see the lower slopes of Mt. Bras Croche, across Wood River, and Chisel Peak on Fortress Lake. It was only a few hundred feet to the ice below, and we followed Conrad’s track; the fog closed down gradually. We found Conrad returning with the good news that he had found the pass and had been nearly to it. He roped with us and we proceeded as fast as possible. It began to snow and blow harder than ever; but we were sure of ourselves. Our faces and clothing became coated with ice, and hands were cramped through holding a frozen rope. For an instant we saw a dark stretch of open water in the lakelet on the pass summit, and every- thing was hidden again. The wind blew with great violence, making balance on level ground difficult; our tracks were not very straight, but the slope began to be downward, and we knew we had come across into territory that was familiar. Through rifts in the mist we recognised the cliffs of Ermatinger and the eastern ice-bulge of Hooker, and came at last out of the storm to the main icefall. The séracs were all snow- 300 ft. would indicate, trying several lateral routes toward the Hooker-Serenity pass. In fact we finally ascended a little in reaching the bivouac. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. Z,

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340 The Mountains of the Whirlpool. covered ; but we would have tackled worse things to get off the mountain. Conrad’s never-failing craft brought us down in good order to the unroping place, and we followed the route used for Mt. Oates, down the eastern moraine and the glacier tongue. Camp was reached shortly after 11 o’clock. We had been out a little more than fifty-four hours. Things had been happening at camp. High on the ice, above the place where we unroped on descending, we noticed tracks of a man. Dave had become worried when we did not appear on the second day, and had gone up in an unsuccessful effort to find us. When we arrived at camp we found that he had left at 2.80 a.m. to ride to Jasper for help. Jack was in camp, mighty glad to see us, and immediately got us a meal —several perhaps, all in a row—which we devoured before turning in. Jack was sent off with instructions to ride as fast as possible and turn back the search-party. We learned later that Dave had ridden the 45 miles from Scott Glacier to Jasper in nine hours, had secured new horses, and, with Phillips, had sent out a really remarkable party, including Mr. V. A. Fynn, A.C., with the guides Alfred Streich and Hans Kohler. If one were in real danger, it would be impossible to conceive of a more efficient life-saving unit ; and the unselfish sportsman- ship of Mr. Fynn, who unhesitatingly threw over his own plans on hearing of our supposed difficulties, compels our admiration and remains a cherished memory. By fast riding, Jack had turned back the search-party at the Whirlpool tie-camp; and before noon next day he and Dave had come back to us. They needed sleep, and their horses were used up. The climbing party, after a few hours in bed, had recovered sufficiently to do camp work in the absence of Jack and Dave; and the impression remains that none of us missed a meal. It was July 8. By the camp-fire that evening Conrad remarked that Mt. Hooker was the most interesting mountain he had climbed in recent years, and that the summit aréte reminded him very much of Mt. Cook in New Zealand. There are few Canadian peaks that he finds worthy of such praise. Mt. Hooker we believe teaches two lessons: first, that it rarely pays to wander over broken glacier or snowfield in fog ; secondly, that a party in good condition can wait out a storm of considerable duration. Of the two things, clothing is more important than food. One night out at the 9000-ft. level is plenty ; the second is bound to be unpleasant. On

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The Mountains of the Whirlpool. - 841 Canadian peaks, however, one is very rarely in a position when timber-line cannot be reached. To show that our climbing party did not return in a hopeless condition, it may be added that the only damage done was in the shape of superficial frostbite of the hands, acquired on the third day out, as the result of holding with wet mittens a hard-frozen rope. On July 9, with only one day of rest, our time in the area being up, the entire outfit made the 20 miles to the Whirlpool tie-camp, and on the following afternoon were In Jasper. We were en route to the Rampart Group, and had hoped to find a pass through the valley of Simon Creek over to Tonquin Valley. Because of the amount of spring snow this was not possible ; but on July 11 we rode from Jasper, by the Miette and Meadow Creek trails, to Tonquin Hill. Camp at the southern end of Amethyst Lakes was reached during the following morning, and Surprise Point was climbed later in the day. On July 18, eight days after the start for Mt. Hooker, we ascended the Fraser Glacier to the Erebus-Fraser col, crossed to Simon Glacier, the head of the ‘ North Whirlpool,’ made the first ascent of Simon Peak, 10,899 ft., the high un- climbed summit of Mt. Fraser and the loftiest of the Rampart Group, and then traversed McDonell Peak, 10,776 ft., back to camp. This is no programme for an exhausted climbing party ! Within another week we were climbing in the Robson Group. The ascent of Mt. Hooker was the fulfilment of a great desire. To see and to climb Mt. Brown and Mt. Hooker will perhaps not be thought of as a remarkable alpine ambition. They are probably not the peaks Douglas named; in fact, we remain in doubt as to precisely what he did, where he went, and what he named during his few hours at Athabaska Pass. The Interprovincial Survey has unquestionably done the best thing possible in perpetuating these classic names by applying them to a lovely peak on either side of the pass. The ambition to stand upon them is a deeper thing than it appears ; for the naming of peaks by Douglas, and the over-estimation of altitude—no matter how strange or ludicrous it may seem ; no matter who was at fault in figuring—these things first led men in search of great Canadian heights. They came from far corners of the earth, following pioneer trails, seeking beauty. And none there was who retumed insensitive to the glory of that mountain vastness. ‘And so we turned back from Athabaska Pass, on the Whirl- pool trail toward the site of Jasper House, feeling that we too

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842 First Ascents of Mt. Barbican, 10,100 ft., and of had come under the spell of this overland route of the long- ago, and, on Mt. Hooker at least, had shared a little in its adventure. The present map is a reduction of Sheets 26 and 27 (scale 1 in. = 1m.) of the Interprovincial Boundary Survey. They can be obtained on application to the Surveyor-General, Ottawa. First AsceNts OF Mt. Barsican, 10,100 Ft., AND OF Mr. Gerxig, 10,854 rr. (CaNaDIAN Rocky MovuntaIns). By VAL. A. FYNN. N July 9 I met C. G. Wates and M. D. Geddes, both members of the C.A.C., and F. H. Slark at Jasper (Alberta), and we proceeded on the morning train to Geikie Station, some eight miles W. of Jasper, where we joined our pack train of nine horses in charge of W. Digby Harris of Jasper. Leaving the station at about noon, we made the new Ranger’s cabin! in Tonquin Valley ma the Meadow Creek trail in about seven hours. The next day took us over the divide into British Columbia and over a pass W. of Barbican to the Geikie Creek on the 8. side of the Ramparts. There is no trail over this pass, and considerable time was lost and unnecessary effort expended, as we went too far W. of the divide and crossed the ridge considerably W. of its lowest depression. The camp site* was reached in twelve hours at about 11 p.m., with all members of the party dead tired. All slept in the open. 1 This is located on a shoulder overlooking Maccarib Creek, slightly W. cf the stream which descends from the direction of Rg,? and about }” E. of apex of A in the word ALBERTA. It is marked 1 on map. 2 Our Geikie camp was located at about 7150 ft. and just about where that contour line, if shown, would cross the R of BRITISH on map. It is marked 2 on map. The couloir up which we went 1s shown on the map N. of the two R’s in the word TURRET. The Black Inkwell is shown on map just E. of the Nin TURRET MTN. The Blue Inkwell is under the K of TURRET,

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PART OF FRASER GROUP from Geikie Camp looking S. E. a i : DUNGEON AND REDOUBT taken from New Ranger’s Camp on N. side of Ramparts looking, almost 7 Digitized by Google

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Mt. Geikie, 10,854 ft. (Canadian Rocky Mountains). 848 The Ramparts consist of a series of peaks running about E. and W. Beginning at the W. end, the summits are: Barbican, Geikie, Turret, Bastion, Redoubt, and Dungeon. None of these had been climbed at the time we reached Geikie Creek. I had no opportunity to study closely the last two, but of the first four Turret is clearly the most difficult, with Geikie second, Bastion third, and Barbican fourth. July 11 was devoted to setting up tents, arranging supplies, and reconnoitring Mt. Geikie. On July 12 a training and ‘ get together ’ trip was undertaken up Mt. Barbican. Crossing the shale slopes of the 8. face from E. to W. and close under more or less high cliffs, a well-marked col on the §.W. aréte was reached in 5 hours, a further 34 hours sufficing to land the party on the summit. The 8.W. aréte was followed with- out difficulty to an 8-ft. gap, the crossing of which required the use of the rope. Soon after the summit buttress was reached, and, as the S8.W. aréte now became very steep and smooth, the S. face was traversed E. in an ascending line to a point which gave easy access to the summit. The rope was not used after the gap above referred to, although the party included Mr. Slark, who had never before attempted a climb. The rope was, however, put on for the descent, and, following a somewhat different route, down a couloir on the §. face of the mountain close to the 8.W. ridge, camp was regained in 5 hours 45 minutes. July 12 was again a day of rest, partly devoted to the study of Mt. Geikie. A well-marked but very broken ridge descends from its summit to Geikie Creek, dividing this side of the mountain into two parts, one of which faces §.W. and the other 5.8.K. The 8. mdge offers little hope of success; the S.W. face presents the firmer rock but is very steep, and is likely to offer considerable difficulties to the climber; the S.S.E. face 18 cut by a deep and not excessively steep snow-couloir ® which gives easy but not always safe access to the E. ridge. It also gives access to that part of the §.S.H. face which lies somewhat KE. of the summit and which is, no doubt, much easier than the S.W. face. Mr. Wates was the only one of our party who had ever been in the district, and he had made at least three prior attempts to reach the summit of Geikie. His earlier parties had first tried the snow-couloir in the 8.8.E. face and the E. ridge, but had given up this route and devoted their more recent efforts 3 See marked route at end of this article.

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844 First Ascents of Mt. Barbican, 10,100 ft., and of to the 8.W. face. My companions insisted very kindly on leaving the choice of the route in my hands, and after a careful survey of the peak, and with an eye to the strength of our party, I decided that the aforesaid couloir and the E. aréte offered the easiest and most promising route. It is true that one of the steps on this ridge appeared impossible, but a ledge on the 8. face promised a means of circumventing the difficulty. This step is some 600 ft. below the summit, and is easily seen from a small lake, the Blue Inkwell, on the E. side of the S. aréte. Leaving camp at 2.50 a.m., Wates, Geddes, and I tra- versed to the Blue Inkwell, reaching it at 4.25 and the foot of the snow-couloir at 5.5. Following the snow as long as possible, and at last taking to the very rotten rocks on the W., the E. ridge was reached at 10.15. The rope was put on at 7.40, and retained for the rest of the climb. From the top of this couloir the HK. ridge rises in an unclimbable step, but a steep rib descends from the summit of this step in a northerly direction and makes it possible to circumvent the difficulty. This rib is but short, and soon drops almost per- pendicularly into Tonquin Valley. Anxious to profit by his previous experience, we questioned Mr. Wates as to the line followed by his earlier party, but he could not recollect the course taken, and this part of the problem had to be solved afresh. An attempt to circle the N. rib was at once frustrated, which called for a closer study of the obstacle. The foot of any part of the E. face of this rib 1s easily accessible from the top of the couloir over horizontal ledges covered with debris. Near the northern end of the nib is a clearly visible sky-line cleft from which descends a steep and difficult chimney. The ascent was continued by an easy chimney immediately to the N. of the obviously difficult one and by a convenient tunnel- hike cleft running §. through the mb itself and parallel to it. A number of large stones wedged between the walls of this tunnel facilitate the ascent, and the tunnel lands the climber into the sky-line cleft already referred to. It 1s now necessary to traverse along the extremely steep W. face of the N. rib to a steep snow-filled chimney which leads to the summit of the rib. The rib is then followed until it rises very steeply and merges into the N. face of the E. ndge. At this point a traverse along the N. face of the EH. ridge becomes necessary in order to reach a point from which the crest of this aréte can be attained over steep snow-slopes. This traverse includes 4 See C.AWJ. xiii. 53 seq.

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Mt. Getkie, 10,854 ft. (Canadian Rocky Mountains). 945 the climbing of a steep and very narrow crack, best accomplished by wedging stones into it at convenient intervals. Following the crest of the E. ridge without difficulty, one soon comes in sight of the obviously difficult buttress previously referred to, and characterised by black and wet rocks. Leaving the crest, we took to easy ledges on the S. side, and thus readily turned the black rocks. The ledge which leads around the wet black buttress itself 1s characterised by a very large rock of a bright red-yellow colour which partly obstructs this ledge and has evidently broken away from the wall just above it. Climbing in a diagonally ascending direction along the here easy 8. side of the E. ridge, a secondary summit is soon reached without trouble. This is separated from the main summit by a wide depression which does not present any difficulty, and the main summit was ours at 8.45 p.m. Leaving at 4.15, the route described was retraced, the top of the couloir being reached at 7.10 p.m. After a struggle with the rotten rocks in the upper part of this couloir, the party took to the snow before dark and continued down very slowly, reaching the foot of the couloir and taking off the rope at 1.10 a.m. on July 15. A weary trudge to camp in semi-darkness brought the ascent to a close at 4.50 a.m. The route followed is perhaps somewhat complicated and will not always be found safe, but does not present any serious difficulties. It must be conceded that there are plenty of more difficult mountains in Canada. Among them is Mt. Louis, near Banff. Mt. Geikie cannot be compared to Mt. Louis in point of difficulty. In the case of Geikie it was only neces- sary to determine the best route and follow it aggressively and efficiently. This our party successfully accomplished at the first attempt. But the route we followed is not the only possible one. There are at least two other possibilities. (1) A possible route is by way of the col between Barbican and Geikie and the W. aréte. There are four distinct buttresses on this aréte, including the summit buttress. The lower three-quarters of the second one must be turned by means of a traverse into the 8.W. face. This traverse will form the more difficult part of this line of access. This line of attack is the safest but also the most difficult of the three routes here outlined. It should not present excessive difficulties to a party composed of good amateurs accustomed to work together, or to a strong party led by a competent mountaineer. The route suggested 1s indicated on the text block.

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846 First Ascenis of Mt. Barbican, 10,100 ft., and of Closer examination may show that at least part of the lower three-quarters of the second buttress may be better overcome ae sy Gree 7" tin Cy ‘ _* PLS a ” yy OF a ae ed ~ ie Oey” a ce W. RipaE anv S8.W. Face oF GEIKIE FROM GEIKIE Camp (S. oF CoL BETWEEN GEIKIE AND BARBICAN). .... Suggested Route (1). by utilising a steep snow-filled couloir on the N. side of this part of the W. aréte and the broken rocks 8. of the said couloir. (2) The couloir by means of which the E. aréte was reached turns slightly E. after running about half its course. At this point it is possible to leave it and reach the upper and easy reaches of the §.8.E. face of the peak by climbing the rocks on the W. side of the couloir to the highest visible ledge leading into this face. This ledge must be followed around a corner and in a westerly direction.® 5 [The route actually followed lies all the way up the bent couloir right up to the X on the main E. summit aréte. This couloir, from the end of the snow at its apparent head, continues, though out of sight, right to the main aréte. The dotted route bearing away to the left from the end of the snow in the couloir and attaining the main aréte more to the left indicates Mr. Fynn’s suggested route No. 2. He adds: ‘I have also shown part of the route actually followed [on the E. aréte]. The key is the traverse just left of the arrow—from the dot on; the actual route follows the E. or summit ridge.’—Editors.] * ee

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— ns > % weet 4 ’ >" —— FACE OF GEIKIE S. E. Ss. Digitized by Google

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Mt. Getkie, 10,854 ft. (Canadian Rocky Mountains). 3847 Turret is without doubt the most difficult peak in this range, and I could see but one promising approach, 1.e. from the 8. W. Bastion can be reached from the N. or the 8. without any particular difficulty. The party rested on July 15. The next day we went back to the Tonquin Valley cabin, following a much better line and S.S.E. Face or GEIKIE. .... Route of Ascent by Fynn’s party. — -— Suggested alternative Route (2). covering the distance in half the time. Jasper was reached on the 16th via the Meadow Creek trail. All three climbers were quite out of training, which accounts for the slowness of our progress. There is no reason why nine hours should not be amply sufficient to take a party of three from our camp to the summit of Geikie, and six to seven hours should be more than enough for the return journey. This article has been lavishly illustrated, as the rock forma- tion 18 among the finest in the Rockies and several of the

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848 The American Members of the Alpine Club. peaks are still unclimbed. The paper can be readily followed with the map. The 1 in. scale map, No. 28, of the Interprovincial Survey, of which the present map is a reduction, can be obtained on application to the Surveyor-General, Ottawa.—Ep1rors. THe AMERICAN MEMBERS OF THE ALPINE CLUB. Précis of Minutes of Meeting held April 19, 1924. HE seventh Dinner and Meeting of the Association was held on Saturday evening, April 19, 1924, at the Union Club, New York City. The members attending were: Freeman Allen, Allston Burr, Allen Carpe, Charles E. Fay, J. Ellis Fisher, J. W. A. Hickson, LeRoy Jeffers, A. H. McCarthy, Howard Palmer, H. B. de Villiers-Schwab, William Williams, and Joseph Wood, jun. The guests were: John C. Case, J. H. Coontz, E. C. Maule, and Harry P. Nichols. Following the Dinner, the Meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Prof. Fay. All the present officers were re- elected for another term. The announcement that Prof. A. P. Coleman, Hon. A. C., had joined the Association was received with pleasure. This accession, together with that of the newly elected Messrs. Henry 8. Hall, jun., and Joseph Wood, jun., brings the membership to thirty. There was first presented a moving picture film of “An Ascent of the Grand Aréte of the Saléve’ (Geneva), taken by M. Lozeran. Dr. Freeman Allen next read a paper of reminiscences of various climbs in the Alps—maiunly in the Oberland, Zermatt, and Chamonix districts—made with Mr. Allston Burr and other Bostonians, in the years 1908 to 1911. Finally, Mr. A. H. McCarthy gave a comprehensive account of the climbing that has been done on Mt. Robson, including the story of its conquest in 1912 by Col. W. W. Foster and himself with the guide Konrad Kain. H. B. pe VILurEers-ScHwas, Hon. See. 11, Broadway, New York City.

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tly Se as Tne es my v4 TURRET from S.W.

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POSTERN from W. Geikie Glacier on left.

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The Pyrenees. 849 THE PYRENEES. By JAMES A. PARKER. (Read before the Alpine Club, May 6, 1924.) HILE it is true that a small number of papers descriptive of the Pyrenees have appeared in the ALPINE JOURNAL, it is, I think, a regrettable fact that so far only two papers have been read and discussed at meetings of the Club. The first paper to be read was that by Count Henry Russell, ‘ On Mountains and on Mountaineering in General,’ in 1871; which was followed after an interval of twenty-eight years by Mr. Spender’s ‘The High Pyrenees’ in 1899. And now, after what appears to be the recognised interval of about a quarter of a century, it is my privilege to read the third. My selection for this duty is not due to my having an exhaustive knowledge of the Pyrenees or to my having done any wonder- ful feats on them, but simply to the fact that I have spent the past three seasons among them. Apparently very few members of this Club visit the Pyrenees, and I therefore feel that my best course this evening will be to give you a very brief description of the mountains, and with the aid of my photographs’ show you what they are actually like, and finally give you some up-to-date information regarding huts and other facilities for mountaineers. The Pyrenees, in their total length of about two hundred and fifty miles from near San Sebastian to Cap Cerbére, are as yet crossed by no railways, and even by few roads. In fact, between the Col de Pourtalet and the Col de Puymorens, 1 This statement is perhaps not strictly correct; but what I mean is that as yet there is no railway across the Pyrenees which is open for traffic. As a matter of fact, two trans-Pyrenean railways are in course of construction and will probably be opened for traffic in two years time. These are a railway from Oloron to Jaca through a tunnel under the Somport, and a railway from Ax-les-Thermes to Puigcerda through a tunnel under the Col de Puymorens. A third railway is under consideration, namely, from St. Girons to Lerida by a tunnel under the Port de Salau ; but little appears to have been done to its construction.

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850 The Pyrenees. a distance of 110 miles, the High Pyrenees are crossed by no roads at all, the only highways being mule paths and foot tracks. The N. and 8. slopes of the mountain chain differ greatly in character and in development. The French slope is com- paratively steep, there being only a width of about twenty miles from the plains to the crest of the mountains, and most of the valleys run at right angles to the main ridge. As a result the lateral railway and roads are fairly close up to the mountains, and good railways and roads lead far up into most of the transverse valleys. The French side of the Pyrenees is consequently easy of access, and is well developed. In past years this development consisted mostly in making health resorts and spas, like Cauterets and Luchon ; but now the French are opening up their district for climbers and winter sports people by building convenient high hotels and chalets. : On the Spanish side we find a totally different state of matters. The slope of the mountains is flatter and the valley system much more complicated, many of the valleys running parallel to the main range. The lateral railway, that from Saragossa to Lerida and Barcelona, is 60 miles out, and there are only two transverse railways. And there is no lateral road similar to the Route des Pyrénées on the French side. The 8. slope of the mountains is therefore highly undeveloped, and for climbing purposes is, with a few exceptions, in prac- tically as primitive a condition as it was sixty years ago. And therein lies its greatest charm. To reach it from England the only practical way is to cross the mountains by a high pass, and once across one feels, and is, very far away from civilisation. To the climber the most interesting part of the range is that between the Pic du Midi d’Ossau in the W. and the almost unknown peaks 8. of the Val d’Aran in the E., a stretch of about seventy-five miles—the feature of this part of the ridge being its uniformly high altitude, as between the Port Vieux de Sallent and the Port de la Bonaigue, a distance of 70 miles, it falls below the 7500-ft. level at only one point, namely, the Port de Gavarnie (7487 ft.). The peaks usually run from 10,000 to 11,000 ft. in height, the two highest being the Posets (11,047 ft.) and the Pic d’Aneto (11,168 ft.), both of which, however, are not on the main ridge but stand S. of it. There are, of course, no big peaks comparable with those in the Alps, the glaciers are small, and the climbing is, as a

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No. 2. Photos: J. A. Parker.] For titles see end of paper.

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No. 3. No. 4. Photos: J. A. Parker.) For titles see end of paper.

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The Pyrenees. 351 rule, easy. One great drawback to the Pyrenees in the past, to non-camping parties at least, was that the towns, and consequently the hotels, were far too low for climbing pur- poses; but the French and Spanish climbing clubs are gradually removing this drawback by erecting refuges and — chalets at convenient heights. This may spoil some of the districts for camping parties; but if so they have only to cross the frontier into Spain, and there in the high valleys they will find a mountain land which is ideal for their purpose and in this respect is probably unequalled by any of the near mountain ranges in Europe. My first visit to the Pyrenees was made in September 1921, in which month a friend and I spent about a fortnight in the Luchon district. Our principal expedition was one of five days’ duration to Rencluse, from which comfortable chalet we climbed the Pic d’Aneto by the usual route, and on a subse- quent day crossed the Maladetta range by the Pic d’Albe to Venasque. These climbs are quite simple and require no description, as the Maladetta range is well known. The chalet at Rencluse, which was opened in 1916, is very con- veniently placed for the exploration of the mountains, and 1s a delightful place in which to spend a few days. We did not attempt the Posets, which is still a very inac-. cessible mountain on account of there being no convenient base from which it can be climbed, although it is recorded ? that it has been done aller et retour in a long day from Venasque by way of the Eristé Valley. While at Rencluse we of course visited the celebrated Trou du Toro, regarding which opinions still seem to differ as to where the water goes—whether it percolates underground to the ‘ Hye of Jove’ in the Val d’Aran, or simply reappears farther down the Esera Valley. Probably the question will never be settled until some electric power company ‘ harnesses ’ the water at the Trou du Toro and leads it definitely down the Esera Valley towards Venasque in a conduit. In view of such a contingency, it is perhaps fortunate that the Val d’Aran is Spanish territory, as possible international complications will thereby be avoided. | In August 1922 I spent fully a week with a non-climbing friend in the beautiful Vallée d’Aure, a district to which my attention had been drawn by the description of it con- tained in T. C. Paris’s ‘ Letters from the Pyrenees.’ The 2 Bulletin Pyrénéen, No. 161, pp. 341-6.

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352 The Pyrenees. branch railway from Lannemezan stops at the small town of Arreau, from which a good road leads up the valley as far as Fabian, where there is a small and sufficiently comfortable chalet hotel at which we spent several nights. A number of interesting short valleys run southward from the upper Vallée d’Aure to the frontier, of which we explored that of Moudang, which is very beautifully wooded and has a mineral well and a very primitive spa at its head. To the N. of Fabian the valley of Couplan leads up to the Lac d’Orédon, where there is now a very comfortable chalet owned by the C.A.F. and T.C.F., and which is a very convenient centre for the exploration of the many fine peaks in the neighbour- hood, of which the Pic Méchant (9659 ft.) is probably the most interesting. In 1928, with a climbing companion, I again visited the central Pyrenees. Our first expedition was from Gavarnie to Ordesa in the Vallée d’Arazas, by way of the Port de Gavarnie and Bujaruelo, a very delightful walk of about eight hours. The Vallée d’Arazas is one of the most beautiful valleys that I know, and the Spanish Government wisely made it a national park in 1917. The two little hotels at Ordesa are very comfortable, and, being placed at a height of about 4324 ft., are fairly convenient for the ascent of most of the peaks on the frontier. The valley is really a cafion with huge limestone cliffs on both sides. In fact, neglecting eneATCe, there appear to be only three ways out of it, : by way of the Cirque of Salarus, N.W. of Ordesa, which is an easy climb; and by the Cirque of Cotatuero, N.E. of Ordesa, and the Saut de Gaulis at the head of the valley, both of which are difficult and have been facilitated by iron spikes driven into the face of the cliff. The last is the most important, and can be easily recognised from below, while from above the way to it is now indicated by conspicuous cairns. Some distance above it is the newly built, or rebuilt, Refuge de Gaulis, which can be reached in about three hours from Ordesa. It is a plain stone building about twelve feet square, and in 1923 contained only a sleeping-bench, an iron stove, a table, and a couple of seats. My friend and I spent a, miserable night in it in the vain hope of getting the Perdu next day ; but the weather was against us. From Ordesa we crossed back to Gavarnie vid the Salarus Gorge, the Taillon, the Bréche de Roland, and Cirque de Gavarnie, @ very fine expedition which took us 104 hours. The steep rocks of the Salarus Cirque were passed by way |

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Photos: J. A. Parker.) For titles see end of paper.

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No. 7. Photos: J. A. Parker.} For titles see end of paper.

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The Pyrenees. 858 of a steep buttress at the E. side of the Cirque. The buttress is traversed from W. to HK. about half-way up by a narrow ledge called the Corniche de Salarus. Above the cliffs we followed an uninteresting valley until we came to a great flat waste of stones, beyond which we struck up steep rock and snow to the col N. of the Pic Blane. From the latter we crossed a small glacier to the frontier ridge, which we reached some little distance to the K. of the Taillon. From the Taillon we followed the perfectly easy main ridge to the Bréche de Roland, paying a visit, of course, to the curious hole in the face of the cliff near the latter called the Villa Gaurier. It is a perfectly sheltered cave, and can hold six men. In fact, six unfortunate men were forced by bad weather to spend 106 hours in it in March 1923.3 From the Bréche we descended northwards over easy glacier and snow, at the foot of which we turned to the E., and our guide, young Vergez, took us down a series of stony gorges and grass slopes to the edge of the Cirque. On reaching the edge of the cliffs he turned to the right and took us down the face of the cliffs by the route known as the lchelles des Sarradets, which is pretty sensa- tional but not at all difficult. The route is not marked in any way, and a descending party who did not know it would have a poor chance of finding it. After a day’s rest in Gavarnie we crossed over to Bielsa by way of the Hourquette d’Allans, Cirque d’Estaube, Port de Pinéde, and Vallée de Pinéde—a very interesting trip but @ very long one, and, as we found it, trying on account of the great heat and the scarcity of water. We took 12 hours to it, but this included a long siesta at the Chapel. Bielsa is an interesting little town, but is very far indeed from being clean. We put up at the posada near the bridge, and were well fed and cleanly housed ; but the surroundings—well, the less said about them the better ! Our object in going to Bielsa was to climb the Fulsa and the Suelsa, but unfortunately one of the party took ill and we had to content ourselves with crossing over the Port Vieux de Baroude to Fabian, and were thankful to get there. We then went up to the Lac d’Orédon for a couple of nights, and then over the Col d’Aubert to Baréges and Luz, where thoroughly bad weather caused us to retreat from the mountains. To the climber in the Pyrenees the question of suitable * Bulletin Pyrénéen, No. 167, pp. 151-6,

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354 The Pyrenees. accommodation is a vital one. In the days of Charles Packe there was practically none, and that state of matters held until comparatively recently, the climber being faced with the alternative of sleeping out or of doing very long expeditions from the villages. As stated previously, matters are now greatly improved, and in an appendix to this paper will be found brief particulars of the principal refuges, chalets, and hotels that are now available for climbers and are at con- venient heights. A perusal of the list will show that in many districts conditions now differ vastly from those existing in the days of Packe and Russell. In conclusion, I would add a few words about guide-books. For general purposes Baedeker’s ‘Southern France’ is good, but is far too brief. ‘Le Guide Bleu: Les Pyrénées ’ is much fuller and contains a large number of panoramas and an excellent introductory chapter by M. F. Schrader. For mountaineers there is still only one guide-book in English, namely, Charles Packe’s, which, though published in 1867, is in many respects still up to date. It is, of course, long out of print, and is very hard to get. Undoubtedly the best climber’s guide to the Pyrenees is that published in 1920 by M. Pierre Soubiron of Toulouse. It is exceedingly good, and contains thirty-four diagram maps and full information regarding routes and_ resting-places. No chmber visiting the Pyrenees should be without it. For the Val d’Aran an excellent guide-book was published by Seftor Juli Soler y Santalo in 1906, which contains a large number of good photographs and a map. Unfortunately the book is written in Catalan, which is not Spanish though something like it. However, with a slight knowledge of the latter language and a good imagination one can extract a good deal of information out of the book. I cannot say whether what I have told you this evening or the views that I have shown you will tempt any of you to visit the Pyrenees. The district is not one for the arduous climber who wishes to ascend big snow mountains and climb difficult rock peaks. But for the mountaineer who is prepared to rough it and who wishes to wander through a beautiful moun- tain land, climb peaks which are seldom visited, and sojourn amongst a people who as yet are as unspoiled as their native hills, the Pyrenees, and especially the Spanish Pyrenees, are at present ideal. 4 Les Pyrénées, by Pierre Soubiron, 43 Rue Roquelaine, Toulouse.

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The Pyrenees. 855 APPENDIX [. Notes regarding Refuges and Chalets for mountaineers, and Hotels and Inns at convenient altitudes for climbers, in the Pyrenees. Compiled partly from. personal knowledge, but mostly from the recent articles by M. G. Ledormeur in the Bulletin Pyrénéen, ‘Le Guide Soubiron,’ and other sources. On the French Side. REFUGE DE LaBEROovAT (4593 ft.). An old bathing establish- ment converted by the T.C.F. into a hotel-refuge and opened in 1921. Near Lescun, and useful for the Pic d’Anie, etc. REFUGE D’ARREMOULIT (7858 ft.). Built in 1905, destroyed in 1916, and reconstruction under consideration by C.A.F. in 1922. Was convenient for the Balaitous. CABALIROS (7048 ft.). Aninn N.W. of Cauterets for the Cabaliros. ReFruce WALLON (6126 ft.). Erected by the T.C.F. in 1910, and enlarged in 1922. Near the head of the Marcadau Valley, 8.W. of Cauterets. a | Lac DE GavuBE (5670 ft.). An inn 8. of Cauterets. REFUGE D’OssovE (8701 ft.). 8S. of Cauterets, near the Hour- quette d’Ossoue. Constructed by the C.A.F. in 1900. Lac p’Estom (5935 ft.). An inn 8. of Cauterets. ReFuGE RussELtL (6496 ft.). Constructed by the T.C.F. in 1910. S. of Cauterets, on the E. side of the Vallée de Lutour. Also called Refuge de Culaous. Cou DE Riov (6404 ft.). An inn on the ridge between Cauterets and Luz. Reconstructed in 1900. REFUGE DE TUQUEROUYE (8750 ft.). S.E. of Gavarnie, on the Bréche de Tuquerouye. Constructed by the C.A.F. in 1890. H6TELLERIE DU Pic pu Mini (7802 ft.). Built in 1856 on the Col de Sencours. ReFuGE Packe (8281 ft.). Constructed by the C.A.F. in 1896 on the Col du Rabiet, 8. of Luz. Convenient for the Pic Long, etc. CHALET D’OREDON (6201 ft.). Erected by the T.C.F. and C.A.F. in 1919 at the E. end of the Lac d’Orédon. Pian D’ARAGNOUET (4351 ft.). Small inn run by the guide Péclose, near the head of the Vallée d’Aure. FABIAN p’ARAGNOUET (3609 ft.). A small chalet hotel in the upper Vallée d’Aure, near the entrance to the Moudang Gorge. HospPicE DE Rioumagsou (5118 ft.). At the head of the Vallée de Rioumajou, 8. of Arreau. Lac DE Cattiaouas (7146 ft.). Maison des Ingénieurs. 8S. of Arreau, near the head of the Vallee de Louron. | CHALET REFUGE v’Espinco (6365 ft.). S. of the Lac d’06. Constructed by the C.A.F. in 1923. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. 2A

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356 The Pyrenees. REFUGE DE Prats-Lone (6103 ft.). At the head of the Vallée du Lys. Erected by the C.A.F. in 1897. SUPERBAGNERES (5896 ft.). A large, first-class hotel above Luchon. Opened in 1922. HosPicE DE France (4547 ft.). 8S. of Luchon, near the Port de Venasque. REFUGE DU MontTVALIER (7218 ft.). S. by W. from St. Girons. Constructed by the T.C.F. in 1912. L’Hospitatet (4711 ft.). Small hotel N. of the Col de Puymorens. Ports (5325 ft.). Small hotels 8. of the Col de Puymorens. Font-Romevu (5906 ft.). A large, first-class hotel, opened in 1913. CorTALETs (7218 ft.). Chalet hotel on the N. side of the Canigou. Built by the C.A.F. in 1898. On the Spanish Side. BAINS DE Panticosa (5377 ft.). Hotels. BUJARUELO (4351 ft.). Small posada. OrpESA (4324 ft.). Two little chalet hotels in the Vallée d’ Arazas. REFUGE DE GAULIS (about 7776 ft.). Above the head of the Vallée d’Arazas. Completed in 1923. La ReEncuiusE (7038 ft.). Chalet built in 1916 by the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, on the N. slope of the Maladetta group. HospPicE DE VIELLA (5315 ft.). Near the head of the Noguera Valley, 8. of the Port de Viella. CaLDas DE Bont (4954 ft.). Bathing establishment near the head of the Valley of the Noguera de Ter. 8. of Salardu. ULL DE TER (7628 ft.). Chalet built by the Catalunya Society in 1909. Close up to the frontier, about 124 miles 8.W. of the Canigou. APPENDIX I]. Description of the Photographs. No. 1. The Trou du Toro. The view was taken looking S8.E. towards the Col de las Salanques. The mountain to the right is the Pic d’Aneto. No. 2. The Lac d@Espingo. The C.A.F. opened a new hut here in 1923. The view is taken looking W. towards the entrance of the Val d’Arouge, with the sharp Pic de Leytarous (9344 ft.) on the right. , N o. 3. Lac d’Orédon. Taken from above the E. end of the lake, looking 8.W. The Pic Méchant is on the left, and a portion of the Pic Campbieil is visible in the distance on the right. Both have a sprinkling of fresh snow. No. 4. Mountains near Bujaruelo. The view was taken some little distance down the Spanish side of the Port de Gavarnie,

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“"NUOH TAONIHOSL Uoly NYOHLIWTILIANY PY NYOHLIANE-AATV LNABHOSLOD “DR N449IM 9304d

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Memories of the Baltschieder Thal. 857 looking into the Rio Ara Valley. The curiously streaked peak to the left is the Pefia de Otal (8862 ft.), with the Tendefiera (9351 ft.) on its right. The pass on the right of the latter leads over to Panticosa. No. 5. Bujaruelo. Looking down the Ara Valley. The near large building is the guard-house, with the posada just beyond. No. 6. The Rio Ara Valley above Torla. The view was taken from above Torla, looking northward to the Escuzana. The main valley leads to the left to Bujaruelo, and the Vallée d’Arazas strikes eastwards between the Escuzana and the dark cliff on the right. No. 7. Ordesa, Vallée d’ Arazas. The small white buildings in the centre are the Hétel de la Bréche de Roland, run by Pierre Vergez. The lower hotel, run by Viu Ramond, is just visible through the trees. The mountain is the Escuzana, with the entrance to the Cirque de Salarus to the right. No. 8. Vallée de Pinéde. The view was taken at the tree-line below the Port de Pinéde, looking 8.W. down the valley. MEMORIES OF THE BALTSCHIEDER T'HAL. By GEORGE YELD. | fae 1884 I spent some pleasant days in the Létschenthal. I had with me Alphonse Payot and Seraphin Henry (of Courmayeur). The little hotel at Ried was our headquarters. In those days the landlord was as quaint a character as ever found a place in exaggerated comedy—yet withal he served his guests right well. I could tell much of that landlord; but two things may be here recorded—one, how he hunted his fowls, the other how he prided himself on the genuineness of his wines. I once heard of a village innkeeper in the North of England who, when he was in his cups, was wont to drive his fowls into the garden, fasten the gate, and then pursue them with chip and bone, brick and stone, and any other missile that came to hand. It mattered nothing that he continually fell over vegetables or into bushes: he steadied himself with loud oaths and addressed the fowls with louder reproaches. Great was the cackling and the shouting, and sometimes the slaughter. Well, when chickens were required for the table at Ried, the _ programme was much the same, only that the female staff were called to help, and added their shrill cries to the uproar. The hunt was strenuous and, of course, successful, but occasion- ally a hen, attempting to fly the Lonza ripae ultertoris amore,

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358 Memories of the Baltschieder Thal. failed to reach that refuge and was carried down and drowned. To appreciate the stern character of the chase you should have seen the landlord returning flushed with victory and a couple of fowls. And now for his pride in his wines. He also served in person at dinner and brought the wine himself. I asked, let us say, for Fendant. He brought a bottle and set it down. When he came round again I mildly called his attention to it: *‘ Landlord, this is not the wine I ordered.’ ‘ Sir ’—with indig- nant gesture—‘ my wines are what they profess to be. If that is not Vin d’Enfer, there is no Vin d’Enfer in Switzerland ’— and much more to the same effect, with stuttering asseveration and a heat suited to the locality after which the wine was named. ‘I did not say that it was not Vin d’Enfer. I have no doubt it is. J take your word for it—but I asked for Fendant.’ With- out a syllable he seized the wine, and forthwith produced a bottle of Fendant. By and by I thought it well further to soothe his appeasement with a little gentle flattery, so, as he passed, I said, ‘ Landlord, this is excellent wine.’ Thus did I, thanks to a little diplomacy, become a guest to be treated with every consideration. Some days later certain travellers, including two ladies, came over the Petersgrat. One of the party opened a con- versation with me by some ordinary question about food. I said that he would probably not find fault with it, and added, “We dine at seven.’ ‘Oh, but,’ said he, ‘ we’ve ordered dinner at 5.80.’ I reiterated, ‘We dine at seven.’ ‘ You don’t seem to think we shall get our way in the matter.’ I looked the nega- tive which I did not utter. When seven came, the leader of the Petersgrat party, anxious to lose no time after his long wait, promptly seated himself at the head of the table; but deposition quickly followed. ‘Sir,’ said the landlord, ‘I beg your pardon, but you cannot sit in that chair. It is reserved for this gentle- man who has done me the honour to stay in my house for a fort- night.’ A genial laugh proclaimed the stranger a good fellow: he vacated the chair, and I took my seat. We soon became great friends, as a good dinner led to a good understanding. So much for the inn of that period. On a beautiful day, accompanied by the two guides, I went up to the Baltschiederjoch, and then ascended the Breitlaui- horn, an excellent view-point, and so got my first sight of the western head of the Baltschieder Valley. Some days later we again reached the Baltschiederjoch, with the inten- tion of crossing to Visp and climbing a peak on the way, but

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Memorves of the Baltschteder Thal. 859 fog and heavy rain prevented us from even seeing the desired summit, and so we hurried to Visp in, I suspect, record time. Thus my wishes for a knowledge of the Innerer Baltschieder- firn and of the main part of the valley remained unsatisfied, thanks to those malignant fosterers of ignorance, rain and mist. | Four times since has that ill fortune repeated itself, and I have been tempted to agree with those who describe it as a vale ‘That there are none to praise, And very few to love.’ But though it treated me unkindly, I cannot forget that I had it to myself. I spent one night in a rather dilapidated chalet, two in an airy cave, two in a lair into which we crawled, and in which you must move about on your knees if you would not break your head against the roof. There was no Club hut in those days. You felt no unhappy moments such as huts in popular valleys breed in those who would have the lonely places of the mountains to themselves : | ‘ For every moment is expectancy Of more arrivance.’ At the Baltschieder chalets I once saw the swine driven into their unsavoury den. The whole interior was fully occupied when a laggard arrived and, with the assistance of the swineherd’s boot, was propelled on to the backs of the closely packed crowd. Do I then suggest a parallel? No, no, far be it from me, but I would rather face discomfort in ravine or cavern where no man comes than make one of a crowd, even if, like Macbeth, they were all full of the milk of human kindness. And if I need plead justification, how often have I heard genial-minded climbers bestow a by no means restricted vocabulary of abuse on the hut where they sought comfort and found its nauseous opposite ! But to my story. The happenings of 1898 I reserve till last. In 1901 Tempest Anderson and I, with Francois and Sylvain Pession, went up in doubtful weather to the Baltschieder chalets. We carried blankets and other necessaries for sleep- ing out. The weather quickly worsened, and the prospect of reaching our proposed sleeping-place vanished. So Ander- son and Sylvain returned to Visp, while Francois and J—for I was unwilling to lose even a remote chance of a climb—were left behind in the heavy rain and the possession of an ancient

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860 Memories of the Baltschieder Thal. hay chalet on the other side of the torrent from the pig policies. A kindly woman with two children suddenly appeared and did what she could for our comfort by cleaning the floor of the chalet and fetching a bundle of sweet hay to serve as our bed. She also supplied our chamber with a door which it previou ‘ly lacked. We returned her hospitality with some wine and food and made friends with the children. Then the woman said that she must show us her pet pig. In front of the place where he was kept was a large square morass of semi-liquid cow manure—black and of an evil smell. The pig was no sooner released from his sty than suddenly with @ loud snort he sprang into it, and emerging with another snort on the far side, raced away for some distance, while oilily bubbled up that loathsome mere. Then he returned, appar- ently cured of his saltatory madness, came close to his mistress, and then again, whisking round with a louder snort than ever, repeated his dreadful dive. We had hastily withdrawn to a safe distance from this auld reekie among swine. ; The next morning Frangois and I started for our lair under the Grubhorn, spent a chilly night there, woke to a world of snow and mist, and returned unwillingly to Visp. In 1905 I came again with my friend Canon W. C. Compton, who had with him Johann Stoller of Kandersteg, whilst I had Benjamin Pession. We found a much more comfortable place to sleep in, thanks to Compton’s sagacious eye, though it had the disadvantage of being considerably lower down— a really excellent high-roofed cave, though not quite top-whole. The next day bad weather descended upon us, and once again the Baltschieder Thal, so to speak, banged the door in our faces like an angry politician. But I was still minded to try a certain climb from the Innerer Baltschiederfirn, and returned again in 1892. We slept in the same cave as Compton and I had occupied in 1905, and met with the same fate. The only interlude was the sight of a large red fox which had caused some havoc among the sheep which tenant the upper part of the valley, though we were not so fortunate in our natural history experi- ences as the littérateur who on the Morterasch at Pontresina heard * the piping call of the marmosets in the rock valley below.’ And now for my one piece of good fortune. On August 14, 1898, Francois and Sylvain Pession and I slept in the guest- hole first occupied by Dent’s party in 1878, and awoke the next morning to be greeted by a glorious day. There was to

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Memorves of the Baltscheder Thal. 861 be no mist, no rain, no snow, no raging wind—nothing but sunlight and a cloudless heaven. Crossing the Innerer Baltschiederfirn, we reached the Breit- lauihorn-Breithorn ridge without trouble, and there stayed a short time. We left behind us an empty bottle, which was found by Mr. R. G. L. Irving’s party in 1907, when they traversed the whole ridge from the Breitlauihorn to the Breithorn—a glorious expedition. We then turned to our right to a bold array of towers which studded the ridge pretty thickly. We climbed them all. One or two gave us interesting work. By and by we arrived at the W. snow ridge of the Breithorn, along which our way seemed almost a walk right up into heaven. The day was perfect, and the biting wind, which so often chooses sharp arétes for its playground, was not abroad. Such cornices as there were we were able to see clearly before we came to them, and so all risk of walking on them was avoided. Such a heaven-aiming, sun-illumined pathway had delighted me, on the Gran Paradiso in 1879, when I spent a most memorable day in crossing over the Piccolo and the Gran Paradiso from the Herbetet chalet to Ceresole Reale with Alphonse Payot ; and again on the Aiguille de Chardonnet in 1881, on the most delightful expedition I ever enjoyed in the Mont Blanc Group. Never can I forget those glorious hours of fine weather set like a jewel between two days of desperate downpour. Then Ulrich Almer was my leading guide, and my only regret was that G. P. Baker had left us on the previous morning after a month’s unforgettable campaign. On the famous ridge of the Lyskamm in 1877, my leading guide, though he cut count- less steps with vigour and skill, shook my confidence. I was not then well experienced in corniced ridges, but as we were passing I observed a tiny crack, so it seemed to me, between us and the actual ridge of the mountain, 1.e. we were really on the cornice. I said to the leader, ‘Is not this a dangerous place?’ To which he replied, ‘It is only for a minute.’ Could a more fatuous answer be imagined ? Could calamity be more openly invited ? This happened shortly before the terrible Lyskamm accident, in which two travellers and three guides were lost by the giving way ofa cornice. I have always believed that the fatal spot was the one where I saw the little crack: with the mind’s eye I can see it still. But to return to the Breithorn. We enjoyed marvellous views down the great icy cliffs into the Létschenthal. It really looked as if a slip would mean a header into the Lonza,

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862 Some 1911 Climbs. whose roar rose up to us. Before we reached the top we came to a sort of fairy flying bridge of much too fragile and airy a nature to venture upon, so we passed below it on the S. side. It was ‘A sight to dream of, not to tell.’ We had a splendid panorama from the summit, and I regarded with much satisfaction across the deep valley below us the Lauterbrunnen namesake of our peak, which had greatly attracted me from the Wengern Alp on my first visit to the Alps, and which I had climbed with Alphonse Payot and Seraphin Henry in 1884. We then turned our steps to the other summit of our peak, and soon began the descent to the Bel Alp. I was much pleased at the skill with which the guides picked up the way through the ice-falls. I do not think they wasted a step. Then we splashed through the snow morass at the corner opposite the Ober Aletsch hut. After a final struggle with that horrible ‘ corkscrew,’ which has so often been anathematised by the traveller who mounts it after a long day’s work, we reached the Bel Alp and rested there contentedly, ‘ As after much turmoil A blessed soul doth in Elysium.’ go = Sees te a ee eg eee Some 1911 Curmss. By J. W. WYATT. MN\HE climbing season of 1911 will be remembered as an exceptional one—continuous dry and sunny weather practically throughout—the higher peaks freer from ice and snow than they had been for years—huge crevasses and yawning bergschrunds—and, particularly later in the season, considerable danger from falling stones. The late E. T. Compton was staying with me at Champéry, and we planned a 6-days’ climbing trip ma Bourg St. Pierre, over the Grand Combin and Mont Velan to the Great St. Bernard, and thence to Courmayeur and Chamonix. Leaving Champéry on July 19, we picked up my old guide, Joseph Lochmatter, and his brother, Gabriel, at Martigny and reached Orsiéres at 8 p.m. We had a hot and dusty walk to Bourg St. Pierre, passing through the curious and rambling

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Some 1911 Clumbs. 8638 village of Liddes, all of one street, uphill, with an approach chapel at each end ; we noticed some good wrought-iron work in the balconies of some of the old houses. Bourg St. Pierre is a combination of picturesqueness and dirt, seemingly content with its one historical incident. We fought shy of the Hotel du Déjeiner de Napoléon 1%, and put up at the simple and comfortable little Hotel du Combin just past the village. I had a look round Correvon’s Alpine garden, ‘ Linnea,’ close to the hotel. -It is a fine and well-arranged collection of alpines from all parts of the world, and divided into speci- mens from the four continents: the best were over, and they seemed to be suffering from the exceptionally dry weather. The following morning we walked up the wild Valsorey glen to the Cabane, a comfortable, clean, and well-found hut, unfortunately burnt down in 1924, which we had to ourselves for the two nights we spent there. The alpine flora all the way up was very fine: Gentiana mvalis in quantity, and Sempervivum arachnoideum in full flower on the rocks and very effective ; round the Cabane, Primula minima, Androsace rosea, A. Chamejasme, and A. glacialis, etc., etc., and Ranunculus glacialis like a weed. At 3.15 a.m. next day, July 21, we left for the traverse of the Grand Combin via the Valsorey aréte. This aréte from the Col du Meiten is a very fine rock climb of fully 1500 ft., steep but excellent rock, with very long reaches. We climbed partly along the aréte itself and, where too precipitous, by traverses, couloirs, and-chimneys. Crossing over the Combin de Valsorey we reached the summit at 9 o’clock—2 hrs. 40 mins. from the Col. We were rewarded with a fine and compre- hensive view, almost the whole of the Alps being visible. On leaving the top we followed the snow aréte for a short distance, and then traversed down a steep slope of hard névé to a snow plateau at the head of the Corridor. The Corridor is not a cheerful-looking place—immense séracs overhanging a steep slope of smooth rock down which there were evidently frequent ice-falls, judging from the way the slope below was ‘strewn with them right down to the glacier—blocks of all shapes and sizes up to that of a small cottage. We lost no time in getting through them and breathed more freely when past the danger zone. We then skirted right round the N. face of the Combin to the upper plateau of the Corbassiére glacier ; from here to the Col des Maisons Blanches the heat was oppressive, and Compton and I both suffered from bad. headaches in consequence. After a long rest to recover from

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864 Some 1911 Climbs. the effects of the heat stroke, we started down the couloir which drops into the Valsorey glen, and had a rough and steep scramble over slabby rocks on the left side of the couloir to the ridge overlooking the Sex du Meiten and glissaded down snow-slopes back to the hut, which we reached at 12.55 p.m. Compton, with his usual energy, made some good sketches of the evening lights on the mountains; the view from this hut is always fine and grand, but this evening it was specially impressive with a wonderful sunset over the Mont Blanc range ; the valleys were filled with purple mist, and Mont Blanc itself,with its lesser peaks and aiguilles, showed up sharply cut against the evening sky. The next morning we left shortly after 8 a.m. for the traverse of the Velan. At first we had a rough and uncomfortable drop in the dark of over 1500 ft. down to and across the Valsorey glacier to the rocks at the foot of the Mont de la Gouille. We turned the ice-fall by the moraine and exposed rock-slopes and rested for half an hour, admiring the early morning play of light and shade on the Valsorey ice-fall. There is a rich flora on these rocks, in particular Campanula cenisia and Artemesia mutellina (Edelraute). We then crossed the glacier to the HE. side and climbed up steep and much crevassed slopes of névé to the watershed on the 8.E. slope, from whence a short climb brought us to the great snowy Dome or plateau of the Velan at 8.50 a.m. Itis a fine view-point im all directions, the Grand Combin rising magnificently to the N. ; to the 8. an extended view over Italy, the mountains of Cogne, etc., and in the far distance the Lake of Geneva. There was a sharp cold wind on the top, and Compton did some rapid sketching under considerable difficulties. We left at 9.45 a.m. and crossed first to the N. point of the Dome by the Aiguille du Velan, but the rocks, hanging ice- fall, and crevasses did not look inviting, so we turned back to the part of the Dome at the head of the long W. aréte. Here we met a party coming up who told us the best way down was to follow the aréte to the Glacier de Proz if for Bourg St. Pierre, but, for the Great St. Bernard, to turn off the aréte to the left a short way down and follow a steep couloir on the S. side to a slope of névé. This we did and had some long and fine glissades right down into the wild and secluded Combe de Moulena. At noon we had a good and refreshing halt on an island of velvety turf surrounded by a stream of clear spring water and carpeted with gentians and other alpines. We left again regretfully at 12.50 p.m., and had a long and tedious traverse

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Some 1911 Climbs. 365 up and down, across steep rocks, grass-slopes, and gullies, first over the ridge of Les Rayons de la Madeleme, then round the Menouve glen till we struck a track leading to the Col de Menouve at the head of this glen. On the way we surprised a mother ptarmigan and all her young chicks—little fluffy things that seemed quite capable of looking after themselves and hiding among the stones; the mother fluttered round us for a bit and then departed, but, after we had gone on, we were glad to see her return to her family. The Col de Menouve, which we reached at 2.85 p.m., is a double col, a N. branch leading to the Cantine de Proz and a W. branch, which we took. Crossing the Plateau de Tcholaire, a well-watered flowery plateau overlooking the road to the Great St. Bernard, we reached the hospice by the Combe des Morts at 3.45 p.m. We rang the big bell and a nice-looking padre showed us into a large, panelled, double-bedded room, with good beds, very well furnished, and containing portraits of Queen Victoria, Prince Consort, and the Prince of Wales (Edward) as a boy ; we did not expect such luxury. We had exhausted our provisions and were very hungry, and so begged for something to eat, and also some hot water to wash in. Washing with hot water was evidently not understood, for we got none, but found prepared for us in the refectory a bottle of red wine, bread and cheese, hot water and sugar! We inspected the dogs, and went into the chapel, which is nothing architecturally but there is some rather good seventeenth-century carving in the stalls. The salon is a large room with a big row of cases full of picture postcards ;\ just before dinner a lay brother appeared and did a good business in postcards to a varied crowd of people. At 7 p.m. a bell rang and about forty of us marched to the refectory ; the fare was rough but sufficient, with vin ordinaire. The next morning we were wakened by the chapel caridlon for early mass. They gave us a good breakfast—café complet with excellent honey and butter. After depositing our offerings in the chapel box, we left at 7.50 a.m. As we had no provisions left, we begged the monks to provide us with enough to take us to Courmayeur ; this they very kindly did, although quite against their rules. An hour’s walking brought us to the Col de Fenétre, over- looking the three little Lacs de Fenétre. From here we climbed up the ridge of Les Vans, about 400-500 ft. above the Col where we had a fine view of the N. part of the Mont Blane range—the rocks of the Grand Golliaz close by were very striking. We

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366 Som? 1911 Climbs. descended then over screes and snow into the wild Ban Darrey valley, disturbing many colonies of marmots. We reached the head of the valley below the rise to the Col du Ban Darrey at 10.35 a.m., and camped on a grassy spot for half an hour’s rest. This valley has a good and rich flora, Saatfraga biflora, Viola lutea, ete., ete. The only signs of life we saw were a fine herd of the handsome race brune cattle, and a surveying party on the hills above us under a large white umbrella. From here we had an hour’s stiff climb of 1500 ft. to the top of the Col, where a splendid view burst upon us of the whole Italian side of the Mont Blanc range from Mont Blanc itself to the Tour Noir. We had some 1500 ft. of fine glissades down La Combette to near the Pré de Bar chalets and then down the Italian Val Ferret to Courmayeur, which we reached at 5.20 p.m. I was struck with the remarkable wealth of flowers the whole way. The lower part of the valley from La Vachey past Entréves is very pretty, and all the way down one is rewarded for a rather long and tiring tramp by a series of exceedingly grand and impressive views of the mountains; particularly the Grandes Jorasses and the Aiguille Noire de Pétéret with its wonderful drop into the Courmayeur valley. We put up at the Hotel Restaurant Savoye at the farther end of the village, which Compton knew and recommended ; we were very tired and found it hot and stuffy, but felt better after a hot bath and shave. We met Kckenstein there and had an excellent dinner washed down with two bottles of Asti Moschata, Compton having put the proprietor on his best behaviour. There was a heavy thunderstorm and pouring rain all evening. The next morning, the 24th, we left at 4.5 a.m., rather late for our long day. We went up the usual way past Mont Fréty to the Rifugio Torino on the Col du Géant. The views of the Pétéret ridge on the way up are magnificent, but we found the 7000-ft. climb steep, hot, and very trying after our four days of hard work, accentuated, no doubt, by the two bottles of Asti the evening before! After a good two hours’ rest we crossed the Col and stopped to admire the wonderful sight suddenly opened up to us ; a great contrast to the Italian side. It was quite clear on the N. side, the mists were streaming past the watershed from Italy and feathering away into the deep blue sky ; the effect was exceedingly fine. We had an easy tramp down the glacier as far as the great ice-fall, which this year was much broken, intricate, and com- _ pheated, and took us an hour to work through it. The Aiguille

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Some 1911 Clunbs. 867 Verte looked in excellent condition and very tempting, and Lochmatter urged us to go to the Couvercle and climb it next day, but neither of us felt energetic enough to do so. We unroped on the dry glacier at 2.20 p.m. and reached Montanvert two hours later. The hotel and Mer de Glace were crowded with tourists and, after our wild and inspiring experiences of the past few days, we appreciated the feelings of Christian when he entered Vanity Fair! After a rest for tea we walked down to Chamonix and spent a comfortable night at Couttet’s, and left the following morning for Champéry. During the six days we had climbed some 26,200 ft. and descended 25,700 ft.; as our combined ages were 115 years, we thought we might reasonably pat ourselves on the back ! In September of -the same year Cooke-Smith and I planned a trip to include the Aiguille Verte, the Grépon, and Mont Blanc, and we left Champéry on the 10th for Chamonix. My usual guides being engaged, we took Raphael Lochmatter, with whom I had done the Matterhorn some years before, and Hein- rich Pollinger, of Herbriggen. We provisioned at Chamonix in the afternoon, and on going to the pdtisserte for a plum cake were referred to the charcuterie; the cake was excellent, but we wondered what it might be made of! Wollaston was at Chamonix, and said we should meet him at the Couvercle ; also Whymper, who was looking very feeble. The next day we walked quietly up to Montanvert. where we met Miss Pickford just starting for the Couvercle en route for the Verte. The following morning we left for the Aiguille du Tacul, both as a training walk and for photographing. The grand series of views from this peak recalled Browning’s words: ‘ God’s own profound was above me, and round me the mountains. The dirt bands on the Mer de Glace were showing up distinctly and I got a good photo of them. We descended by the N.W. face and aréte, which is steep and very rotten, crossed the Leschaux glacier, and reached the Couvercle at 2.20 p.m. We spent the afternoon gazing at the marvellous wealth of ice and rock scenery from this hut. One appreciated the sentiments of the Swiss poet, Philippe Monnier—‘ devant l’espace immense ot les paroles sont rares et les minutes longues.’ We brewed some tea and prepared hot water for Miss Pick- ford and her friends, whom we saw returning from the Verte. They gave an alarming account of the state of the Verte—

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868 Some 1911 Climbs. perpetual stone-falls in the couloir all day—the bergschrund so bad that it was impossible to get on the Moine aréte from the glacier, and they had to cross the bottom of the couloir to the rocks on the nght and then recross higher up to the Moine aréte, under fire all the time. On the way down the stone-falls were so frequent that they were afraid they might have to spend the night on the rocks and cross the couloir in the early morning. The guides considered the ascent most risky under the present abnormal conditions, and said they would not do it again for 1000 francs! Later on Wollaston turned up and a French barrister of the name of Cail, both bound for the Moine. There was great discussion among the guides as to our proposed venture on the Verte the next day, and very evident general opinion on the danger of the ascent. Next morning we got up shortly after 2 a.m. and found Pollinger had ricked his side cutting steps on the Tacul, and Cooke-Smith, having passed a sleepless night, didn’t feel equal to another stiff climb that day; so we decided to give up the attempt that day, go to sleep again for a few hours, and then have a look at the Verte after the other parties had left for the Moine. We went up the moraine, and, during a long discussion as to whether we could strike the Moine aréte much lower down and avoid the couloir entirely, a huge avalanche of rock and stone came down the Droites with a noise of thunder, the smoke and dust from which hung about for long after; this was followed by a smaller cannonade down the Verte couloir itself. Being both married men, and having promised our respective wives to run no undue risk, we decided the Verte was not for us under present conditions ; we were much disappointed, ‘mais on ne saurait qu’y faire.’ We took a turn round the Jardin, and went back to Montanvert by the Pierre & Béranger. Just before leaving the ice for the Montanvert path we saw the traces of a large rock-fall from the Petits Charmoz, evidently quite fresh, as we had heard the noise of the fall a short time before. From all sides one heard of the unusual risk of stone-falls late this season, and our experience fully corroborated it ; one could not but remark on the unusual blackness and freedom from snow of all the higher peaks. Wollaston and Cail turned up later and told us that stones were falling on the Verte the whole time they were jon the Moine and considered we showed much wisdom in giving up our attempt; which was consoling, at any; rate. As the weather did not look particularly settled we decided

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Some 1911 Climbs. 869 to go for the Grépon at once, so the following morning, the 14th, we left Montanvert at 3.10 a.m.; 1 was bright moon- light and lanterns were not required. We followed the usual route to the Rognon, where we caught up a guideless party of three Frenchmen from Plan de 1]’Aiguille going to photograph on the Grands Charmoz, one of whom was Casella, the Paris journalist. The upper part of the glacier was much broken and crevassed ; to our right above some steep rocks there was a regiment of toppling séracs under which we had to pass, and which we had cause to remember later in the day. We cut up the ice- slope till we were pulled up by a huge crevasse running right across the glacier, about 20 ft. deep, very wide and spanned by two rickety-looking ladders tied together. We reached the bottom of the couloir between the Grépon and the Charmoz at 7.20 a.m., where we left all our ice-axes but one, and soon arrived at the bottom of the famous Mummery crack. We went on two ropes, Lochmatter with me, and Cooke-Smith with Pollinger. Lochmatter led up the crack and I followed, and got on fairly well till about half-way up, where a chock-stone is bedded far in the crack; this beat me and I had to have assistance from the rope—after that it becomes by comparison easier. In such places one cannot but be filled with admiration for the leading man, and particularly for the first man who attempted it. The route up this famous rock peak has been so often described that it would be superfluous on my part to detail it; but my general impressions of the climb are still vivid. Pollinger showed us a neat and comfortable way of coming down on a spare rope—hold the rope in the left hand and pass it between the thighs, under the nght thigh and over the right arm just above the elbow and let the slack fall vertically from the right arm ; by keeping the right elbow pressed close to the side, one was held, and by raising the elbow up and down again one let oneself down—it worked very well. The top is simply the highest pinnacle on the ridge, and is an enormous mass of granite, precipitous on all sides, and capped with a huge flat stone like a toad—hence, I was told, the name, Grépon being a local patois for ‘crapaud.’ The view was very fine, but the weather looked very threatening over Mont Blane and the Col du Géant—a break in the weather evidently very near. | After a few minutes on the top we descended to the foot of the final pinnacle, and then came down the usual way

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370 Some 1911 Climbs. below the Pic Balfour and the C. P. platform to the head of the Nantillons glacier, where we touched snow again, not having seen ice or snow anywhere on the peak. The weather now looked very bad, the clouds covered the tops, and it began to snow—we wished we were well off the Nantillons glacier. We zigzagged down through crevasses and schrunds till we were pulled up by a big one, too deep a drop to jump, and we had to lower ourselves into the depths on the spare rope and cut up the other side. We recovered our ice-axes, and immediately below the huge laddered crevasse before mentioned, a large and fresh fall of séracs from the ice- cliffs above had fallen right across our morning track and made us hurry on, particularly as the snow was turning to rain. We ran as hard as we were able past the line of séracs, and no sooner were we through them than we heard a roar behind us, and saw a large rock-fall from the Blaitiére come right across our track, and disappear into the big crevasse ; we were safe, but still not out of danger, and were glad to reach the Rognon rocks again. The Frenchmen, whom we met next day at Chamonix, told us that while descending the Charmoz they saw a large slab of rock come thundering down the big couloir where they had seen us a short time before and thought we were done for; it appeared to us that, in giving up the Verte for the Grépon, we had fallen out of the frying-pan into the fire ! We reached Montanvert at 4.55 p.m., tired, very wet, and stiff about the knees, each of our party having destroyed a pair of breeches ! I cannot recall a climb, even the more difficult rock climbs in the Dolomites, that impressed me so much as the Grépon ; it is a vicious mountain throughout, passively on the rocks and actively on the approaches. One appreciates more fully than ever the great difference between the man who leads on such a climb and the others who follow after. I was struck also with the advantages of two on a rope on a climb of this kind— not only is the climbing more rapid but, I think, also safer, as one has more freedom to move quickly out of the way of falling stones, etc. The average angle of the two Grépon faces must be high ; from a careful examination of the new Barbey map I made out the average slope of the Nantillons face to form an angle of 70°-72°, and that of the Mer de Glace face 66°-68°. The weather next morning, the 15th, was bad, and glimpses of the Dru and Grandes Jorasses showed a heavy fall of snow

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Some 1911 Climbs. 871 in the night. Our guides considered the mountains off for at least two or three days, so we decided to pack up our traps and take the forenoon train to Chamonix. We left Cail determined to try for Mont Blanc—this being his third shot at it; he went off to the Grands Mulets for the night, but the following morning at Chamonix we saw his guides returning in the rain. That afternoon we met Casella and his two friends in Chamonix, who showed us some excellent and very effective photographs of the Grépon and Charmoz, taken with a panoram camera. He also told us he was dining with Whymper a night or two before, who seemed much broken and feeble, and who told him that nearly every night now he had dreams or nightmares of the accident on the eattorhorn-—Wuny per died at Couttet’s the next day. We met the Pickfords again at Couttet’s, and Lord Sterndale (then Mr. Justice Pickford) told us a good story about our guide, Pollinger, when he was a lad. He was known as the ‘imp,’ owing to his scrapes and mischievous ways. He practised his rifle on the weathercock of St. Niklaus church spire and did so much damage that the commune stepped in, fined him, and at the same time offered a reward to anyone who would go up and repair it. Pollinger undertook the job, got the reward, and paid his fine with it ! -The following morning, the 16th, we left by the noon train back to Champéry in mist and rain all the way to Martigny. Besides various scrambles among the peaks round Champéry, my only other climbs for that season were : Two guideless climbs up the Cime de l’Est of the Dents du Midi, in the first of which we had a bombardment of falling stones from the Doigt, fortunately with no damage done. A fine but short rock climb up the Dent Jaune. The Tour Salliéres by the Grande Pente of the Glacier du Mont Ruan and the S. face. An interesting first ascent of the N. aréte of the Dents Blanches de Champéry, with Gover, by the Pas de la Bida and Lauche-des-Aulx. | VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX, . 2B

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872 The Col du Lion. THe Cot pu Lion, By EDMUND G. OLIVER. OR some years past I had contemplated the possibility of an attack on the Col du Lion. I had wondered whether the sinister reputation of the climb frequently recorded in Alpine history was wholly deserved. I had finally come to the conclusion that if the expedition were attempted early in the season and so conducted that the top of the col could be reached before midday, the danger of falling stones might be eliminated or greatly minimised, and a fine ice climb might thus be brought within the limits of prudence for a party of experience. Last summer I confided my idea to Adolf Aufdenblatten, who, though at first he was not encouraging, eventually thought my plan might be worth considering. Finding that Whitsun fell late this year, I decided to go to Zermatt for the few days of the Whitsun vacation in order to give the expedition a trial. The precedents certainly were - not encouraging. So far as I could ascertain, the col had been traversed altogether six times. It was first crossed from Zermatt to Breuil, on July 6, 1880, by Mr. A. F. Mummery with Alexander Burgener of Eisten ; and Mummery in his book gives a sensational account of the difficulties and dangers they encountered. | | On July 2, 1881, the redoubtable Burgener, this time accompanying Dr. Paul Gitissfeldt, reached the top of the col from the Italian side at 10 a.m. and descended the Swiss side. The top part of the couloir was all ice, where, the previous year, there had been snow. They were exposed to volleys of stones, and were compelled to spend the night in great danger and dis- comfort at a height of about 11,000 ft. in an insecure position in the middle of the couloir, only completing the descent next day. | The col was subsequently crossed from Zermatt to Breuil, viz. by Herr von Kuffner with the same Alexander Burgener and Alois Kalbermatten, by Mr. W. M. Baker with the elder Aloys and his son Josef Pollinger, and by MM. A. Spoerry and Simon with J. A. Favre and A. Truffer about July 27, 1906. Mr. J. H. Wicks also crossed the Col in the eighties, his leader being Theodor Andenmatten of Saas. I have not been able to obtain details of these expeditions,

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The Col du Inon. 378 | When [arrived in Zermatt it was real Féhn-Wetter: the rain was descending in torrents, and I was informed that warm and unsettled weather had prevailed for some weeks. We held a council of war, and decided that if we could et one fine day and a cold night followed by another fine day, and above all no south wind, the conditions would be favourable. Whitsunday was wet, but the weather showed signs of clearing, and on Monday morning, though the valley was full of cloud, we ascertained by telephoning to the Gornergrat that it was quite clear high up. Having previously ascertained by inspection that there was no cornice, we walked up to the Schénbiihl hut in the afternoon, admiring the carpets of Alpine flowers of every description which adorn the Z’Mutt valley at this season. The party consisted of Adolf Aufdenblatten, his brother Alfred, and myself, a porter accompanying us as far as the hut. We started at 1.30 a.m.on Tuesday, June 10: we crossed the Z’Mutt glacier and, passing close to the bivouac place for the Z’Mutt ridge, reached the foot of the couloir below the Col du Lion at 4.20. My anticipations were well founded—better even than I had dared to hope. Not one single stone was to be seen on the snow below the bergschrund. The sun would not shine on the couloir until midday. The prospect of a safe passage opened attractively before us. We halted for a quarter of.an hour to put on our crampons, and I had a good look at the route. We had already roped before reaching the Z’Mutt bivouac, owing to holes and crevasses which had unexpectedly presented themselves. We could not, of course, see all the way up to the top of the col from this point, as there is a sharp bend about half-way up the couloir. But what struck me most was that the couloir was much broader throughout than I had imagined. In fact, the top section 1s quite broad, if we include in its breadth the masses of rock which project’ in two or three ribs from the ice and snow. In. the middle section the ice or snow, as the case may be, is reduced to two narrow ribbons with rock jutting out between them, and here the breadth of the whole couloir is much less, though still more than I had believed to be the case. The lower part spreads out like a fan to join the slopes below the Matterhorn and the Téte du Lion, so that one does not really get inside the couloir for a considerable distance above the bergschrund. Starting again at 4.85, we got over the bergschrund (which could have been passed almost anywhere) without much

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374 The Col du Inon. difficulty at 5 o’clock, and made for some rocks to our night which descended from the Téte du Lion. Here we suffered our first disappointment : we had hoped for snow, but all was hard ice. For two hours Adolf hacked away before we reached the rocks, and at that rate of progress I reckoned that nightfall would find us still a long way below the top of thecol. We therefore decided, instead of continuing straight up the ice, to take to these rocks. It would evidently be possible to reach snow or ice above them, and then to traverse to the left back into the couloir, which we should rejoin somewhat below the narrow part of it which we had viewed from below. The rocks were slabby and cold and far from easy ; but after struggling up two or three pitches we had the pleasure of finding our hopes realised, and we stood once more upon snow at 7.30 a.m. From this point we traversed to the left back into the couloir over snow and easy rocks, and to our joy found that this part of the couloir consisted of hard snow and not ice, as we had feared from our previous experience might be the case. We crossed the couloir on to the Matterhorn side and thence, keeping close to the rocks, made our way rapidly up hard snow for one hour. Our spirits rose. At 9 o’clock we had rounded the bend in the couloir, and stopped near some rocks for a few minutes within full view of the top of the col, which we all thought would be easily reached within another hour. Our too sanguine expectations, however, were disappointed, and the event proved that the harder part of the task remained to be fulfilled. | Alfred here took the lead, and all was ice. At first we kept as close as possible to the rocks on the Matterhorn side, but the hand-holds we were thus able to obtain were not worth having, and every step had to be hewn out in hard ice. After three-quarters of an hour of this sort of thing I suggested making for a small rib of what was apparently snow, to reach which we had to cross the couloir now immediately on our right. Adolf agreed, and, taking the lead himself, cut straight across the couloir in the hardest of hard ice. When we reached the rib we found snow as we hoped, but, continuing to the end of this rib, we found ourselves again in the ice couloir, with nothing but the hardest of ice between us and the top of the col. It was nearly 11 o’clock, and we seemed almost as far off from our objective as we had been two hours earlier. In this situation we decided to try some rocks on our left (Matterhorn) side, and Alfred was again sent on ahead. He advanced the full length

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A Week-end in Dauphiné. 375 of his rope, and it was evident from his movements that the place was difficult. J unroped to give him more room, and, when about 100 ft. of rope had run out, he shouted that he was above the rocks. Adolf tied on and followed, and I took the end, but, the rope between Adolf and myself being com- paratively short, we spent some anxious moments, alternately scrambling and attempting to stand on smooth and slippery slabs without any apparent hold, and so cold that I had the utmost difficulty in getting any sensation into my fingers. Our crampons here were far from helpful. Alfred could not get a good enough stand to help us much, and for my part I breathed a sigh of relief when we emerged above the rocks on an ice-slope not far below the top of the col. Adolf’s keen eye at once detected the line of least resistance, and, crossing to the right on ice where we could get an occasional hold on a rock, we reached the top of the pass right in the middle and at the lowest part at 11.80. We shook hands heartily. The bottle of champagne which we always take on difficult expeditions was dug out of Alfred’s rucksack and speedily consumed to the health of the Col du Lion. We basked in glorious sunshine for two hours, and then descepded to Breuil, where at Maquignaz’ cheerful hotel, the Jumeaux, some bottles of excellent cham- pagne soon disappeared with the aid of our genial host. Next day we returned to Zermatt over the Furgg-Joch, delighted with the success of our expedition, and not unduly depressed by the change of weather which blotted out the mountains for the next three days and effectually prevented us from trying further experiments. 4 A WEEK-END IN DAUPHINE. By H. R. C. CARR. T has not yet become the practice of British mountaineers to compress Alpine expeditions into the hours which custom consecrates every week to rest and recreation. We still live too far away. When travel by air is 50 per cent. cheaper and quicker, we may be able to spend a Saturday night in a hut beside the glacier and fly back on Sunday evening, tired, sunburnt, and happy, straight from the highest snows to the office eee ; but at present we must confine our

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376 A Week-end in Dauphiné. enthusiasm to an annual holiday and leave frequent short visits to the lucky inhabitants of cities within reach. Recently fortune placed me for several months in that enviable position, and my first experience of an ‘ Alpine week- end’ occurred at Easter (April 20 and 21), when I was the guest of the Club Montagnard Dauphinois, on an excursion to the Tarentaise. I found the proceedings extremely strenuous and amusing. They began at 4 a.m. on the Sunday and ended at 1.80 on the ‘Tuesday morning. In between we sandwiched many a crowded hour of life: tedious hours in trains, hazardous hours in chars-a-bances, laborious hours trans- porting ski, hilarious feastings and unquiet repose. Even in the palatial Félix Faure hut a party of thirty-five may be safely considered too large for comfort, but we forgot all minor ills in a splendid run over the Vanoise ice-field on a perfect spring morning. Five weeks later we planned a visit to La Bérarde in a rather more leisurely manner. I summoned Alfred’ Couttet from Chamonix, as I wanted to make an attempt on either Les Kcrins or the Meije traverse if it seemed possible and the weather favoured. Alfred arrived to tell me that things were well advanced at Chamonix and that he had been up the Charmoz on May 22; he was very keen to try his luck with the Meije, which he had never seen at close quarters. We left Grenoble on Friday morning, May 80, my father, Miss Garnett, and Mr. K. Garnett accompanying us for a preliminary exploring expedition on the day before we were to make our serious attempt. At Bourg d’Oisans we were delighted to find the hotel motor waiting, for we had antici- pated a long road walk. Its conductor, a grandson of the famous J. A. Carrel, drove us with an élan worthy of his family traditions, and the passage of an ice-tunnel through an old avalanche was the culminating sensation of an exciting journey. We spent the afternoon in taking a stroll up the Etancons glen to study the southern walls of the Meije. The inspection raised our hopes considerably, for, in spite of the abundant snow, the steeper rocks were singularly clean and appeared fairly free from ice. Alfred was in high spirits, for the universal pessimism of the local authorities put a fresh edge on his appetite, and by many a subtle argument from past experience and present observation did he seek to build a plausible forecast of success. On Saturday (May 31) a doubtful dawn saw us half-way to the Chatelleret hut. The Vallon des Etangons has always

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A Week-end in Dauphiné. 877 been described to me as a waste of stones, but beyond the pastures we walked almost entirely over good snow. At the hut we halted and rather imprudently left our raquettes, for above the moraine the snow became soft and progress toilsome. I was exceedingly glad that Alfred insisted on breaking the trail the whole way. At 8.50 a.m., in 5 hours from the hotel, we reached the Promontoire to find the cabane half buried in a deep drift, and of course the door was at the buried end. After an hour’s heavy work Alfred cut a hole down to the door and we could enter our abode. The rest of the morning passed in pursuit of the culinary arts and in ploughing a furrow up to the Bréche. During the afternoon my father and the Garnetts set out to return to La Bérarde, and I watched until their descending figures became tiny black dots on the snows far down the glen. Alfred and I made a careful study of the hut log-book, but @ rough drawing on the back of the door proved more useful than yards of descriptive prose. We turned in early and had a good 10 hours of sleep—I expected more, for the weather continued to look threatening, though the barometer refused to commit itself in either direction. The dawn broke cloudy, with a cold wind blowing strongly from the west, but Alfred’s optimism was unshakable, and we got under way by 4 a.M. To meet the possibility of a night at the Refuge de 1’Aigle (if the traverse were feasible), there was enough in our sacks for another day on the mountain—a fact which did not en- courage us to force the pace. Mounting steadily, we reached the platform near the Pyramide Duhamel shortly after 6, having found the Grand Couloir full of snow which was un- pleasantly soft in places. The Muraille Castelnau, towering immediately above, looked a very formidable problem, and one could well understand why so many early attempts ended in failure. Its solution is a continual surprise, for the feeling of glorious uncertainty is delightfully prolonged. First you wander off in hope to the right, but you are soon led back again in trepidation to the very brink of the magnificent slabs which sweep round in an unbroken wall towards the Bréche. Here are two delicate corners where you are exposed to the full force of the wind, and feel you are indeed a long way up a very noble precipice. Alfred went straight ahead with an ever-broadening smile; ‘Ah! c’est rigolo!’ was his occasional comment. At 8.10 we found what shelter we could at the edge of the Glacier Carré and ate a hurried meal. The high wind was clearing up the clouds, so we saw that the

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378 A Week-end in Dauphiné. day was ours despite the cold. Yet the first 150 ft. of the Glacier Carré nearly defeated us, for, as soon as he left the rocks, Alfred went in almost to his arm-pits, and I questioned him anxiously on the possibility of avalanche. He appeared satisfied when, with great exertions, he had run out the whole length of the rope, but we took a line directly upwards, close to the rocks, and after a time the going improved. At 9.15 we reached the Bréche du Glacier Carré and braced ourselves for a battle with the wind on the final peak, wondering what we should feel like on the Cheval Rouge, described as a “ morceau de granit en lame de couteau qui surplombe le glacier de la Meije. However, the proximity of the summit acted as a spur to our endeavours; at 10.20 we gained the Grand Pic without finding much difficulty in the threatened obstacle, and, seeking a nook out of the wind, we set ourselves to examine the marvellous ridge which we now looked along for the first time. Our admiration was tinged with disappointment, for the more we looked, the less we liked it. Right up to the Central Peak, which appeared so slender that it seemed to sway in the whirling eddies of cloud, beautifully carved cornices adorne1 the gaps between the rock-towers, and masses of blue-green ice clad more than one spot where we should have to try to force a way. Alfred took a trial trip on to the snowy northern face and returned, sadly shaking his head. He thought the risk too great, so we reluctantly abandoned our hopes of the traverse, and at 10.45 the retreat began. We descended in a leisurely manner as soon as we found some relief from the wind, and I was heartily glad when we had passed two places—the lower part of the Glacier Carré and the Grand Couloir. Very soft snow lying at a high angle does not inspire one with confidence, especially when it gives out on to a peculiarly steep precipice; however, Alfred’s ‘faith was justified, though I am bound to say I was not greatly impressed by the foundations of his beliefs, which he explained at length as soon as we were off, or rather out of, the snow. Also a sack laden with superfluous provisions and useless crampons becomes a very tiresome burden during a long descent. It was 5.80 before we regained the hut and could make ourselves a welcome brew of tea. The return to La Bérarde was pleasantly free from effort. We sat down at the door of the hut and shot off at high speed, arriving at the foot of the moraine within ten minutes by means of three splendid glissades. The rest was less luxurious,

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In Memoriam. 879 but in well under two hours we were seated in the comfortable inn, happy at the success of our little expedition and in the knowledge that an excellent dinner was on the way. To add zest to our enjoyment, the storm which had held off so kindly now broke with noisy violence, and made a very charming music to waft us into the land of dreams. This ascent struck me as being roughly comparable to that of the Grand Dru—though its rock problems are not so hard. Owing to its southern exposure and to the extreme steepness of the crags, the route might be possible even in winter during a spell of calm, fine weather. The traverse is, of course, another matter. Note.—In his interesting article on Les Grandes Rousses (pp. 76-79), Mr. W. M. Roberts omits to mention that the village of Vaujany is the best base for the group—the Refuge de la Fare has not been in use for many years. Vaujany is 2 hours’ walk from the tramway at Rochetaillée up the beautiful Flumet glen. Accommodation ‘ chez Ordu’ (two clean beds), and Madame is an excellent cook who will not hesitate to kill the fatted calf—or fowl— if given timely warning. IN MEMORIAM. REGINALD HUGHES. 1843-1924. REGINALD HuGuEs, Barrister, D.C.L., died at Auticoli near Rome on June 1, 1924, in his eighty-second year. He was elected to the Club in 1880. He was a most enthusiastic lover of the Alps, and there were few seasons in which he did not visit his beloved mountains. I was with him in Switzerland in 1899 and 1902, and found him a most charming companion. My climbing powers were then waning, and I could only do a few minor peaks with him, but it was always a pleasure to watch his skill and energy in greater ascents. He had the well-shaped build of a good climber, and I envied the facility with which his lithe body could negotiate awkward corners and protruding rocks. My experience being entirely amongst the giant heights of Sikkim, Garhwal, Kashmir, and Tibet, he was always asking me for com- parisons between these and the Alps, and was never tired of the information I could give him on this subject. I pointed out the

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880 In Memoriam. differences between Himalayan and Alpine travel : the independence and freedom of movement in the Himalayas, where one carried one’s own tent and commissariat instead of being restricted to hotels as inthe Alps. Then there was the absence of life, especially game, fur and feather, in Switzerland, and its abundance in the upper Himalayan regions, where, if the climber were also a shtkart, he could obtain wild-mutton (good and tender) from such animals as the Ovis Ammon, barhal, and shapoo; wild beef from the yak (not always tender); venison from deer and several species of wild goats such as ibex, thar, markhor, and ghoral (Himalayan chamois); then there were five kinds of pheasants and four of partridges, also occasional hares, snow pigeons, and Tibetan sand grouse, all which made a pleasant break in the traveller's menu. He was much interested in the Everest Expedition, and we often debated the chance of success. We agreed that, with such ex- perienced climbers, reaching the summit was entirely dependent on fine weather—a very rare chance, however, in the fickle climate of Sikkim. He had a marvellous memory and never forgot what he had once been told. He would remind me, many years after I had related them, of scenes, incidents, and adventures which I had almost forgotten. Amongst other accomplishments, his literary attainments in journalism were of a high order. I remember an occasion when, in response to an urgent telegraphic request, he wrote a leading article in a few minutes when about to sit down to dinner. That article created a stir in the political and journalistic world next morning. a Some of his reminiscences of the A.C. dinners, at which he was a constant attendant, may be interesting to members. He recalled the humorous occasion when he saw Tyndall and Huxley there for the first time as guests of honour sitting next the President—Tyndall on his left, Huxley on his right—when Huxley said, ‘ Not without intent are we thus placed: for I have been out on the mountains with Professor Tyndall and only too quickly discovered that he was a goat, while I, alas, was only a sheep! ’ He also recalled the last speech of Leslie Stephen, unforgettable for its humour and its pathos. Stephen had then become stone deaf. Bryce had in eloquent words proposed his health; the response was enthusiastically manifested by cheering and clapping of hands. Stephen only saw, but in reply made an admirable speech notwithstanding, remarking that it was probably the first time in history that a man had to reply to the toast of his health when he had not heard one single word of the speech in which it was proposed. Hughes climbed more or less steadily for forty years. Most of his old climbing friends have also passed away, and it is not easy now to find records of his climbs. But, although he left few

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REGINALD HUGHES.

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In Memoriam. 881 records in writing, the performances mentioned below can be votiched for: 1. He made his first ascent. of the Dent Blanche in 1872 ; and his third ascent of the same mountain exactly forty years ‘later, in his seventieth year. 2. Walter Larden, in his little book on ‘Climbs round Arolla,’ ~ ascribes to him the first ascent of the Aiguilles Rouge; but it is believed that there had been one previous ascent which had passed unrecorded. 3. It is also believed that he and his guide Franz Andermatten had been the first to climb the little “ Dent de Satarma’ on the road to Arolla in 1881, though he found next year that the first ascent had been ascribed to someone who ascended the Dent later on in the same year. 4. In his sixty-eighth year (1910) he climbed the Aiguille de la Za from the difficult W. side. In qualifying for membership of the Club the following climbs were credited to him: Dent Blanche from Evolena; Mont Colon, Monte Rosa, Dom, Aiguille de la Za, Aiguille du Gofter, Grand Combin, Schreckhorn, Eiger, Altels, Wildstrubel, Monte Lucendro, Col de Zinal, Tschingel-Tritt, Col de Chermontane, Col de Collon, Col de Seilon, Riedmattenjoch, and Alphubeljoch. He also had some experience in rock-work in England, spendin holidays on the lakes of Cumberland. He is a great loss to those who knew him intimately. His genial nature, kindness of heart, fund of anecdote, and retentive memory were a never-failing pleasure to those who enjoyed his acquaintance and companionship. ; J. W. A. MicHELL. GEORGE HERBERT LEIGH MALLORY. 1886-1924. It was my privilege to know George Mallory from boyhood and to introduce him to the snow mountains he loved and understood so well. Of those whom I have brought into their presence he is the first that they have taken from me.. And to me has fallen the honour and the pain of writing this short tribute to his memory. I ask the many devoted friends of his who read these words to for- give me when I fail, as I must fail, to express what is in their hearts and mine. | He was born in 1886, and was brought up at Mobberley it in Cheshire, where his father was rector. He became a scholar of Winchester in 1900. Mathematics was his strongest subject at school, and he was a Woolwich candidate in 1904, but he was never bent on a military career, and he went up to Magdalene College,

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$82 In Memoriam. Cambridge, as an exhibitioner in 1905. He read history and took honours in 1907. Magdalene was a very small college which was beginning to come to the front under A. C. Benson, who gave to Mallory and others I have known an amount of help and friendship far in excess of what an undergraduate has a right to expect from his dons. After leaving Cambridge he went to Charterhouse as a master, and remained there till the war claimed him. He served with a battery of heavy artillery on the Western Front. He went back to Charterhouse for a time, but resigned his mastership shortly before the first Everest expedition in 1921. Mallory was not a notable athlete in the ordinary schoolboy sense of the word. Football was his best ball game, and he played for College Six at Winchester. He was also in the shooting eight that won the Ashburton Shield. At Cambridge he represented his college at rowing and, I believe, at both codes of football. He was a very fine gymnast, not of the heavily muscled type, but of the lither type that depends on balance rather than on strength. His limbs and all his movements were free and full of grace; and he had a strikingly beautiful face. Its shape, its delicately cut features, especially the rather large, heavily lashed, thoughtful eyes, were extraordinarily suggestive of a Botticelli Madonna, even when he had ceased to be a boy—though any suspicion of effeminacy was completely banished by obvious proofs of physical energy and strength. Neither at school nor at the Varsity was his simple, chivalrous nature even temporarily affected by the adulation that knaves and fools are ready to bestow on youths like him. Oxford contemporaries accused him, with some justice, of taking himself seriously. Fortunately for the world, it is a characteristic which & university education often fails to eradicate. It is true he liked to talk on big subjects, and was sometimes in the clouds without much idea of his direction, but he kept as straight up as he could, and by constant intercourse with people of ideas, through books and through new friendships, by determination to enlarge his experi- ence and to profit by it, he became steadily clearer in expression and maturer in judgment, while remaining as idealistic as he was on leaving college. The work he had lately taken up at Cambridge under Dr. Cranage, an endeavour to place some of the benefits of @ university education within the reach of poorer working men and women, was just what he had wanted, and it would have had the full benefit of his enthusiasm and his personal charm. In 1914 he married Miss Ruth Turner. He leaves with her three children, two girls and a boy. It was a delight to enter the home they made at Godalming. Youth, beauty, and vitality had founded it; in it life was simply, happily, earnestly planned, with the spirit of adventure as a favoured counsellor. Tt is mainly as a climber that I must speak of him here, and it is as a climber that his name will be known to the world. I think I am right in saying that George Mallory had never seen a mountain -&

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GEORGE HERBERT LEIGH MALLORY

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f | In Memoriam. 888 before 1904. I was College Tutor at Winchester then, and I was looking for some young companions whom I might subject to the fascination of the Alps. Harry Gibson had already come under the spell. He and Mallory were rival gymnasts, and both got leave from home to come with me. In Mallory’s case it was on the under- standing that the instructions of the guide would be implicitly obeyed, and I am pretty sure that he and his parents had different ideas as to who the guide would be. It was some time later that IT heard the two had gone to practise on the ruins of Wolvesey Palace opposite college, and that a leap of several yards had just prevented an accident due to the partial collapse of one of the walls. That was the first of a series of unforgettable Alpine seasons with George and other young Wykehamists, the youthful records of which I would not exchange for the rarest treasures in the Club Library. Two expeditions made alone with him in 1904 stand out among many vivid memories. One is an adventurous descent of the Trient glacier in bad weather, an account of which in George’s own hand is the first connected account of a climb that he ever wrote ; the second is a traverse of Mont Blanc from the Déme hut to the Grands Mulets, carried through after long imprisonment by storms on a few biscuits and scrapings of honey. From that day it was certain that he had found in snow mountains the perfect medium for the expression of his physical and spiritual being. Mr. Young has written eloquently of his exceptional ease and grace of movement; Nature would indeed have been robbed of a triumph | if he had never climbed. His own writings are the most convincing proof of his appreciation of the beauty and the meaning of what he saw. , In 1905 he was at Arolla with Tyndale, Bullock, and myself. The activities of that season are referred to in ‘ Five Years with Recruits,’ a paper published in vol. xxiv. of the JouRNAL. By 1906 he was hauling Cambridge undergraduates without any ex- perience but a wise confidence in his skill up the eastern buttress of Lliwedd. I fancy he made a new and difficult route up a huge slab there to recover a pipe. Mr. Young met him there and saw his capabilities, and in 1909 took him out to the Alps to climb with himself and Donald Robertson. New ascents of the S. ridge of the Unterbachhorn and of the S.E. ridge of the Nesthorn were success- fully planned and carried through. In the gloriously fine season of 1911 he was again with Tyndale and myself. He did not there- fore share in the most notable triumphs of that year, but we did a difficult route, mostly new, on the Herbetet, the N. ridge of the Grivola, approaching it for the first time over the Col des Clochettes, and Mont Blanc by the eastern buttress of Mont Maudit, a route which I venture to regard as the finest of all except perhaps the Peuteret ridge. It is an astonishing proof of George’s modesty as well as of my own persistent assumption of responsibility that he led for only about half an hour on all these climbs together. Five

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884 In Memornam. years later he wrote an account of the Mont Blanc climb which was published in vol. xxxii. It is characteristic of the writer. There is no cynicism in it, he is serious at times with the seriousness of an observant child, he is constantly trying to wring from his re- assembled memories the bearing of the day on his life and ours. That is the reflective George, weighing his thoughts in times of physical inaction. On the mountain-side he was light-hearted enough, taking full toll of laughter from the simple jokes and the trivial incidents that fill the hours of a long ascent. I will only mention one or two of the climbs he made in the Alps in more recent. years: in 1912, a bad season, a new ascent of the Dent Blanche by the W. face with Hugh Pope and Harold Porter; with the latter in 1919 a new ascent of the Aiguille du Midi from Plan des Aiguilles, and a new ascent of the Charmoz from Trélaporte, which he describes in a most interesting paper‘in vol. xxxiv. of the JourNAL. Of his climbs in Wales the list is long and the type extremely difficult for all but the most expert. Even in Mr: Geoffrey Young’s Easter parties at Pen-y-Pass he stood out as a rock-climber of exceptional powers and perfect balance. No one has ever passed over those terrifying slabs of Lliwedd with more graceful ease. He and Mr. H. V. Reade once took Karl Blodig along the Girdle Traverse, and brought that famous conqueror of peaks over 4000 m. to a state of astonishment that begat fear for the existence of his younger conductor, if not for his own. The story of the Everest expeditions has been fully told elsewhere. On the first, in 1921, Mr. G. H. Bullock was the only companion Mallory had with several years’ experience in the Alps. The leader of the expedition was not a climber, but a very great deal was done to ensure future success. And neither of the two later visits could provide the inexpressible thrill that came to those who first identified the great mountain, then penetrated its recesses and worked round its sides till they finally found the one obviously possible route from the Chang-La. One feels, as one reads’ his letters of that time and his chapters on the Reconnaissance, that Everest is revealing itself to a man as fitted to understand its majesty as to accept its challenge. Everest in 1921 is a thing of mystery and romance. In 1922 and still more in 1924 it appears as the familiar, mind-obsessing goal at the end of the two miles of breathless, wind-swept, pitiless, and almost hateful ridge that joins it to the North Col. I believe the abandonment of the enterprise after 1922 would have been no disappointment to Mallory. For him snow mountains were not simply opponents to be overcome; they were things that feed the springs of reverence and affection, making a man go with a lighter step and a more grateful heart along the road of life. But being asked to go, such a man could not refuse. And his fitness on the third expedition was amazing. His letters, always most critical of his physical condition, are proof of it.

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Photo G. W. Young. MALLORY AT WORK. te of Aig. Verte.) a ine aré (Mo

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In Memoriam. 885 The story of his last climb is known to every reader of the JOURNAL. Soon after midday on June 8, just below the steep final step of the North Ridge, he was seen with Irvine ‘ going strong for the top.’ That is the last glimpse we have of George Mallory. The height then reached was over 28,200 ft., higher than the record height reached a few days before by Dr. Somervell and Colonel Norton in their splendid effort. The progress of the great climb was being watched through the Press by thousands who never before watched and will never again watch any other-climb.. And we who knew him saw the same modest, idealistic George obeying the call made upon his physical and spiritual vitality by the sight of any up- soaring ridge and wall of rock or snow, whether in Britain or in the Alps or in the Himalaya. Only, in the Everest expeditions, there was an element of duty, increasing in force with each succeeding attempt, imparting for him a special nobility and sternness to the greatest mountaineering adventure of his life, and involving the promoters of the expedition in a responsibility for loss of life which is unique in the history of mountaineering. Did he and Irvine reach the summit? It is probable that we shall never know. And what wonderful justice there would be in the decree of Fate that the honour of the first ascent should never be awarded to any but the man who explored the approaches to the mountain and found the only route, who saved his three com- _panions on the return from the magnificent attempt in 1922, and who came back in 1924 to give his life to accomplish what he had set out to do. With better fortune in the matter of weather, with a less cumbrous means of carrying oxygen, Everest may be climbed, shall we say, a second time ?- How little it matters, after all, whether those last few hundred feet are still untrodden! It was George Mallory himself who wrote of the successful ending of a great climb : ‘Have we vanquished an enemy ? None but ourselves. Have we gained success? That word means nothing here. . . . To struggle and to understand, never this last without the other; such is the law.’ Let: us leave him to his rest on Everest, this Galahad of mountaineering, pure of heart, high of purpose. ‘ To struggle and to understand. . . .” Has he won that goal, seeing now face to face, knowing even as we are known? We may believe it if we cannot prove. This much we know, the manner of his end has touched the hearts of all who value knightly deeds, and has left with us his friends, who cannot welcome him again, an enduring, precious thing. For when we lift our eyes we see that the very shadow which his death has cast so deep across our path intensifies, above as well as behind us, the sunshine of an ever-young and singularly lovable personality. R. L. G. I.

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886 In Memoriam. ANDREW COMYN IRVINE. 1902-1924. In August 1919, in company with his wife, the writer was walking ever the Carnedd range in North Wales from Bethesda to Conway —one of the very finest walks in the district, and a fitting climax to a climbing holiday. We had just crossed Carnedd Llewelyn and were approaching Foel Grach, when we saw someone approaching with a motor cycle. We were accosted as to whether the summit were Foel Grach, and then the enquirer passed on to Carnedd Llewelyn, leaving us surprised at the youthful appearance of this exceptionally enterprising motorist. This feat could have been accomplished, as it was from Llanfairfechan, by no ordinary schoolboy ; it was not till four years later that I knew it was ‘ Sandy ’ Irvine, and that he had performed it not merely in the face of extraordinary natural difficulties but against the expressed wishes of his family! He was then at Shrewsbury and was about to become head of his house and Captain of Boats. Not recognising the freak motorist, I next met him at Capel Curig when he drove with a friend and myself to Ogwen prior to a climb on Tryfan. It sometimes happens when one is endeavouring to select a man for a particular job that the very kind of man one has been seeking turns up. Such was my experience last year when I was trying to make up my sledging party for exploration in Eastern Spitsbergen, under the auspices of the Merton College Arctic Expedition. It was at Putney that I first actually made the acquaintanceship of Sandy, where he was in training with the Oxford crew just prior to their victorious race with Cambridge. He had already got a cap in 1922. He seemed at once to typify all that I was looking for and all that is so essential in the make-up of one that is to be not merely a useful but also a genial companion under the trying conditions of the Arctic. Adventurer by nature that he was, he jumped at the idea, though I must admit I abundantly emphasised the labour and hardships of sledging, and spoke little of the delights of ski-ing over virgin glaciers, and exploring unknown peaks. He plunged whole-heartedly into preparing himself in every way he could for the expedition. He joined our party at Easter for rock- climbing in North Wales, and in the great gully of Craig-yr-Ysfa distinguished himself by leading the very difficult chimney pitch— a brilliant first lead for a novice. Mechanically-minded as he was he gave valuable assistance in the preparation of our sledging equipment for Spitsbergen. I shall always look upon that journey of ours across eastern Spitsbergen as one of the most enjoyable expeditions it has been my privilege to take part in. Frazer was my only experienced companion, but Sandy and Geoffrey Milling, his bosom Oxford friend, fitted into the scheme of things so well, that from the

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ANDREW COMYN IRVINE.

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er

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In Memoriam. 887 beginning I felt it would be hard to find more suitable men. Sandy with his powerful physique was, I am sure, chief contributor to our haulage strength. At times under very bad conditions of snow, when the sledges were sticking badly and one’s skiis were lifting pounds of snow at each step, his output of energy was prodigious. I’ve never yet been able to discover how on one occasion, when the previous day we had left a sledge weighing little short of 500 lbs. that had been hopelessly bogged and Frazer and I had gone off surveying, Sandy and Milling returned and somehow retrieved it. Sandy admitted to me afterwards that words could never express what they went through in doing it! But it was his practical craftsmanship and skill in all things mechanical that stood us in such good stead on this expedition, as also his sound sense and judgement. I am glad that in the Stubendorff mountains there is a peak that bears his name, a peak that I had the pleasure of making the first ascent of with him after a memorable ski journey of fifteen miles from our camp. The way he shaped on difficult ice on that occasion during our traverse of it, stamped him as one quite able to take part in larger ventures and on greater peaks. Irvine was selected as a member of the Mount Everest Expedition, 1924, not without some opposition, owing to his age of twenty-one at the time of selection. Though lacking in mountaineering ex- perience it was felt that the natural aptitude he had already shown, together with his undoubted gifts of mechanical and general practical ability, not to speak of temperamental suitability, fitted him for inclusion in the party, before other older men of greater experience in mountain craft. He set to work immediately in an endeavour to make good his deficiency in knowledge of ice and snow craft, and Christmas 1923 found him in the Bernese Oberland learning the finer points of skiing (which he had undertaken for the first time in Spitsbergen the previous summer), preparatory to a period of glacier running and ice experience in the region of the Aletsch Glacier. As Mr. Arnold Lunn has said elsewhere ' he won the race for the Strang Watkins Cup almost as a beginner, a competition which included some strong and experienced skiers, and he declares he never met a more remarkable beginner than Sandy Irvine. Irvine later told me that he had wanted to do more in the way of high climbing under winter conditions to fit him better for the Himalayas, and it was only the lack of a party that prevented him doing more than he did around the Aletsch Glacier. He appreciated to the full the geniality of Miirren and Wengen, but he wished to be off among the big peaks learning more of the higher mountain craft. And so Irvine came to the Himalayas with a not inconsiderable amount of experience in mountain travel, backed up by sound common sense, intelligence, and ability to learn quickly, apart 1 British Ski Year Book, 1924. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. 2C

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888 In Memoriam. from his other gifts of physique, endurance and agility. Naturally shy, he was particularly modest and unassuming, and he could not readily be drawn out to say much unless the environment was sympathetic. The high altitudes of Tibet perhaps a little emphasised this. But perhaps his greatest gift was his mechanical genius. He never seemed happier than when up against some severe problem of mechanism ; he would revel in finding a solution, and usually found one. His manipulative skill was wonderful. On the Everest Selection Committee I had made a special appeal for him as almost an essential to the expedition largely on the grounds of his mechanical skill, if for no other reason. His work on the oxygen apparatus, which was found to need much repair and reconstruction, was invaluable to me as Oxygen Officer, and without his skill and fertile imagination we might hardly have had a set of apparatus fit for use. His tent invariably became the workshop, and he would work till late at night on the oxygen apparatus or on the repair of primus stoves, or other camp equipment. It was a fitting reward for his zealous work on the oxygen apparatus that Mallory chose him for his companion in his attempt on the summit. Irvine had shown fairly quick acclimatisation after our first arrival at the Base Camp. He was able to carry considerable loads up the E. Rongbuk glacier, and as Norton stated in his communiqué some of his times between camps were unbeaten by other members of the party. Although he did such devoted work on the oxygen apparatus, he told me that he would sooner have got to the foot of the final pyramid without oxygen than to the top with it! His view was that if the mountain was worth climbing, it was worth doing without adventitious aids. Many of us go further and con- sider that general mountaineering in the higher Himalayas is likely to remain in its present halting state unless it can be shown that the greatest altitudes can be reached without the complication and expense of oxygen apparatus as an additional charge on an expedition. It is hardly necessary for me to repeat what I have written else- where about his last climb with Mallory. My final glimpse of one, whose personality was of that charming character that endeared him to all and whose natural gifts seemed to indicate such possi- bilities of both mind and body, was that he was ‘ going strong’ ; sharing with that other fine character who accompanied him such a vision of sublimity that it has been the lot of few mortals to behold ; nay, few while beholding have become merged into such a scene of transcendence. 7 The following are fitting lines to his memory by one of his former masters at Shrewsbury : * Brave heart at peace—youth’s splendour scarce begun, Far above earth, encompassed by the sky, Thy joy to mount; the goal was all but won: God and the stars alone could see thee die.

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In Memoriam. 889 ‘Thou and thy comrade scaled the untrodden steep Where none had ever ventured yet to climb. Wrapt in heroic dreams lie both asleep Still struggling upwards past the bounds of time.’ N. E. O. MAJOR PHILIP B. LINDSELL. 1857-1924. Ir an intense, almost passionate, love of the heights and of mountaineering be an important asset for membership of the Alpine Club, then no one was ever more highly qualified than the old friend who died peacefully in his bed last August. Philip Lindsell served in the Indian Cavalry for many years. With the ‘ Multanis ’ (Bengal Lancers) he went through the arduous Second Afghan War, including the Kandahar march. A severe sunstroke caused him to be invalided out of the Army in the late eighties; in fact, he never entirely recovered his health. From that time onwards he always spent at least six to eight months of the year in the Alps. I am proud to be one of those friends who persuaded him to curtail his enormous walks and take to mountaineering. He was well on in the fifties when he accomplished his first ascent and was elected to the Alpine Club at the age of fifty-six. From 1911 and until the European War he spent at least four months every year in mountaineering. During this period and again after the war, when he resumed his activities, that excellent guide, Alois Biner of Zermatt, rendered him solid and devoted services. Lindsell, although an extraordinary and terribly fast walker, never attained great skill, and he wisely never attempted really difficult expeditions, but his love of the Alps kept him for ever going, mercilessly to himself perhaps. His last ascents were, I think, accomplished in the Adula district in 1923, and his crowning feat, almost the hope of his latter years, was the ascent of the Weisshorn at the age of sixty-four. May his brave soul rest in Peace. E. L. 8. DIEGO CALVET. Amonc the members of the C.A.F. who attended the congress at Monaco four years ago was a very charming, enthusiastic young mountaineer, Diego Calvet, then about twenty-two years of age. He was a son of the head of the firm of J. Calvet & Co., of Bordeaux, well known in the wine trade. Owing to the English connexions of his firm, young Diego had learned to speak English

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890 In Memoriam. well, and reminded me very much of the best type of public schoolboy. During our visit at Monaco, M. de Cessole was kind enough to include young Calvet and myself in an expedition to the ‘ gaunt and riven’ Aiguille de Pélens (Mr. Coolidge’s ‘ Ball’s Western Alps,’ p. 23). I shall not soon forget the interesting ascent of that most bizarre of summits—of which M. de Cessole had some time earlier made the first ascent. Young Calvet used to send me from time to time notes of his ascents, made mostly in the Pyrenees. He visited the M. Blanc group in 1920, doing the Requin, Charmoz, and the traverse of M. Blanc. He was keen to join the A.C., and meant to work hard to qualify. His letters ceased, and I heard casually that he had had an accident; but only in Chamonix the other day did M. Bre- geault tell me that two years ago, while motoring to Bayonne to see his fiancée, young Calvet was fatally injured. The loss of this brave, clean, hopeful young life is lamentable. J. P. F. RuDOLF VON TSCHARNER. 1900-1924. NE of the saddest tragedies of the Alps is the fatal accident to the brilliant young President of the Academic Alpine Club of Zurich. To us veterans it recalls the staggering news of the death of Emil Zsigmondy, to whom v. Tscharner may well be compared. Born in 1900, eldest son of the old Bernese patrician family of the Chateau de Gumligen near Berne, he started his mountaineering career at 10 years of age. By the time he was 15 he had developed into a mountain enthusiast that it were hard tomatch. By 17 he had conquered his first 4000 m. peak. Spring, summer, autumn, winter, he devoted every spare moment to the beloved mountains. Strong, athletic, valiant, as became a scion of one of those old soldier families that, in the past, have supplied warriors to the armies of Europe,! and whose names are still on our own Army List, he pitted himeelf, justifiably, against the most difficult mountain problems. In him experience had grown out of long assiduous practice—perfect bodily fitness out of steady persistence in 1 In the time of Louis XIV there were eleven Swiss regiments besides the Gardes Suisses and the Cent Suisses of the king in the French service. A Zurlauben commanded the French cavalry at Blenheim.

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RUDOLF v. TSCHARNER.

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In Memoriam. $91 hard exercise and rigid avoidance of luxury and indulgence. Learning the craft under guides, he developed into one of the foremost of guideless climbers able to play his full part, whether as leader or supporter. He was not merely a rock gymnast—a ‘ Kraxler ’—and after all the best ‘ Kraxler’ I have ever seen 1s a Cape baboon—but had by study and intensive work built himself up into an all-round mountaineer. A classified list, in his own handwniting, of all his expeditions lies before me. It is evidently a labour of love and pride, and he may well have gloried in such a proof of endeavour. It numbers over 160, and includes expeditions in Hastern Switzerland, the Oberland, the Valais and Chamonix—details will be found in the annual reports of his Club—but the following may be noted : Zermatt district: Rothorn, Gabelhorn (trav.), Weisshorn (trav.), Dent d’Hérens, Dent Blanche (Viereselsgrat), Lys- kamm, Dom, Taschhorn (Teufelsgrat) and other summits of the Mischabel, Dufoursp. and other points of Monte Rosa, Matter- horn (Z’Mutt). Oberland: Wetterhorn, Schreck-Lauteraarhorn, Finsteraar- horn, Aletschhorn, Bietschhorn (a desperate winter ascent with Mr. Lauper). | Chamonix: Aig. Verte, Les Droites (variation), Aig. du Géant, Chardonnet (trav.), Grépon. Grisons: Bernina, Piz Roseg (N. face direct from Tschierva glacier). He knew thoroughly, of course, the mountains within the near radius of Zurich, and had travelled in Corsica. One of the greatest exhibitions of determination, of resistance to fatigue and cold was the ascent 1m winter of the long W. aréte— piled up with snow—of the Bietschhorn carried out with Mr. H. Lauper, member of the sister University, well known to his associates as the ‘intellectual’ mountaineer, the one who ‘climbs with his head.’ He was a finished Skieur, and made this year the first traverse of the Mt. Blanc range. I print below his own account, which he sent to me shortly before his death, when he also expressed his concern at the Everest tragedy and his earnest hope that the undertaking would be pursued to final victory. He was keen to be allowed to take a part. He was one of my most enthusiastic young correspondents, highly interested in the Mt. Everest expedition and mountain subjects generally. He had just joined for his year’s training and had been gazetted Lieutenant in the artillery stationed

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892 In Memoriam. at the Gotthard. On July 14 he set out to make the ascent of the Finsteraarhorn by the well-known §.E. aréte—an expedition well within his powers. The approach from the Oberaar hut is up a steep ice-face seamed by an ill-defined rock aréte (v.‘ A.J.’ xxvu. “The first ascent of the Finsteraar- horn’ with sketch of route). High up on this aréte a rock came away with him, and although his companion Wiithrich instantly jumped to the other side of the aréte the rope cut on the sharp edge, and v. Tscharner fell a thousand feet to his death.? To even a better man—Auguste Blanc on the Dolent—came the identical fate. It is the old lesson, never too often preached, never wholly learnt, that care, constant care—and I use the word in a much wider sense than merely indicating attention to one’s foothold and handhold—is the great rule. What undoubtedly sets the craft of mountaineering in a class by itself is that the penalty of an instant’s carelessness, of a momentary want of judgment, is quite often death. Its merits in building up not only physique, but determination, and indeed the whole character, are great, but to glorify death on a mountain strikes a false note. Risks, of course, there always are; they must be taken. The game is not worth the candle without. But the master’s job—his proof of worth—is to come through. And in the keen regret at the cutting off of brave young lives like this there will not fail to mingle a warm-hearted admiration for the fallen and an unquenchable pride in the gallant, unconquerable spirit that animated them. J. P. Farrar. First WINTER AND SKI TRAVERSE OF THE Mont BLANo FROM COURMAYEUR TO CHAMONIX. APRIL 17-21, 1924. H. Wieland, A.C.C., Miinchen, R. v. Tschamer, A.A.C.Z. On April 16 we crossed the Col Ferret from Orsiéres to Courmayeur. Snow and weather being extremely bad we only reached Courmayeur at 23 p.m. Next day we went up 3 Mr. Amstutz of the A.A.C., Berne, told me that v. Tscharner was trying a new route on this face, but he knew no details. It is possible that he may have been attempting the aréte which runs from the summit of the Studerjoch to that of the Finsteraarhorn. This has never been done—I think not even tried. It deserves looking at. See illustration, A.J. xxvii. opp. p. 295.

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New Expeditions. 898 to the Cantine de Vissaille, where we remained the night. The weather had cleared, but a terrible storm raged on the summits above. We left the cantine on Good Friday at 4 a.m. and followed the glacier de Miage to the Dome hut. 13 p.m. It was difficult to find the hut, snow totally covering it on the west side. Departure Saturday morning 1.30, crossed and ascended the Dome Glacier to the Aig. Grises ridge. A frightful storm obliged us to return immediately ; at midday we were back in the Dome hut. On Easter morning, 0.30, we left the hut again, reaching the Aig. Grises near the Col de Bionnassay at 4 o’clock. We had to carry the skis from here to the Col du Dome. The storm raged and we had great difficulty to get on. There was no use for the cord. The ridge was covered with ice; we had to be very careful because the wind got hold of the skis. On the Col du Dome we had to take them off, and climbed up to the Vallot hut which was full of ice. 8 a.m. At 10.80 we reached the summit of Mt. Blanc, but it was impossible to remain there for the storm raged in allits fury. We raced down to a place sheltered from the storm. Below the Col du Dome we put on the skis and raced down to the Grd. Mulets. It was the most beautiful run, and at 16.00 we reached the Jonction where we roped for the first time. We tried to descend by the Montagne de la Cote, but failed, so we had to bivouac. Next day we descended by the Pierre Pointue and reached Chamonix at midday. NEW EXPEDITIONS. Mont Blanc Group. GRANDES JORASSES (4205 m. = 13,797 ft.), By THE S. ARETE AND THE TRONCHEY FACE. July 23-24, 1923. MM. F. Ravelli and G. Rivetti, with E. Croux.—The party left the Tronchey chalets early on the 23rd, and gained up steep grass slopes the great rocky spur which separates the glaciers PraSec anddeTronchey. This was followed to the summit of the most southerly of the three aiguilles, well visible and still unclimbed, which crown the above rocky spur just at the point where it loses itself in the great face at about 3600 m. They suggest the name Aiguilles de Pra Sec. From the summit of the 8. Aiguille they descended to the col between it and the Central Aiguille, turned the latter on the W. side, and so gained the W. face of the N. Aiguille. They climbed with much difficulty

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894 New Expeditions. about 30 m. up this face and bivouacked on a little platform at about 3600m. Leaving next morning at 4, they gained the crest of the aréte not far from the summit of the N. Aiguille. A short descent led to the next gap whence they bore slightly to the right— east—up the face above the great drop commanding the Tronchey glacier. They then ascended a first steep couloir until pulled up by impracticable escarpments. They then ascended to the right by other couloirs and by ice slopes, cutting many steps. Climbing some rock ribs covered with ice they finally gained the great couloir which descends directly from the Pointe Walker. They made the very steep and exposed ascent by the right bank of this couloir (rocks mixed with ice) and so gained the summit at 14.30. The descent was made by the ordinary way, but by reason of the dense clouds surrounding them, they only reached the hut next morning after a further bivouac at 4000 m. accompanied by much snow. This climb offers difficulties all the way, and on certain points is not safe from falling stones.—Rivista Mensile, 1923, p. 265. AIG. DU PLAN (3673 m. = 12,051 ft.) by the N. face. August 11-12, 1924. MM. Jacques Lagarde, Jacques de Lépiney, and Henry de Segogne. The party left Plan de ]’Aiguille at 3 a.m. and gained the Blaitiére glacier. They ascended then by the rocks which form the base of the Aig. de Blaitiére so as to attain the forehead of the hanging glacier. They then put on crampons, and, after climbing rather difficult chimneys between ice and rock, reached the little plateau of névé immediately below the Col de Blaitiére. They then traversed to the right on a fairly steep ice-slope to gain the ill- defined aréte which separates the glaciers of Blaitiére and du Plan. They climbed the convenient rocks of this aréte to its end—that is to say, to the base of the great iced wall dominated by the Caiman. This wall offered generally serious difficulties, the rocks carrying much snow, and frequently they were covered with ice, necessitating long work with the axe. The first bit was one of the hardest ; the leader, J. de Lépiney, after having vainly tried to force an iced chimney, found more to the right a chimney in dry rock, very smooth, facing the Aig. des 2 Aigles, which opened the way for the party. A short slope of ice, extremely steep, followed, and easier ground then led to the foot of the great triangular wall, fissured and splashed with yellow, so visible from Chamonix. Rounding this wall by the right the party gained at last the Bréche du Caiman (3498 m. Vallot) between the Crocodile and the Caiman. 5 p.m. The place and weather conditions were considered proper for a bivouac., An attempt was made to climb the Caiman. This proved very difficult, and could only succeed with the aid of the rope, or at least the axe. As they had not brought this, they did not attain their objective, and at 8 p.m. were back again in the Bréche.

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New Expeditions. 395 The bivouac was comfortable, but at 11 p.m. the appearance of dark clouds and lightning made a start advisable (midnight). The ro) r= | © = cs = a] y F a * g nm ° s — 3 8 g 5 Cc) POEs A> OD 89> 57497 4° asad Od ga Og sag a B CnmOn Sx a) Bo Ta, pt onne mid OG eo = CoO -& co Se Bi po aa po qove co As Gr) qs Sen of Oo .-~ A) SsV3~ ied Ze qr pr nw nw 1 oO A A A 4. 4 ‘ t ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ‘ ' ‘ ' ' ' ‘ 1 ‘ ‘ ‘ + ' ' . : eS 4 4 re *. o> ? This moraine and these rocks hide Cliché Charnauz fréres et Cre., phot., Geneve. the lower part of the Blaitiére glacier, whichis behind. The Glacier du Plan AIGUILLE DU PLAN (N. Face). is the one on the face of the Plan, summit of the Plan was gained by taking again to the N. face and traversing very low down below the Crocodile. This part of the

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396 New Expeditions. expedition was by much the most serious, and exceptionally delicate in complete darkness. The way led across extremely steep ice-slopes. It was only at the commencement that a covering of good snow was found. The absence of one axe forced Henry de Ségogne to anchor himself in the ice with his knife. Crampons were of the greatest service. At 5 a.m. on August 12 the summit of the Plan was gained actually before the storm broke. The descent was made by the ordinary way, and Montanvert reached at 10.30 a.M. (Description by J. de Lépiney and H. de Ségogne.) [M. de Lépiney has been good enough to mark the route on the photograph attached. He remarks that this view is taken from very low down, and accordingly makes the terrain from the Bréche du Caiman to below the Crocodile look flat, whereas in effect it ascends at an angle of 25° to 30°. He tells me that M. le Dr. Migot, who has studied the question, thinks that Baumann (‘ A.J.’ x. 443 seq.) reached the main aréte not far from the Bréche du Caiman. Baumann’s admirable paper would have been much clearer had it been accompanied by a marked picture. This is promised in the new Vallot guide on the point of appearing. Our splendid young French comrades are to be warmly con- gratulated on completing this technically very difficult ascent. For us it has the further interest of recalling once more a most stirring paper in ‘A.J.’ xvi. 422 seg., ‘ Two Days on an Ice-Slope,’ wherein Ellis Carn described the adventures in 1892 of Mummery, Slingsby, and himself in an attempt on the face which has now— thirty-two years later—succumbed. Mr Carr’s paper is so well illustrated that one can follow the route minutely. His pictures should be compared with those now given. It would appear that in Baumann’s time (1880) ‘ the smooth glacier-worn rocks which form the base of the Plan’ (‘ A.J.’ x. 445) were as they are nowadays, whereas by 1892 they were all under ice and gave the party of that year very much trouble. These rocks appeared to Baumann im- possible, and his view is shared by M. de Lépiney, hence they have to be turned. Mr. Ellis Carr was naturally much interested in the present expedition, and writes : I have carefully studied M. de Lépiney’s account of his ascent of the N. face of the mountain and must heartily congratulate him and the other members of his party on their success in carrying out what I feel sure must always be a difficult and trying expedition. What first strikes me, on comparing the conditions as shown on the phote with those prevailing at the time of our attempt so many years ago, is the remarkable diminution in the amount of ice on the mountain generally, and especially on the lower part of the face. The ice couloir, which ccst us so much work with the axe, seems to have disappeared entirely, leavir a bare face of precipitous ty! \

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‘Photo: Charnaux fréres, Geneva L’Ai:_ JILLE DU PLAN North face. From Les Praz near Chamonix.

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New Expeditions. 897 rock which may well be found to be quite unclimbable, and I think it is likely that on future occasions there may be found no way of gaining access to the face but by the Blaitiére rocks, a route rejected by us owing to the then palpably dangerous state of the snow.’ The present expedition will rank as a masterpiece of planning and execution, and it is a satisfaction that it, like the attempt of 1892, has been carried out by an eminently qualified guideless party. J.P. FJ AIGUILLE VERTE BY THE N.E. Face (4127 m. = 13,541 ft.). August 6-7, 1924. MM. Tom de Lépiney, Jacques Lagarde, and Henry de Ségogne. After waiting several days in the new Jardin d’Argentiére hut, in consequence of very uncertain and even bad weather, the party left at 23.05 on August 6 and (30 m. halt en route) crossed at 1.50 - on August 7 the easy rimaye of the great couloir by which on July 31, 1876, MM. Cordier, Maund, and Middlemore, with the guides Hans Jaun, Jakob Anderegg, and Andreas Maurer, made the ascent. * Despite the early hour stones fell from time to time quite close on our right. Accordingly we judged it advisable to quit the couloir where it narrows considerably (about 3.15) and to climb the rocks covered with verglas and snow, exceedingly difficult, of its right proper bank. It was not until 6.30 to 7.00 that we managed to arrive under the barrier of séracs, which fortunately were not continuous. We thereupon carried out a great traverse on snow and occasionally ice, somewhat exposed to ice and particularly stone-fall. The snow aréte which forms the upper prolongation of the great rock buttress of the Argentiére face was gained at 8.35, after overcoming a steep ice-wall. Shortly after we stopped (9 to 9.35) at X. for lunch, no suitable place having been passed since leaving the rimaye. The summit of the Verte was reached at 11.25 and the Couvercle not until 22.00. The extraordinary amount of snow on the Moine aréte forced us to descend by a secondary couloir into the main couloir of the W. face. A violent thunder- storm broke over us at about 3900 m. and did not cease until long after our reaching the hut.’ M. de Lépiney remarks that crampons were found of great service, and that had the conditions permitted of their adhering with reasonable safety to the couloir itself (as was their original intention), and not compelled them to take, as stated, to the difficult rocks of its right back, they would have saved upwards of 3 hours. [This great expedition, upon which these valiant young mountaineers of the Groupe Haute Montagne are to be warmly congratulated lies to the left of the Cordier-Maund-Middlemore route referred to above. Mr. Maund’s topography (‘A.J.’ viii. 289 seq.) is not at all clear in the absence of any diagram. The diagram in the ‘().A.C. Guide’ is too sketchy to convey any very reliable information ; that in ‘ Kurz’ Guide’ gives rather more detail

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898 New Expeditions. and may be accepted as an approximation to the 1876 route. Lord Wentworth’s party, some time after 1876, attempted to ascend this face. They only succeeded in retracing their steps with great difficulty and after an impromptu bivouac (wid. 294). The great rock aréte on the left, at the foot of which is a rock island in the glacier, is that attempted by Capt. Farrar, led by Daniel This Photograph was taken 2 days after their ascent. Maquignaz in 1898 (‘ A.J.’ xxxiii. 383), and again by Mr. Odell’s party in 1920 (shd. 382, with photograph). It will afford some work. The Fynn-Goudet route of 1895 is again more to the left (‘ 0.A.C. Guide,’ par. 499), and has never been repeated.] Point (3572 m. = 11,716 ft., Vallot) BETWEEN THE ToUR NoIRE AND THE AIG. Rouges DU DoLEeNnT opposite La MoucaeE. August 1924. MM. Tom de Lépiney, Pierre Dalloz, Jacques Lagarde, and Henry de Ségogne.—This ascent was made from the Bréche 3509 (Vallot). Pennines. Ala. DE CRETE SEcHeE (2807 m.=9207 ft.) (vide ‘Guide des Alpes Valaisannes,’ vol. i. pp. 174 and 177). August 23, 1924. Rev. C. G. Monro and Miss Monro, with Pierre Blanc and his son Alphonse. From the comfortable inn at Oyace the party gained, wi@ the Combe de Faudery, the Col Duc, whence the N. aréte was mainly followed, a remarkable rock-tower just above the col being cir- cumvented. Rocks in places loose; climb generally interesting.

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Cb me ee en ae ee New Expeditions. 399 Time from col about 1 hour. The descent was effected by grassy gullies and ridges on the S. face, and, bearing steadily to their right, the party regained their sacks in the Combe de Faudery without touching the Col du Freiti. WEIssMIES (4031 m. = 13,226 ft.), By THE BuTTRESS BOUNDING ON THE EK. ‘ THALLI’ (StrGFRIED). September 6, 1924, Squadron- Leader E. B. Beauman, with Othmar Supersaxo. The foot of this buttress is a bit to the left of 2758 (Siegfried). The buttress joins the Trifthorn-Weissmies aréte at about 3780 m., and does not seem to have been previously ascended. Beyond this junction the route is not new (‘Guide des Alpes Valaisannes,’ iii. 337). The climb is described ‘ as a good three hours’ pleasant: rock scrambling in the middle of most delightful views.’ Tymes.—Almagellalp inn to foot of aréte, 2 hrs.; to junction of Trifthorn-Weissmies aréte, 34 hours; to summit of Weissmies, 1} hours, Bernese Oberland. BLUMLISALPHORN (3671 m.=12,044 ft.) By THE N. Face. June l, 1924. H.Salvisberg, W. Amstutz, and W. Richardet, A.A.C. Berne. [ Photo, E. Gyger. Taken from Dindenhorn.

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400 New Expeditions. ‘Left Hohtiirli hut 4 a.m. Followed the regular route to the glacier bay between Weisse Frau and Bliimlisalphorn. The N. face was attacked at the spot where its séracs project the furthest into this glacier bay. (About in the straight line with the summit of Bliimlisalphorn.) 6 a.m. Cutting up icefalls, steep ice- and névé slopes, we reached at 9.20 the N.E. aréte and followed it to the summit, 10.35. The aréte to the Weisse Frau was then followed, whence the descent to the Hohtiirli hut was made. Magnificent ice expedition.’ W. Ricuarpet, A.A.C.B. LAUTERBRUNNEN BrREITHORN (3779 m. = 12,399 ft.) BY THE N. Face. August 12,1924. Dr. D. Chervet and W. Richardet, A.A.C. Berne. ‘We left the Obersteinberg inn at 1 a.m. and followed the Breithornjoch route (Diibi II. 49) wd the Oberhornsee and the Breithorn glacier to near Pt. 2316. Up the W. branch of this glacier we gained the striking gap S. of the ‘“ Wermuthorn,”’ local name for the well-marked rock-summit 8S. of Pt. 2316. From the gap we followed the rock aréte until it ends in the ‘‘ Ober Schmadri glacier ’’ (small Stoneman). We now left the Breithornjoch route and followed the last-named glacier in a S.W. direction to the foot of the N. face of Breithorn (7 a.m.). We were now pretty exactly in the straight line (Germ. Fallinie) with the E. summit. We crossed the Bergschrund and cut up a steep ice slope to the right to a striking triangular rock-patch [marked 1 in photo], 8.30. Now began the climbing up the very steep face. We kept always to the right (E) flank of a rib which descends from the E. summit, and of which only the upper third becomes well defined. By midday we had, with difficult work, overcome the ‘Great Precipice ” (Germ. Grosser Abbruch), a steep iced step with tile-like stratification. It was only now possible to follow the well-defined rib which, up steep rocks and ice, led direct to the KE. summit, 14.10. Descent by the W. aréte to the Mutthorn hut. ‘Total time, Obersteinberg to summit, 13h. 10m., including 1} hr. halts.’ W. Ricuarpet, A.A.C.B. The rock is described as good. - [This magnificent climb up a face that hitherto has been recognized as offering great difficulties, is a great testimony to the powers and skill of the two young Swiss University mountaineers. MM. Hans Lauper and P. von Schuhmacher on August 19, 1923, were driven back by bad weather at the foot of the face. With the other two ascents reported in the present JOURNAL, the new ascents from the Rottal appear to be exhausted. Reference should be made to my ‘The Roththal face of the Jungfrau,’ with a marked plate in ‘A.J.’ xxxi. 210-217.

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New Expeditions. 401 Taken from the Lauterbrunnen Breithorn. This Photograph shows clearly the approach. [Photo, Dr. O. A. Hug. Taken from the Tschingelgrat. This Photograph shows the face better and the line followed on the critical upper part.

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402 New Expeditions. A list of the passages made out of the Rottal is given in ‘ A.J.’ xxx, 246. To these must now be added : 3A. Ascent of Ebnefluh by N. aréte. See present JOURNAL. 4A. The Rotefluh aréte. See ‘A.J.’ xxxv. 286. TA. Grossjoch. See present JOURNAL. 7B. Ascent of Grosshorn. See ‘A.J.’ xxxiv. 168. 9A. Ascent of Breithorn. See present JOURNAL. J.P. F.] EBNEFLUH (3964 m. = 13,006 ft.), By THE N. arétE.! July 16, 1924. Miss F. R. Wills, with P. Almer (father and son); Capt. J. P. Farrar, with Fritz Boss. We left the Rottal hut at 4 a.m., crossed the glacier and ascended the ice-slope as shown on sketch. We then took to the rocks which, though steep and loose—foothold only—were not particularly difficult. We traversed to the right across some iced couloirs so as to gain the right-hand end of the steep rock wall. We were at the top of the rocks which formed a convenient headland at the foot of the upper ice portion of the ascent by 7.30, and spent ? hr. in eating and idle- ness—the weather looking all right. There followed a steep ice aréte and then a broader ice ridge—very steep indeed for a bit— much step-cutting. We then reached easier slopes and bore to the left to gain the final outcrop of rocks beyond which was the snow summit, 11.5. I was under the impression there was an easy way to the Jung- fraujoch. Peter pére did not demur, so we descended to the broad opening of O. K. Williamson’s Gletscherjoch—then ascended a great snow dome—traversed the whole ridge of the Gletscherhorn 2 —by no means easy—to its summit, 3.50. On the way down we got into a tremendous thunderstorm—as vivid lightning as I have seen, with a deluge of hail that, in addition, showered down on us from the slopes above in small avalanches—just when we were on 1 T am quite at a loss to explain why this very obvious route— the first direct ascent of the mountain from the Rottal—had not been made before. I noted it from the Rottal hut in 1923 and could hardly believe it was new. I learn since that it had not escaped the eagle eyes of the young University climbers in Berne, and had Mr. Lauper not been absent in California it would no doubt have fallen to him, which would have been more correct than to my strongly guided party. 2 Siegfried does not show the aréte correctly. The precipice on the Rottal side is stupendous and there are several huge towers all traversed except the last which we turned by descending a short way in a couloir on the right.

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New Expedttons. 403 a long ice traverse. Two minor storms followed and the mist was so thick that it took all old Peter’s skill, aided by a momentary lift NortH FAcE oF EBNEFLUH. in the clouds, to extricate us. We reached the inn on the Jung- fraujoch at 10 p.m. ! JB, GrosssocH ! (ca. 3700 m. = 12,146 ft.). August 11,1924. Miss F. R. Wills and Capt. J. P. Farrar with Peter Almer pére et fils. We left the Obersteinberg upper inn at 4.2 a.m. and reached the grass plot described ‘ A.J.’ xxxv. 254. Breakfast, 6.30-7. Young Almer then cut up steep icy slopes to a first bergschrund (there are two below the one visible in picture), which we crossed on the left under two huge and somewhat threatening séracs. We turned sharp right and hurried across, to get out of range, to a second easy bergschrund. Crossing this, Almer cut straight up very steep, hard snow to the lip of the big bergschrund visible in picture. We bore away, under the lip, horizontally to the left, to gain good steep rocks which 1 This name is subject to the approval of the Topog. Bureau, Berne. VOL. XXXVI.—NO, CCXXIX. 2D

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404 New Expeditions. form an island. This appeared the first place where access to the rocks can be gained. Our hope had been to take to them much earlier so as to avoid crossing under the big séracs. The splendid weather beguiled us into spending from 10.15 to 11.20 eatmg and idling. We followed the island to its head and then cut across a snow-slope to the main rock massif (11.45). Good stepped rocks, mainly gneiss, were then ascended at a good rate with the great ice- slope—prodigiously steep *—close on our right. The rocks got steeper as we progressed but, while needing great care, were at no point very difficult, nor were we at any time in danger from ice or stones. Arrived at the end of the rocks young Almer had quite an hour’s work cutting in hardish ice before we reached the main aréte at 3.30. We left at 4, descended very steep snow-slopes and snow gullies to the Anenfirn, passed close to our Jagiliicke of last year, and hit the patb ‘in der Anen,’ making Fafleralp at 9.5 soon after dark. Weather perfect all day. The two Almers carried out our plans with an energy and a mastery of their profession that deserve every recognition. They complement each other admirably. Our intention had been to cross the Mittagjoch, and our massif appeared to lead to the lowest point in the ridge somewhere about where we imagined the Mittagjoch to be. Mr. Irving’s party (August 3, 1908, ° A.J.’ xxiv. 360-1) ascended the Mittaghorn from the Rottal by what I take to be the massif of rock to the left of our massif. Towards the top they bore to the right and reached the main watershed aréte to the S.W. of the Mittaghorn, which they gained in 1 hour by following its S.W. aréte. Dr. Dibi (‘S.A.C.J.’ xliv. 327) remarks that his own 1880 route from this side to the Mittagjoch coincided with Mr. Irving’s to a certain point, but bore towards the end more to the right. Dr. Diibi’s Mittagjoch would appear to be at A in the picture. A little later Mr. Irving (August 24, 1908, ‘ A.J.’ zbid.) descended the N.E. aréte of Grosshorn ‘ to a snow-saddle, this being considerably the lowest depression between the Mittaghorn and the Grosshorn,’ whence they descended to the Anenfirn. He adds: ‘ It would have been shorter to have continued on the ridge over a small gendarme to the Mittagjoch of the Siegfried map.’ This would appear to be at B in the picture (there are two gendarmes—not one—and they are not very small). This is practically our Col, but it is not Dr. Diibi’s. The terrain on the Rottal side of the range, from the Breit- horn to the Ebnefluh, does not appear to me to be accurately de- lineated in the Siegfried map, or to agree with the photographs, and personally I do not know at what point the Siegfried map actually places the Mittagjoch. The cote 3704, presumably intended for 2 Up this led Macdonald’s ascent of 1895 and Hasler’s of 1904 the leader in each case being Christian Jossi.

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‘“HOOLIMGVWHDS ( pesso1d 30U) IOD S.ONIAUI ‘YN—E "“HOOLOVLLIN—V ‘S1IqUII}SIIqQ WOIJ ‘NNOHSSOUD ‘HOO[SSOND —~—Saae “ws 2S ce OSE a a ee ee a ee. f é‘ NYOHOVILIN DV u4yaM £0104q ee eee ee

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New Expeditions. 405 the Joch, is some distance away from the name, and approximates more nearly to ovr Col. We seem thus to have made a new route across the range to which the name of Grossjoch might be given. My friend Graham Irving has read my interpretation of his route and confirms my conclusion. J.P.F. Ture SouTHERN ALPS oF NEw ZEALAND.! Two Thumb Range. Mr. ALMA (8204 ft.).— First ascent, H.C. Chambers, H. E. L. Porter, C.S. Barker. Up the Rangitata valley to the musterers’ hut at the foot of Black Mountain. Thence up Alma creek, turning the impasse by climbing over the bluff on the true right, and taking the left branch, where the creek forks above, to a bivouac in the highest patch of trees (3hours). From here easily up bed of creek to a snowfield well short and to right of col at foot of S. ridge. Up this snowfield diagonally, and by easy rock-ribs and snow to the top (44 hours). December 18, 1923. THE Two Tuumss (8338 ft.).—First ascent, same party. From Mesopotamia in the Rangitata valley over the top of Mt. Brabazon (5879 ft.) to shack in Black Birch creek (6 hours). Thence up lateral creek on left to foot of E. face (3 hours). Then for 400-500 ft. up prominent couloir leading to S. ridge before it rises steeply. The couloir was then crossed to its true left bank, and ascent to the S. ridge made by steepish rocks and snow. By ridge easily to summit (2 hours 45 minutes). December 22, 1923. Malte Brun Range. Mr. HaEcKeEL (9649 ft.).—H. E. L. Porter, C. 8. Barker. First ascended in 1912 by Captain Head with Clarke and Murphy, who went from the Darwin glacier up the tributary Bonney and over the spurs of Mt. Hamilton to the col between it and Haeckel, thence climbing the S.W. aréte to the top. Their route was repeated with a variation below in 1914 by Mr. H. O. Frind with Conrad Kain. Both parties reported the ridge to be very rotten. A new route was made last January. From the Darwin glacier an obvious 500-ft. couloir, well beyond. the entrance of the Bonney and leading up towards Hamilton, was ascended to near the top, and a traverse made by a scree-laden shelf on to the upper Darwin glacier and across to the rock-rib in the centre of it (3 hours). This was ascended, till an easy way on to the glacier beyond was seen, and the glacier then 1 See map, A.J. xxix. 104. There is a set of l-in. Government maps in the Library, procured by Mr. Harper (cf. A.J. xxxv. 52).

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406 New Expeditions. crossed to a schrund, which divides its N. bank from a large snow- field above. Up the snow to the rocks below a big black patch on the S.W. ridge, which can be seen from a long way off (2 hours From LOWER DARWIN GLACIER. --- Line of ascent. 15 minutes). Thence to the summit in 30 minutes. This part of the ridge is reasonably sound. The descent was by the same route, except that an unexpected passage through the ice-fall from the upper to the lower glacier presented itself. January 21, 1924. Banks Range. Unicorn (8394 ft.).—First ascent, H. E. L. Porter with Frank Milne. The Banks Range diverges from the main divide in a S.W. direction at Mt. Beatrice. The first peak on it is Dilemma (8592 ft.), ascended by Kain and Fyfe in 1914, and the second is Unicorn. From the Hooker hut the rock-rib beyond that used for the Copland Pass was mounted till it merged in a steep wall. A horizontal traverse and a short descent led to the glacial shelf above the Hooker valley. This was crossed and the main divide reached a few minutes S. of Mt. Beatrice (4 hours 40 minutes). The two peaks of Dilemma were traversed, the big gendarme between the two being climbed by a crack up its centre (65 minutes). From Dilemma a series of slabs about 400 ft. in height, which proved much easier than they looked, lead to a col, whence the moderate rocks of the N.E. ridge are climbed to the top (50 minutes). January 28, 1924. Inebig Range. Mr. Buacksurn (7835 ft.).—First traverse by the two main. ridges; same party. The ascent was made from Gorilla creek by the 8.W. ridge, the route of the first ascent in 1903, to the top in 34 hours. The descent was by the unclimbed N.E. ridge. This has

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New Expeditions. 407 two prominent steps: the one close to the top was turned on the W. face, and a very difficult wall descended into the couloir falling from its base. The ridge was regained and followed to the next step, which was also turned on the west. The scree-chute at its foot was utilised till it ceased, and descent continued by the scrubby hillside back into Gorilla creek and so to the hut (4 hours). February 10, 1924. Main Divide. Mr. Burns (8984 ft.).—H. E. L. Porter with Frank Milne and C. Williams. First ascended by Mr. 8S. Turner and Peter Graham in 1914. They climbed from the Miller glacier to the N.E. ridge at a point W. of Bernard Pass and by ridge to top. The same route was taken this year (54 hours), and the traverse completed by the first descent of the W. side of the mountain. From the top a snow-edge running N.W. was followed till lodgment could be effected on the Spence glacier. This glacier in its upper regions nowhere reaches the Landsborough, to which it is tributary, except in frag- ments over a steep rock-cliff of varying height. Farther down this cliff lies back here and there in slabby ribs. One of these was descended, and the cliff itself evaded by an avalanche-chute (5} hours). Return up the Landsborough to the foot of Fyfe’s Pass, and by the slabs on its true left, traversing to the left at every obstacle, to the ridge of Mt. Montgomery, 150 ft. above the pass (24 hours). From Fyfe’s Pass to the Miller hut (2 hours 20 minutes). February 17, 1924. GREY Peak (9800 ft.).—First ascent, H. E. L. Porter with Frank Milne and K. Ritchie. From Haast hut up Glacier Dome and round by Grand Plateau to the Haast ridge. This was followed for about an hour till descent was possible on to the névé of the Haast glacier above the ice-fall. Thence by crossing the schrund at its head— which would not be possible late in the season—to Pioneer Pass (44 hours), and northwards along the ridge to Grey Peak, which is a 70-ft. rock pinnacle slightly W. of the ridge itself (40 minutes). February 20, 1924. Rocky MouNTAINS OF CANADA. Tur Carisoo RANGE.—These mountains, which form one of the important subdivisions of the Interior ranges of British Columbia, were visited during the past summer by a party consisting of Mr. Allen Carpe and Professor Rollin T. Chamberlin, accompanied by A. L. Withers of Jasper and two local packers. Between June 28 and July 9, eight summits over 10,000 ft. in height were climbed, seven of which were first ascents, including the highest peak of the range. This peak, which it is proposed to name ‘ Mt. Titan,’ was found to be substantially in excess of 11,500 ft. in altitude, and is

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408 Various Expeditons. probably the highest summit in any of the Interior ranges, sur- passing Mt. Sir Sandford in the northern Selkirks. The entire range is heavily glaciated and the valley levels are low, the party’s base camp at the tongue of the Sand Creek glacier being 4440 ft. The topographical work of the expedition included the location of the glacial sources of the North Thompson, Canoe, McLennan, and Shuswap (Raushwap) rivers and of Kiwa and Sand creeks. Data were obtained for a topographic outline map of the range. Further particulars will appear later. ALBREDA PK. (Mt. MiILton).—On July 18, 1924, the same party made the first ascent of this peak, situated in the northern Gold Range about seven miles S.E. of Clemina station, C.N.R., British Columbia. The peak is conspicuous by reason of a large glacier on its N.W. face which is in view from the railway. The altitude was found to be approximately 10,050 ft., or 7300 ft. above the valley. Progress was made with some difficulty through the heavily timbered lower valleys to a camp on the N.E. side of the mountain, whence the ascent was made, in bad weather, by way of the N. glacier and E. ridge. Further particulars will appear later. ALLEN CARPE. VARIOUS EXPEDITIONS. Mont Blanc Group. Ala. BLANCHE DE PEUTERET—PEUTERET ARETE—M. BLanc (4810 m. = 15,782 ft.). July 28 to August 2, 1923. Herr Alfred Horeschowsky, accompanied by Franz Piekielko. July 28, left Courmayeur noon. Bivouac on glacier at about 3000 m. below the Dames Anglaises. July 29, bad weather—remained in bivouac. July 30, 1 a.m., left by moonlight and ascended the steep névé— mainly ice—of the Dames Anglaises. Through an ice-fall to the terrace. Crossing many deep, hard-frozen avalanche gullies we followed the terrace to the N.E. aréte of the Aig. Blanche 4109 m., 6.30 a.M. Then over partly iced rocks to the summit 4190 m., 9.30—rested till 11.30. Descended to Col de Peuteret. The ice aréte descends finally to the Col by a steep ice-wall requiring long and careful step-cutting 3950 m., 5.30 p.m. On the other side of the Col another ice-wall led to the rocks of the Peuteret aréte. We recognised that these altered conditions were the result of the great stone avalanche [v. ‘A.J.’ xxxiil. 433], the névé aréte connecting the Col with the rocks, together with the hanging glacier leading to the Brenva glacier, having completely broken away. The new ice- wall needed hard step-cutting. Then up iced rocks to the summit of the corner bastion (= Eckpfeiler) 4381 m., 7.30 P.m., where we

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Various Expeditions. 409 bivouacked for the third time. [There is a mistake here—Pt. 4381 is much farther up and could never be reached from the Col, including - hard step-cutting, in 2 hours. It took us, in 1893, without any cutting, 1 br. 58 m. actual going from the Col to Giissfeldt’s bivouac, which is lower than 4381 m., and, with Daniel Maquignaz leading, our party would be considerably faster than the heavily laden guideless pair—J. P. F.] July 31, left at 5 a.m.,asunny day. Over the five rock towers, which were in part much iced, and then over the névé arétes, mostly iced. Continuous cutting. At 11 a.M. in the middle of the ice-wall (= Eiswand) dense clouds blotted out the view. After overcoming the ice-wall we reached the much-iced rocks at about four ropes’ lengths below the summit cornice, which was cut through at 1.15. Fog and very cold N.W. gale. Summit of M. Blanc 2.45. The cold and gale did not allow us to study map and compass. We followed the trail in the direction of the Vallot hut, but hardly visible footmarks led us to the left, and in half an hour we reached steep rocks which we followed to a sheltered place. Here we looked at the map and recognised that we were on the Tournette aréte. We followed this down, and at 7.30 P.M. were on the M. Blanc glacier. Mist, storm, and approaching night forbade us the way to the Sella hut, and so we spent on the adjoining rocks (3400 m.) a fourth shudderingly-lovely (= schaurig-schénes) bivouac. Thunderstorm and driving snow all night. We were protected from the worst by our tent canvas, and the provisions lasted out. August 1, descended through knee-deep snow and séracs. We reached the Sella hut at 9.30 a.m.—our clothes wet through—our stomachs very dry. The weather cleared at midday. Left at 5 p.m. for Courmayeur, reached at 1 a.m., August 2. (0.A.Z. March 1924.) [This expedition is no doubt a great testimony to the powers and endurance of the party, but the risks taken were outrageous. If Mr. Horeschowsky continues like this he will not go on long, which would be regrettable. His attempt on N. face of Matterhorn was recorded in the last number. He also ascended, alone, the famous Pallavicini couloir of the Glockner, and on August 5 and 6, 1923, repeated, with his present companion Piekielko, the Young-H. 0. Jones-Knubel 1911 expedition to the Col des Grandes Jorasses and over the Punta Margherita to the summit of the Grandes Jorasses. Of his technical competence there can be no question.—J. P. F.] Bernese Oberland. SCHMADRIJOCH (3311 m. = 10,863 ft.). July 6, 1924. Mrs. G. Hasler, with Fritz Amatter and Peter Bernet, jun.—Left Ober- steinberg at 1 a.M.; followed Captain Farrar’s route of August 31, 1923, over the two long rock islands (compare * A.J.’ xxxvi. 90). From there onward conditions quite different. The big couloir was deeply grooved by ice-falls from the Nollen. The day being young, rapid progress was made up one of the snow-ribs left between

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410 Various Expeditions. two deep grooves, but after a gain of about 200 ft. snow became bad. The party then traversed into the rocks on the left (ascending) side of the couloir, which were marvellously rotten and not improved. by a little fresh snow. These rocks were climbed until just below the level of the Nollen, when a steep icy gullet between them and the Nollen led to the upper plateau. Amatter here had the spare rope added to the 30-métre rope in use, and cut up till the rope was out—a slow business, for he had to dig through rotten snow to reach the ice. Above this pitch all was plain sailing except for a schrund or two. (Col, 7.45 a.M.) The S. side of the col provided rather more work. Where Captain Farrar saw terraced rocks which might go ‘ pretty well anywhere,’ the July 1924 party found the edges only of those terraces sticking out of a tremendously steep snow wall. It was a case of face to the wall down a seemingly endless ladder. When the first rocks were reached they were struck at a steep slab. To save time the spare rope was used. A second snow wall led to a little gully which went easily, and after that a snow traverse eastward led one to easy slopes and the much-crevassed glacier. Fafleralp was reached at 12.55 P.M.; Goppenstein, about 4 P.M.; Grindelwald (by car from Interlaken), 8.50 P.M. Amatter as fine as ever, and young Peter Bernet a most promising young guide. Bregaglia (Bernina, W. Wing) Group. Cima Sant’ Anna (Piz BapDILet)?! (3169 m. = 10,397 ft.). Lurani map. July 19, 1924. Lt.-Colonel E. L. Strutt with Pierre Blanc. Left excellent new Badile (Gianetti) Club hut, 06.35; crossed N. Porcellizo Pass, 07.35, and descended (W. slope of Pass is dangerous after midday) rocks on right bank of snow couloir, then base of couloir itself to Codera glacier. Up this glacier, due N., to base of slanting gully leading upwards to gap (‘ Forcola della Punta ’), between Punta (Dente) di Trubinasca and C. Sant’ Anna. Up this gully, very steep and unpleasant, to gap, 09.00. Then up W. aréte, interesting, of Sant’ Anna to summit, 10.15. Near views most sensational. Left 10.45, first a few steps along S. aréte to small cairn (which party rebuilt). Then by flowery ledge leading diagonally downwards, 8. to N. across smooth E. face; where 1 See in general A.J. xxvii. 411-2. Lurani’s ‘ summit’ is about 5 ft. distant, horizontally, from Tanner’s, and possibly a foot lower (!). 2 There is an obvious misprint in Climber’s Guide, Bernina, Part I. p. 47, where for time of descent of snow couloir, you should read 40 minutes instead of 10 minutes. Attention is drawn to the misprint here, because, curiously, the Guida and new S8.A.C. ao Guide appear to suffer from the same compositor and repeat the error.

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Various Expeditions. 411 ledge ends abruptly, party turned upwards for some 20 ft., very steep. A narrow and vertical cleft or chimney now opens out leading straight down, perhaps (?) 700 ft. long. Down this chimney, difficult, over three ‘ overhangs’ to base which touches W. Badile glacier, perhaps 100 ft. below depression between Sant’ Anna and tooth to the E. (° Badiletto’ of Guida). Glacier is here mere ribbon of ice leading steeply to the depression or frontier ridge. Ice attained, 12.50. (Wrong times accidentally written in Club hut book.) Slid down ribbon, easy, to open glacier, thence over snow and débris to Badile hut, 13.15. Weather and conditions perfect.’ Expedition most interesting, but ascent of chimney should not be attempted till it has effectively been ‘swept’ by several descending parties. Time was lost owing to party possessing no spare rope. Monte Diserazia 4 (3678 m. = 12,067 ft.). I.map. July 22, 1924. Lt.-Colonel E. L. Strutt with Pierre Blanc. Party left Masino at 13.45 on July 21, San Martino at 14.15, and attained, in magnificent weather but sweltering heat, the Passo di Remoluzza (c. 2800 m. = 9188 ft.) at 18.55. The Cecilia Club hut was reached at 19.20. [Hut in good condition, but pilfering has caused the blankets to be kept at Cattaeggio.] Party left hut at 04.15, reached Predarossa glacier in a few minutes, then bore KE. towards base of last and highest tower of mountain’s 8.W. aréte (Stewart’s route lies farther 8.5). Crossed bergschrund, wide and awkward, then mounted buttress, shown exactly E. «f* g’ of [Predarossa] ‘glacier’ on Wilson map ; first by crest of buttress, good broken rocks, then by snow gully, S., then by its true left bank, similar rocks—these deviations caused by the antics of a solitary chamois above. All this over new but relatively quite easy terrain, to crest of 8.W. aréte attained just 8. of its highest tower. Weather now very cold and doubtful. Cassandra glacier face of mountain is everywhere possible but unattractive. After long halt, cut across steep ice under W. slope of above-mentioned tower and steered towards foot of first tower on 8.E. aréte of mountain, receiving another severe bombardment from chamois now on crest of this tower. Animal eventually descended and tore past party—within 10 yards. Up this first tower, very steep firm rocks, by its S.W. slope. Thence over crest of all ‘the famed towers and gaps first traversed by Messrs. Still and Barlow in 1874,’ ® very steep, but not difficult under our perfect 3 Chimney appears to be new. Count Bonacossa’s ascent, cf. S.A.C. Guide, p. 162, lies to the N., on Swiss slope; it does not touch E. face till near commencement of ‘ flowery ledge.’ “ See in general, Dr. Wilson’s article and admirable map, A.J. xxv. 232-6. The latter (1910) is still the only accurate one available. Count Lurani’s map, of course, only includes the ‘ Masino’ slope of the mountain. § A.J. xxiv. 686-7. 6 4J. vill. 20; xxv. 235.

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412 Various Expeditions. conditions—splendid climb—to summit, 09.40 (14 hour halts en route). Descent in worsening weather, 09.45, by N.W. aréte and its S.W. slope to Cecilia hut (14 hour). Thence by Sasso Bisolo (or Predarossa) glen to Cattaeggio, reached 17.00, and Masino Bagni, 19.15, in drenching thunderstorm (many halts en route). Most interesting expedition. Little to choose between Mello (Remoluzza Pass) and Bisolo routes. Path is now vile except last (upper) bit of Bisolo glen, recently reconstructed. Both slopes of Remoluzza Pass are composed of steep boulders and track has never existed—a few paint marks. Bisolo glen is dull Engadine- like scenery; Mello is magnificent. The tactics of several * guide- less ’ parties on ordinary route of Disgrazia passed all belief. Ofen Pass (Bernina, E. Wing) Group. Cima DI Prazzt? (3439 m. = 11,284 ft.). I. map. By the N. face. July 10, 1924. Lt.-Colonel E. L. Strutt with Pierre Blanc and a local porter. From Sta Catarina-in-Val Furva on July 9, by car by new Livigno road to Arnoga in Val Viola Bormina (13 hr.), thence a descent of 1000 ft., and fording of Val Viola torrent necessary before ascent of almost impenetrable thickets enabled party to attain a faint track leading up the Cardonne glen to uppermost chalets on left bank of stream, where the night was spent, 24 hours. [Party should have stopped car at S. Carlo, some 1000 ft. below Arnoga, whence a convenient bridge and path lead to the Cardonne Alp.] , Start at 02.50 on July 10. Over steep grass and débris to W. Piazzi glacier attained under Corni di Verva, thence up imposing glacier, steep in places, to the final snowy wall of the Cima di Piazzi’s N. face. Weather now very bad. Straight up this wall, some 1500 ft. in height, angle about 45°, keeping well to the W. of the snowy ridge or buttress dividing the two branches of the glacier. Summit of this wall (and of the mountain), attained at 07.00. In blizzard now raging, party unable to find S. aréte, the easy way down. Proceeded eventually EK. along top of wall, very sharp, till a descent brought them to cairn, whence easy rocky ridge leads S. Down this ridge to a conspicuous gap leading W. to Val Grosina, and E. towards Valtellina. Bearing E. over snow, débris, steep grass, and eventually a rough track, party arrived at Cepina in Valtellina about 13.00. Sta Catarina was attained by car later in the evening. Our (excellent) porter, whose local knowledge to the S.W. of Bormio was nil, requested a total fee of 20 lire (!). Expedition is very interesting, the N. face being exceedingly striking, but of no particular difficulty. [Times are very fast.] 7 See in general, Mr. Coolidge’s admirable article, A.J. xix. 219— 239.

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Various Expeditions. 418 Ascents appear to be most rare. Our route is approximately that of the first party, Dr. V. Ronchetti with L. Compagnoni, Septem- ber 8, 1901,8 of which the route described in ‘A.J.’ xxi. 563-4, although starting from another and parallel glen, is but a variation in its upper part and lies just E. of the one described above. It still appears impossible to procure a reasonably accurate map of the Italian slope of the Bernina, East Wing.® The Selkirks (Canadian Alps). Mr. Str Donatp (10,808 ft.), By THE W. Face. August 10,1924. Mr. Val. A. Fynn, with Chr. Hassler.—Second Ascent. * While in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago I was looking at a large photo of Sir Donald as seen from Mt. Abbott, and the idea occurred to me to try the W. face of the mountain, as it seemed feasible. Upon arrival here [Glacier House], Ernest Feuz told me that he had actually made the climb on September 4, 1923, with Mr. Paul McIntyre, then about nineteen, who is to be congratulated sincerely on opening up this interesting route. * On August 10 I repeated the climb with Christian Hassler by practically the same route. ‘We took 4 hours from hotel to foot of face (see o on photo). From there 2 hours 10 minutes to the summit. We left our boots at o, using scarpetti for the climb. The lower part of the climb is practically devoid of handholds, and one is obliged to rely on the friction of the scarpetti on the somewhat smooth, slabby rocks. The face is divided by a more or less horizontal belt of perpendicular cliffs which are, however, easily overcome towards the right by means of a convenient chimney. Thereafter the inclination diminishes and there are no more difficulties. * The climb is safe in so far as falling stones are concerned, but only when there is no snow on the face. It should not be done early in the season. When in safe condition it is a fine climb, particularly when combined with the descent of the N.W. ridge and our subsequent traverse of the face. - 8 Cf. Le Alpi di Val Grosina, by Dr. Corti and Signor Laeng, Brescia, 1909. A very useful little ‘ Climber’s Guide’ with a sketch map and illustrations. ° It appears ‘ geographically’ sound to compress the massif contained within the boundaries of Lake Como, Val Bregaglia, Upper and Lower Engadines (Inn Valley), Adda (and Valtellina) into one Group to be-called the ‘ Bernina.’ The Bregaglia and Ofen Pass Groups thus naturally fall respectively into the W. and EK. Wings of the main or Bernina range. Mr. Coolidge, whose opinion can be considered final in such matters, is strongly in favour of such grouping.

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414 Various Expeditions. * Descending, we followed the N.N.W. ridge, but turned back into the W. face before reaching the col between Sir Donald and Uto Peak. We did this so as to avoid the scree and snow between the col and the point at which we had left our boots. This traverse required care at first but otherwise was not found difficult and we reached our boots in 2} hours from the summit. I had made what I thought was the second ascent of Sir Donald by the N.N.W. ridge with A. M. Bartleet in 1909, but had not been on this ridge since, whereas Christian had climbed it a number of times more recently. e+ 7 -e ‘ —T -- ” onl “ or ae 7 ~s = eS oe R= a Paw PSs f 7 ie Roath 3. - Late by * - a ” Lo ena! o ‘Tk eX op Os by " = > w . ‘ Fe J - a ‘ * x Past 3 + yes < i. . i ee ee &, 4 as i tee , “i “ bw - wete mh - : ; ia $ £ np, & . a f he A eee J ” ws ” “ «ee Se Ma » ph ee, % -* Sa . See . _ , - vat! “4 ." é ; oe we Keg , oO FO s » a” Zé Mr. Sm DoNnAaLD AND GLACIER, W. Face From Mt. ABBOTT, In consequence, he suggested that he go down first, and this plan worked out very well and saved considerable time. ‘I now understand that the first party which climbed Sir Donald from the col between it and Uto followed the ridge for about two- thirds of its length and then turned off to the right into the here easy W. (or is it really N.W. ?) face and completed the ascent in this way, so that as a matter of fact Bartleet and I were the first to — follow the N.N.W. ridge throughout.’ [Cf. also Mr. Howard Palmer’s admirable volume, “ Mountaineer- ing and Exploration in the Selkirks’ (New York: Putnams, 1914), chap. v. and Appendix I. (notes on the Sir Donald range). ]

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Alpine Notes. . 415 ALPINE NOTES. ‘Batv’s ALPINE GuIpE,’ THE WESTERN ALPs.—The edition (1898) by Mr. Coolidge covers the Maritimes, Graians, Dauphiné, M. Blanc group, and Pennines to the Simplon. With maps of each district, 1 : 250,000, anda general map. Price 10s., or 10s. 4d. post free. Obtainable from any bookseller or the Assistant Secretary. ‘Bati’s ALPINE GUIDE,’ THE CENTRAL ALps. Part ].—The edition (1907), by Rev. A. A. Valentine-Richards, covers Switzer- land N. of the Rhone and the Rhine. With nine maps, 1 : 250,000, and a general map. Price 5s., or 5s. 4d. post free, or unbound 2s. 6d., or 2s. 10d. post free. Obtainable as above. ‘Bati’s ALPINE GuIpE,’ THE CENTRAL APs. Part IJ.—The edition (1917), by Rev. G. Broke, covers the Alpine regions S. and E. of the Rhone and Rhine as far as the Adige, 2.e. the Lepontine, Grisons, Rhaetian (including Bernina), Ortler and Adamello groups. With nine maps, 1: 250,000, and a general map. Price 5s., or 5s. 4d. post free, or unbound 2s. 6d., or 2s. 10d. post free. Obtain- able as above. Mr. CoouimpGe’s edition of Ball’s ‘ WEsTERN ALpPs’ is still the only complete guide to the country described, and, save as to the detail of inns, is as instructive and sufficient to the mountaineer —and to the climber with eyes—as when published, while the maps are admirable. The volumes of the “ Central Alps’ are, for the mountaineer, the best general guides to the districts described and contain the well-known Ravenstein maps. ‘GuIDES DES ALPES VALAISANNES.’ — Vol. I. Col Ferret to Col de Collon, by M. Kurz, 10s. Vol. II. Col de Collon to Col Théodule, by Dr. Diibi, 9s. Vol. III. Col Théodule to Weisstor, by Dr. Diibi, 8s. Vol. IV. Col Simplon to Furka, by M. Kurz, 8s. At Stanford’s, Long Acre, W.C. 2. A CLIMBER’S GUIDE TO THE Rocky Mountains oF CaNnaDA.— By Howard Palmer and J. Monroe Thorington, published for the American A.C. by the Knickerbocker Press, N.Y., 1921. This very useful summary, with several maps, of what has been done in the Rockies to 1921, can be obtained from the Assistant Secretary, 23 Savile Row, price 7s. 6d.

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416 | Alpine Notes. THE ‘CLUBFUHRER DURCH DIE BUNDNERALPEN.’—Vol. IV., covering the Bregaglia and the Disgrazia group, by H. Riitter, with the assistance of Christian Klucker, can be obtained from Sauerlander and Co., Aarau, Switzerland. Date of Tue ALPINE CLUB OBITUARY: Election. Montgomery, H. de penne : ; . 1866 Fairbanks, W. : : . 1876 Hughes, Reginald : : ‘ : . 1880 Cozens-Hardy, Lord . : : . 1891 Synnott,H. J... ; . 1898 THE death of Mrs. CHARLES Hupson, widow of the great mountaineer who lost his life on the Matterhorn on July 14, 1865, occurred on May 22. MEMORIAL Brass TABLETS in memory of Sir Edward Davidson, Mr. E. A. Broome, and Mr. Walter Larden have been placed in the English churches at Riffelalp, Zermatt, and Arolla respectively. The tablets were erected by friends in the Alpine Club, many of whom attended the dedication services. EncuisH Lake District.—Reverting to the note on p. 161, Lord Leconfield has now generously consented to convey, for a stipulated price, to Mr. A. C. Benson and Mr. Gordon Wordsworth, for the acceptance of the National Trust, all the area of Scafell still in his ownership above the 2000 ft. contour line. The precise area has not yet been defined, but it is believed to include the lower slopes of Scafell Pike as well as of Scafell, thus joining the area presented to the Trust by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club. THe PRESIDENT OF THE MILAN SECTION OF THE C.A.I., On. Gr. uff. Ing. Francesco Mauro, has presented to the Alpine Club a bronze emblem to celebrate the Jubilee of the C.A.I. An Otp ReEcorp.1—‘ When we were traversing the aréte of the SCHWARZMIES on August 30, 1924, we found in a bottle on the highest point a piece of paper on which was written (still clearly legible) : 6 Srp. 1884 W. E. Utterson-KELso REGINALD HuGHEs ADOLF ANDENMATTEN Jos. MARIE BLUMENTHAL I think it is unusual to find a record nearly forty years old. HE. B. BEAUMAN.’ it would seem that the first ascent must be ascribed to this party. 1 For an older record, see ‘ A.J.’ xxxi. 215.

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Alpine Notes. 417 Cot DES H1iRONDELLES.—This pass appears to be seldom crossed. It does not offer any other difficulty than possibly getting over the Bergschrund. In addition to the passages mentioned in ‘ Revue Alpine,’ vol. xxv. p. 22, it was crossed— July 12, 1904.—By Wicks, Wilson, and Bradby, with Henri Rey (porter, as Wilson led up and Wicks down). August 9, 1904.—By J. P. Farrar with Daniel Maquignaz (leader), and Ernest Simond. In both cases from the rimaie to the top of the Col took about 2 hours. Le Mont Pourri, TARANTAISE.—A new hut is to be erected near the end of the W. aréte. Commandant E. Gaillard, M.C., discusses the question of site very thoroughly. Diagrams and views add much interest to his paper (‘ Revue Alpine,’ vol. xxv. p. 27 seq.). THE ScumMApRIJocH.—Cf. p. 88. The passage was also made in September 1911 by the Rev. Walter Weston. WE regret to learn that Curistian ScHocHER, son of the well- known guide, Martin Schocher, accidentally shot himself when out hunting early in October. He was aged twenty-eight, and was the garde-chasse for his district. WE regret to hear of the death in October of the Grindelwald guide, PetmrR KaurMaNnn, aged 66. He and his sons are distin- guished in that indistinguishable family by their great stature, and as being reliable guides. CapTaIn HucH CHAMBERS, R.A.F., was over from New Zealand this summer, and was climbing with Captain H. E. L. Porter. Unfortunately the weather treated him very badly. Mr. G. F. Travers-Jackson, the well-known authority on the South African mountains, spent two months in the Alps this summer, and notwithstanding the weather was able, in the energetic company of Captain Finch and Mr. Guy Forster, to do over twenty expeditions. A New ALTITUDE Recorp of 11,841 m. = 38,847 ft. was made in October by M. Callizo, the French airman. THE descent of the CouLorr Lourovusa on the ARGENTERA, first ascended by Mr. Coolidge with Christian Almer, was made on June 1, 1924, by Signor B. Asquasciati with the guides Giov. Piacenza (vulgo Ciat) and Giacomo Miraglio (vulgo Giaculas). The average slope is put at 50 per cent., and the height 800 métres. The time taken was 10 hrs., of which nearly 6 were spent in hard ice work (‘ Revue Alpine,’ vol. xxv. No. 3, with illustrations).

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418 Alpine Notes. AN Arpvuovus TRAVERSE OF THE CERVIN—the first of the season —was made on July 8-10 by Mr. R. C. C. Carr, his son Herbert Carr, and Alfred Couttet of Chamonix. Just before reaching the Italian hut Herbert Carr took a pull from the methylated spirit bottle, thinking it was the water bottle. Naturally, very much handicapped by his ensuing indisposition, the progress next day was purposely slow, while the conditions were none too good. The Italian summit was reached at 3 P.M. in balmy sunshine. ‘ Just below the shoulder heavy snow began to fall and the wind, almost suddenly, swept everything, below and above, into a swirling, blinding flurry of snow, ice, and hail—at moments it was impossible to see anything.’ The Solvay hut was only reached at 8.15 p.m., and the night spent there. ‘ Alfred Couttet showed himself a really competent guide and mountaineer.’ Inns anp Huts IN THE EASTERN Gratans.—At Cogne the “Grivola’ is good. At Dégioz in Val Savaranche the hotel Peano offers comfortable quarters. At Pont, at the good mountain inn, eggs, milk, and cheese are available but not always meat. At Val de Rhémes travellers are hospitably entertained by the curé (accom- modation for about four). At Val Grisanche there is a decently clean cantine good enough for a night. At Val d’Isére the hotel Moris maintains its excellent reputation, but is apt to be crowded with motorists. The Herbetet hut has a day garden only—accommodation for four—stove and fuel. | The Grand Nomenon shelter has accommodation for four. Milk at the adjoining Alp. A large new hut has just been built above the Rutor lake—resident gardven—provisions and wine of a sort.—H. F. B. Smarp. New GuivE-Books To THE Mr. BLanc Group.—Commandant Emile Gaillard, M.C., expects to issue in the spring Vol. VI. of his ‘ Les Alpes de Savoie,’ covering the Groups of Trélatéte and Mt. Blanc itself. It contains 291 itineraries, with many sketch maps and 40 numerous route-marked illustrations. Price 21.50 French francs, post free, from the Librairie Dardel, Chambéry, Savoie, France. MM. Jacques de Lépiney, E. de Gigors, and le Dr. A. Migot have also in the press the first part of the elaborate Vallot guide to the whole group. It treats of the Chamonix Aiguilles in the most exhaustive manner. There can be few climbers whose knowledge of this part of the group equals that of the authors. It is to be earnestly hoped that the map of the group, scale 1 : 20,000, upon which the MM. Vallot have been engaged for some years will soon make its appearance. TuHE Jubilee of the Club alpin frangais was celebrated by a Reunion at Aix-les-Bains from June 22 to 29, Entertainments and excursions

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Himalayan Notes. 419 of all kinds were organised. The meeting was largely attended by members of the C.A.F., while the Alpine Club sent as its delegates Mr. Geoffrey Young and Mr. H. F: Montagnier. Mr. FRESHFIELD’s DE SAUSSURE AND OTHER WorkKS.—Mr. Fresh- field writes: ‘I regret to state that owing to a disastrous fire in the premises where Messrs. Arnold store much of their stock the larger portion of the remainder of three of my books has been destroyed. There remain of “ The Exploration of the Caucasus ’”’ 150 copies, of “ Hannibal Once More” 20 copies, and of “ The Life of de Saussure ’’ 39 copies. When these are exhausted the works in question will be “ out of print.” “I am glad, however, to be able to add that Messrs. Atar of Geneva (Corraterie 11) are on the point of publishing a French translation made by Mlle. L. Plan of my “ Life of de Saussure,” with the illustrations, at the price of Frs. 10 (Swiss). ‘The Publishers have been enabled to issue the volume at this very moderate price by the generous action of private individuals and several Genevese Societies who have subscribed in order to bring the work within the reach of the larger public and of the local schools. * The volume has a Preface by Professor L. W. Collet, Doyen de la Faculte des Sciences de |’ Université de Genéve et Professeur de Géologie.’ HIMALAYAN NOTES. THE KARAKORUM. In 1922 the Dutch mountaineers, Mr. and Mrs. Visser, made a first expedition to the Karakorum Mountains, to the north of Kashmir. The undertaking then met with insurmountable difficulties, but they have now left for India on a fresh expedition, accompanied by Franz Lochmatter. The new expedition will be mainly scientific. The 1922 venture had in view the detailed exploration of mountains in regions already mapped out. The present attempt will be made through the Pamir to the north of the Karakorum. This region, totally unexplored, is situated to the north of the highest point of the group, K? or Mount Godwin Austen, which is 28,250 ft. high, or only 750 ft. lower than Mount Everest. The Dutch Royal Geographical Society, the Dutch Military Air Service, and the Committee of the Mount Everest Expedition have placed all available information at their disposal. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX. 2E

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420 Canadian and Ameriwan Notes. CANADIAN AND AMERICAN NOTES. WE much regret to note the death on September 21 of Dr. E. DEVILLE, the Surveyor-General of the Dominion of Canada. During his long tenure of office great progress has been made in mapping the vast territories of the State. Mountaineers, in particular, will remember with appreciation the great work of the Interprovincial Survey, the series of maps of which have much facilitated the later exploration of the Canadian Alps. . The late Dr. Deville and his Department have always exhibited great willingness to assist the Editors of the ALPINE JOURNAL in their endeavour to make known the results of recent explorations. Proressor J. W. A. Hickson, of Montreal, the well-known traveller and explorer in the Rocky Mountains, has been nominated President of the Canadian Alpine Club. Tue Mr. Logan Exprpition.—A reconnaissance of the mountain was made by Capt. A. H. MacCarthy, joint leader of the proposed expedition. He is of opinion that the ascent presents a problem of the first order both as to its approach and ascent. Up to August 23 last, $6000 had been subscribed towards the estimated cost of $11,000. Further subscriptions can be sent to Mr. A. L. Mumm, 23 Savile Row, W. Mr. Rospson.—Owing to the Canadian A.C. Camp on Mt. Robson pass, the mountain suffered quite a procession of climbers, with one or two exceptions under the guidance of Conrad Kain. Mr. V. A. Fynn, than whom there is no better judge, writes : * After camp, Alfred Streich and Hans Kohler, two Swiss guides from Innertkirchen, now in the service of the C.N.R., took two or three parties to the top. All the parties climbed the mountain by way of the most easterly of the two ridges on the S. face. This is the ridge which was used by Conrad Kain on his descent on the occasion of the first ascent of the mountain. Several women made - the trip, and those I spoke to all agree that the climb is an easy one, and I am told that it is not necessary to use the hands at all and that one can walk right up the ridge, but opinions differ widely as to the conditions near the top where the ridge in question runs into the ice-cap of the mountain. ‘T had a very good look at Mt. Robson from the S. on a perfectly clear day, and have come to the conclusion that the ridge which all

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Canadian and American Notes. 421 the parties used this year is not the proper way to the top of that mountain. This ridge runs znio the ice-cap of the mountain, as above stated, and in its highest portion is absolutely dominated by part of that ice-cap. All the parties passed under an overhanging ice-wall, or séracs, and were exposed to ice-falls for at least half an hour. Thereafter they turned E. and cut their way up the 8.E. face of the ice-cap, again encountering dangerous ice conditions. It seems to me that this route is quite unnecessarily risky. ‘Further W. and nearer to the Mt. Robson Pass, is another rock rib, or aréte, which is considerably steeper than the one just dis- cussed but which appears to present very solid rock, and which lands the climber on the ice of the ice-cap and not under it. Furthermore, it reaches the ice at a very much higher point than the more E. ridge. There is no doubt at all in my mind that this is by far the better and safer route. I am sure that it will require a little more climbing, but I do not think that this will be at all difficult, and if I ever go up Mt. Robson I will certainly take this ridge and not the more EK. one. I see no fun in making a target of myself for a chunk of ice. I know exactly what the result will be if I am struck and will waive demonstration. ‘The reason why people do not agree as to the difficulty of the ascent beyond the rocks is probably that those who were in the first parties and who witnessed the step cutting no doubt thought highly of the difficulties, while those who found the steps ready cut for them probably received an oppositely exaggerated impression. My own view is that Mt. Robson vd the more easterly aréte of the S. face is easy but dangerous.’ A new C.N.R. lodge has been built on Robson Pass, and is in charge of one of the Hargreaves brothers. This would be a good starting-place for the ascent of Mt. Robson. Mr. 8. Prescott Fay, 2 Otis Place, Boston, Mass., is good enough to send us: 1. Plot plan of region between Yellowhead Pass and Peace River, say between 53° and 56° N. lat. 2. Sketch map on scale 1” = 10 miles of the same region. 3. Sketch map on scale 1” = 4 miles of region about Mt. Alexander Mackenzie and Mt. Ida. These maps were made during his climbing and hunting ex- peditions in 1912, 1913, 1914. Mt. Alexander Mackenzie and Mt. Ida will probably be found to be of considerable height and have not yet been climbed. Reference should be made to Mr. Fay’s articles in ‘ Appalachia ’ xilil. 238-257, and ‘ Canadian A.J.’ vi. 170-177, giving a general idea of the country. Donald Phillips made three trips, two in winter, over some of the country to the N. of Mt. Robson in 1911-1913, and gave an account

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422, Alpine Accidents. of them, with a rough sketch-map, in ‘ Canadian A.J.” vi. 178-187. In 1914 and 1915 Miss Mary L. Jobe twice visited Mount Alexander Mackenzie, both times under the leadership of Donald Phillips, who made a spirited attack on the ‘ Big Mountain,’ nearly reaching the summit. They returned a third time in 1917, very late in the season. See ‘Canadian A.J.’ vi. 188-200, vil. 82-99, 1x. 79-89 ; and for summaries of these articles ‘A.J.’ xxx. 362, xxx. 133, xxxii. 146. Mr. Howarp PALMER writes : ‘Quite suddenly early in August Iarranged with Professor Hickson of Montreal to go to the headquarters of the Athabaska and attempt Alberta. Conrad Kain also came along. We had a good trip in, passing Alberta and tackling King Edward Peak (11,400 ft.) as a training climb. When we returned to Alberta a few days later and got a climbing camp established, the weather broke, and for a week we never saw the top or even enough of the final peak to pick out aroute! It was buried in clouds continuously. With the exception of one small mountain near by that offered no difficulty, there wasn’t a thing which we could do, so we finally had to retreat, the storm continuing all the way back to Jasper. It was the most unsatisfactory summer I ever had in the Rockies.’ Mr. H. Lauper, A.A.C., Berne, now resident in California, writes : ‘I myself made only a very few climbs. In June I made an attempt on Mt. Shasta, which can be climbed from W. on horseback over an easy trail. I started from the E., but though I spent two nights and two days fighting for a way I didn’t get through the most terrible underwood and bush. ‘In August I went up to the Mt. Rainier National Park and climbed Mt. Rainier (14,403 ft.). I also made two minor climbs, one of which was new, but of little importance. ‘Twice I set out for Little Tacoma (11,117 ft.). This is con- sidered to be the best climb up there, but on the first attempt my companion fell sick and on the second, while bivouacking on the Cowlitz glacier, the weather turned bad and I had to return the next day after being thoroughly drenched.’ ALPINE ACCIDENTS. Tae ACCIDENT ON Piz GLUSCHAINT. From midway through the first week of August and onwards till the end of September the weather in the Bernina Group was of the coldest and stormiest nature and quite unsuitable for serious mountaineering. On August 13 after a threatening night, a great snow-storm swept the upper slopes down to 7000 ft., and at 9 A.M. ,. a a

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Alpine Accidents. 423 fine, powdery, ‘ winter ’ snow was falling in the village of Pontresina. Nevertheless, a party consisting of Dr. Schick of Vienna and Herr Garrels of Bremen with the Celerina guide Juon had left St. Moritz on the previous afternoon, with every conceivable sign of approach- ing bad weather, for the Mortel Club Hut, where the night was spent. Starting early on the 13th for Piz Gliischaint (3600 m. = 11,812 ft.) and not content with the ordinary E. aréte route—under the circumstances a sufficiently dangerous expedition—they proceeded to try the mountain by its never easy S.W. aréte. They are stated to have been seen, during a break in the clouds, high up on that aréte. The story is unconfirmed and appears highly improbable. During the whole of the 13th and for the greater part of the 14th the blizzard continued unabated. As nothing had been heard of the party a large number of guides, who had been waiting in readiness, set out from Pontresina in still very bad weather on August 15. On the morning of the 16th the two amateurs, roped together, were found on the W. slopes of Piz Gliischaint towards the point called Piz Cappucino, 3382 m. They were frozen stiff and appear to have died while attempting to eat. . Of the guide there was no sign. Schick had injuries to one leg and both were considerably cut about the face, but in neither case were the wounds of a really serious nature. A long end of rope with a loop attached descended from the two bodies towards the (adjacent) bergschrund. It was presumed that after the collapse of his companions, Juon had detached himself and attempted to regain the valley for help. A prolonged search was accordingly made in the bergschrund. All in vain and the mystery of Juon’s disappearance appeared destined to remain unexplained. The. guides,! who had all worked with a will and in fearfully cold weather and wind, were able to bring the bodies back the same day to Pontresina where the funeral took place. In the middle of October last, profiting by the fine weather which had prevailed for three weeks throughout the Alps, a party succeeded in making the ascent of Piz Gliischaint. On the actual summit and lashed to the rocks by a rope was found the body of Juon. It was covered with an overcoat and one leg was breken. According to the present theory, Juon appears to have broken his leg during the ascent, and, presumably, close to the summit. His companions having covered him up and tied him to the rocks—a proof of the severity of the storm, for the summit is quite wide—descended by the same route, instead of the easy E. aréte of which they were probably ignorant. They perished from cold and exhaustion at the end of all the difficulties, but, of course, still very high up and with the descent of the entire Sella glacier still before them. Their * Among those who especially distinguished themselves was Christian Schocher shortly to meet his death under still sadder circumstances. : |

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494 Reviews. injuries were possibly caused by the same accident in which Juon broke his leg. Neither guide nor amateurs appear to have had much experience, and it is safe to say that any party attempting a similar climb in the weather then prevailing was running a thoroughly unjustifiable risk. In this case the party was bound to meet with disaster. What more can be said ? THE ACCIDENT ON. THE AIGUILLE VERTE. THE deplorably uncertain weather of last season has robbed the Groupe Haute Montagne of the C.A.F. of two of its most enter- prising members in the persons of the young Barons Georges and Waldemar de Meyendorff, sons of the late Imperial Russian Am- bassador at the Spanish Court. The two young men ascended the Verte on August 11, and presumably bivouacked near the summit, as they were seen early next morning near the summit of the Rocheuse by a party led by Camille Simond, the excellent guide of Argentiére, who were making the ascent of the Droites. The weather broke soon after, and continued very stormy for some days. No further trace of the two young men could be found. They probably perished from exposure. It is stated that their original intention was to descend by the Grands Montets aréte, which has never yet been followed in its entirety. Although little over twenty, they had already given evidence of great endurance, and the list of their expeditions in the Revue Alpine, 3rd trimestre, 1924, is testimony to their competence as mountaineers. A commemorative Mass was said on September 29 at the Russian Church in Paris, and was attended by many of their comrades of the G.H.M. REVIEWS. Hannibal Crosses the Alps. By Cecil Torr, M.A. Cambridge: at the University Press, 1924. Hannibal once more! Since Mr. Freshfield published ten years ago a small volume under the above title this old controversy has, at least in this country, been allowed to rest. It has now been revived by Mr. Cecil Torr, a Cambridge scholar and antiquary who, living on the skirts of Dartmoor, has from time to time entertained the public by his successive volumes entitled ‘Small Talk at Wreyland.’ His new booklet, called “ Hannibal crosses the Alps,’ might fairly be described as ‘Tall Talk about Hannibal.’ For Mr. Torr, in this

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. Reviews. 425 respect resembling not a few previous writers on the same subject, is nothing if not positive. His language is, indeed, almost pontifical. He is confident that he knows exactly where Hannibal crossed both the Rhone and the Alps, and those who are unlucky enough to differ from him—including ‘several members and one former President of the Alpine Club ’—he classifies siimmarily as ‘silly men’! To take the main points only in his argument: he believes Hannibal crossed the Rhone close to Tarascon and not above Avignon—as Napoleon argued and the majority of historians have held ; he is sure that Polybius’ island was the district of Vaucluse and not that between the Rhone and the Isére, and that Hannibal marched almost straight up the Durance and Guil Valleys to the Col de la Traversette (9679 ft.), passing by on his right the 3000 ft. lower Col de l’Argentiére (6543 ft.). It must be noted in the first place that, in order to maintain his view about the identifications of the Crossing and the Island, Mr. Torr has to go against the opinion of most historians, an opinion based on their acceptance of emendations in the texts of the classical authors as regards doubtful and unrecognisable river-names, which have been adopted by the editors of the best recent editions of both Polybius and Livy. As to these doubtful names Mr. Torr proceeds to indulge in conjectures of his own which, while imputing to Livy a palpable self-contradiction, fail altogether to convince us of their plausibility. As to Hannibal’s Pass, Mr. Torr’s conclusive reason for his identifi- cation of it as the Col de la Traversette is that he considers the speech reported by Polybius to have been made by the Carthaginian general to his followers on the Alpine watershed must be read literally as an exact account of the view before his and their eyes. Others, including all the great historians who have been in favour either of the Little St. Bernard, the Mont Cenis, or the Mont Genévre, have found in the phrase alleging that the position of Rome itself was pointed out, a clear indication that the whole speech was as to its substance an oratorical invention of the historian. But this view is vehemently repudiated by Mr. Torr. He can see no alterna- tive between dismissing Polybius as a worthless historian, or taking his every phrase in the most literal sense. Jn order to do this he | goes so far as to provide Hannibal with a map on which to point out to his officers the position of Rome ! Let us briefly recall what is known of the Col de la Traversette. It lies just N. of Monte Viso and formed the most direct and perhaps only communication between the at one time French Marquisate of Saluzzo and Dauphiné. On this account it was thought worth while, as long ago as A.D. 1480, to pierce the extremely steep final ridge by the first Alpine tunnel. The full history of this remarkable undertaking, with the documents relating to its completion, has been recorded in the late Signor Vaccarone’s ‘ Le Pertuis du Viso’ (Turin, 1881). We have the further advantage of being able to lay before our readers an accurate account of the present aspect of the pass lately

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426 Reviews. received from our Honorary Member, Monsieur H. Ferrand, of Grenoble. He writes as follows : ‘Le Col de la Traversette est certainement une des bréches les plus escarpées des Alpes avec des pentes exagérées sur les deux versants. . . . Entre la hauteur du tunnel et le sommet du Col le nom de mur n’a rien d’exagéré, N’est-ce pas que c’est amusant de voir discuter cette proposition par des écrivains qui ne con- naissent pas les Alpes! Si un avion providentiel transportait M. Torr sur le Col de la Traversette il frémirait de l’impossibilité de sa prétention.” The Col, M. Ferrand adds, is officially put at 2950 m., the opening of the tunnel at 2915 m., and its length at 75 m1 With these figures the approximate angle of the final slopes can easily be calculated. It is very nearly 45°. The photograph of M. Ferrand’s he kindly allows us to reproduce shows a ‘ promontory ’ which Hannibal, if he crossed this pass, may have used as a pulpit, and also the character of the summit-ridge which, we are told by Polybius, served for two nights as a camping-ground for the Cartha- ginian army. Those who care to plunge deeper into the controversy will find a notice of Mr. Torr’s ‘ Hannibal crosses the Alps,’ by Mr. Douglas Freshfield, in the September Geographical Journal, and further corre- spondence between the author and his critic in the November and December numbers of the same periodical. Mountain Climbing. By Francis A. Collins. John Long, Ltd. London. 1924. Price 10s. 6d. net. THs is a book which repays perusal. The writing of it must have cost the author much time and much research, and incidentally must have given him much pleasure, for clearly he is writing on a subject he adores. Mr. Collins is an American ; but the mountain, the world over, is his Mecca; and, in addition to his own fairly wide reading, he acknowledges indebtedness to ‘the Secretary of the Bureau of Associated Mountaineering Clubs of America,’ and to other sources. His aim is to extol the lure of the mountains, to give a digest of the history of mountain climbing, and to supply the would-be mountaineer with practical and useful information. The arrangement of his material is singular and far from systematic, both as to the general scheme of the book and as to the matter embodied in the various chapters. He flits from flower to flower, like the bee, pausing and enjoying the materials he selects, and passing by that which he has failed to notice and that which has failed to interest him. Of his sixteen chapters, the first may be called introductory, while the second, and all from the seventh to the sixteenth, refer respectively to the early and the modern history of mountain climbing. Chapters three to six deal with snow- craft, rock climbing, training, and equipment. Such is the general _ + These are the correct figures. There are two misprints in those given on p. 242 of the September Geographical Journal.

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Photo: H,. Ferrand. SUMMIT OF THE COL DE LA TRAVERSETTE.

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Reviews. | 427 scheme—if it can be called a scheme—of the book. The author has a pleasant style, which makes easy reading, enlivened at times by sparks of humour, such as the remark that Noah’s method of- ascent of Mt. Ararat ‘is unlikely to be repeated.’ The book is well printed in good-sized type, and is embellished by about twenty photographs, from excellent sources, representing scenes in the Alps, the Rockies, and the Himalaya. The American origin of the work is evidenced by the presence of a chapter entitled ‘ Climb- ing at Home,’ z.c. in America, and also by the constant use of certain terms, such as ‘ trail’ instead of ‘ route.’ There is a biblio- graphy of about forty items, rather curiously selected, like the rest of his material, and, like it, also not quite reliable, the author- ship of ‘ Hours of Exercise in the Alps,’ for instance, being attri- buted to Samuel Turner. There is no index. Turning first to the historical chapters, we find much that is of interest, both ancient and modern, and everywhere the systematic lack of system which distinguishes the book throughout. In the chapter on early mountaineering passages are quoted from Scheuchzer, Gesner, and de Luc. He then devotes six pages to ‘the outstanding achievement in mountain climbing of this period, and indeed of all history ’—Napoleon’s crossing of the Alps. Immediately following is some account of Tyndall’s ascent of the Weisshorn in 1861, though why this isolated achievement is recorded in this chapter is not obvious. Tyndall’s guides were ‘ greatly impressed, not only by the courage of the great scientist who led them, but by his unexpected agility in jumping from point to point.’ So ends Chapter II., on ‘ The First Mountain Climbers,’ and the historical record lies submerged until we come to Chapter VII., on ‘ The Conquest of Mont Blanc.’ ‘The Climbing of. the Matterhorn ’ follows, and so to the end of the volume, the story of climbing in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Rockies, Alaska, the Andes, Ararat, Africa and the Himalaya is briefly given, and the selection of material, though easy to criticize, is quite good. It is, however, in Chapters III. to VI. that readers of the Alpine Journal will find most entertainment, and it is here that we first find unmistakable evidence that our enthusiastic author is through- out a student and compiler, rather than a mountaineer who draws on his own experience in his selected instructions to beginners. Practical remarks about avalanches are followed by theoretical considerations on the movement of glaciers and the formation of crevasses, which, ‘though often very narrow, are usually too wide to be jumped.’ Some remarks on step-cutting, where ‘on steep slopes, the step should, if possible, be large enough to accom- modate both feet at the same time,’ follow closely on instruction in * one of the most exhilarating experiences in mountain climbing,’ 1.e. the glissade. ‘ The climber sits down, feet first, with his ax (svc) held behind him to serve as a rudder and a brake. . . . A descent of hundreds of feet which took hours to climb can thus often be accomplished in a few seconds.’ We are not told why the climber

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428 Reviews. should ‘ sit down,’ nor why, if so, it should be ‘ feet first,’ nor how the feet could be conveniently otherwise disposed—but the glissader -is wisely warned to see to the security of his landing, as ‘ the slope may overhang a precipice, and the climber be thus, at the end of a swift descent, hurled into space.’ If one may dissent from some of the advice given in this chapter (‘Snowcraft’), all will agree with its ending: ‘Skill in snow-climbing is only acquired by long practice. It cannot be learned through a correspondence school.’ The section on Rock Climbing lays much stress on the menace of falling stones, which, we are told, ‘ is far commoner in the Hima- layas than in the Alps,’ and much space is given here, and in the chapter on ‘ Equipment,’ to the use of the rope. ‘It is not, as some imagine, a tether that prevents the members of the party from wandering off and being lost.’ It is a safeguard, and ‘ It is easy for an experienced man well placed on rock or snow to handle a man who has fallen and is dangling at the end of a rope.’ The rope is ‘the mainstay of the rock climber,’ but it ‘is necessary for a party to keep the rope tight between them, which means that all move at exactly the same rate.’ In quoting the above passages and some which follow, the re- viewer does not wish to convey the impression that the book contains no sound advice and instruction. The two chapters which have not yet been considered (on ‘ Equipment ’ and ‘ Training ’) contain a large amount of useful and interesting information, some of it hardly expected, such as that on Alpine Cinematography, and the physiological adjustment of the number of red corpuscles in the blood in relation to altitude and acclimatization, which, however, leads to the amazing though incontrovertible announcement that ‘An ascent of upward of twenty thousand feet, if made in a few hours, places extraordinary demands on the climber’s physical endurance.’ The advice given as to outfit is inadequate and ill-proportioned. Warm gloves are not mentioned, but much prominence is given to ‘the long Alpine scarf, which should be about six feet in length, of some heavy warm material,’ and which can apparently be adapted to five different uses. Clothes should be made of some fabric which is warm, light and waterproof, and ‘strong enough not to tear when stretched across jagged rocks.’ We are not told where this ideal material is procurable. One is tempted to quote more, but members of the Alpine Club should read the book. They will derive some instruction and much amusement, and if the informa- tion concerning themselves js apocryphal, it is flattering, and should evoke a warm feeling towards an author who holds them in so high esteem. Concerning the ‘one hundred and fifty thousand climbers ’ enrolled among the various British Mountaineering Clubs, our author says but little beyond extolling their taste and their enthusiasm, but to the Alpine Club proper is very rightly accorded the acme of requirement and attainment. ‘ The regular course in mountain climbing required by the British

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Reviews. 429 Alpine Club is suggestive of the requirements of some university before the conferring of a degree. The training begins with a definite amount of rock and crag climbing among cliffs and mountains at home. Excellent preliminary experience is to be gained in Scotland. After satisfying the Club requirements by this preliminary course, the students of climbing next turn to the Swiss Alps for advanced work. After passing this experience to the satisfaction of the Club examiners, a course of climbing is taken in the Caucasus. Next in turn the student climbs in the Southern Alps. His European experience is now complete, and he must travel to New Zealand for special work. This acquired, he in turn climbs the mountains of Siberia. At the end of this term he is considered qualified to assay the climbing of the Himalayas, which forms, so to speak, the post-graduate course in mountaineering. —C. W. Les Alpes du Dauphiné, vol. i. (Les Massifs de Belledonne et des Sept Laux). Par Emile Gaillard. Macon: C. Faure. 22 fr. COMMANDANT GAILLARD, whose four volumes of the Alps of Savoy have been reviewed in the JOURNAL, is now engaged on a similar Guide to the Dauphine. The present volume covers the outlying group of the Belledonne, the traverse of whose three peaks was, until lengthy cables were fixed, a difficult climb. The second volume is to cover the massifs of the Meije and the Ecrins, and may be expected next season. The present volume contains seven outline ridge maps (scale about 1 in. = 2 km.) based on the yet unpublished 1 : 50,000 map of the Service Géographique de ]’Armée, as well as a 1 : 50,000 sketch map of the whole district, and offers ample evidence of the great care bestowed by the author on all his work. Hill Paths in Scotland. By Walter A. Smith, F.F.A. Price 2s. 6d. Tuis little book will prove invaluable to any walker, or even climber, who proposes to visit Scotland. The author knows his subject as probably nobody else does. It is conveniently divided into sections, and leaves out very little that could be considered a hill path. One or two small errors of minor importance have crept in—mostly of spelling or heights—for instance, why rob Garven (Garbh Bheinn) in Ardgour of 400 ft. of its height, which is 2903 ft., not 2500 ft. ? This mistake is probably due to the reduced Ordnance Survey maps. It is correctly given in recent issues of the 1-in. map and in Bartholo- mew’s 4-in map. In spelling there are a good many small mistakes, such as in Affaric section—Beallach-na-Spoine for Beallach-na Sroine—but these small errors are of quite secondary importance. C. B. P. Den Norske Turist Forening’s Aarbog, 1924. YET once again, ‘Den Norske Turist Forening’ has delivered to its now numerous members its welcome ‘ Aarbog ’"—or ‘ Aarbok ’>— consisting of 234 pages beautifully illustrated. Especially is this

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480 Reviews. the case with the full-page views of H. Chr. Geelmuyden, notably those of the birch trees on the two sides of the beck, ‘ Fra vestre Aker,’ throwing their dark shadows upon the still water; also a view of two horses pulling down the top bar of a gate. Equally good too are the three forest scenes, ‘ Skjennungen,’ ‘ Skoginterior fra Rustan i Aker,’ ‘ Fra den éverste del av Akerselven.’ Sigvard Heber’s view, ‘ Aga ved Sérfjorden,’ is, at least to me, a reminder of Ulvik. Wilse, an excellent photographic artist, has, to my mind, not been quite so fortunate in his choice of subjects as one would have expected him to be. Still, they are very good. The papers are full of interest, and deal with the most fascinating features of almost the whole country from Lofoten to the Naze. Wma. Cecit SLINGSBY. Im Reiche der Medea: Kaukasische Fahrten und Abenteuer. By Dr. Alfred Nawrath. Leipzig: Brockhaus. 1924. TuHE chief interest in Dr. Nawrath’s readable little book of post-war Caucasian travel centres in his description of German colonisation in the Caucasus. Both collectively and individually, the many thousands of Germans and German-speaking Austrians and Hun- garians seem to have successfully penetrated practically every sphere of Caucasian economic and intellectual life, and to have kept on good terms both with the Bolshevists and the many native races of that heterogeneous country. Many local Bolshevist com- missaries even send their children to German schools. The only allusion to mountain climbing in this book is to the first post-war ascent of Mount Kazbek, on August 28, 1923, by a party of Georgians (including several young ladies—all under the age of twenty-one) accompanied by one Russian, one German, one Swede, and one Armenian, as well as by three guides and twenty-five porters. The porters went only as far as the Yermoloff hut (3600 métres high), where the night previous to the ascent was spent. It may be added that Dr. Nawrath pays an enthusiastic tribute to Dr. Douglas Freshfield’s books on the Caucasus, which he calls of ‘ absolutely fundamental value.’ He also expresses his admira- tion for the great English geographer’s nobility of style and elevated thoughts. British Ski Year Book, 1924. Edited by Arnold Lunn. Price 5s. Tus book includes much of mountaineering interest, thus a traverse of the Jungfrau, with descent by the N. (Guggi) face by MM. Amstutz and v. Schuhmacher, both of the Academic A.C., Berne, on July 10, when a very free use was made of skis; also an admirably described and superbly illustrated ascent of the Eiger on ski, made in May by MM. Arnold Lunn, Richardet, and Amstutz. Mr. Lunn writes on the history of ski-ing, about which there can be nothing he does not know. He also contributes an appreciative

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The Alpine Club Inbrary. 431 notice of A.C. Irvine, lost on Everest. Colonel de Watteville makes some sound remarks on guides and ski instructors. The rest of the volume is, of course, mainly devoted to ski-ing matters. The Freshfield Glacier, Canadian Alps. By Howard Palmer. Published by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Mr. Howarp PALMER is well known as a mountaineer, and his admirable book on the Selkirks has placed him in the front rank of mountaineering writers. The present pamphlet is a scientific examination of the features of the Freshfield Glacier, which is about 9 miles long and 4 miles wide, occupying with its tributaries an elliptical basin in the midst of a group counting twenty-five peaks over 10,000 ft. high. Jt is furnished with many photographs, a diagram, and amap. Mr. Howard Palmer concludes that most of the glaciers in the Canadian Alps are, during the last fifteen years at least, in a state of retreat. The Clemenceau, a very large glacier S.W. of Fortress Lake, appears to be stagnant at an advanced stage close up to its terminal moraine. Aiguilles. By C. Egger. Orell Fiissli, Ziirich. THE author is the well-known artist whose charming house on the heights above Bale is a favourite rendezvous of his very many mountaineering and other friends—and few men can have more. The little book is a humorous study of the principal Chamonix aiguilles, thus the ascents of the Requin, Géant, Dru, Grépon, are described, and also the magnificent aréte walk from the Géant to the Rochefort. The book contains a whole series of excellent illustrations. The detailed pictures of the ascents of the Requin, Dru, and Grépon are among the best of their kind which we have seen. THE ALPINE CLUB LIBRARY. The following books have been added to the Library :— Club Publications. Akad. Alpen-Verein, Berlin. 20. Jahresber. 1922-23. 94 x 64: pp. 39: 3 col. plates. 1924 New expedition: J. Heidenhain, 1923, tr. Larainfernerkopf z. Nérdl. Fluchthorn. Appalachian Mountain Club. Bulletin. Vol. 17, no.8. 92 x 64: pp. 413-525: plates. April 1924 This contains, inter alia: H. S. Hall, First ascent of Mt. Clemenceau (examination, 1922, with A. Carpe: ascent, 1923, by H. B. de Vilhers- Schwab and H. S. Hall): W. Helburn, On Ktaadn in March: A. Bent, A first ascent in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. First ascents : 1922, of Mt. Apex by Schwab, Carpe, and Hall is mentioned : Mt. Victoria by N.E. face by V. Fynn: 1923, Thorington and Ladd with

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432, The Alpine Club Lnbrary. Kain, North Twin, and second ascent of Mt. Athabasca: H. Palmer and A. Carpe, Mts. Brazeau and Unwin: W. D. Wilcox, Mt. Baker from Peyto Lake: J. W. A. Hickson, Mt. Spring-Rice. Appalachian Mountain Club. Register for 1914. Supplement to Bulletin, vol. 17. April 1924 C.A.I.Cremona. I] Monte. Organo ufficiale. Anno2,no.4. 9% x 6}: pp. 16. Aprile 1924 —— Trieste. Calendario dell’ Escursionista. 4} x 24: pp. 74. 1924 C.A.S. Chaux-de-Fonds. Bull. annuel, no. 32. 8 x 5: pp. 102. 1923 C.A. Siciliano, Sez. di Palermo. SBollettino mensile. Anno2,no.7. 9} x 6}: pp. 4. Marzo 1924 D.u.0e.A.-V. Bayerland. Anwendung des Seiles. 12. Aufl. 52 x 33: pp.23: ill. Miinchen, 1922 D.u.0e.A.-V. Tauriskia. Jahresbericht, 1923. 9x6: pp. 30: pl. of Tauriskia-Hiitte. 1924 Il Monte. See C.A.I. CREMONA. Nederl. Alpen-Vereeniging. Mededelingen,22. Jourgang. 94 x 64: pp.175: plates. 1924 Rucksack Club. Rules, etc. 4} x 3}: pp. 23. 1924 — Journal. Vol.5,no.2. 84 x 54: pp. 131-237; plates. 1924 Contains: EH. W. Steeple, Lofoten: A. S. Pigott, Grépon from Mer de Glace: G. S. Bower, Cold. Nantillons: A. W. Boyd, Birds of British hills: E. Thomas, Alps revisited: ascents Diablerets, Bietschhorn (W. aréte), Jungfrau, Ménch, Finsteraarhorn, Aig. de 'M., Grds Charmoz, Dru, Dent Blanche, etc.: R. LE. W. Pritchard, New climbs at Wasdale, Tophet Wall, Pillar Rock (W. face): J. R. Ashton, 1923, First ascents, Tryfaen, S. buttress ; Obelisk route. S.A.C. Association British Members. Report, etc., 1923. 7 x 5: pp. se 1924 —— Basel. Jahresbericht fiir 1923. 61. Vereinsjahr. 9 x 6: pp. 70: plate. 1924 Contains In Memoriam notices of N. Stécklin and of S. Preiswerk-Sarasin. —— Jahrbuch. 58. Jahrg. 1923. 10 x 7: pp. viii, 322: plates, maps. Bern, 1924 The articles are: H. Kuhn, Hch Diithi zum Abschied als Jahrbuchredak- tor: G. End, Val Pontirone—P. delle Streghe, Torrentegruppe: O. Roegner, Zwischen Rhone und Rheinquellgebiet, Adulamassiv, Medelser Berge, Gothardmassiv, Blindenhorn, Basodino: A. v. Rydzewsky, Hochtouren im Bergell 1893, Cima di Rosso v. N., Torrone Occid. v. N., Cima di Castello v. O., P. Badile Ostgrat, P. di Ferro Orient. v. N. Among his ascents are the following first: 1891, Cima di Cantone, Torrone Centr.: 1892, Pta. Rasica, Cima di Vazzeda, Cima di Rosso N.E. aréte: 1893, Ago di Sciora: 1898, P. Tremoggia N. face, Badile W. aréte: 1899, Badilet, Pta. Alessandra : 1900, Pta. Rydzewsky, tr. Torrone Centr.: 1891, P. Bacone S.E. aréte, Cima del Largo W. face: 1892, P. Gumelli, Cima Vazzeda: 1895, Sciora- nadel: R. Streiff-Becker, Der Itatiaya, Brazil: P. Simon, Gebirgstopograph : J. Kursteiner, Bakteriengehalt v. Erdproben der Hochalpinen Region: E, Furret, Natur- u. Kulturbilden aus d. Abruzzen: P. L. Mercanton, Variations d. glaciers 44. Rapport: LZ. Meyer, Turtmanntal. Sect. genevoise. Programmes des courses 1924. 5} x 32: pp. 40. Sierra Club Bulletin. Vol. 12,no.1. 92 x 64: pp. 109: plates. 1924 Contents: F. P. Farquhar, Place names in the High Sierra: First ascents, 1923, N. Clyde and — Elrod, Mt. Wilbur: Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Michael, Minarets: etc. —— Circular. No.7. 94 x 6}: pp. 4. March-April 1924 23rd Annual Outing. Glacier Nat. Park. 6 x 3}: pp. 16. 1924 Sucai. Notizario mensile. Anni 3-4, nos. 9-12, 1-2. 72 x 44. 1923-24 Verband Alp. Vereinigungen Oesterreichs. Mitteilungen No. 1. 1. Jahrg, 12 x 9. April 1924

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The Alpine Club Lobrary. 438 New Books. Allgemeine Bergsteiger-Zeitung. Nachrichtenblatt fiir Touristik u. Winter- sport. Geleitet von Ludwig Ginet. Erscheint jedem Freitag Nachm. l. u. 2. Jahrgange. 183 x 124: ill. Wien, 1923-24 Allix, André. Le trafic en Dauphiné & la fin du moyen &ge. In Rev. de géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 11, fasc. 2. 10 x 64: pp. 273-413. 1923 Les avalanches de 1922-3 en Dauphiné, In Rev. géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 11, fasc. 2. 10 x 63: pp. 513-27. 1923 — Les enseignements du Mont Everest. In Rev. géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 12, fasc. 1. 10 x 63: pp. 99-120: plates. 1924 Bailey, F. M. Through Bhutan and Southern Tibet. In Geogr. Journ., London, vol. 64, no. 4. 9% x 64: pp. 291-8: ill. Oct. 1924 Baud-Bovy, Daniel. Peasant art in Switzerland. 114 x 8: pp. xxiv, 75: num. plates, some col, London, Studio, 1924 Benesch, Fritz. Fiihrer auf den Schneeberg. 5. Aufl. 64 x 4: pp. vii, 134: map, plates. Wien, Artaria, 1924 Beraldi, Henri. Le Sommet des Pyrénées. Notes d’un_ Bibliophile. II. Tuquerouye. 9 x 54: pp. 233. Paris, 1924 A further work on Ramond, kindly presented by the author. Biscoe, C. E. Tyndale. Kashmir in sunlight and shade. 8} x 5}: pp. 315: map, plates. London, Seeley, 1922 Bozano, L.; Questa, E.; Rovereto, G. Guida delle alpi apuane. 2a ed. con la collaborazione di Bartolomeo Figari. C.A.I. Sez. Ligure. 64 x 4}: pp. 319: maps. Genova, 1922 Bregeault, H. La photographie en montagne. In La Photo pour tous, Paris, nos. 1-2. 11 x 84: pp. 5-7, 27-28: ill. Janv.-Févr. 1924 Canada. A Playground for the Empire. 8 x 5}: pp. 32: plates. Ottawa, Depart. of Interior, 1924 Includes plates of the Rockies. — Scenic. 7 x 10: pp.4: plates. Published by Can. Nat. Railways, 1924 Caumery, M.L. Bécassine alpiniste. Illustrations de J. Pinchon. 124 x 9: pp. 64: col. ill. Paris, Gautier et Languereau, 1923 An amusing skit on alpine travel and climbing. Collet, W. GéologieduM.B. Fasc.2. pp. 53: plates. Guide Vallot. Fasc. 2. Apercu sur la géologie du massif du Mont-Blanc et des Aiguilles Rouges. 7 x 5: pp. 52: plates. Paris, Fischbacher, 1924 Collins, Francis A. Mountain climbing 74 x 5: pp. vii, 314: plates. A handbook on mountaineering. London, Long, 1924 Cooper, A. Heaton. Wild Lakeland. Painted by A. Heaton Cooper, described by Mackenzie Macbride. 8 x 54: pp. 229: col. plates. London, Black (1922) Dainelli, Giotto. A propositi de morfologia dell’ alta montagna alpina. In L’ Universo, Firenze, vol. 5, no. 6. Giugno, 1924 Dauzat, Albert. Toute la montagne. 7} x 4}: pp. 325. Paris, Charpentier, 1924. Fr. 7.50 La terre, les eaux, le ciel—de la plante & l’homme—les saisons et les heures —l’alpinisme—l’esthétique de la montagne. De Amiciz, Ugo. Piccoli uomini e grandi montagne. 12} x 9}: pp. 247: plates. Milano, Treves, 1924. 30s. Durier, Charles. Le Mont-Blanc. 7me éd. Annotée et illustrée par J. et C. Vallot. 9 x 54: pp. xvi, 407: plates. Paris, Fischbacher, 1923 Egger, C. Aiguilles. Ein Bergbiichlein. 8} x 6: pp. 72: 24 plates. Zurich, Orel] Fiissli (1924) Requin, Dru, Rochefort, Jardin, Géant, Grépon. Enzensperger, Ernst. Bergsteigen. 84 x 54: pp. xx, 369: ill. Berlin, Weidmann (1924) A new handbook on mountaineering. g Everest. The Mount Everest dispatches, 1924. In Geogr. Journ., London, vol. 64,no.2. 9 x 6: pp. 145-65. Aug. 1924

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484 The Alpine Club Library. Ferrand, Henri. Le Temple dela Nature. Ex Bull.Sect. de Géogr. 9} x 64: pp. 18: plates. Paris, Imp. Nat., 1924 Ferrini, G. L’Ascensione del Papa Pio XI.al Monte Rosa. Estratto dal Boll. *L’Alpe.” 93 x 6}: pp. 11. Domodossola, Zonca, 1922 Filippi, Filippo de. Storia della spedizione scientifica italiana nel Himalaia Caracorum e Turchestan cinese (1913-1914). 10} x 72: pp. xiii, 541: maps, plates. Bologna, Zanichelli (1923). 45s. Finch, George Ingle. The making of a mountaineer. 9} x 6}: pp. 340: plates. London, Arrowsmith (1924). 30s. Corsica, Wetterhorn, Jungfrau, Oberland, Tédi, Bifertenstock, Mte. Rosa, Matterhorn, Dent d'Hérens, Mt. Blanc, Aig. du Dru, Everest, Photography. A chapter on the Matterhorn—a beginner’s impressions—is written by Mrs. Agnes Finch. Flaig, Walther. Felsklettern in Bildern und Merkworten. 2. Hft. 54 x 3}: pp. 7: 21 plates. Stuttgart, Dieck (1924) Plates of various positions in rock-climbing. Hochgebirgsfiihrer durch die Nordrhatischen Alpen. Bd. 1. 6 x 4}: pp. xxxii, 208: maps. Vorarlb, Verlagsanst. Dornbirn, 1924 Forrest, A. S.; Bagge, M. Hy. Switzerland. 8} x 54: pp. 92: ill. London, Griffiths (1924) France. Etudes glaciologiques, t. iv. Glacier de Téte-Rousse (P. Mougin, C. Bernard). Les avalanches en Savoie (P. Mougin). Ministére de l’agri- culture: Direction gén. d. eaux et foréts. 11 x 74: pp. 322: plates. Paris, Imprim. Nat., 1922 Frazer, R. A. Central Spitsbergen. In Geog. Journ., London, vol. 64, no. 3. 9} x 6: pp. 193-204: ill. September 1924 Freshfield, D. W. More talk about Hannibal. In Geogr. Journ., vol. 64, no. 3. 9} x 6: pp. 241-44. September 1924. A review of C. Torr’s ‘ Hannibal crosses the Alps,’ q.v. ante. Galwan, Ghulam Rassul. Servant of sahibs. A book to be read aloud. 84 x 54: pp. xix, 282: portrait. Cambridge, Heffer, 1923. 9s. A remarkably interesting diary of Himalayan travel by a headman of coolies. Gex, F. Le climat du premier semestre 1923 dans les alpes du nord. In Rev. géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 11, fasc.3. 10 x 64: pp. 641-54. 1923 Le Petit Saint-Bernard. 74 x 5: pp. 172: plates. Chambéry, Dardel, 1924 Le mystére, le Col, les routes, l’hospice, les voyageurs. Les avalanches de fin décembre 1923 en Savoie. In Rev. géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 12, fasc.]. 10 x 64: pp. 129-56. 1924 Les avalanches de Vhiver 1922-3 dans les alpes frangaises du nord. In Rev. de géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 11, fasc.2. 10 x 64: pp. 487-511: plates. 1923 Gibert, André. Le Valgaudemar. In Rev. géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 10, fasc. 4. 10 x 6}: pp. 663-782 : map, plates. 1923 Giovane montagna, Rivista di vita alpina. Anno x., nos. 1-2. 94 x 6}: pp. 36: ill. Genn.-Febbr. 1924 Gleize, P. Alpinisme. 94 x 6: pp. 50. Chamonix, 1923 An illustrated catalogue of equipment, etc. Gontard, Jean. Dans les Sierras de Californie. 7}? x 54}: pp. 247: plates. Paris, Roger, 1923 Gorceix, Ch. Expériences de laboratoire sur la formation des montagnes. In Rev. géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 12, fasc. 1. 10 x 64: pp. 31-78: plates. 1924 Géschener-Alp. Col. panorama. 21 x 5}. Ziirich, Fretz, 1924 Gurtner, Othmar. Das besinnliche Wanderbuchlein. Auf alten Pfaden im Lauterbrunnental. 7 x 4%: pp. 101: plates. Ziirich, Orell Fiissli (1924). Fr. 4.50 Contains elegant small reproductions of old prints.

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The Alpine Club Labrary. 485 Harper, Arthur P. Southern Alps of New Zealand. A southern paradise, Written for the N.Z. Council of the British Empire Exhibition. 9} x 9; pp. 24: ill. Wellington, Skinner, 1924 Inaka. Vol.18. 9 x 64: pp. 96: plates. Japan, Kobe, 1924 This is the final volume. Presented by H. E. Daunt, Esq. Italy. The war in Italy. Soldiers’ edition. 9} x 7: pp. 536: plates. Milan, Treves, 1916 Kelly, H. M. Pillar Rock and neighbouring climbs. A climbers’ guide, 8 x 5: pp. 68: plates. Barrow, 1924 v. Komarnicki, Cyula. Die Hohe Tatra, Hochgebirgsfithrer. 6 x 4}: pp. xciv, 475 : maps, ill. Budapest, Turistik u. Alpinismus, 1918 Kurz, Marcel. Guide du Skieur. Avec la collaboration du C.A. Aca., Zurich. Vol. 1. Du Col de Balme au Col du Collon. 7} x 5}: pp. xvi, 62 : maps. Berne, Wyss, 1924 Vol. 2, Col du Collon—Mte. Moro. 7} x 5}: pp. xvi, 68: maps. 1924 Lammer, Eugen Guido. Bergsteigertypen und Bergsteigerziele. Hsg. v. d. Sekt. Donauland d. D,u.Oe.A.-V. 8 x 5}: pp. 40. Wien, 1924 Le Frangois, Marcel. Les étrangers dans la partie montagneuse du département de l’Isére. In Rev. de géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 11, fasc. 2, 10 x 6}: pp. 465-81. 1923 Le Létschental. 63 x 5: pp. 111: map, ill. Lausanne, Spes, 1923 Mayer, Eduard: u. Ludwig Obersteiner. Hochschwabfiihrer. Turner Berg- steiger ih zur Feier d. 20 jahriges Bestandes, 64 x 4: pp. xxiv, 239: ill. Wien, Artaria, 1922 Mittelholzer, Walter. Im Flugzeug dem Nordpol entgegen junkers’ sche Hilfsexpedition fiir Amundsen nach Spitzbergen, 1923. 9 x 6: pp. viii, 106: plates. Ziirich, Orell Fiissli, 1924 Many aeroplane views of mountains. Moriggl, Josef. Von Hiitte zu Hiitte. Fiihrer zu den Schutzhiitten der Ostalpen. Bd. 1. 3. unverinderte Aufl. 6 x 4: pp. xii, 284; sketch maps. Leipzig, Hirzel, 1922 Bd. 2. pp. xii, 239: sketch maps. 1923 The Mountaineer. Prospecters’ section. Ninety miles around Mt. Rainier. Eighteenth Annual Outing. 10} x 7: pp. 12: map. ill. 1924 Moxon, Margaret Louisa. Catalogue of 1000 alpine flower studies by, at ay Gardens. 49 folio pages, typed. 1924 Presented by the Director. National Parks. Jasper Nat. Park. 104 x 732: pp. 32: plates. Can. Nat. Railways, 1924 Nieberl, Franz. Das Totenkirchl. 2, Aufl. 8 x 5}: pp. 45: ill. Miinchen, Rother, 1923 Oerbel, E. Die Lawinengefahr und wie der Alpinist ihr begegnet. 64 x 4: pp. Minchen, Erast (1923) Patroni, ‘Alfredo. La conquista dei ghiacoiai 1915-1918. Prefazione di S.A.R. Filiberto di Savoia Duca di Pistoia. 93 x 7: pp. 190: ill. Milano, I’Eroica (1924) Pereira, Cecil. Peking to Lhasa. In Geogr. Journ., London, vol. 64, no. 2. 9 x 6: pp. 97-120: il. August 1924 Perret, Robert. Au Maroc et dans le Grand Atlas aveo le Club alpin. Extr. du Correspondant, 25 juin 1924. 9} x 6}: pp. 21. Paris, de Soye, 1924 Preller, C. S. du Riche. Italian mountain geology. Part III. Central and southern Italy. 84 x 5}: pp. 162: sketch maps, London, Wheldon & Wesley, 1923. 12s. 6d, The portion that will interest readers of the JouRNAL chiefly ison pp. 1-13, describing the Gran Sasso d’Italia and its features—general, physical, and geological. Etna, Vesuvius, Alban Hills, etc., also come into the volume. Previous volumes on the Alps of Italy and the Apennines were published in 1917-18. VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX, oF

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486 The Alpine Club LAbrary. Ratti, Achille (SS. Pie XI.). Ascensions. Traduit par Emile Gaillard. 84 x 63: pp. 120: portr., plates. Chambéry, Dardel, 1923 This is K of 25 * hommage © copies. Relf, E. R. Spitzbergen, cruise of Terningen. In Geogr. Journ., London, vol. 64, no. 3. 9} x 6: pp. 204-13: ill. September 1924 Revelli, Mariz. I] canto della montagna. Romanzo. 7} x 5}: pp. 295. Foligno, Campitelli (1924), L.12 | The events take place round and on the Dent du Midi. Robequain, Ch. Trois jours dans les Tatras polonaises. In Rev. géogr. alp., Grenoble, t. 12, fase. 1. 10 x 64: pp. 157-60. 1924 Saeco, F. Come si formo il Cervino. Ex Giovane Montagna, anno ix., no. 2. 9} x 6}: pp. 8: ill. Torino, 1923 —— Come sorse La Grivola. Ex Pro Piemonte. 9} x 64: pp. 10: map, ill. Torino, 1923 Una gigantesca collana di gemme glaciali (Gr. Paradiso). Ex Pro Piemonte. 9} x 6}: pp. 17-34: map, ill. Torino, 1923 de Saint-Saud, Comte. Cinquante ans d’excursions et études dans les Pyrénées Espagnoles et Francaises. Mémorandum publié & loccasion du cinquan- tenaire du C.A.F., Bordeaux, chez l’auteur. 10 x 62: pp. 62: maps, ill. Paris, Barrére, 1924 Kindly presented by the author. Schmoe, F. ha Pa Rainier. In Bull. Geog. Soc. Phil., vol. 22, no. 2. 93 x 63: April 1924 Mt. ae is ; 11,363 ft., second highest peak in U.S.—Mt. Whitney being higher. Indians call it Tacoma. The name was given by Vancouver in 1792, in honour of his superior officer. Spemanns Alpen-Kalender. 9} x 6: plates. Stuttgart, 1924 Stein, Aurel. Memoir on maps of Chinese Turkestan and Kansu from the survey made during 1900-1, 1906-8, 1913-15. With appendices by Major K. Mason and J. de Graaff Hunter. Records of Survey of India, vol. 17, 13 x 9: pp. xv, 208: num. plates. Dehra Dun, Eng. Surv. Office, 1923 Maps to accompany, serial nos. 1-41. Steininger, Karl. Die Lechtaler Alpen. Bearbeitet v. d. Deutsch-Alpinen Ges. ‘ Melzerknappen.’ 6 x 4}: pp. 208: |maps. , Innsbruck, Wagner, 1923 Stormont, W. Summer in Italy. 8} x 54: pp. 196: ill. Rome, Ital. State Tourist Depart., 1924 Aosta valley, Italian Alps, Dolomites, etc. Switzerland. La Suisse, guide de l’Automobiliste. Edité par le Touring-club Suisse, 1924-5. lle édition. 11} x 6: pp, 274: maps. Bern, Wagner, 1924 ae ——- Pamphlets issued by Railways, etc. 1924 ——Summerin. 7} x 5}: pp. 79: ill. Berne, Swiss Railways, 1924 Thurwieser, Peter Carl. Ausgewahlte Schriften. Alpenfreund-Biicherei, Bd.1. . 64 x 44: pp. 88: ill. Miinchen, Alpenfreund (1924) This contains ascents Hochkanig, Ackerlsp., Jenner, Ortlersp., Fernerkogel. Torr, Cecil. Hannibal crosses the Alps. 6} x 52: pp. vii, 40. Cambridge, University Press, 1924 Conclusion: ‘It was a ‘matter of life and death to complete his march before the snows had made the Alps impassable. He would therefore take the very route.. . . by the Col de la Traversette or the Col d’Argentiére,’ Tursky, Franz. Héhenzauber. Erlebnisse und Gedanken eines Bergsteigers und Schneeschuhlaufers. 7} x 5}: pp. 201: plates. | Miinchen, Hochalpenverlag, 1924 Ascents : Triglav, Hohe Warte, Kl. Zinne, Fermedaturm, Winklerturm, Sonnblick, Gr. Venediger. . Vallot, Henri et Joseph. Guide Vallot. Déseriation générale du massif du ge ge a Répertoire des elabaeee a ae du massif, .7 x 5: pp. 34.. . . . Paris, Fischbacher, 1924

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The Alpine Club Inbrary. 487 Vallot, J.et H. Réseau trigonométrique du massif du Mont-Blanc. 11} x 9: pp. xi, 25: ill. Paris, Fischbacher, 1924 Walliser, J. Monte Rosa. Aus der Bergwelt von Zermatt. 9 x 6: pp. 32: plates. Winterthur, Konkordia, 1922 Walton, Elijah. Collection of drawings by, of the late T.G. Bonney. 10 x 6: pp. 3-4. Christie & Co.’s sale, April 1924 Ward, F. Kingdon. Snow mountains of Yunnan. In Geogr. Journ., London, vol. 64, no. 3. 9 x 6: pp. 222-31: ill. September 1924 W6dl, Hans. Fiihrer durch die Schladminger Tauern. 64 x 4: pp. iv, 196: map, plates. Wien, Artari, 1924 Young, G. W. A great rock climb. The Grépon from the Mer de Glace. In Cornhill Mag., London, N.S. no. 338. 9 x 5}: pp. 155-72. - August 1924 Younghusband, Sir Francis. Wonders of the Himalaya. 84 x 54: pp. (vi), 210: frontispiece. London, Murray, 1924. 10s. 6d. Zeller, Max. Yiihrer durch die Berchtesgadener Alpen. 64 x 4}: pp. 237: map, ill. Miinchen, Rother, 1923 Older Books, etc. Baud-Bovy, Daniel. L’Olympe. In La Gréce Immortelle. 7} x 5}: pp. 41-87 :. map, plate. Genéve, Boissonnas, 1919 Cunningham, Allan. The Life of Sir David Wilkie. 3 vols. London, Murray, 1843 The following letters by Sir David Wilkie are in vol. 2, pp. 433-6 :-— Geneva, 25 July, 1827. On our arrival at the inn at Chamouny, we were told that two Englishmen had started yesterday morning, at 9 o’clock, to make the perilous journey to the top of Mont Blanc, with nine guides, making, in all, eleven. Two, it had been observed by telescope, had just reachcd thesummit. All eyes were now onthe alert. The telescope I got hold of at an upper window, and observed, with minute attention, on the side of the summit, some small black objecte, that by degrees changed their places, and by a progress very slow, but perceptible, appeared advancing upwards. To all the people in the house this was at once a subject of intense curiosity, and by turns each saw and bore witness to the wonder. J counted to the number of nine. A party of four were in advance in a group with one ahead ; while others, two and two, lagged considerably behind. As they were proceeding from us, their movements were slow and little perceived. Onwards, however, we saw them reach the summit, where, little as they seemed, they were nearly lost in the deep bluesky. Even the last two, after lingering, stopping, and resting, approached at length the top, where we could see the others reappear as if to receive them, The top of Mont Blanc is the highest point in Europe, perhaps the highest point on earth, that the insignificant powers of man have ever enabled him to reach. It has not been reached before above six times, and they tell me but by one Englishman. A short half-hour seemed to satisfy them with their unwonted elevation, when we saw them begin to descend. July 26th. To-day all was expectation, and, at 9 o’clock, after forty-nine hours’ absence, the two Englishmen arrived. Their names were Mr. Charles Fellowes and Mr. William Hawes, of 26, Russell Square. Nine guides and a boy were with them: the boy had gone for his own pleasure. They had, on the 24th, reached the usual resting-place, the Grands Mulets. This is a black ridge of rocks at the head of the glacier by the side of which they ascended, and which they had much fatigue and risk in crossing to get to. At the Grands Mulets they slept for the night, under a tent which they took with them, in which, with blankets, &c., they were warm and comfortable, disturbed only by the noises of the avalanches falling. On the 25th, at daybreak, they proceeded up a valley of snow all round them, and then took a@ new route, by which they escaped the dangers which had destroyed three men who had made a similar attempt before. As they got tow: rds the summit their fatigue and weakness became extreme; their pulses beat high, particularly in the head ; some were seized with headaches, spitting of blood, and bleeding at the nose, with loss of appetite, and one even with vomiting ; all breathed with difficulty, and required frequent rests. Hawes, who is a little stout fellow of twenty years, was the only one nearly exempted from these symptoms. On the top, the air was cold beyond belief, but the view appeared to comprehend everything. They appeared high above every obiect; saw, on one side, the Lake of Geneva, Neufchatel, and the Jura Mountains ; but the clearest and most beautiful was on the side of Savoy and Italy. ‘Ihe Apennines, the Mediterrarean, end France, known to be in sight from Mont Blanc, were not then visible. At three o’clock they began to descend, a matter of facility compared with the ascent. At six they gained their resting-place on the Grands Mulets, where they rested for the night, as it was wet, windy, and cold. The noise of the avalanches, always most frequent in rain, had much the effect of continued thunder. ‘This morning they had again to cross the glacier, to facilitate which they were tied two and three together, in a chain of ropes, to secure them in crossing the deep crevices between the ice. The danger being thus passed, they reached Chamouny to breakfast, having finished the journey without loss, without hurt, and apparently without over-fatigue, but which they said they would never advise any one again to attempt. Every circumsta’ ce was favourable, but they thought neither the view nor the game could at all compensate for the danger and pain of the undertaking.

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488 The Alpine Club Library. Enquist, Frederik. Der Einfluss der Winder auf die Verteilung der Gletscher. Inaugural-Dissertation. Ex Bull. Geol. Inst. Uppsala, 14. 10 x 62: pp. 108: maps. Uppsala, Almquist, 1916 Hooker, Wm. Dawson. Notes on Norway; or, a brief journal of a tour made to the northern parts of Norway, in the summer of MDCCCXXXVI. Un- published. 84 x 5}: pp. (iii), 127: plates. Glasgow, Richardson, 1837 This contains description and plate of skis. Jones, Katharine Virlamu. Life of John Viriamu Jones. 8} x 54: pp. vii, 400: portraits. London, Smith, Elder, 1915 Juvar, Lorenzo. Tales and Legends of the English Lakes and Mountains. 74 x 4}: pp. 312: 2 plates. London, Longmans (? c. 1860) Kadner, Herbert. Fiihrer durch die Wettersteingebirge. 4. Aufl. v. H. Schwaigers Fiihrer. 6 x 4: pp. xx, 244: map. Miinchen, Lindauer, 1921 Keller, C. Junk’s Natur-Fiihrer. Schweiz. 6} x 44: pp. vii, 475: ill. Berlin, Junk, 1921 Lake District. England’s lakeland. A tour therein. 8} x 54: pp. 76: col. plates. | Windermere, Garnett : London, Simpkin, Marshall (? c. 1880) Lechner, Ernst. Graubiinden. [Illustrierter Reisebegleiter durch alle Tal- schaften. 5. verbesserte Aufl. 8 x 5: pp. (iv), 284: map, ill. Chur, Manatschal Ebner, 1920 Powell, Addison M. Trailing and camping in Alaska. 8} x 5}: pp. (xvii), 379: plates. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1910 de Quervain, A., u. E. Sehnitter. Das Zungenbecken des Bifertengletschers. In Denks. d. Schw. Naturf. Ges. Bd. 55, Abh. 2. 12 x 9: pp. 137-49: map, plates. Zurich, Fretz, 1920 Reichardt, A. Die Hohe Tatra und die Niedere Tatra . . . Tokajer Weinland. Kohlers Karpatenfiihrer, Bd. 1. 6 x 4: pp. 228: maps. Dresden, Kéhler, 1911 Sacco, F. Il glacialismo d. valli di Susa. Ex L’Universo, anno 2, no. 3. 9} x 64: pp. 32: map. Agosto, 1921 —— Il glacialismo u. valli Grisanche, Rhémes e Savaranche. Ex L’Universo, anno 2, nos. 11-12. 94 x 6%: pp. 73: map, ill. Nov.-Dic. 1921 —— Il glacialismo nel Gruppo del Gr. Paradiso. Ex Boll. d. Comit. Glaciol. ital. 10 x 64: pp. 129: map, plates. 1921-22 La crue actuelle des glaciers dans la vallée d’Aoste. Ex Augusta Pretoria. 94 x 64: pp. 14: ill. Torino, 1921 — Osservazioni glaciologiche nella regione dolomitica del Veneto. Ex Boll. d. Soc. Geol. ital., vol. 39. 9} x 6}: pp. 213-20. 1920 Theobald, G. Naturbilder aus den Ratischen Alpen. Ein Fiihrer durch Graubiinden. 4. umgearbeitete Aufl. v. Dr. Chr. Tranuzzer. 8 x 5}: pp. vii, 335. Chur, Manatschal Ebner, 1920 Valais. Mein Wallis. Festgabe zum Walliser-Herbstfest. 9 x 6: pp. 72: ill. Ziirich, 1921 Items. C.A.I. Milano Jubilee bronze plate, 3 x 2}, representing three eagles on a rock with a mountain background. Illustrated Post Cards. Raccolta delle belle 22e d'Italia. Serie N. 11, I Monti d’Abruzzo: N. 45, Passo della Mendola: N. 64, Monti del Cadore. Roma, Morpurgo, 1923 Map. British Columbia, Kootenay, Sheet 19. 7-89 miles to inch. Ottawa, 1924 Carte de la Savoie au 250,000e par M. le Ct. de Lannoy de Bissy. Chambéry, Dardel, 1923 Stamps, with mountain views. Transylvania, 9 varieties: Turkestan, 4 varie- ties: Bulgaria, 2 varieties. Guadelowpe, 25c.: Azerbaidjan.

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‘Proceedings of the Alpine Club. 439 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALPINE CLUB. A GENERAL MEETING of the Club was held in the Hall, 23, Savile Row, London, W.1, on Tuesday, April 1, 1924, at 8.30 p.m., Mr. A. D. Godley, Vice-President, in the Chair. The following candidates were balloted for and elected Members of the Club, namely, Mr. Henry Snow Hall, Jr., Major John Hedley Thornton Priestman, and Mr. Joseph Wood, Jr. The CHAIRMAN announced with regret the deaths of Mr. H. J. Synnott, elected in 1898, Mr. A. Barnes, elected in 1913, and Dr. W. A. Wills, whose death had occurred that afternoon. Dr. Wills was elected in 1888, served on the Committee in 1893, and as Honorary Secretary 1897-1900. Mr. E. H. F. preaby paid eloquent tribute to his memory. Mr. R. A. Frazer then read a Paper entitled ‘ A Plea for Moun- taineering in Central Spitsbergen,’ which was illustrated by lantern slides. Professor J. Norman Collie spoke afterwards and said that he agreed with Mr. Frazer that there was a good deal to be said for mountaineering in those parts. What had struck him when visiting the Lofoten Islands was the extraordinary colour effects, and it seemed to be much the same in Spitsbergen. He congratu- lated Mr. Frazer on the success of his expedition. The Chairman said that he was sure everyone in the Hall had enjoyed the very interesting Paper of Mr. Frazer, and the remarkable series of slides he had shown. He remarked in passing that the prophecy of Sir Martin Conway that Spitsbergen was likely to become a regular tourists’ haunt had not yet been fulfilled. He would propose what he thought would be in the minds of all present : a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Frazer. This was carried with acclamation. A GENERAL MEETING of the Club was held in the Hall, 23 Savile Row, London, W.1, on Tuesday May 6, 1924, at 8.30 p.m., Dr. Claude Wilson, Vice-President, in the Chair. The CHAIRMAN communicated to the Members present the latest news with regard to the Mt. Everest Expedition and General Bruce, He said he was sure they would be glad to hear that General Bruce had recovered from his illness. Members were informed that Mr. D. W. Freshfield had accepted Honorary Membership of the Club, offered to him by the Committee to mark his 60th year as a Member. This announcement was received with enthusiasm by those present. Mr. Freshfield thanked the Members for their cordial reception. |

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440 Proceedings of the Alpine Club. Further, that the King of the Hedjaz had conferred on Sir Alex- ander Kennedy the title of Pasha, on the occasion of his recent and third visit to Petra. The death of Mr. John Fisher was announced. He was elected a Member of the Club in 1883. and he must have been well over 80 years of age at the time of his death, which occurred on May 1. He was an old Civil Servant. In 1860 he climbed the Allalin Horn and Allalin Pass in company with the late Sir Leslie Stephen and F. W. Jacomb. Twenty years elapsed between that and his next expedi- tions to Mont Blanc and Monte Leone, which he undertook in 1880. In 1882 he climbed the Finsteraarhorn and the Aletschhorn. The Chairman invited discussion on the regulations for the Winter Dinner, and the meeting decided, nem. con., to accept the New Regulation proposed by the Committee that the price of each Dinner Ticket should be 13s. 6d. exclusive of wines, thus allowing every Member to order his own wines. — Mr. J. A. Parker then read a Paper entitled ‘ The Pyrenees,’ which was illustrated by lantern slides. Discussion followed. Mr. D. W. Freshfield related briefly his experiences in the Pyrenees, and remarked, & propos of the lec- turer’s statement that the Pyrenees were seldom visited by Members, that, to the west of the Central Pyrenees, there was a group of mountains known as the Picos de Europa, which were not at all well known, and which were still less frequently visited. He had been there some years ago and had had some really good climbing. The Comte de Saint-Saud had written a monograph on this group, which was in the Club Library. Others who took part in the dis- cussion were Mr. G. E. Howard, Mr. W. P. Haskett-Smith, and Sir Alexander Kennedy. Mr. Parker replied to one or two questions which had been put to him, and in conclusion was the ‘recipient of a very cordial vote of thanks, proposed by the Chairman. A GENERAL MEETING of the Club was held in the Hall, 23 Savile Row, London, W.1, on Tuesday, November 4, 1924, at 8.30 p.m., Brig.- Gen. The Hon. C. G. Bruce, C.B., M.V.O., President, in the Chair. The following candidates were balloted for and elected Members of the Club, namely, Mr. E. L. Fothergill, Major R. W. G. Hingston, Mr. R. H. Isherwood, Mr. J. T. Reed, and Mr. G. J. Scaramanga. The PRESIDENT announced with regret the deaths of The Rt. Hon. H. de Fellenberg Montgomery, elected in 1866, Mr. W. Fairbanks, elected in 1876, Mr. Reginald Hughes, elected in 1880, The Rt. Hon. Lord Cozens-Hardy, elected in 1891, Mr. Arthur Woods, elected in 1904, Major P. B. Lindsell, elected in 1913, and Mr. G. L. Mallory, elected in 1910. | The President also announced that the Mt. Everest Committee had decided that the question of the ascent of Mt. Everest could not be left as it was, and that they had agreed to make preparations for a further expedition in 1926. The question of ways and means

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: Proceedings of the Alpine Club. 441 would be discussed by the Mt. Everest Committee at a later date. Mr. A. D. GopLEy then read a Paper entitled ‘ Mountains and the Public.’ The President moved that a vote of thanks be accorded Mr. Godley for his delightful Paper. This was carried with acclamation, and the proceedings terminated. END OF VOLUME XXXVI. Printed in England at THE BALLANTYNE PRESS SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & Co, LTD, Colchester, London & Eton

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INDEX Vout. XXXVI. Nos. 228 anp 229 ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA TO VOL. XXXVI. See also pp. 159, 161, 162, 379, 410 n. Mr. Fynn’s article, p. 342 seg. We regret the omission to state that the photographs opposite pages 341, 342, 344, 346, 348 are by Mr. F. H. Slark, the C.N.R. official photographer. Ebnefluh, p. 403. The ascents mentioned (p. 404, note 2) refer to the very steep ice-wall of the EBNEFLUH to the right of the route marked on p. 403, and not to the similar face of the Grosshorn. The upper picture of the Lauterbrunnen-Breithorn on p. 401 is taken from the Lauterbrunnen-Wetterhorn. There is a very fine picture in ‘A.J.’ xxiii., opposite p. 105, by Dr. O. K. Williamson, of the N. face of this peak, seen in profile, taken when he—an ardent explorer of the Rottal range—was making the first passage of the Breithornjoch. P. 410, footnote 2. The remarks do not apply. to the new S.A.C. Bergell Guide (‘ Biindner-Alpen,’ vol. iv., by H. Riitter), where the ‘time’ from the Badile Club hut, wid the N. Porcellizzo Pass, to the Trubinasca Pass is quite correctly given as 24 hours.—E. L. 8. The Lourousa couloir on the Argentera (p. 417). We regret to have omitted to state that Mr. Coolidge, who made the first ascent with old Christian Almer, descended by the same way. His party in the ascent and the descent avoided the upper part of the couloir by taking to the rocks of the left bank (ascending). The descent of the couloir to the bergschrund took only 1 hr. 20 m. (‘ A.J.’ ix. 341). VOL. XXXVI.—NO. CCXXIX, 2G

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INDEX eS ee Note: Place Names in italics are provisional. ABRAHAM, G. D., Book by, reviewed, 179 Abruzzi, Duke of the, Karakoram Expedition of, 2 Accidents: Dolent, 392 1865, Matterhorn, 416 1914, Mt. Cook, 167 1924, Aig. Verte, 424 Finsteraarhorn, 392 Piz Glischaint, 422 Acclimatisation, real, on Mt. Everest, 226, 228, 278 Use of Oxygen in relation to, 272 Adam’s Peak, Ceylon: Ascent of, 162 Agassizjoch, 54-5 Aiguille, Le Mt.: New Route, 160 Albe, Pic d’, 351 Alberta, Mt., 122 n. Albigna Hut, 28 Punta d’, 29 Albreda Peak (Mt. Milton), First Ascent, 408 Aletschhorn: Ascent of, 39 Algie, Mr. and Mrs., 22 Allée Blanche, Col de I’, 67 Allievi or Zocca Hut, 26 Alma Peak, N.Z. Ascent of, 282 First, 405 Wrongly Mapped, 283 Alpine Climbing, Olympic Prize for, 141 ALPINE CLUB Annual Winter Dinner, 1923, 192 Election of Vice-President, 192, 193 Joint Meeting of, and of R.G.S., on the Everest Expedition, 241 Journal, Index to Vols. 16-34, by A. J. Mackintosh, 182, 193 Library, Additions to Catalogue, 182, 431 Members, Deaths of, 142 sqq., 157, 193, 416, 439, 440 Membership, Honorary, accepted by D. W. Freshfield, 439 ALPINE CLUB—coné. Memorials erected by, at Riffelalp, Zermatt, and Arolla, 416 Obituary, 157, 416 Photographic Exhibition (1923), 180, 192 Proceedings, 191, 439 Alpine Fauna, 84, 109, 161, 226, 257, 311, 329, 331, 360, 365, 366 Alpine Flora, 17, 82, 234-5, 293, 311, 327, 331-2, 363, 364, 366 Alpine Notes, 156, 415 Alpine Tunnel, the first, 425 Altitude, Effects of, 225 sqq., 266 Record, New, 417 American Members of the Alpine Club, Dinner and Meeting of (1923), 140, (1924), 348 Améthystes, Glacier des, 43 Aneto, Pic d’, 350 Ascent of, 351 Angelo, Mte. S., Central Summit, Ascent of, 162 Anna, Sant’, Cima: Ascent of, 410 Annette, Mt., 23 Apex Peak, 128 Aran, Val d’, 350 Arazas, Vallée d’, a National Park, 352 Ariake, 16 Ariake-San, 16 Ascent of, 17 Athabaska Pass Attitude of, Nineteenth-Century Speculation on, 313 Mountain Topography Adjacent to, 319 Narratives concerning, of Cox, Ross, 303 De Smet, Father, 307 Douglas, David, Journal of, 307 Drummond, Thomas, 304 Ermatinger, Edward, Journal of, 305 Franchére, Gabriel, 301

Page 610

446 Athabaska Pass—conf. Narratives concerning, of Hector, Dr., on Palliser’s Ex- pedition, 310 Kane, Paul, 310 Moberly, Walter, 311 Ross, Alexander, 303 Thompson, David, 300 Warre, Capt. H. J.. 308 and the Vovageurs, 299 Aure, Vallée d’, 30 BaconeE, 32 Forcola del, 32, 33 Badile Hut, 27 N. Face of, Risch’s Route up, 28 S. Route: Ascents by, 27 Badilet, Piz: Ascent of, 410 Balfour, Pic, Correction, 159 Ball Hut, N.Z., 289 Baltschieder Chalets, 359 Thal, Memories of: G. Yeld, 357 Balzetto, Great, 29 Ban Darrey, Col du, 366 Banks Range, N.Z., New Expeditions in, 406 Barbican, Mt., and Mt. Geikie, First Ascents of: V. A. Fynn, 342, 343 Baretti, Punta: Ascent of, 154 Barnes, A. E.: Death, 157, 439 Bastion, Mt., 347 Baud-Bovy, —, First Ascent by, of Highest Peak of Olympus, 171 Bayle, Pic, 78 Bell, Sir C., at Lhasa, 5 Benson, A. C., Address by, 276 Bérarde, La, 80 Berglijoch, the, Crossing of, 46 Bernese Oberland, Expeditions in, 1924 New, 399 Various, 409 Biddle, Mt.: Ascent of, 174 Bielsa, 353 Bietschhorn, Winter Ascent of, 391 Birdwood, Mt., Attempt on, 174 Blackburn, Mt., Traverse of, 292, 406 Blanc, Lac, 79 Blanc, Mt. First Winter Ski Traverse of, 392 Risks run on, 408 Traverse of, from Déme Hut, 383 Blanc, Mt., Group Expeditions in, 1923 New, 154, 393 Various, 408 New Guide books to, 418 Indez. Blanc, Mt., Range, W. End of, Obvious Passes Across : R. L. G. Irving, 64 Blimlisalphorn, Ascent of, by N. Face, 400 Body, the, Desiccation of, due to Altitude, 228 Bondasca Valley, 28 Bonhomme, Croix du, Col de la, Inn on, of T.C.F. 160 Bonney, T. G., Obituary Notice, 142 Brabazon, Mt.: Ascent of, 283 Brazeau, Mt., 102, 103 Ascent of, 104-5 Bregaglia, Climbing in the: C. Wilson, 25 Geological formation of, 25 Guide-books to, 25, 26 Huts in, 27-7, 28, 31 Various Expeditions in, 410 Breitlauihorn: Ascent of, 358 Breitlauihorn-Breithorn Ridge, 361 Brenva Route, Corrections regarding, 159 Brévent, La Chaine du, 160 Bride Peak, 3 Brouillard, Col du, 154 & n. Brown Mt.: Ascent of, 331 Elevation, 324 Naming of, 316 Bruce, General, Awarded Olympic Prize for Alpine Climbing, 141 Bruce Glacier, 130 Bruce, Mt., 136 Burns, Mt., First Ascent of, 407 Traverse of, 293, 407 Buxton, E. N. : Death, 148, 157 Byron and the Alps, 48-9, 162 CaccCIABELLA Group, 30 Caiman, Le, Attempt on, 394 Bréche du, 394 Calvet, D.: Obituary Notice, 389 Cambridge University Mountaineering Club, at Les Evettes, 163 Canada, Alpine Club of Invitation from, to A. C., for Camp, in 1924, 168 Journal of, articles in, 183 President nominated to, 420 Resignation of Director, 168 Canadian and American Notes, 168, 420 Canyon, Remarkable lateral, near Jasper, Canada, 93 Cariboo Range ; Peaks climbed, 1924, 407 Castor: Ascent of, 39

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Index. Catacombs, Mt., 110 ™- Cavalloccio, Lake of, 34 Cecilia Hut, 26 Cervin, the, An Arduous Traverse of, 418 Chambers, Capt. H., 417 Chamois, Balme des, 29 Champéry, Dents Blanches de, First Ascent of, by N. Aréte, 371 Chardonnet, Aig. du: Ascent of, 361 Chasseurs, Col des, 154 Cheval Rouge, the, 378 Cho-Oyo, Mt., 214, 222 Chown, Mt., Attempt on, 173 Classic Cols: J. P. Farrar, 83 Clemenceau, Mt., North Canadian Rockies: H. B. de Villiers- Schwab, 121 Ascent of, 135 Elevation of, 116 Névé, 128, 136 Cleopatra, Ago di: Conquest of, 32, 60 Climbs, Some, in 1911: J. W. Wyatt, 362 C. A. F. Groupe Haute Montagne, Member- ship of, 161 . Jubilee of, 418 C. A. I., Jubilee of, 416 Codera, Cima di: Ascent of, 27 Val, 27 Collins, F. A., Book by, reviewed, 426 Columbia, Mt., First Ascent of, 1902, 122 n. Elevation, 116 Icefield, 117 Panorama, The, from: J. M. Thorington, 116 Combin, Grand : Traverse, 363 Comité International Olympique, 141 Comité Olympique Fran- cais, 14] Committee Punch Bowl, Athabaska River, 304, 307, 310, 311, 322, 325, 329 Como, Lake, and the Bregaglia, 34 Compton, E. T., the late, 362 Continental Divide, Canada, 319 Mts., E. of, 320 Cook, Mt., Accident on (1914), 167 Ascents of, 24, 289 First Winter, 21 Comparisons with, 291 Routes on, described, 290-1 Traverse of the three PeaNB 290 Coolins, Map of, 162 Coronet Valley, 98 Cotatuero, Cirque of, 352 Coup de Sabre Glacier, 82 Cozens-Hardy, Lord: Death, 416, 440 447 Crampons, 298 Créte Séche, Aig. de: Cummins Glacier, 136 Ascent of, 398 DaRwWIn Glacier, 23 Mt.: Ascent of, 285 Dauphiné A Week-end in: H. R. C. Carr, 375 The, in 1922, C. H. Brook, 79 Dawn, the, Tennyson’s line on, 14 De Filippi, Sir F., Book by, cated, 2° Delafield, Henry, President of the American Alpine Club, 13 Dent, Clinton, View of, on Height Attainable, 3 De Saussure Prints, The, 158 Deville, Dr. E. : Death, 420 Diamond Mts., 20 Dilemma, N.Z., Two Peaks of, Traverse of, 406 Dimier, G. C.: Death, 157 Disgrazia, Mte.: Ascent, 411 Dolent, Aigs. rouges du, Point next, ascended, 398 Duplicate, Mt., 127 Dzong = Capital of District, 251 EaGte, an, on the Zapporthorn, 161 Eagle’s Nest, 151 Ebnefluh, Ascent of, by N. Aréte, 402 Edith Cavell, Mt., 320 Elevation, 326 n. Egger, C.: Book by, reviewed, 431 Emile Rey, Col, 155 Engelhorn, Klein: Ascent of, 46 English Lake District, 161, 416 Ermatinger, Mt., 333 Estellette, Col de 1’, 69 Glacier, 71 Etages, Les, 80 Europa, Picos de, 440 Everest, Mt., Altitude and its Effects, 225 sqq. Acclimatisation on, 226, 228, 278 Oxygen in relation to, 239, 272 Assaults on, Use of, 11 Battle, The, with, by A Hima- layan Traveller, 277 Can it be Climbed ? 238 Cold on, Contrasted with Arctic Cold, 225 Conquest of, The: D. W. Freshfield, 1 Flora, 235, 236 Fossils found on, 223 Frost-bite Casualties on, 9 Geology of, 267 Lack of Oxygen on, above 16,000 ft., 226 Wind on, Incessant, 226

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448 Index. : Everest, Mt.—cont. Committee, and the Olympic Prize for Alpine Climbing, 142 Expedition of 1924, Start of, Personnel of, Gifts to, and Equipment of, 164-5 Camps of, Position of, 252 Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 ft., Report on, by E. F. Norton, 260 Dispatches on, from E. F. Norton, 196 sqq. Height at which Mallory and Irvine were last seen, 219 Journey through Tibet and Establishment of High Camps, Report on, by G. Bruce, 251 Last Climb, Report on, by N. E. Odell, 265 Last Climb, The (Verse), by D. W. Freshfield, 277 Lowest Temperature recorded by, 201, 258 Men killed on the Mt., Memorial Services in Memory of, 273 Message from H.M. the King, on the Deaths of Mallory and Irvine, 195 Organisation and Start of, Report on, by C. G. Bruce, 241 Personnel of, Report on, by E. F. Norton, 244 Story of, by Mallory, 203 Odell, 221 Somervell, 211 Story of the Sherpa and Bhotia Porters, by G. Bruce, 229 * Tigers,’ corps d’¢lite, 260 New Expedition to, in preparation (Nov. 1924), 440 Evettes, Les, 163 Hotel at, 163 Expeditions New, 1923, 154 1924, 393 Various, 1923, 400 1924, 409 FAFLERALP, 92 Fairbanks, W.: Death, 416 Farrar, Mt., 127 Fay, S. P., Maps presented by, 421 Fell and Rock Memorial, Scafell, 161 Ferro, Centrale: Ascent of, 29 Ferro, Torrione del, 29 Finch, G. I.: Book by, reviewed, 175 Finsteraarhorn Accident on, 392 Finsteraarhorn—cont. Ascent of, 55 Hut on, 55 Fisher, John: Death, 157, 440 Forno Hut, 31 Fox Glacier, N.Z., 167 Franz Josef Glacier, N.Z., 165, 166 Freshtield, D. W.: Books by, Burnt, 419 Hon. Degree, by the University of Geneva, 157 Hon. Membership of A. C., 439 Frost-bite Casualties, Everest Expedi- tion, 9 Fryatt, Mt., 137 Attempted, 326 Elevation, 137 n., 320 Fuji-vama: Ascent of, 14 Futons, 19 &n. GakI, Mt., Partial Ascent of, 17 sqq. Gaillard, Comm. Emile, M.C., Hon. President, Savoy Section C.A.F., 161 Book by, reviewed, 179, 429 Gallo, Il., 30 Summit of, Fall of, 31 Garibaldi Group, the, 174 Gaulis, Refuge de, 352 Gaurisankar, Mt., 235 Splendour of, 236 Géant Inn, High-level Route from, to Jorasses Hut, 159 Geikie, Mt. Attempts on, 173 Elevation, 137 n. First Ascent of, 342, 345-6 George V., Message from, on the Deaths of Mallory and Irvine, 195 Giessen Glacier, 52 Glacier Dome, 23 Glaciers, Aig. des: Ascent of, 38 Gletscherhorn Ridge, Traverse of, 402 Gliischaint, Piz, Accident on, 422 Gos, Capt. C., Articles by, on Byron et les Alpes, 162 Shelley et les Alpes, 162 Graians, Eastern, Inns and Huts in, 418 Green Lake Plain, 10 Grepon, Le: Ascent of, 369 Correction regarding, 159 Meaning of Name, 369 Grey Peak, N.Z., First Ascent of, 297, 407 Grossjoch: Ascent of, 403 Guide- Books, see ALPINE NOTES Guideless Climbing In New Zealand, 298 ee ae

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Index. Guideless Climbing—cont. Rise of, 177 Guggi Hut, 49 Icefall, 51, 53 Gyachang Kang, 214 Haast Hut, 289 Haeckel, Mt., 286 Ascent of, 287 New Route on, 405 Hamilton, Mt., 23 Henry MacLeod, Mt., 98, 102 Ascent of, 103 Attempts on, 107 n. Hermitage, the, N.Z., 21 Amenities of, 284 Facilities at, 297 Hickson, Prof. J. W. A., President, C.A.C., 420 Himalayan and Alpine Travel, Differ- ence between, 380 Himalayan Notes, 164, 419 Hirondelles, Col des, Crossings of, 417 Hooker Hut, N.Z., 285 Hooker, Mt., Rocky Mts., 137 Elevation, 324 First Ascent of, 325, 334 Naming of, 316 Hudson, Mrs. C.: Death, 416 Hughes, R.: Death, 416, 440 IcecraFt, Importance of, N.Z., 298 Index, L’: Ascent of, 44 Infranchissable, Col dit: R. W. Lloyd, 35 Second Passage of, 36 sqq. Irvine, A. C., Character of, 250-1 Death of, 217, 251 H.M.’s Message on, 195 Memorial Service for, 273 Obituary Notice, 386 JASPER Station, Rocky Mts., 169 Jellicoe, Mt., Attempt on, 174 Jonsong La, the, 4 Jorasses, Grandes, Ascent by S. Aréte and Tronchey Face, 393 Hut, High-Level Route to, from Géant Inn, 159 Jungfrau, Chamois on, 84 N.W. Face of, Climbing History of, 48-9 from Wengern Alp. Schalligrat and other Climbs in 1923 : R. P. Bicknell, 45 Winter Ascent of, 163 449 Kamrkocui, 19 Kane, Mt., First Ascent of, 329 Karakorum Mts., Expedition to, of the Duke of the Abruzzi, 2 New Expedition to, 419 Kellas, Dr., and the Jonsong La, 4 Kennedy, Sir A., made a Pasha, 440 King Albert, Mt., Attempt on, 174 King Edward Peak: Ascent of, 422 Korea, Mts. of, 20 Kurz, M.: Book by, reviewed, 170 LaraGo, Cima del, Three-headed Ascent of, 32-3 Traverse of, 152 Lauithor, The, 83 Crossing of, 186 Lauteraarhorn: Ascent of (1910), 87 Lauterbrunnen-Breithorn, Ascent by N. Face, 400 Leda, Castor, and Pollux, Traverse of, 13 Lehner, W.: Book by, reviewed, 176, 187 Lemercier Hut, 81 Lhasa, Sir C. Bell, at, 5 Liebig Range, New Expedition in, 406 ‘ Life of De Saussure,’ by Freshfield, and other Works, 419 Ligoncio Group, 26 Lindsell, Major P. B.: Death, 440 Obituary Notice, 389 ‘ Linnea ’ (Alpine Garden), 363: Lion, Col du: E. G. Oliver, 372: History of, 372 Lobsang, Tibetan porter, 232 Logan, Mt., Expedition to, 169, 420 Lo6tschenthaler Breithorn: Ascent of;. 361 Lourousa, Couloir: Descent of, 417 Lunn, A.: Book edited by, reviewed, 420 Lupo, Dente del, Attempted, 27 Lyskamm, Risks on, 361 McDoneE tu Peak, Traverse of, 341 M‘Gillivray’s Rock, Mt., 303 Ascent of, 322 Main Divide, N.Z., New Expeditions in, 407 Maligne Lake, 93 District, Northern Canadian Rockies, Climbs in: Howard Palmer, 93 Climbing Possibilities of, 114-15 Mallory, G. H. L., Character of, Norton on, 250 Death of, 217, 250, 251, 440 H.M.’s Message on, 195

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450 Mallory, G. H. L.—cont. Memorial Service for, 273 Narrative bv, on Mt. Expedition, 203 Obituary Notice, 381 Mallory, Mt., Rocky Mts., 127 Malte Brun Hut, N.Z., 285 Peak: Ascent of, 286 Range, New Expeditions in, 405 Marmolata, S. Face of, 62 Masino, Rock-climbs from, 27 Hotel of, 26 Matsumoto, 16 Matterhorn, N. Face of, Attempt on, 156 Traverse of, 56 Maude, Mt., Attempt on, 174 Maugham, —, K.C., 22 Meals, Heavy, after Laborious Climbs, Inad visable, 9 Méchant, Pic, 352 Medicine Lake, 93, 95 Meije, the, Ascent of, on June 1, 378 Memorial Brass Tablets at Riffelalp, Zermatt, and Arolla, 416 Memorial Services in Memory of the Men Killed on Mt. Everest, 273 Mennell, H. T.: Death, 157 Obituary Notice, 148 Menouve, Col de, 365 Menta, Pierre, First Ascent of, 160 New Route up, 160 Meurer, Julius: Death, 161 Miage, Ddme de, 38 Midi, Aig. du, Aerial Railway on, and Inn, 163 Minarets (Japan): Ascent of, 22 Misty Col, 138 Misty Mt., 127, 138 Mixed Bag, A: A. L. Mumm, 12 Miyashiro, 16 Montagne, La, published by C.A.F., Articles in, 183 Montgomery, Rt. Hon. H. de F.: Death, 416, 440 Mottets, Les, 43 Moulena, Combe de, 364 Mountain Reconnaissance by Air- plane,’ 175 ‘Mountain Worship,’ 174 Mountaineering, Pope Pius XI. on, 11 Mountaineering Terms, in Concise Oxford Dictionary (1924), 162 Moyen Age, Col, 75 Everest NAKABUSA onsen, the, 16 Nawrath, Dr. A.: Book by, reviewed, 430 Indez. Neuvaz, Aig. de la, 43 New Zealand Alps Crampons not used in, 298 Huts in, 297 Ice-craft important in, 298 Southern, New Expedition in, 405 Ten Weeks in: H. E. L. Porter, 281 New Zealand Notes, 165 Night, a, in the Open at 13,300 ft., 58 Nimrod Ice-fall, 132 Norbu Yshay, Sherpa, 232 Norske Turistforenings Aarbok, Articles in, 184 North Twin Mt., Elevation of, 116 First Ascent (1923), 122 n. Norton, Lieut.-Colonel E. F., 153 Oates, Mt., First Ascent of, 332 Obituary Notices Bonney, T. G., 142 Buxton, E. N., 148 Calvet, D., 389 Hughes, R., 379 Irvine, A. C., 386 Lindsell, Major P. B., 389 Mallory, G. H. L., 381 Mennell, H. T., 148 von Tscharner, R., 390 Wills, W. A., 150 Ochsenthal Hut, 46 Odell, N.: Story by, of the Final Attempt on Mt. Everest, 221 Odyssey, quoted, 289 ‘ Oesterr. Alpenzeitung,’ Articles in, 184 Ofen Pass: Various Expeditions in, 412 Olympus Mt., Highest Point of, First Ascent of (1913), 171 Homer’s line on, 170 Ordesa, Hotels at, 352 Orédon, Lac d’, 352 Ossau, Pic du Midi d’, 350 Otenjo, Mt., Visited, 19 Oxygen on Everest, Value of, 239, 272 PALLISER Expedition, Rocky Mts. (1859), 310 Palmer, H., Pamphlet by, reviewed, 431 Pangperma, Heights above, 10 Paradiso, Gran, Traverse of, 361 Pélens, Aig. de, 390 Pennine Alps, New Expeditions in (1924), 398 Périades, Les: Ascent of, 44

Page 615

Index. Pertud, Chalet de, 72 Peuteret, Aig. Blanche de, Peuteret Aréte, Mt. Blanc: Ascent of, 408 Correction regarding, 162 Mt. Rouge de, Ascent by E. and Descent by N. Aréte, 154 Phari, Temperature at, 242 Piazzi, Cima di: Ascent of, 412 Pinéde, Port de, 353 Pius XI., Pope, ctted on Mountain- eering, 11 Plan, Aig. du, Ascent of, by N. Face, 394 Point between Tour Noire and Aig. Rougesdu Dolent: Ascent of, 398 Posets, Les, 350, 351 Pourri, Le Mt., New Hut on, 417 Pra Sec, Aiguilles de, 393 Promontogno, 27, 28 Promontoire Hut, 80 Pumori, Mt., Dome of, 214 ‘ Pyramid, The,’ earlier name of Mt. Clemenceau, 137 7. Pyrenees, The: J. A. Parker, 349 Elevations in; two Highest, 350 Guide-books to, 354 High, The (Spender), 349 Refuges, Chalets, Hotels and Inns in, Notes on, 355 QUEEN Mary Mt., Attempt on, 174 Quincy, Mt., 123 RaInrER, Mt.: Ascent of, 422 Rampart Group, 343 Loftiest Peak of, 341 Rateau, The: Ascent of, 81 Ratti, Val, Volta Hut in, 26 Record, An Old, on Schwarzmies, 416 Regaud, Pic, Ascent of, by N. E. Ridge, 163 Rencluse, Hut or Chalet, 351 Replica Peak: Ascent of, 101 REVIEWS : Aiguilles, by C. Egger, 431 Alpes, Les, du Dauphiné, by E. Gaillard, 429 Alpes, Les, de Savoie, vol. iv., by E. Gaillard, 179 British Ski Year Book 1924, ed. A. Lunn, 420 Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. xiii. (1923), 173 Eroberung, Die, der Alpen, by W. Lehner, 176, 187 F. N. KGnig, 1765-1832, by C. de Mandach, 175 451 REVIEWS—cond. First Steps to Climbing, by G. D. Abraham, 179 Freshfield Glacier, The, Canadian Alps, by Howard Palmer, 431 Hannibal Crosses the Alps, by C. Torr, 424 Hill Paths in Scotland, by W. A. Smith, 429 Making, The, of a Mountaineer, by G. I. Finch, 175 Med Telt og Husbaat i Kashmir, by C. W. Rubenson, A.C., 179 Im Reiche der: Kau- kasische Fahrten und Abenteuer, by Dr. A. Nawrath, 430 Mountain Climbing, by F. A. Collins, 426 Norske Turist Forenings Aarbok, Den, 1924, 429 Olympe, Le Mont (Thessalie), by M. Kurz, 170 Ried, Hotel at, 357-8 Riffelalp, Memorial Tablet at, 416 Rimpfischhorn, Ascent of, by N.W. Face, 155 Robertson, Mt., Attempt on, 174 Robson Mt. Ascents of, 1922, and Earlier, 169 First (1913), 136 7., 348 Second Complete, 173 Camp on (1924), 168 Climbs on, 420 Elevation, 116 Risky Route on, 421 Pass, Lodge on, 421 Rocky Mts. of Canada, see also Whirl- pool Mts. Flora of, 332 Highest Summit in, 136 n. Mountaineering in, Early Days of, 321 sqq. New Expeditions in, 407 Peaks of, exceeding 12,000 ft. Elevation, 116 Rongbuk Glacier Moraines, Pass near, the Gate of Altitude, 226 Rongshar Valley, 218, 234 Rotbretthorn, 84 Rottal Hut, 85 Rottal, The, Passages out of, 402 Rouges, les Aig. de Chamonix, 160 Rousses, Grandes: W. M. Roberts, 76 Bréche des, 78 Vaujany, best base, 379 Rubenson, C. W., A.C.: Book by, reviewed, 179 Russell, Count Henry, 349 Medea,

Page 616

452 SaLaRrvs, Cirque of, 352 Corniche de, 352 Salle, La, and Pleureur, Traverse of (1920), 150 Sampson, Mt., 115 Sanderson of Oundle and Climbing, 188 Sans Nom, Pic (Dauphin¢): Ascent of, 82 Scafell, Ownership of, 161, 416 Schalliberg Glacier, Route across, 56-7 Schmadrijoch, 87 Crossing of, 409 History of, 88 Passage of (1911), 417 Schocher, Christian : 423 n. Schreckhorn, Traverse of, 47 Schwarzmies, an Old Record on, 416 S.A.C. Accounts for 1923, 166 Huts, see Forno Hut Sciora, Ago di.: Ascent of, 30 Attempt on, 29 di Dentro, 29 di Fuori: Ascent of, 28 Hut, 28 Scott Glacier, 327 Sealy, Mt.: Traverse of, 289 Selkirks (Canadian Alps), Various Expeditions in (1924), 413 Death, 417, Seoul, 20 Serenity, Mt., 123 First Ascent of, 323 Shackleton, Mt., 127, 136 Shamsherpun: Death, 200, 257 Shasta, Mt., Attempt on, 422 Underwood on, 422 Shelley and the Alps, 162, 185-6 Sherpa and Bhotia Porters, Everest Expedition, Story of, by G. Bruce, 229 Love of Adventure of, 229 Silberhorn, First Ascent of, 49 Silberliicke, 49 Ascent to, 53 Simon Peak, First Ascent of, 341 Sirac, Le, 161 Sir Donald, Mt. (Selkirks): Ascent of, 413 N.N.W. Ridge, First Ascent of, 414 Sir Douglas, Mt., Attempt on, 174 Sir Sanford, Mt., Story of, 141 Skye Crofters, Distress of, 193 Smith, W. A.: Book by, reviewed, 429 Soglio, 28 Somervell, Mr., Narrative of, on Mt. Kverest Expedition, 211 Sorefoot Lake, 94 n?. Spazzacaldera, Piz, 30 Stephen, Leslie, at A.C. Dinner, 380 Stréhlplatten, 85 Index. Straw Shoes Used in Climbing Fuji- yama, 15 Studerjoch, First Passage of, 148 Synnott, H. J.: Death, 416, 439 TacuL, Aig. du: Ascent of, 367 Teesta Valley, Pony-paths up, 10 Thompson, David, Narrative of, on Athabaska Pass, 300-1 Thumb, The, Cliff of (Canadian Rockies), 98 Thunderbolts, 31 Tiger Glacier, 128 Titan, Mt. (Cariboo Range): Ascent of, 407 Tédi, the, A Winter Night on, 175 Tokugo-toge, Crossing of, 19 Tordu, Pic, 136 Toro, Trou du, 351 Torr, C., Book by, reviewed, 424 Torrone, Ago del (Cleopatra’s Needle) : N. Finzi, 60 Group, 32 Tour Noire: Ascent of, 43 _ Point next, ascended, 398 Tozer, H. F., 171 Traversette, Col de la, as Hannibal’s Pass, 425 Travers-Jackson, G. F., 417 Trélatéte, Aig. de: Ascent of, 43 Col de, 69 Inn at, 38 Trift to Weisshorn, Traverse, 59 Tropdo, Camp at, Flowers at, 235 Tsar, Mt., 130 Tscharner, R. von, Obituary Notice, 390 Tsubakura Hut, 18 Visited, 18 Turret, Mt., 347 Tusk Peak, 127 Two Thumbs, Peak, N.Z., 282 Ascent of, 284; First, 405 Range, New Expedition in, 405 Unicorn Peak, N.Z., First Ascent of, 288, 406 Unna, P. J. H., 164 Unwin, Mt., 108; Ascent of, 111 Range, 102 Vanni, N. Ridge of, Unclimbed, 27 Vaujany, Best Base for Les Grandes Rousses, 379 Velan, Aig. du, 364 Traverse of, 364 Verte, Aig., Accident on, 424 Ascent of, by N.E. Face, 397 Risks on, 368

Page 617

Index. Viso, Pertuis du, 425 Visser, Mr. and Mrs., Expedition of, to the Karakorum, 419 Volta Hut, 26 Warrto Gorge, Huts, &c., N.Z., at, 167 Walton, Elijah, 144 Warren, Mt. (Canadian Rockies), 115 Weisshorn, from Schallijoch, 59 Weissmies: Ascent of, 399 Wetterliicke Glacier, 89 Wheeler, A. O., Director, Canadian A.C., Resignation of, 168 Whirlpool, the, The Mts. of, by J. M. Thorington, 299 Expedition to (1924), 325 sqq. 453 Wills, W. A.: Death, 157, 439 Obituary Notice, 150 Wind-proof Garments, 9 Woods, A.: Death, 440 YARI-GA-TAKE, 19 &n. Younghusband, Sir F., Message to, from H.M. the King on Deaths of Mallory and Irvine, 195 Yuko, Maki, Climbs of, 20 ZAPPORTHORN, Eagle on, 161 Zemu Glacier, Camp on, 4 Zocca, Monte di, 29

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Page 619

INDEX TO NAMES OF AUTHORS, CORRESPONDENTS, AND CONTRIBUTORS ALLBUTT, C., 142 Amstutz, W., 392 n. Braumay, E., 416 Benson, A. C., 276 Bicknell, R. P., 45 Brook, C. H., 79 Bruce, C. G., 241 Bruce, G., 251 Burr, A., 159 CaRPEr, Allen, 408 Carr, Ellis, 396 Carr, H. R. C., 375, 418 Chorley, R. S. T., 161 DE LEPINEY, J., 394, 396 de Lépiney, T., 397 de Ségogne, H., 394 de Villiers-Schwab, H. B., 121, 140, 348 FARRAR, J. P., 83, 159, 175, 389, 390, 396, 400, 402, 403, 409 Fay, S. P., 421 Ferrand, H., 426 Finzi, N. S., 60 Freshfield, D. W., 1, 277, 419 Fynn, V. A., 342, 413, 320 Gop.ey, A. D., 170 Harper, A. P., 165, 166 Himalayan Traveller (from Morning Post), 277 _ Horeschowsky, A., 408 Irvine, R. L. G., 64, 381 LaGARDE, J., 159 Lauper, H., 422 Lloyd, R. W., 35, 175 MackrnTosu, A. J., 182, 193 Michell, J. W. A., 379 Montagnier, H. F., 158 Montandon, P., 161 Mumn, A. L., 12 Norton, E. F., 196, 244, 260 OpDELL, N. E., 256, 386 Oliver, E. G., 372 Paget, H. L., 273 Palmer, Howard, 93, 422 Parker, J. A., 349 Phillip, C. B., 429 Porter, H. E. L., 281 RiIcHARDET, W., 399 Roberts, W. M., 76 SHarp, H. F. B., 418 Slingsby, W. Cecil, 179, 429 Strutt, E. L., 179, 389, 412 TEICHELMANN, E., 167 Thorington, J. M., 116, 299 Turner, S., 167 WHEELER, A. O., 168 Wilson, Claude, 25, 150, 426 Wyatt, J. W., 362 YELD, G., 357

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INDEX TO NAMES OF AUTHORS, CORRESPONDENTS, AND CONTRIBUTORS ALLBuUTT, C., 142 Amstutz, W., 392 n. BEAUMAN, E., 416 Benson, A. C., 276 Bicknell, R. P., 45 Brook, C. H., 79 Bruce, C. G., 241 Bruce, G., 251 Burr, A., 159 CaRPE, Allen, 408 Carr, Ellis, 396 Carr, H. R. C., 375, 418 Chorley, R. S. T., 161 DE LEPINEY, J., 394, 396 de Lépiney, T., 397 de Ségogne, H., 394 de Villiers-Schwab, H. B., 121, 140, 348 FaRRAR, J. P., 83, 159, 175, 389, 390, 396, 400, 402, 403, 409 Fay, S. P., 421 Ferrand, H., 426 Finzi, N. S., 60 Freshfield, D. W., 1, 277, 419 Fynn, V. A., 342, 413, 320 GopDLeEy, A. D., 170 Harper, A. P., 165, 166 Himalayan Traveller (from Morning Post), 277 Horeschowsky, A., 408 Irvina, R. L. G., 64, 381 LaGAaRDE, J., 159 Lauper, H., 422 Lloyd, R. W., 35, 175 Mackrntosa, A. J., 182, 193 Michell, J. W. A., 379 Montagnier, H. F., 158 Montandon, P., 161 Mumn, A. L., 12 Norton, E. F., 196, 244, 260 ODELL, N. E., 256, 386 Oliver, E. G., 372 Pacet, H. L., 273 Palmer, Howard, 93, 422 Parker, J. A., 349 Phillip, C. B., 429 Porter, H. E. L., 281 RICHARDET, W., 399 Roberts, W. M., 76 SHarp, H. F. B., 418 Slingsby, W. Cecil, 179, 429 Strutt, E. L., 179, 389, 412 TEICHELMANN, E., 167 Thorington, J. M., 116, 299 Turner, S., 167 WHEELER, A. O., 168 Wilson, Claude, 25, 150, 426 Wyatt, J. W., 362 YELD, G., 357

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ALPHABETICAL LIST OF GUIDES eamrecmmem et prijescerneaise AEMMER, R., 141 Allmen, H. v., 89 P. v., 88 Almer, Christian, 49, 84, 88, 89, 417 Peter, 61, 84, 402, 403 Peter (son), 402, 403 Rudolf, 89 Ulrich, 361, 491 Amatter, Fritz, 163, 409 Amiez, Jean, 159 Andenmatten, Adolf, 416 Theodor, 372 Anderegg, Jakob, 88, 397, Melchior, 85, 177 Andermatten, Franz, 381 Aufdenblatten, Adolf, 59, 372, 373 Alfred, 59, 373 Baumann, Hans, 49 Bernet, Peter, jun., 409 Biner, Alois, 389 Franz Josef, 32, 60 Bischoff, Joh., 85 Blanc, Alphonse, 398 Pierre, 398, 410, 411, 412 Blumenthal, J. M., 416 Boss, Fritz, 402 Burgener, Alexander, 178, 372 Siegfried, 43 Couttet, Alfred, 376, 418 Croux, E., 393 Devovuassoup, H., 89 Favre, J. A., 372 Feuz, Eduard, 141 » Ernest, 413 GASPARD, Devouassoud, 80 Graham, Alec and Peter, 21, 165 HAss.eir, Christian, 13, 413 ImMsENnG, Heinrich, 155 JAUN, Hans, 397 Jossi, Christian, 404 Juon, —, 423 Karn, Conrad, 168, 325, 348, 422 Kalbermatten, Alois, 372 Kaufmann, Fritz, 163 Hans, 48 Peter, death of, 417 Sons of, 417 Klucker, C., 29, 89 Kohler, Hans, 420 LAUENER, Christian, 49, 85, 88 Johann, 85 Ulrich, 85, 88 Lochmatter, Franz, 419 Gabriel, 362 Joseph, 362 Raphael, 367 Maquianaz, Daniel, 87, 417 Maurer, Andreas, 397 Milne, Frank, 21, 24, 288, 406, 407 Miraglio, Giacomo, 417 Miiller, Jakob, 88 Payot, Alphonse, 36, 357, 361 Michel, 35, 36 Pession, Benjamin, 360 Francois, 360 Sylvain, 360 Piacenza, Giovanni, 417 Pollinger, Alois, 372 Heinrich, 367 Josef, 35, 39, 372 Rey, Adolphe, 159 Emile, 162 Risch, Walter, 30 Route of, up N. Face of the Badile, 28 “ Rubi, Peter, 52 ScHLUNEQGGER, K., 89 Schocher, Martin, 417 Simond, Camille, 424 Ernest, 417 Stoller, Johann, 360 Stout, Jimmy, 21, 24 Streich, Alfred, 420 Summermatter, Johann, father and son, 59 Supersax, Ambros, 85, 162 Supersaxo, Othmar, 400 TRUFFER, A., 372 Truffer, J., killed, 154 WILLIAMS, Clem, 24 ZURBRUCKEN, Louis, 85

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Printed in England at THE BALLANTYNE PRESS SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & Co. LTp. Colchester, London & Eton

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For binding with ‘ Alpine Journal.’ Issued to members only.] RECORD OF EXPEDITIONS 1920-1993. (Issued in terms of the recommendation of the Committee, Alpine Journal, vol. xxiv. p. 517, ‘so as to facilitate the exchange of information.’) AMERY, L. 8.—1920: Cima di Jazzi (S. aréte), Portiengrat. 1921: Moine, Charmoz, Col du Chardonnet, Fenétre de Saleinaz, Col du Géant. 1922: Gspaltenhorn, Lauterbrunnen Breit- horn, Jungfrau (from Rottal), Ebnefluh and then wa Griin- hornliicke over shoulder of Finsteraarhorn to Oberaar Hut and down Oberaar Glacier in dense fog (all on ski). 1923: Flambeanx and Vierge Ridge (tr. from Torino Hut), Charmoz (tr.), Grépon (tr.). ‘ Amery junior, aged 11, began his first climbing season under my auspices and climbed Le Buet, Aiguillettes, Aiguille de PM and Petits Charmoz, and shaped very well. I hope in another 10 years’ time he may be a candidate for admission.’ ANDREWS, A. N.—1920: Diablerets, Wildhorn, Wildstrubel, Lotschenliicke, Klein Schreckhorn (tr.). 1921: Monte Prosa, La Fibbia, Pizzo Centrale, Pizzo la Valletta, Piz Lucendro, Graustock, Titlis, Klein Spannort. 1922: Fisistock, Birre, Wetterhorn, Jungfrau. 1923: Aiguille de I’M, Belvédére, Gr. and KI. Hockenhorn, Tschingelochtighorn, Bliimisalp- horn. | BaRKER, A. E.—1920: Déme de Val d’Isére and Petit Dome, Pointe d’Arselle, Pointe de la Sana, Signal du M. Iseran, Tsanteleina, Rochers de Genépy, Signal du Grand Cocor, Pte. de la Galise, Pelaou Blanc, Pte. de Méan Martin. 1921: Pic de Homme, Aig. du Plat (turned back near summit by glazed rocks), Téte des Fétoules. 1922: Pte. d’Arpitetta, Aig. de l’Aflée, Pigne de l’Allée, Besso, §. Peak Diablons, Zinal Rothorn (two attempts—turned back by storms). 1923: Roussette, Aig. de la Za, Pigne d’Arolla (tr. ) Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr. ), M. Collon (tr.). BraumaN, E. B.—1920: Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr.), Col de Bertol, Col de Valpelline, Stecknadelhorn, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa (from Grenzgletscher). 1921: Adler, Portiengrat, Laquin- horn (by W. aréte), Mittaghorn, Egginer, Ulrichshorn, Balfrin, Rimpfischhorn (from Adler), Untergabelhorn (by aréte). 1922: Egginer, Hohstock (tr.), Aletschhorn. 1923: Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr.), Trifthorn, Monte Rosa (from ae gletscher), Matterhorn, Zinal Rothorn. A

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2 Record of Expeditions. Betcuer, H. W.—1920: Riffelhorn (from glacier), Furggengrat, Breithorn, Wellenkuppe—Gabelhorn—Arbengrat, Adler—Strahl- horn, Mischabeljoch—Alphubel. 1921: Leiterspitz, Rothorn, Cima di Jazzi, Pointe de Zinal, Mt. Durand, Nordend, Brunegg- horn, Rimpfischhorn (from Adler). 1922: Oberrothhorn (by Schwarzgrat), Schallihorn (from Col de Moming to Schalli- joch), Jagerhorn. 1923: Clocher de Planpraz, Aig. de la Floriaz, Tour Noire (tr.), Alphubel (by Rothengrat), Breit- horn (by N. face), Dent d’Hérens, Rimpfischhorn (by N. aréte). BICKNELL, R.—1920: Pic de Neige Cordier, Col Emile Pic, Les Ecrins, Bréche de la Meije, Traverse of Meije to La Grave, Traverse of Mt. Dolent by Bréche de l’Amé6ne and N. aréte to Italian Val Ferret, Grandes Jorasses (Pointe Whymper), Col des Grandes Jorasses, Aiguille d’Argentiére. 1921: Grand Paradis, Grivola, Col de Miage, Aiguille des Glaciers (tr. Pavillon de Tré la Téte to Pertud), Aiguille du Géant, Mt. Blanc (from Col du Géant via Midi route), Col des Hiron- delles (attempt—night out on N. face of Grandes Jorasses), Col du Geant, L’Innominata (up and down fr. Pertud). 1922: Wetterhorn, Rosenhorn (tr.). 1923: Gemsenspitze and KI. Engelhorn (fr Ochsenthal), Berglijoch, Schreckhorn, Jungfrau (fr. Guggi), Finsteraarhorn (Strahlegg—Agassizjoch —Griinhornliicke), Matterhorn (tr. Italian Hut to Zer- matt), Weisshorn (fr. gite on Schallijoch by Schalligrat), Rothorn. BuLaNncHET, E. R.—1921: Stecknadelhorn (S. face), Jagihorn (E. face), Kanzelti (3311 m. near Sonnighorn; first ascent E. face and S. ridge), Inner Rothorn (3441 m. ; first ascent W. ridge), Saaser Trifthorn (3401 m.; first ascent E. face), Nollenhorn (3189 m.; first ascent N.E. ridge), Cimone di Camposecco (first ascent from Coronette ridge—E. face), Jagigrat, Nadelhorn, Egginergrat, Augstkummenhorn, Sonnighorn, Weissmies, Platthorn (near Huteggen; first ascent N.E. ridge), Laquinhorn, Diirrenhorn — Hohberghorn — Stecknadelhorn —- Nadelhorn, Almagellhorn, Stellihorn, Cime de l'Est. 1922: Grand Perron de Vallorcine (first ascent N.W. face), Perron I or Aig. du Vent (first ascent N.K. ridge), Strahlhorn, Bietschhorn, Dent Blanche, Obergabelhorn (descent Arbengrat), Weisshorn, Jagihorn (first ascent 8. rib), Egginergrat, Laquinhorn, Loetschentaler Breithorn (first ascent from 8.W.), Pizzo di Camposecco (first ascent of E. ridge). 1923: Pointe Beaumont, Aiguille de ’M. (sommets E. et W.), Mont Blanc, Rimpfischhorn (lre ascension par la paroi de glace, face N.W.), Mittaghorn, Egginer- grat, Fletschhorn, Laquinhorn, Matterhorn, Rimpfischhorn, Weissmies, Jagihorn (Siid-Rippe; v. Alpina, 1923, p. 176), Laquinhorn (entre l’aréte Sud et Vitinéraire C, p. 346, ‘ Alpes Valaisannes,’ vol. iii.), Laquinhorn (8. aréte), Laquinhorn,

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Record of Expeditions. 8 Nordend, Siidlenzspitze, Nadelhorn, Ulrichshorn, Zwischbergen- pass par Portjenhorn, Portjengrat, Mittelriick to Mittelpass, Sonniggrat, Sonnighorn, Augstkummenhorn, Pointe 3425, A.S. (Biederhorn) sur Saas-Balen (lre ascension par la face Est), Schilthorn (lre ascension de Saas, par laréte Nord), lre ascension du Grand Gendarme du Jagigrat par face Est (nom proposé Oberjagihorn), Egginerhorn par laréte E., Jazzihorn, Stellihorn, Jagihorn (variante par la face), Perron I de Vallorcine, Clocher du Luisin et Luisin par |’aréte. Bonacossa, A.—1920: Pizzo Redorta, Piz La Pali (Spluga), Monte Canale (Disgrazia), Punta di Galisia (Rhémes), Cima Bousson (Rhémes), Colle della Tsanteleina, Tsanteleina, Passo di Fassa, Toblinger Riedel, Diirrenstein, Mont Avril, Passo Cassandra (Disgrazia), Pizzo Cassandra, Monte Pioda (Disgrazia)—all on ski, Jan—April; Passo Cecilia; Punta Como (Codera group); Denti del Broglio (Dente Sud; Gr. Paradiso), first ascent by N.W. face, descent N.N.W. face ; Cime di Gaiazzo (Codera), first traverse to Punta Magnaghi ; Sasso Manduino (Codera), first ascent by N.N.E. aréte; Ago di Sciora, first ascent by the N. aréte; Cengalo, first ascent by E. aréte ; Ciarforon, first ascent S. face; Punta di Balan- selmo (Valpelline), first ascent W. side; Téte de Valpelline, first ascent S. face; Punta Budden, first ascent S.W. face ; Mont Faudery, from By over Col du Mont Gelé; Unnamed Peak, 3506 m. (Combin), between Col Vert and Col W. d’Amianthe, by 8.W. aréte, descent E.N.E. aréte ; Pizzo Camino (Orobie), by W.N.W. aréte; Passo della Brunone (Orobie) ; Pizzo dei Piani (Spluga), first ascent by S.E. couloir ; Pizzo del Diavolo (Orobie), by 8. aréte, descent W. aréte; Pizzo Val- grande de Vallé (Sempione), Passo di Val Viola (2460 m.; Grosina Alps), Monte Foscagno (3058 m.), Passo di Dosdé (2850 m.)— in December, on ski. All guideless, and mostly Sunday tours from Milan. 1921: Punta Geister (Ortler), Passo Sasso Rotondo, Forcella Nuvolau (Dolomiti), Passo Giau, Punta Tersiva, Torre di Lavina (Punta N.), Cima di Piazzi, Colle del Carro—all on ski, Jan.—April; Pizzo Badile Camuno (Adamello), first by N.E. and S.H. arétes, descent by the N. ridge (new) ; Vetta Sperella (Grosina), first by the S.E. ridge, descent by the S. face (new) ; P. 2878 (Grosina), by the N. ridge, descent by the E. face ; Pizzo del Teo (Grosina), first by the N. ridge ; Passo di Val Torrone (Valmasino); Becca Monciair, first by the 8.8.W. ridge from Colletto Monciair ; Becca di Moncorvé, first by the S. ridge; Forcella d’Entova (Bernina) ; Cima di Vazzeda (Albigna), first by the S. face, descent by the E. ridge (new) ; Gran Nomenon, by the S. ridge; Becca Faudery, first by the W. face, descent by the 8.W. tidge and §.E. wall (new); Dente del Gigante (traverse); Colle del Gigante ; Aiguille de Chambeyron, by the E. ridge, descent by the a2

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4 Record of Expeditions. W. ridge and S. face; Croce Provenzale, descent N. ridge (new); Saoseo (Grosina), first by the 8.E. ridge, descent by the 8. face (new); Cima di Piazzi, descent by the W. ridge (new) to the Corno Sinigaglia, and first traverse to the Corno di Verva; Torrone Occidentale, by the Lurani route; Sciora di Dentri, first by the FE. wall; Pizzo del Ferro Occidentale, by the N. face; Corno Dosdé, first by the N.W. ridge; Pizzo Cengalo, first by the 8.E. wall, Punta 8. Anna, first by the W. ridge, and first traverse without fixed ropes, to the Punta Torelli; Corno Crapera (Adamello), by the S.E. ridge ; Joder- horn, by the S.E. ridge; Mare Percia (Gr. Paradiso), by the S.E. ridge (probably new); Gran Tournalin. All guideless. 1922 : Merzenbachschien (Lepontine), on ski; Badile Camuno (Adamello); Pizzo del Diavolo (di Tenda; Bergamasche), first ascent E.N.E. aréte; Torrone Occidentale, first ascent EK. aréte; Rasica, traverse, Colle della Rasica, N.W. wall; Forcola Porcellizzo, traverse; Dome de Tsan (Pennine), first ascent N. wall; Aiguille Blanche des Lacs (Pennine), first ascent W. aréte; Aiguille Rouge des Lacs (P. Canzio ; Pennine), first ascent N. wall and W. aréte; Breithorn (Simplon), on ski. Except Merzenbachschien, all guideless. 1923: Pizzo Cristallina (Gottardo), Passe dell’ Uomo (Gottardo), Col Maurin (Cozie), Punta Mezzenile* (Graie), Létschenpass, Gizzifurgge, Ferdenpass, Beichpass, Riederfurka, Corno Grande Vetta Occ. (Gran Sasso), Colle dell’Ape (Gran Paradiso), Cima di Rosso—all above on ski between Jan. and end of April; Cima Mezzamalga (Adamello); Croce Provenzale (Cozie) ; Pizzo Boccareccio (Lepontine), N. Wall (first ascent, 1918, Dumontel descended); Pizzo d’Andolla (Pennine), S.E. wall; Becca di Monciair, first recorded by E.N.E. rib or wall; Becca di Monciair, first by S.E. wall; Colletto di Monciair, second traverse ; Ciarforon, first by E. wall; Col Bellatsa ; Becca di Guin, by S.W. and S. aréte; Punta Fon- tanella, first by N. wall ; Trois Fréres de Valsorey,* first traverse from Frére Occ. to Frére Centr.; Molaire I,* first ascent from By over Bréche des Molaires; Aletschjoch; Pizzo Bottarello (Pennine), first by E. wall ; Sattelliicke ; Hiitbschhorn (Simplon), traverse E. to W.; P. 2800 (Torrone Occ.; Masino), by W. wall and N. aréte ; Rocca Parvo (Cozie), first by E.N.E. wall; Oronaye (Cozie), first by E.N.E. aréte; Corno Piccolo (Gran Sasso), first by E.N.E. aréte; Corno Piccolo (Gran Sasso), first by W. aréte; Passo Tuckett (Ortler), Punta Tuckett, Passo dei Camosci, Cima della Miniera, Colle delle Pale Rosse, Passo Cevedale, Punta Sulden, Passo Fné (Simplon}— ski tours, December. . Booty, H.—1921: Helsenhorn, Geisspfadspitze (S. summit), * Guide taken. .

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Record of Expeditions. 5 Wellenkuppe. 1922: Grande Casse, Grande Motte, Tsante- leina, Aig. de la Gde. Sassiére, Col de la Galise, Tresenta, Pte. de Cérésole, Col du Géant, Aig. du Tacul, Rothorn, Matter- horn (by Zmutt), Dent Blanche. 1923: Gross Doldenhorn, Balmhorn (tr. ascent by Wildelsigen), Létschenliicke, Jungfrau, Ménch, Wetterhorn, Cols d’Hérens and de Bertol, Ridge from Pte. des Genevois—Aig. de la Za—ascending to ridge by Rte.1 (‘ Guide des Alpes Valaisannes ’) of Dent de Tsallion, descent to Bertol, Dents des Bouquetins (ascent direct to cent. summit from E., then along ridge to N. summit and back to Col des Dents des Bouquetins, whence down W. face to Arolla Gl., Aig. Rouges, Dent Perroc and Pte. des Genevois (up Rte. 2, ‘G.des A. V.’)—Dent Perroc (down Rte. 2, ‘G. des A. V.’)—Pte. des Genevois, Matterhorn, Wellenkuppe, Rothorn (tr. Trift to Mountet), Col de la Dent Blanche (Mountet to Haudeéres), La Nonne, Petits Charmoz and Aig. de 1’M, Weissmies, Laquinhorn, Allalinhorn, Zwischbergenpass, Monte Leone, Steinenjoch. Bowny, H. C.—1921: Lyskamm (S.W. aréte), Vincent Pyramide and Punta Gnifetti, Zumstein Spitze, Grenzgipfel and Dufour- spitze, Rimpfischhorn, Pollux, Castor. 1922: Morteratsch, Passo di Bondo, Piz Badile, Monte Disgrazia, Monte Sissone, Pizzi di Palii, Kesch-Nadel and Piz Kesch, Piz Roseg, Mont’ Arlas. 1923: Torrone Orientale, Scerscen—Bernina traverse, K6nigsspitze, Piz Tschierva, Crast’ Agiizza, Piz Corvatsch, Drei Blumen, Piz Morteratsch (by S. aréte). Brapsy, E. H. F.—See under Wilson, C., 1920, 1921 and 1923, and I] Gallo (with Walter Risch—probably the last but one before the top fell off), Cima del Largo (tr.). Brook, C. H.—1920: Col de Ours (Les Etages), Pic and Col du Clot des Cavales, Bréche de la Meije, Pic Coolidge, Pic du Vallon des Etages (tr. W. to E.), Les Bans, Ecrins (tr.), Meije (tr.), Col du Clot des Cavales. 1921: Téte de Marsare (tr. of aréte from §. to Col du Graou), Pic d’Olan (tr.), Le Sirac (tr. glacier in the hollow in N.W. direction and ascended steep couloir to N.W. ridge, whence gained W. face of peak and, working across and upwards, reached 8.W. aréte near summit—-descent by rocks on left of N.E. couloir), Col du Chardon, Ailefroide, Téte des Fétoules, Col de Chaviére, Grands Charmoz (tr.), Mont Blane (by Téte Rousse). 1922: La Rateau (by E. aréte from Bréche de la Meije, descent by face to Etancons Valley at foot of Bréche du Rateau), Col des Ecrins, Roche Faurio and Pte. Xavier Blanc, Montagne des Agneaux (by Col Jean Gauthier and Col Tuckett), Col de la Temple, Grande Aiguille de Bérarde, Col du Sélé, Pic sans Nom (descent from Glacier Pic sans Nom to Glacier Coup de Sabre by steep couloir), Aiguille du Plat (by 8.E. face). Brown, J. W.—See Walker, J. O., 1923.

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6 Record of Expeditions. Bruce, C. G.—1921: Wasenhorn, Allalinpass, Wellenkuppe. 1922: Everest Expedition. 1923: Cime de l'Est, Ruinette, Col de Bertol, Titlis. Burr, ALLsTon.—1921: Haute Cime (tr. from Bonaveau to Champéry via Anthémoz lakes), Le Buet and Belvédére, Dome du Gotter, Mont Blanc (descent wa Petits Mulets and the variation of the Ancien Passage between the parallel ridges of the Roches Rouges), Wetterhorn, Jungfrau (from Rottal), Tschuggen (tr.), Piz Roseg, Piz Kesch, Piz Bernina (tr. wa the Scharte). 1923: Tuiths, Reissend—Nollen (tr.), Klein Spannort (tr.), Gross Spannort, Tédi (tr. ascent from W.), Uri Rotstock, Balmhorn (tr. from Wildelsigen), Bietschhorn (up N. down W. aréte), Morgenhorn—Weisse Frau—Bliimlis- alphorn—Oeschinenhorn (whole aréte), Lauteraarhorn (Schreck- horngrat), Lauterbrunnen-Breithorn (W. aréte), Jungfrau (tr. from Guggi). CANDLER, C.—1920: Rochers de Génépy. 1921: Ouille de Midi, Pointe de la Lenta, Petite Aiguille Rousse, Pic de Neige Cordier. CaNDLER, H.—1920: Col de la Rocheure, Rochers de Génépy, Ouille de Midi. 1921: Ouulle de Midi, Pointe de la Lenta, Petite Aiguille Rousse, Pic de Neige Cordier, Grand Som, Pinéa, Téte de l’Aure and Roche Blanche. 1922: Pointe de la Réchasse, Cols du Pisset and des Rochers, Rochers de Génépy. Carpe, A.—1920: Selkirks—To region W. of Flat Creek Pass and Fish Creek. First ascent of principal peak of range, no name, over 10,000 ft., above glacier at head of Bain Brook. Canadian Rockies—To sources of Athabasca River (Columbia Icefield), Fortress Lake and Wood River. First partial ascent of Mt. King Edward. First ascent of Mt. Serenity. 1922: Canadian Rockies—To Wood River Group. Reconnaissance and map of Clemenceau Glaciers and Icefield. First ascent of Apex Peak. 1923: Canadian Rockies—To Maligne Lake district. First ascents of Mt. Brazeau, Mt. Henry MacLeod, Mt. Valad, Mt. Unwin, Replica Peak. The object was largely topographical, and a map based on photographic surveys is now being drawn. The above all first ascents, without guides. Carr, H. R. C.—1920: Aiguilles Grépon, Charmoz, Grand and Petit Dru, Géant, Midi, du Tour and Tour Noire. 1921: Weissmies, Matterhorn, Allalinhorn, Nadelhorn, Siidlenzspitze, Wildstrubel, Strahlegg. 1922: Grande Casse, Grande Motte, Sassiére, Tsanteleina, Gr. Paradis, Tresenta, Punta di Ceresole, Chardonnet, Charmoz (3 times), Blaitiére, Tacul, Dent Blanche, Rothorn, Dom, Mont Blane de Seilon. 1923: Grand Combin, Collon, Pigne d’Arolla, Pleureur, Punta del Dragone, Bouquetins, Cols de la Dent Blanche and Durand. CaRSLAKE, W. B.—1922: Dent Perroc, Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr.), La Roussette (tr.), Mont Collon (tr.), Aiguille de la Za (by the face), Col du Mont Brilé, Dent d’Hérens, Col de

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Record of Expeditions. | Valpelline, Dent Blanche (by the S. aréte), Mont Blanc de Seilon (Col de Seilon and Col du Mont Rouge), Aiguilles Dorées (tr. all points). 1923: Cinque Torri (Torre Grande and Torre Inglese), Croda Rossa and part of 8.W. ridge of La Cesta, Punta Fiammes (by the face), Col Rosa (by the face), Croda da Lago (by Via Pompanin), Becco di Mezzodi (by Barbaria’s chimney), Pomagagnon (by Via Phillimore), Hohe Angelus Spitze and Vertain Spitze, Ortler (Hinter Grat), K6nigsspitze (by E. ridge). CiapHaM, J. H—1920: Dome de Miage, Aiguille de Beranger, Mont Tondu (tr.), Les Périades (tr.), Tour Noire (tr.), Col du Géant. 1922: Grands Charmoz, Dent du Géant, Dent du Requin (unfinished), Aiguille de Béranger, Mont Tondu. CiaRKE, L. W.—1920: Aig. de I’M, Aig. des Petits Charmoz, Grande Motte, Signal d’Iseran, Dome de Val d’Isére, Tsante- leina, Pelaou Blanc, Pointe d’Arselle, Pointe de la Sana. 1921: Téte des Féetoules. 1922: N. Peak of Diablons, Pigne and Aig. de l’Allée. 1923: Mauvaise Poupée, Unterbachhorn, Graf, Bortelhorn, Furggenbaumhorn, Hiibschhorn. CoppineTon, Evustace.—1920: Mt. Gelé, Grand Muveran. 1921: Mont Pleureur, Stockhorn (tr.). 1922: La Roussette, Mont Brilé, Grande Dent de Veisivi, Gredetsch Joch. 1923: Combin de Corbassiére, Grand Tavé, Les Diablerets, Oldenhorn, Pollux. Corry, RoBERT.—1920: Wellenkuppe and Obergabelhorn (descent via Arben Glacier), Matterhorn by Zmutt aréte, Zinal Rothorn. CourTAULD, S. L.—1920: Bellavista and Piz Zupo (tr.) and Fuorcla Crast’ Agiizza, Monte di Scerscen (tr.—ascent by S. face, descent by N.E. aréte to ‘shoulder’ of Piz Bernina), Piz Cengalo, Pizzo di Trubinasca and N. Passo di Porcellizzo, Monte Dis- grazia, Monte Rosa—Grenzgipfel and Dufourspitze—(tr.— ascent by E. face from Macugnaga, descent to Bétemps Hut), New Weissthor. 1921: Ménch, Monte Leone, Laquinjoch — (from Simplon to Saas), Dom (tr. from Saas to Randa), Col Tournanche, Aiguille de Trélatéte, Mont Blanc (ascent from Courmayeur by Eccles’s route), Col du Géant, Roccia Viva (ascent by N. face, descent by 8.E. couloir), Col de Teleccio, * Mount Etna (as far as the Observatory, 9655 ft. ; further progress stopped by violent snowstorm). 1922: Wildstrubel, Balm- horn, Lauteraarhorn, Aig. du Chardonnet, Ecrins. CRAWFORD, C. G.—1920: Expedition to Kangchenjunga, with H. Raeburn. 1922: Everest Expedition. Expedition with T. H. Somervell through the Sikkim Himalayas of Lhonak. Daunt, H. E.—1921: O-gaki, Tsubakuro-dake, O-tenjo, Vari-ga- take, Suguroku-dake, Renge-dake, Washiba-dake, Kuro-dake, Aka-dake, Goro-dake, Eboshi-dake, etc. Davipson, J. M.—1920 : Chamonix (bad weather). 1921 and 1922: Grindelwald (bad weather). 1923: Jungfrau (tr. from N.), Ménch (from Guggi), Schreckhorn (Andersongrat).

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8 Record of Expeditions. Dent, H. L. R.—1920: Grande Sassiére, Pelaou Blanc, Méan Martin, Signal d’Iseran, Pointe de Galise, Rochers de Génépy, Cime d’Oin, Tsanteleina, Grande Motte, Petits Charmoz, Aiguille de la Floriaz. DE VILLIERS-ScHWAB, H. B.—1920: Lauterbrunnen-Breithorn (by W. aréte, descent from Wetterliicke by Breithorn Gl.), Sustenhorn, Sustenlimmi, Pizzi di Palii, Piz Tschierva, Piz Morteratsch, Attempt (frustrated by snow conditions, half- hour under summit) on Ochs (by Viescherjoch aréte), Strahl- egghorn, Dom, Adler, Weissmies, Lysjoch, Lyskamm (over IIL Naso and by S. aréte), Weisshorn, Galenstock, Mutten Pass, Mittlenbergen Pass, Blindenhorn, Hohsandhorn and along rock aréte to near Hohsand Pass, Cherbadung (by Halbelfjoch and N. aréte, descent by 8.W. aréte), Hiillehorn (via Steinenjoch and N. ridge, descent wa Steinenjoch to Berisal), Monte Leone. Dopp, H. M. F.—1920: Tour Noire, Chardonnet. 1921: La Gliére, Dome de Chasseforét, Grande Casse, Grande Sassiére, Tsanteleina. 1922: Aig. du Tour, Aig. Javelle—Col du Char- donnet, Grépon. 1923: Riffelhorn (Matterhorn Couloir), Wellenkuppe—Obergabelhorn—Arbengrat, Zinal Rothorn, Col Durand, Requin, Grand and Petit Dru (tr.). Duruam, W. E.—1920: Petite Dent de Veisivi, Pte. de Vouasson, Roussette, Mont Blanc de Seilon, Col d’Hérens, Allalinhorn, Gabelhorn (tr. to Arbenjoch). Eaton, J. EB. C.—1920: Aiguilles Rouges (tr.), Col de Collon, Théodule, Allalinpass, Mischabeljoch. 1921: Helsenhorn, Geisspfadspitze, Ofenhorn (to Col), Monte Rosa. 1922: Zugspitze, Dent d’Hérens. 1923: Rosengarten, Allalinhorn (tr.), Nadelhorn. E.yiott, C. A.—See Bicknell, R., 1921 (down to Aig. du Géant). 1922: Wetterhorn. | ELLis, WILLIAM.—1920: Aiguille du Tour, Col des Maisons Blanches, Col de Seilon, Mont Collon, Za, Col d’Hérens, Rothorn, Allalin- horn. 1921: Doldenhorn, Balmhorn, Rinderhorn, Gspalten- horn, Gamchiliicke, Jungfrau (from Rottal), Aletschhorn. 1923: Col du Géant, Grand Paradis, Velan, Col de Meiten, Bec d’Epicoun, Col de Serpentine, Mont Blanc de Seilon (tr.),’ Col de Za de Zan, Matterhorn (Brewil to Zermatt). Eitwoop, L. A.—1923: Punta Francesetti (tr. from Col St. Stephano to Col Disgrazia), Albaron, Uja di Ciamarella, Pointe Chalanson, Piccola Ciamarella, Bessanese (Sigismondi route), Col de Vallante, Monte Viso (E. face), Aiguille de Chambeyron, Mittaghorn—Egginer, Weissmies, Laquinhorn, Allalinpass and Allalinhorn, Zwischenbergen Pass, Monte Leone. Farrar, J. P—1920: Aig. de Pélens. 1921: Wetterhorn, Strahl- egg, lLauteraarjoch, Schrecksattel (W. side), Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn (tr.), Rotbretthorn (2718 m.), Gspaltenhorn, Gamchiliicke, Petersgrat, Létschenliicke, Matterhorn (Breuil

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Record of Expeditions. ‘9 to Zermatt). 1922: Terglou (tr.), Gradom Pass, Bergerthorl, Table Mt., Majuba, Mont aux Sources. 1923: Wetterhorn, . Ebnefluhjoch, Rotbretthorn, Lauithor, Schmadrijoch. Fretp, A. E.—1923: L6tschenpass and Hockenhorn, Théodule, Col des Cimes Blanches, Bettafurca, Col d’Olen, Turlo Pass, Monte Moro, Pointe de Zinal. (Not out 1920-22.) Fincu, G. I.—1922: Everest Expedition. 1923: Untergabelhorn (tr.), Riffelhorn (tr.), Dent Blanche, Téte Blanche, Dent d’Heérens (tr. N. face, ‘A.J.’ vol. xxxv.), Signalkuppe—Zumstein- spitze—Grenzgipfel—Dufourspitze, Matterhorn (tr.), Col du Géant, Piz Posta Bialla, Biindner Tédi (twice), Gliemsstéckli. Finzi, N. §.—1920: Grands Charmoz, Col du Géant, Dent du Requin, Aiguille d’Arves Meéridionale, Roche Meéane, Grande Ruine, Col du Clot des Cavales, Pic Gény (tr.), Pointe du Vallon des Etages, Meije. 1921: Riffelhorn (Matterhorn couloir up), Dufourspitze -Grenzgipfel - Zumsteinsp.-Signal- kuppe, Parrotspitze, Riffelhorn (Matterhorn couloir down), Col d’Hérens, Téte Blanche, Col de Bertol, Petites Dents de Veisivi (tr.), Aiguilles Rouges (tr.), Piz Forno, Piz Bacone by S. ridge (new), Piz Lagrev, Ago di Sciora, Zocca Pass, Badile, Disgrazia (by Via Baroni), Cima del Largo. 1922: Téte Biselx (Aig. Dorées), Torrone Orientale (Forno Group), Cima di Spluga, Cima del Largo, Piz Forno, Piz Bacone, Colle del Torrone, Piz Kesch (by E.N.E. ridge—a fine climb), Crast’ Agiizza, Piz Bernina, Eisseespitz, Cevedale Pass. 1923: Fiin- ffingersp. (Daumenscharte by S.E. gully, possibly new), Zahn- kofel, Fiinffingersp. (Schmittkamin), Marmolata (Siidwand), Cleopatra’s Needle (first ascent), Matterhorn, Parrotsp., Sig- nalkuppe—Zumsteinsp —Ostgipfel—Dutfoursp. .. Wellenkuppe, Jungfrau (from Guggi). FisHEer, J. ELLIs.—1923 : Pouce and Aiguille de la Gliére, Aiguille de Belvédére, Aiguille de 1M, Index. (All in January.) Fitzpatrick, T. H.—-1920: Aig. du Chardonnet (tr.). FoTHERGILL, C. F.—1922: Matterhorn, Stockhorn, Mt. Blanc. 1923: Théodule Horn. GaBB, F. B.—1921: Punta Torelli (from Masino), Pizzo Cengalo (from Capanna Badile). 1922: Croda da Lago, Pomagagnon, Kleine Zinne, Piz Popena, Grohmannspitz, Rosengarten Spitz, Cristallo, Grosse Zinne, Sorapis. 1923: Pizzo Ligoncio (from Masino), Pizzo Badile (from Cap. Gianetti), Monte Disgrazia (Via Baroni), Cherbadung (from Alpe Devero), Ofenhorn. Gait, H. J—1920: Portalet, Ruinette, Téte Blanche, Wellenkuppe, Monch. 1921: Sustenhorn, Schneestock, Eggstock and Dammastock, Finsteraarhorn, Wetterhorn. 1922: Buet, Aig. d’Argentiére, Aig. de 1M, Théodule. 1923: Wildhorn, Wildstrubel, Col du Géant, Vallot Hut, Aig. du Tacul, Aig. du Moine, Matterhorn. Goces, F. 8.—1921 : Mittelriick (tr.), Nadelhorn, Mittaghorn (tr.),

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10 Record of Expeditions. Rothorn (3262 m.) from Jung Pass, Les Diablons (tr.), Summit ridge of Zinal Rothorn from Zinal side, Grand Cornier, Bou- quetin and Pigne de 1’Allée (tr.), Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr.— up by Hopkinson’s Couloir), Téte de Millon (tr.). GranamM, R.—1919: Adler Pass, Strahlhorn, Siidlenzspitze, Nadel- horn, Ulrichshorn, Matterhorn. 1920: Moine, Petite Aiguille Verte, Aig.du Tacul. 1921: Allalinpass, Alphubel, Breithorn and Klein Matterhorn. 1922: Egginerhorn (S.E. aréte), Weisshorn. 1923: Piz Tschierva, Piz Morteratsch, Piz Roseg, Piz Bernina. Ho.LuineswortH, J. H.—1923: See Roberts, W. M. Horr, R. P—1920: Grand Muveran, Wildstrubel, Wildhorn, Diablerets, Pointe d’Arpitetta, Le Blanc de Moming. Irvine, R. L. G.—1920: Fenétre de Saleinaz, Col du Chardonnet, Pigne d’Arolla, Dent Perroc, Mont Collon, Za, Ruinette, S. Aig. Rouges. 1922: Dent Perroc (W. ridge), Mont Blanc de Seilon (tr.), Aig. de Zallion (by W. ridge), Mont Collon, Pte. des Genevois, Dent Perroc, Dent d’Hérens, La Maya, Col de Seilon. 1923: Col de Miage, Aig. Noire de Peuteret, nameless col on Glacier des Glaciers, Col de Trélatéte, Mont Blanc (from Dome Hut), Grand Flambeau and Col du Géant. JARDINE, J. W.—1920 and 1922: see under Courtauld,S.L. 1921: Matterhorn, Aig. Dorées. Kirkpatrick, W. T.—See under Hope, R. P. Lams, R.—1921: Allalinpass, Matterhorn (Zmutt), Ulrichshorn. LinDsELL, P. B.—1920: Riffelhorn (Matterhorn Couloir), Ebihorn, Siidlenzspitz—Nadelhorn, Petersgrat, Lauterbrunnen-Breithorn, Gamchiliicke, Gross Fiescherhorn, Griinhornliicke, Oberaar- joch, Strahlegg, Higer. 1921: Diablerets, Wildhorn, Wild- strubel—Grosstrubel, Nord End, Weisshorn. 1922: Damma- stock—Schneestock—Eggstock, Kiulchlistock (tr.), Giglistock (tr.), Sustenhorn, Fleckistock (tr.), Grosse Windgalle, Gross Scheerhorn, Todi (by S. face), Clariden Pass and Stock, Diissistock (tr.), Piz Giuf, Piz Ner. Linc, W. N.—1920: Cime de Belletz, Monte Pelaou, Balcon de Gelas, Col Emile Pic, Col du Sélé, Meije (tr.), Dome de Miage, Aig. de Béranger. 1921: Bietschhorn (W. grat), Petit Gré- pillon, attempt Grd. Jorasses (glacier impossible), Lyskamm (Perazzi aréte), Vincent Pyramid— Punta Gnifetti—Zumsteinsp. —Grenz— Dufourspitz. 1922: Elsighorn (ski), Allalinhorn, Mittaghorn, Seewinenhorn, Egginer (S. wall), Adler, Dom (summit ridge—storm). 1923: Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr.), Aig. Rouges (tr.), Col de Collon, Dent d’Hérens, Theéodule. LonestaFF, T. G.—1921: West Spitsbergen—Tr. of Mt. Terrier, circa 3600 ft., 244 hours; sledge expedition up Nordenskidld Glacier, across divide, circa 3000 ft., down Oxford Glacier, re- turning by same route. 1922: Everest Expedition. 1923:

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Record of Expeditions. 11 Rueval (summit of Benbecula), 409 ft., Bird Mountain (Dirkses Bay, Spitsbergen), Fifth Aréte Des Fonds, Sixt. McLean, W. W.—1922: Bec de l’Homme, Grande Ruine, Col d’Arsine, Pic de Neige Cordier, Col des Ecrins, Bréche de la Meije, Col de Bertol, Col de Seilon, Mont Blanc de Seilon, Col du Chardonnet, Col d’Etala, Petits Charmoz, Aig. de 1M, Gite des Charmoz, Aig. du Tacul, Blaitiére, Col des Grands Montets, Aig. d’Argentiére. 1923: Rothorn, Matterhorn (as far as shoulder), Col des Grands Montets. Matiory, G. L.—1921 and 1922: Everest Expeditions. MaRKBREITER, C. G.—1923: Pointe d’Orny, Pigne, Bouquetin, Aiguille de la Za, Perroc, Ruinette, Aiguilles Rouges, Col d’Hérens, Matterhorn, Zinal Rothorn (tr.), Triftjoch, Matter- horn, Petersgrat, Bietschhorn (up N. ridge, down W. ridge), Furggengrat—Breithorn, Chateau des Dames, Becca de Guin— Pta. Sella, Matterhorn (Breuil to Schwarzsee in one day). MeapgE, C. F.—1920: Pte. Ouest de la Partie, Gde. Casse and Pte. des Grands Couloirs, Ptes. de la Gliére Ouest and Est, Aig. de Plassas and May, Pte. de I’Kchelle, 3 Ptes. de Polsets, Pte. Bouchet and Pte. Renod, Aig. Doran and Rateau, 2 Ptes. de Peclet and Aig. de Polset, Ptes. de la Partie Centrale and Occidentale, Aig. de Corneiller. 1921: Aig. du Plat de la Selle, Roche de la Muselle, Sommet des Rouies, Aig. des Arias, Pic Coolidge, Les Bans. 1923: Oberrothhorn, Stockhorn. Mep.teEy, J. F.—1921: Aiguilles de |’Allée, Besso (W. aréte). 1922: Up Vuibez Glacier with return to Arolla by Piéce | Glacier, Diablons (N. side), Pigne de ]’Allée, Bouquetin. 1923: Cols de Bertol, de Bricolla and de l’Allée, Zinal Rothorn (tr.), Portiengrat, Mittag—Egginer Grat, Grands Charmoz. MonTaGniER, H. F.—1920: Cime de l’Est, Col de la Fenétre de Soix (between the Cathédrale and the Epéron), Cathédrale and Forteresse, Grand Combin (tr. from Valsorey to Panossiére), Mont Ruan, Wildstrubel. 1921: Cime de l’Est, Doigt, Col du Pissoir (from the Col de Balme to the Dupuis Hut), Grande Fourche, Aig. Javelle, Portalet, Tour Salliéres, Wasenhorn, Allalinpass, Wellenkuppe, Monte Rosa, Dent Blanche, Haute Cime. 1922: Grand Muveran, Haute Cime, Epeéron, Col de la Dent Jaune, Col de la Fenétre de Soix, Déme de la Tour Salliéres, Pic de Tanneverge. 1923: Haute Cime, Cime de Est, Tour Salliéres, Cime de Est, Ruinette, Col de Bertol (from Arolla to Zermatt by the Wandfluh), Titlis. MontacuE, C. E.—1923: Roc des Plines (by Orny Glacier, de- scending by Trient Glacier), Aiguilles Dorées (tr.). Montanpon, P.—1920: Grépon and Requin (with Knubel); Siidliches-Mittleres-Baltschiederhorn (first ascent)—Baltschie- derturm (first ascent), tr. of whole aréte on Aug. 27, 1920, with Knubel (these Horner are the summits in the rocky chain between Gredetschliicke and Gredetschh6rnli) ; Stockhorn

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12 Record of Expeditions. (Baltschieder) by its E. wall (new), and variant of descent made on July 14, 1918, with F. Lauper, F. Triner and O. Koenig, through the most northerly of the four rock gullies, on the N.E. of Hobitzo; tr. Aiguilles Remuaz—Encrenaz—Martin and Perséverance (Aig. Rouges de Chamonix) with Knubel; Hohjagiburg and Vorderspitze (Engelhérner), Aiguilles Pourrie (tr.) and de Floriaz (alone); Chemifluh, near Boltigen, a quite small peak, but offering a fine climb. 1921: Grand and Petit Drus; tr. with Knubel, Wylerhorn—Kastlerhorn—Hob- gleifen—Strahlhorn—Drillinge (first ascent)—Wannehorn— Jjollital (tr. of whole aréte with Knubel, Oct. 11, 1921), Bietsch- horn, Rinderhorn, Beichgrat, Ferden Rothorn (tr.), Aig. du Bel- védeére and Crochue (alone), Klein Nesthorn (with Knubel), Aigs. Supérieures & Bochard (two summits—alone), Pte. de Tourte- magne (tr.), Meidenhorn, Ginanzhorn. 1922: Piz Quatervals, Schwalmeren (N.W. aréte), Pizzo Curciusa and aréte to Pizzo Bianco Westpeak (alone), Pizzi Vigone and Rotondo (Bernardino —alone), Pizzo Cavriolo (N.E. peak—alone), Tennhorn, Zap- porthorn (S.E. aréte, up and down same way). 1923: Vorder Jaigihorn, 3416 m. (Baltschieder), descent over S.E. aréte (new), a long and very grand aréte (abseiled five times—cf. Alpina, Feb. 15, 1924), Hiillehorn, Strahlhorn (Baltschieder) alone, Monte Ingino (Apennines), and many other small summits in Switzerland. MorHERSILL, H. J.—1922 : Piz Lagrev (see under Wilson, C.). Mumm, A. L.—1920: Mount Assiniboine ; from Field to camp at foot of Freshfield Glacier by Amiskwi and Howse Passes ; Mt. Freshfield; camped in Forbes Creek with a view to attempting Mt. Forbes, but the weather broke ; went down the Saskatchewan as far as the Kootenay Plains and then up White Rabbit Creek ; crossed a low pass to the Sheep River, camped near the head of the Sheep River Valley, visiting most of the neighbouring valleys in search of wild sheep, and ascending on Sept. 8 a remarkably fine-view point on right side of the main valley ; returned to Lake Louise by Clear- water and Pipestone Creeks. 1921: Wasenhorn, Allalinpass, Wellenkuppe, Dent Blanche, Dent du Midi. 1922: Leda, Castor and Pollux (Selkirk range) (tr.), Fujiyama, Ariake San, Tsubakuro (N. Japanese Alps), High Level walk to foot of Yari- ga-take, Ascent of Otenjo. 1923: Glacier Déme, Mount Annette, ascended Mount Hamilton to within 50 or 60 ft. below summit, turned back because of extreme violence of the wind (all New Zealand Alps), Col de Bertol, Téte Blanche, Col d’Hérens, Titlis. Newron, H. E.— 1920: S. Aiguille d’Arves, Pic Coolidge, Meije (tr.), Bréche de la Meije, Rateau, Aiguille de I’M and Petits Charmoz (up by Créte des Charmoz and down by Nantillons Glacier), Grands Charmoz (tr.), attempts made on the Grande Ruine,

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_ Record of Expeditions. 18 Les Agneaux, Grand Dru, Les Périades and Mont Mallet. 1921: Allalinpass, Matterhorn (Zmutt), Ulrichshorn, Strahl- horn, Wyttenwasserstock, Pizzo Rotondo (descent to All’ Acqua), Blindenhorn to Binn, Helsenhorn and Ritterpass to Alpe Veglia, Monte Leone to Simplon, Dom. 1922: Grande Casse, Tsanteleina, Ruitor, Col du Géant, Col du Géant, Col d’Herbetet, Grand Paradis, Cols de Moncorvé, de Torre, de Sia (to Ceresole), E. Levanna. 1923: Gross Spannort, Titlis, Weiss Nollen, Eggstock and Dammastock, Galenstock, Finsteraarhorn, Griinhornliicke, Ménch, Jungfrau from Guggi. Norton, HE. F.—1922: Everest Expedition. O’Brien, E.—1923: Siidlenzsp. (from Mischabel Hut) and Dom, Laquinhorn (tr. asc. S. aréte), Egginer—Mittaghorn (desc. N.W. ridge, with two nieces aged 18 and 22—‘ their first rock climb °). : O’Mattey, B. F. K.—1920: Aig. Meridionale d’Arves, Pic Coolidge, Meije (tr.), Rateau, Aig. de lM and Petits Charmoz, Drus (tr. from Grand to Petit), Grepon (tr.), Velan (tr.). 1921: Fletsch- horn (tr.), Weissmies, Allalinhorn, Matterhorn (up Zmutt ridge), Ulrichshorn, Strahlhorn, Realp—Rotondo Hut—Wytten- wasserstock—Rotondo Hut—Passo Rotondo—Pizzo Rotondo —AIl’ Acqua—Corno Hut—Blindenhorn—Siedelrothorn Pass— Mittlenbergen Pass—Binn—Helsenhorn—Ritter Pass—Veglia Alp—Passo d’Avino—Monte Leone—Simplon, Dom. 1922: Dome and Aig. du Polset, Grande Casse, Grande Motte, Tsanteleina, Col de Tsanteleina, Col de Bassac Deré Sud, Ruitor, Col de l’Herbetet, Grand Paradis, Col du Moncorvé and Col de la Tour, E. Levanna, Grande Aiguille Rousse, W. Levanna. 1923: Gross Spannort, Titlis, Weissnollen—LKgg- stock—Dammastock, Galenstock, Finsteraarhorn, Mdénch, Jungfrau (from Guggi). OsLER, J. A.—1920: Mount Assiniboine, Mount Temple, Mount Aberdeen (va Saddleback, descending to Victoria Glacier), Abbot Pass, Duchesnay and Dennis Passes, Mount Abbot, Mount Afton, Mount Avalanche, Mt. Sir Donald (by N.W. aréte, descending by chimney route on 8. face). 1922: Déme de Chasseforét, Pointe de la Gliére, Pointe de Lessiéres and Lac d’Ouglietta, Col de Bailletta and Dome de Val d’Isére, Grande Sassiére (all these expeditions with Mrs. Osler). Parker, J. A.—1921: In Pyrenees—Centres Luchon and Rencluse. Ascents made: Pic de Céciré, Pic de Sauvegarde, Pic de lEntécade, Pic de Néthou, Pic d’Albe, Pics Occidentaux (from Rencluse to Vénasque). Note—Spent four nights at the new chalet at Rencluse (opened in 1916) and found it very comfortable. 1922: In Pyrenees—Centres Arreau, Fabian and Baréges. Ascents made: Créte du Moudang, Pic du Midi de Bigorre. 1923: In Pyrenees—Centres Gavarnie,

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14 Record of Expeditions. Ordesa, Orrédon and Luz. Ascent: Pic du Taillon from Ordesa to Gavarnie. Passes crossed: Port de Gavarnie, Bréche de Roland, Port de Pinéde to Bielsa, Port de Bielsa and Col d’Aubert. Pearce, 8. L.—1921: Titlis, Kl. and Gr. Spannort, Breithorn. 1922: Nadelhorn (from Mischabel Hut), Filetschhorn (by Jagigrat), Mittaghorn (N.W. aréte)—Egginergrat—Egginer- horn, Wellenkuppe, Pte. de Zinal. 1923: Jungfrau, Ménch (tr. by W. and S.E. arétes), Finsteraarhorn, Hinter and Gross Fiescherhorn, Portjengrat, Siidlenzspitz, Allalinhorn, Matterhorn. Pickarp, R.—1921: Tsanteleina, S. Aiguille d’Arves. 1922: Cimone della Pala, Grohmannspitze, Croda da Lago, Kleine Zinne. 1923: Norway (bad weather). Picou, A. C.—1920: Dome de Miage, Aiguille de Béranger, Mont Tondu (tr.), Les Périades (tr.), Tour Noire, Mont Velan (by W. ridge), Rothorn, Rimpfischhorn, Riffelhorn (Matterhorn Couloir), Matterhorn. 1921: Mont Tondu, Col du Mont Tondu, Tsanteleina, Grande Sassiére (tr.), Pointe du Grand Loydon, Tour Noire, Col du Géant, Traverse of Aiguilles Dorées (omitting Aiguille Javelle, descent by Fenétre de Saleinaz), Aiguille du Chardonnet and Col du Perron, Grands Charmoz (N. to S.), Grand Dru, Grépon tr. (‘the Mummery chimney being full of ice, we went up very steep slabs on Mer de Glace face ’)—[route first followed by Sir G. Morse, led by U. and H. Almer]. No guide was taken except for the Grépon. 1922: Bec de !Homme, Grande Ruine, Pic de Neige Cordier, Col Emile Pic, Col des Ecrins, Bréche de la Meije, Col d’Hérens, Mont Blanc de Seilon and Col de Seilon, Col du Chardonnet, Petits Charmoz (from Col d’Etala), Aiguille du Tacul, Blaitiére, Col des Grands Montets, Aiguille d’Argentiére, Col du Géant, Cols de la Seigne and du Mont Tondu, tr. of Aiguille de Béranger and Déme de Miage to Col de Miage, Grands Charmoz (with P. J. Baker), Dent du Geant (with J. H. Clapham). 1923: Sparrhorn and Hohstock, Matterhorn Couloir on Riffelhorn, tr. of Matterhorn to Breuil, Dent du Requin, Rothorn, Mont Blanc. Porter, H. E. L.—See under Bicknell, R., 1920 to 1923, except Rothorn. PriestmMan, H.—1920: Sgurr nan Gillean, Sgurr Thuilm, Sgurr na h-Uamha, Sgurr Sgumain, Sgurr Alasdair, Bidein Druim nan Ramh. 1921: Sgurr na h-Uamha, Sgurr nan Gillean, Bruach na Frithe, Sgurr na Stri, Biden Druim nan Ramh. 1922: Bruach na Frithe, Sgurr na h-Uamha, Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr nan Gillean by pinnacle ridge, Sgurr a Mhadaidh. 1923: Meal Dearg, Sgurr Banachdich, Sgurr Dubh, Garsbheinn. Reape, H. V—1920: L’Innominata (up from near Col du Fresnay, down S. face), Aiguille de Taléfre (from S.E.), Aiguille de

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Record of Expeditions. 15 Triolet (ascent by HE. face from Glac. de Pré de Bar, descent by W. ridge and couloir to Glaz. de Triolet), Matterhorn (from Breuil to Schwarzsee), Zinal Rothorn, Triftjoch, over Trifthorn. Roserts, E. E.—1920: Tour Noire, Aiguilles Marbrées, Aiguille du Géant, Petite Aig. Verte, Charmoz (S. summit). 1921: Laquinhorn (by 8S. ridge), Siidlenzspitze and Nadelhorn, Rimpfischhorn (by N. ridge), Dom and Taschhorn (from Dom Hut to Mischabeljoch, descent to Saas Fee; time 18} hours), Adler, Jagerhorn, Breithorn. 1922: Pic de la Grave, Roc Noir, Grande Ruine, Col du Clot des Cavales, Col de la Temple, Col de Vallouise, Pic de Neige Cordier, Pic d’Arsine, Grandes Rousses S. summit (by N. ridge). 1923: Sella Turm III, Langkofeleck, Fiinffingerspitze, Tofana de Roces (S. wall), Tofana di Mezzo, Tofana di Fuori, Antelao, Sorapis, Grohmann- spitze, Winklerturm, Gross Murfreitspitze (to within a short distance from the top, too late in the day. A puzzling route if dangerous passages are avoided). Rosperts, W. M.—1920: MRochers de Bellavarde, Pointe de la Sana, Aiguille de la Sassiére, Tsanteleina, Rochers de Génépy, Col du Géant, Mont Blanc. 1921: Jagerhorn, Breithorn—kKl. Matterhorn, Ruinette, Petite Dent de Veisivi. 1922: See Roberts, E. E. 1923: Weissmies, Feejoch, Parrotspitze, Signalkuppe—Zumsteinsp.—Dufoursp., Lauterbrunnen-Breit- _ horn (attempt), Matterhorn (to Solvay Hut). Rupvotr, M. E.—1923: Finffingerspitze, Grohmannspitze (Fistil- weg), Marmolata (up S. face, took chimney on left of centre chimney at Einstieg), Torrone Orientale (tr.), Cleopatra’s Needle (by N. face). Runece, H.—1920: Leiterspitze and Leitergrat (tr.), Aiguilles Rouges d’Arolla (tr.), Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr.), Col de la Téte Blanche, Trifthorn—Rothorngrat—Zinal Rothorn, Dent Blanche (descent by W. aréte). 1922: Fisistécke—Montagnier- spitz, Pointe Genevoise and Dent Perroc (tr.). Za (by face), Oeschinenjoch, Wellenkuppe — Obergabelhorn — Arbenjoch, Monte Leone. 1923: 4 Fiinffingerstécke, Gwichtenhorn and Sustenhorn (tr.), Galenstock, Rossbodenpass, Allalinpass. Sepewick, H. J.—1922: Ober-Gabelhorn and Wellenkuppe (tr.), Taschhorn. 1923: Rimpfischhorn, Matterhorn, Pointe de Zinal, Col Durand, Zinal Rothorn (tr.), Dent Blanche. SHADBOLT, L. G.—WSee Bicknell, R., 1920, 1921 (down to Aig. du Géant), 1923 (Oberland only). SLaTER, EK. V.—1920: Aiguilles Rouges de Chamonix, Charmoz (tr.), Grépon (tr.), Pt. 3535 S.E. of Col Infranchissable, Allalin- pass, Mischabeljoch, Matterhorn (tr.). 1921: Helsenhorn, Geisspfadspitze, Hohsand Pass, Dufourspitze, Langspitze— Nadelhorn—Stecknadelhorn, Wellenkuppe, Col de Valpelline, Dent d’Hérens, Col du Mont Brilé, Aiguilles Rouges d’Arolla. 1922: Gross and Wildstrubel, Bliimlisalphorn, Gspaltenhorn,

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16 Record of Expeditions. Gamchiliicke, Jungfrau (from Rottal), Wetterhorn, Schreck- horn (ascent N.W. aréte). 1923: Rossbodenpass, Laquin- horn (by S. aréte), Strahlhorn, Adler, Parrotspitze—Ludwigs- héhe—Schwarzhorn—Balmenhorn— Vincent Pyramide, Lysjoch, Dom, Eiger, Strahlegg, Galenstock. StinesBy, WM. CEciLt.—1921: Visit to Horunger Group and the Dovrefjelde (with Mr. Schjelderup and Mrs. G. W. Young). Much bad weather. SoLLy, G. A.—1921: Mt. Tondu, Aig. de Béranger, Aig. du Moine, Col du Géant, Aig. du Géant, Grépon (tr.). 1922: Vuibez Icefall and Col de Vuignette, Mischabeljoch, Cols d’Herens and de Bertol, La Luette (ascent by Lendarey Glacier—possibly new route), Combin de Corbassiére, Col des Maisons Blanches. 1923 : Dent Perroc, Cols de Seilon, de Giétroz and des Otanes, Grand Combin, Za, Mittaghorn—Egginerhorn aréte, Feejoch, Adler. SoMERVELL, T. H.—1921: Colle Perduto, Punta Rosa dei Banchi, Grivola, Ciarforon (by W. ridge), Grand Paradis, Becca di Monciair (by S. ridge), Cresta Gastaldi (by S. face—first ascent), Roc di Gd. Paradis (tr.), Tresenta, Ciarforon (by N.E. ridge— tr.), Aig. du Geant, Mont Blanc (from Sella Hut), Greépon, Laquinhorn, Siidlenzspitze and Nadelhorn (tr.), Allalinhorn, Rimpfischhorn (by N. ridge), tr. of Dom (by W. ridge) and Taschhorn to Mischabeljoch and Saas, tr. of Weissmies. by N. ridge from Weissmies Hotel and along ridge of Portjengrat (ref. ‘A.J.’ xxxiv. 280 seg. for details). 1922: Everest Expedition. 1923: Kl. Zinne, Croda da Lago (Pompanin- kamin), Fiinffingerspitze, Third Sellaturm, Rosetta (W. face), Cimone della Pala (descent Travignolo Glacier), Sass Maor (Neruda’s route)—Cima della Madonna, Winklerturm—Stabeler- turm, Langkofel (N.E. ridge), Zahnkofel, Cinque Torri, K1. Schreckhorn, Eiger, Ménch, Jungfrau, Schreckhorn, Finster- aarhorn, Aletschhorn, Bietschhorn, Weisshorn (Schalligrat)— Gabelhorn—Wellenkuppe. SPENCER, S.—1920: Wellenkuppe, Adler Pass, Obergabelhorn, Untergabelhorn. 1921: Egginergrat, Portiengrat (tr.), Stelli- horn (tr.), Gemshorn and Ulrichshorn, Untergabelhorn, Riffelhorn (from Glacier). 1922: Roussette, Col and Pte. de Bricolla, Pigne and Col de |’Allée, Frilijoch. STEVENS, E. H.—1920: La Tournette (Annecy), Aiguille de la _ Vanoise, Rocher de Plessas, Aiguille de Mey, Col de la Grande Casse, Col de la Galise. 1921: Grivola. 1922: Diavolezza, Piz Chalchagn, Piz Corvatsch, Piz Tschierva, Disgrazia, Piz Badile. 1923: Walks and small scrambles in Brenta Group. Strutt, E. L.—1921: Aiguille de Méan Martin, Bessanese, Albaron (direct descent down cliffs to Vallonet Glacier—remarkable route), Col d’Iseran, Col du Greffier—Selle d’Albaron—Col de Chalanson (first crossing), Ciamarella, Col des Roches—Col de

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Record of Expeditions. 17 la Rocheuse—-Entre-deux-Haux—Col de la Vanoise (about 10 hours’ actual walking), Grande Casse, Pointe de la Gliére, Col du Souffre—Col Peéclet—N. and S. peaks of Aiguille du Péclet—three peaks of Aiguille du Polset (total expedition of 74 hours), Pointe de l’Echelle (N. aréte), Aiguille de Lépéna (strange peak which requires great care), Dome du Gotiter— Mont Blanc (from Téte Rousse), Grands Charmoz (tr. N. to S.), Col du Passon, Aiguille du Tour, Col du Tour. 1922: Everest Expedition. 1923: Gde. Casse by N. face (descent ord. route), Pointe de la Gliére. Symons, H., Toe Late.—1921: Pointe de la Gliére, Col de la Roche Blanche, Colle Perduto, Roisebanque (first ascent by S. ridge), Colle della Nera, Grivola (by S8.E. face), Col S. de V’Herbetet, Ciarforon (tr.), Becca di Monciair (tr.), Grand Paradis, Cresta Gastaldi (tr.; first ascent by S. face), Roc del Paradiso, Aiguille du Géant. TALLERMAN, K.—1923: Bliimlisalphorn, Gspaltenhorn, Tschingel- horn, Schreckhorn, Aiguille du Chardonnet (tr.), Grands Charmoz (tr.). Tromp, C.—1921: Klein Schreckhorn, Gross and Hinter Fiescher- horn, Dom—Taschhorn (tr.). 1922 : Laquinhorn (tr.), Weiss- mies (tr.), Nadelhorn—Stecknadelhorn— Hohberghorn—Diirren- horn, Signalkuppe—Zumsteinspitze—Ostgipfel—-Dufourspitze. 1923: Pollux—Castor—Felikhorn, Vincent Pyramide, Balmen- horn — Schwarzhorn — Ludwigshohe — Parrotspitze, Alphubel, Lyskamm (defeated by storm). Tucker, H. Scotr.—1920 : Combin de Corbassiére, Grand Combin, Aiguilles de la Maison Blanche (? new climb), Pigne d’Arolla, several passes, Mont Collon, Aiguilles Rouges d’Arolla. 1921: Pointe de Bricolla, Grand Cornier, Dent Blanche (to within 500 ft. of summit—bad weather), Allalinpass, Weissmies, Neu Weissthorspitze, Rimpfischhorn. VERNON, R. V.—1920: Pelaou Blanc, Pte. de Méan Martin, Gde. Motte, Cime de la Vache, Cime d’Oin, Col de la Galise, Col d’Agnel, Col d’Entrelor. 1922: Madonna di Campiglio. Nothing, owing to bad weather. 1923: Passo di Venerocolo, Passo Presena, Bocca di Tuckett, Bocca di Brenta, Cima di Grosté, Presanella, Pietra Grande, Lovchen (Montenegro). Wa ker, J. O.—1919-20: Adam’s Peak and Pedrotallagalla, Ceylon ; sundry jaunts in hills of Malay Peninsula and Dar- jeeling ; Matopposand Table Mountain. 1923: Aig. de Polset, Col de Chaviére, Pointe de |’Kchelle, Dent Parrachée, Grande Casse, Grande Motte, Grande Sassiére, Tsanteleina, Col and Signal d’Iseran, Charmoz, Moine, Col du Géant, Aig. du Midi. WESTERN, G. T.—1921: Combin de Corbassiére, Col de Seilon, Petite Dent de Veisivi (tr.), La Roussette (tr.), Mont Blanc de Seilon (tr.), Za, Dent Blanche, Wellenkuppe, Rothorn, Dom, Weisshorn, Untergabelhorn (tr.). 1922: Mittaghorn and

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18 Record of Expeditions. Egginer, Stellihorn, Egginer, Sonnegrat, Siidlenzspitze and Nadelhorn (tr.), Adler, Cols d’Hérens and de Bertol, Mont Collon (tr.), La Luette, Mont Pleurer and la Salle from Arolla to Fionnay. Wuiams, H. R.—1920: Petite Dent de Veisivi, Mont Collon (tr.), Col de la Dent Blanche, Zinal Rothorn (tr.), Col d’Hérens. 1922: Totenkirchl (Kaiser Geb.), Olperer (W. aréte), Winkler, Stabeler and Delago Tiirme, Rosengarten Spitz (ascent by K. face). Wituramson, O. K.—1920: Wellenkuppe, Mischabeljoch (Zermatt side only), Taschhorn (from Mischabeljoch—descent to Dom- joch, thence down to Randa), Wellenkuppe—Obergabelhorn (descent by Arbenjoch). 1922: Majuba, Mont aux Sources. Wiuuink, H. G.—1923: Sleoch, Suilven. Wiis, W. A.—See under Wilson, C., 1920-22, and under Farrar, 1921. Witson, C.—1920: Three expeditions among the little-known and chamois-infested peaks at the northern end of the Aiguilles Rouges, and some half-dozen in the main chain—including a traverse of the Periades and an ascent of the Aig. du Char- donnet from Lognan. No guides were employed, but the party was accompanied on most occasions by Miss Overton, Miss F. Wills and Mr. Gerald Wills. 1921: Some half-dozen expeditions in the Oberland, including an ascent of the Wetter- horn (with Miss F. Wills)—and the passage of the seldom made and very interesting Gwachtenjoch—from the Gleckstein to the Baregg. 1922: Traversed the Cima del Largo and Piz Bacone, and made a few passes and other minor expeditions in the Bregaglia Group. Bad weather greatly interfered with plans. The first recorded ascent of Piz Lagrev by the W. face (see ‘A.J.’ xxxv. p. 293). 1923: II Gallo (with Ch. Klucker) and the Ago di Sciora (with Klucker and E. H. F. Bradby), besides other minor expeditions. : WyrsercH, C. H—1920: Aiguilles Rouges d’Argentiére, Aiguille du Plan, Déme de Rochefort (from Géant Inn), Grépon, Lyskamm. 1921: Buet (winter). 1922: Bric Bouchet, Roche Taillante, Pelaou Blanc, Monte Viso, Meije (tr.), Aiguille Méridionale d’Arves. 1923: Gspaltenhorn, Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn, Picacho de Veleta (Sierra Nevada). — YELD, G.—1921: Col du Grand Paradis, Punta Inferno (11,129 ft.). Youne, S—1920: Ménch, Laquinhorn, Portiengrat, Windjoch, Ulrichshorn (tr.), Weisshorn (by Schalligrat). 1921: Aiguille de I’M, Petits Charmoz, Aiguille du Moine, Mont Blanc (from Téte Rousse), Belvédére, Grands Charmoz (tr.), Aig. de Floriaz, Col du Passon, Col du Tour. 1922: Gspaltenhorn (tr.), Castor, Rimpfischhorn (from Adler), Wellenkuppe, Ober Gabelhorn (down by Arben Glacier), Pointe de Zinal, Lyskamm (tr. Lys to Felikjoch).

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NOTE. No general attempt has been made to discriminate between ‘ guided ’ and ‘ guideless’ climbers. The absence of a professional guide in a party by no means renders every member of it ‘ guideless.’ Moreover, the names of the competent leaders of an expedition are well known in the Club. J. P. Farrar. April 1924. Printed in England at THE BALLANTYNE PRESS SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & Co. LTp. Colchester, London & Eton

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Vou. XXXVI. MAY 1924. No. 228. ALPINE JOURNAL: A RECORD OF MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION. BY MEMBERS OF THE ALPINE CLUB. EDITED BY GEORGE YELD AND J. P. FARRAR. Contents. eae I, THE OONQUEST OF MT. EVEREST. By D. W. FRESHFIELD oe as ee 1 IU. A MIXED BAG. By A. L. MuMM. (With Ilustrations) = . 13 Im. CLIMBING IN THE BREGAGLIA. By CLAUDE Wilson. (With Dlustrations) 25 IV. LE OOL DIT INFRANOHISSABLE. By R. W. LioyD. (With Illustrations) -- 88 V. JUNGFRAU FROM WENGEERN ALP. SCHALLIGRAT AND OTHER ee IN 1938. By BR. P. BIOKNELL. (With Dlustrations). Se 45 VL baat AGO rio TORRONE haar paeige eg By N, 8. Foes, CWwith Vil. THE ® OBVIOUS PASSES AOROSS THR WESTRRN BND oF THE MONT BLANO RANGE. By R. L. G. Invine. (With Tlustrations) VII. THE GRANDES ROUSSES. By W.M.ROBEBT3 .. .. .. .. 2. 76 IX. THE DAUPHINN IN 1922. By OnaRLESH. BROOK .. 3 .. .. «ws iwars'_—s 89 X. OLASSIO COLS. By J. P. FARRAR. (With Illustrations) .. 83 XI. CLIMBS IN THE MALIGNE LAKE DISTRICT, NORTHERN CANADIAN ROOKIES. a birielraae PALMER (Vice-President American ae on) lace Tlustrations and Maps 98 XI. THE PANORAMA FROM MT. COLUMBIA, 13, ‘994 FT. (SECOND ELEVATION : ROCKY MOUNTAINS OF aR LL AS By. J. MONROE acaaieiak (With Mlustrations) : 116 XIIL MT. OLEMBNCEAU—NORTHERN CANADIAN ROOKIES. By H. ‘8. DE VILLIERS-SCHWAB. (With Illustrations) ie ; 121 XIV. THE AMERIOAN MEMBERS OF THE ALPINE OLUB .. .. |.) y40 XV. OLYMPIO PRIZE FOR ALPINE CLIMBING . tie! tue 8. Md, abr dal XVL IN MEMORIAM... se ws ee 148 THOMAS GEORGE BONNEY. HENRY TUKE MENNELL. EDWARD NORTH BUXTON. WILLIAM ALFRED WILLS. XVII. NEW EXPEDITIONS Se i, ak EN Ue ee ee XVI. ALPINE NOTES... «www eee weet 5B XIX. HIMALAYAN NOTES ee ee ae oe a 7 XX. NEW ZEALAND NOTES .. .. ww usec BS XXI. CANADIAN NOTES . Sy; ag ay. ohn ie «OR, ee XXIL REVIEWS... a ee ee ee eee XXII PHOTOGRAPHIO BXHIBITION . re re ee a et eee XXIV. A.O. LIBRARY... ee a? a re | XXV. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALPINE CLUB .. .. .. 2.) 2) 2 aga TO BE CONTINUED. Notices for the next Number, which will appear in November, 1924, should be sent to The Editors, Alpine Club, 23 Savile Row, London, W.1, as early as possible, and not later than September, 15, 1924, LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. 89 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON; NEW YORK, TORONTO, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS; and sold by EDWARD STANFORD, L7p,, 12, 13 and 14 Long Acre, London, W.C. 2 Price Ten Shillings and Sixpence Net. ] [All rights reserved.

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UNION BANK | OF SWITZERLAND Union de Banques Suisses. Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft ST.GALL - ZURICH -+ WINTERTHUR Aarau, Baden, Basle, Berne, La Chaux- de-Fonds, Flawil, Fleurier, Frauenfeld, Geneva, Laufenburg, Lausanne, Lich- tensteig, Liestal, carno, Lugano, Montreux, Rapperswil, Rorschach, Riti, Vevey, Wil, Wohlen. Personal Service and Information at the disposal of Travellers Capital, fully paid, Frs. 70,000,000 Reserves ae Frs. 16,000,000 Insist upon your Bankers giving you LETTER OF CREDIT and Personal Introduction to the UNION BANK OF SWITZERLAND Every facility afforded to travellers wishing to combine their holiday trip with forming business connections in Switzerland Cheques collected and banknotes exchanged at favourable rates

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ZERMATT (Valais) 1620 m. The famous Alpine resort at the foot of the MATTERHORN. Simplon Line (Orient Express). THE HOTELS SEILER (Each hotel under the personal management of a member of the SEILER FAMILY.) HOTEL MONT CERVI N BUFFET DE LA GARE (300 beds). Well appointed apartments with private baths. ‘ ABOVE ZERMATT— HOTEL VICTORIA (180 beds). Recently renovated, every comfort. H O T E E R I F F E L A L P HOTEL MONT -ROSE | __ (300 beds). Splendid position, highly (150 beds). Resort of the Alpine climber. recommended. HOTEL BEAU SITE|HOTEL DU LAC NOIR (120 beds). In a peaceful but superb position. (30 beds). Unsurpassed view. THE HOTELS SEILER, established in 1851, possess the highest reputation of any in the district. They give the maximum of comfort and advantages at minimum cost and offer terms to suit all purses. Perfection in service and cuisine. Tables supplied by own extensive farms. Interchange of meals. Daily concerts. Dancing. Tennis. BRANCH HOUSES—On the FURKA and GRIMSEL. Good roads open to motor cars. GLETSCH—HOTEL GLACIER DU RHONE. (300 beds). Most comfortable. GLETSCH-FURKA—HOTEL BELVEDERE. (90 beds). All modern conveniences. - For many years in the possession of the SEILER family of Zermatt. For tariff and grespectus abply to the Menager at Zermatt and Glatsch. FOSTER & CO. 33 ST.JAMES’S SQUARE, LONDON, S.W.1 123 HIGH STREET, OXFORD SPORTS OUTFITTERS CLUB COLOURS - BY APPOINTMENT The Scottish Ski Club ; Alpine Ski Club; Oxford University Ski Club ; Old Etonian Association; Harrow Association ; Old Carthusian Club ; Old Rugbeian Society ; Uppingham Association ; Old Malvernian Society ; Old Salopian Club ; Bradfield Old Boys I.Z., B.B., F.F., E.P.E.E.; St. Moritz Toboggan Club ; London and Leander ; Corinthians ; Casuals ; Butterflies; Blue Mantles, Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc. a DRESS SUITS A SPECIALITY

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LIST OF IDEAL ALPINE WEAR Underwear Ladies’ Knitted Sports Coats — Knitted Knickers Children’s Knitted Snow Suits Sweaters (Men's and Boys’) Knitted Scarfs Coat Sweaters Ski-Caps Cardigans(Men'sand Boys’) Knitted T Helanetas Tweed oe Knitted Gaiters Ski-Soc Puttees Ski-Anklets Boots and Shoes 352/54 OXFORD STREET, LONDON, W.1._ | 16 OLD BOND STREET, LONDON, W. ae EB JAEGER AGENTS IN EVERY TOWN. ASK FOR WINTER SPORTS BOOKLET EGGISHORN HOTEL JUNGFRAU (7,200 feet). 2'/2 hours above F jesch, Furka Railway. Excellent Centre for numerous Excursions — and Ascents. | Merjelen See, Concordia, Jungfrau, Finsteraarhorn, Aletschhorn, ete. ' Easy access to the J dt cien Railway. Admirably siciiated for prolonged stay. English Church. Post, Telegraph, of Telephone. ce) PENSION FROM FRANCS 11. eS R FAMILLE EMIL CATHREIN. a a weOUnet Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd., Printers, leer; "NCES Soate - s § her. |. on tL

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Vor. XXXVI. NOVEMBER 1924. No. 229. ALPINE JOURNAL: A RECORD OF MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION. BY MEMBERS OF THE ALPINE CLUB. EDITED BY GEORGE YELD AND J. P. FARRAR. L MESSAGE FROM HM. THE KING os se ee “ a és eo 105 Il. THE MOUNT EVEREST DESPATOHES ‘Ss .- 10 Il. JOINT MEBTING OF THE ALPINB CLUB AND OF THR B.G.8.: ° 241 THE ORGANISATION AND START OF THE cesarean By Brig. Gen. the Hon. 0. G. One 241 THE PERSONNSL OF THR EXPEDITION, By 1-0 ” Lt.-Col. B. F. Norrow . 344 THE JOURNEY THROUGH TIB ABLISHMENT OF THE HIGH OAMPS. By Oapt. ee cater 878 XxVI. J N MEMORIAM e ee ee ee e e ee LINDAELE, REGINALD HUGHES. PRP B G. H. LEIGH MALLORY. DIEGO CALVET. A. ©. IRVINE. BR. YON TSCHARNER. XVIL NRW BXPEDITIONS. (With Ilostrations) .. .. 00. enn, 888 XVI. VARIOUS RXPEDITIONS. (With lustmations) = .. 0... 3.17 08 xix. ALPINE NOTES ee ee ee ee ee ee ee 415 XxX. HIMALAYAN NOTES eo oe oe ee ee ee 419 XXI CANADIAN AND AMERICAN NOTES . oo ee oe ee oe eo 420 XXII. ALPINE ACCIDENTS ce ee oo ee oe ee ee 432 XXII, BREVIEWS ee ee ee ae ee ee ee ee ee 424 XXIV. THE ALPINE OLUB LIBRARY . oe - oe ae ee «. 481 XXV. PROOREDINGS OF THE ALPINE CLUB ee oe - ea oe ee 489 TO BE CONTINUED. Notices for the next Number, which will in May, 1928, should be sent to Editors, Alpine Club, 28 Savile » London, W.1, as early as possible, and not later than April, 1, 1925. LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. 89 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON; NEW YORK, TORONTO, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS; and sold by EDWARD STANFORD, Lr, 12, 18 and 14 Long Acre, London, W.C. 2 Price Twelve Shillings and Sixpence Net.] [Al rights reserved.

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‘UNION BANK OF SWITZERLAND Union de Banques Suisses. Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft ST.GALL - ZURICH - WINTERTHUR | Aarau, Baden, Basle, Berne, La Chaux- de-Fonds, Flawil, Fleurier, Frauenfeld, Geneva, Laufenburg, Lausanne, Lich- tensteig, Liestal, Locarno, Lugano, Montreux, Rapperswil, Rorschach, Riti, Vevey, Wil, Wohlen. Personal Service and Information at the disposal of Travellers Capital, fully paid, Frs. 70,000,000 Reserves :: 3: Frs. 16,000,000 Insist upon your Bankers giving you LETTER OF CREDIT and Personal Introduction to the UNION BANK OF SWITZERLAND Every facility afforded to travellers wishing to combine their holiday trip with forming business connections in Switzerland Cheques collected and banknotes exchanged at favourable rates — | Poo eee eee sunnnnannen$$t @ yw!

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oe Se lalallala allele be LiL iL LL) >> ae TT TPE TP PT TET TET PT W. BILL “ The Great Homespun Mart’’ has always specialized ; and, without exaggeration kept for a number of years one of the finest and largest stocks in the - British Isles of HOMESPUNS | CHEVIOTS - TWEEDS SCOTCH - IRISH -: WELSH | for SPORT, TRAVEL, & COUNTRY wear A otsit would prove this, or patterns would be sent if this ts not possible. | O04 One of the pioneers also of the crofter hand-knit Industries of FAIR ISLE and SHETLAND SWEATERS, JUMPERS, MUFFLERS, HOSIERY, ETC. SHSFSCSSHSHSCAAHCHSTEHSSAESAESASHTEHSHSTCAEHAHSHEHSTCSESTAFHCHHHSHSSSSTATEHEHESHOHSTESHHSSESSSBECeaS+e A large, interesting, and exclusive stock of the above, together with examples of the best hand-knitted IRISH Stockings and Socks, plain and fancy; and 4 splendid variety of travelling RUGS, TRISH & SCOTCH, ‘oni t ts to 42/-, can be _ inspected at the WAREHOU 31&29 GT. PORTLANDST. or Branch 93 NEW BOND STREET Ir. A: LANGHAM 426) LONDON [Established 1846] PE TT TT bo}4 $$ gaau naan eee Reena see oe eee EES SS 3 ag uy “re

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d 4d Wet oe cc. La v'a wv ov v— Cvane v vw VIA VAAL AVA Vea Va va va e ALPINE SPORTS LTD. | ree - 250 beds | *Parc Hotel, ~ 130 beds *Grand Hotel, MORGINS (Valais) - 124 beds : Belvedere Hotel, WENGEN - 140 beds C Palace Hotel, MALOJA (Engadine) - 300 beds "The Finest Hotel in Switzerland.’’ c MURREN, altitude 3600 feet; PONTRESINA, 6,000 feet; and pagent ¢ 4,500 feet on the North of the Alps, are all high enough to be assured of steady frost. ®The Hotels asterisked are reserved in the high season for the PUBLIC SCHOOLS ALPINE SPORTS CLUB—Hon. Secretary, Lt.-Cot. P. T. WESTMORELAND, 2 Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, London, W.1. Plans and particulars of the above Hotels may be obtained prom The Secretary 5 Bnisaigh © Gardens, London, N.W. 1 gs ’ : i ’ / t ? , ? r ig. aw ew AEGE Pure Wool THE Winter Sports Wear In addition to Jaeger Underwear which is the essential for your Health, call and see the Swiss outfits specially designed for your Comfort and Pleasure. You will be delighted with their smartness. wie wie i Ask for the Jaeger Winter Sports illustrated List 352/54 Oxford Street, London, W.1 16 Old Bond Street, London, W.1 There are Agents in every Town Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Lid., Printers, Colchester, London and Eton, 00gle

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GENERAL LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA—BERKELEY RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 18Apr6s/ Sp REC’D LD APR 11 1963 21 May’64B6 21-100m-1,’54(1887816) 476

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Digitized by Google

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This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. Google books https://books.google.com