The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-09-14 00:00:00

ASCENT OF MONT BLANC WITHOUT
GUIDES.

A correspondent writes to The Times :—" On Monday
September 2, Messrs. J. B. Coltrove, of Loughborough
and A. H. Cawood, of Rossall, ascended Mont Blanc
without guides from Chamounix. They started at
2.30 a.m. from the Grands Mulets, a hut in the
centre of the upper part of the Glacier des Bossons,
10,000 ft. above sea level, and, by the aid of a lantern,
reached the Grand Plateau in about three hours.
Thence, mounting to the base of the Bosse du Droma-
daire, they encountered a bitterly cold wind, but on
rising along the steep and narrow arete which consti-
tutes the Bosse they suffered less annoyance from the
wind, and were somewhat refreshed by the warmth
of the sun. Their wine, however, was completely
frozen, and remained in a solid state during the
remainder of the ascent, and until they had again
reached the Grand Plateau in their descent.
From the Dromadaire they continued up the steep
and narrow edge of the upper part of the mountain,
and reached the summit, 15,780 ft. above the sea, at
9.30. The top of the mountain consists of a narrow
ridge of snow about 100 or 150 yards long, very thin
towards its western extremity, but widening towards
the east. The centre of this ridge, which is a few
feet higher than the rest, forms the actual summit.
The view was magnificent; all the higher peaks of the
Oberland, Zermatt, and Dauphine mountains, as well
as those in the immediate neighbourhood, were clearly
discerned. Many of the valleys were, however, filled
with clouds; in fact, during the whole of the ascent
the level sea of clouds below, broken only by the
intrusion of a few of the higher peaks, formed by itself
a view amply repaying all the labour of the ascent.
The climate on the summit was so genial that the
travellers found they could have stayed there any length
of time without discomfort, except that their wine
refused to liquefy. After remaining some time
upon the summit, thoroughly enjoying the extensive
scenery, they descended by the same route, but were
much surprised on traversing the snow slopes between
the Grand Plateau and the Grands Mulets to find
how much more intricate and dangerous their track
was than it had .ippeared to them in the darkness of
early morning, for the greater part of their course
here lay amid enormous crevasses, often passing along
the upper lip of a yawning chasm on steep, hard snow,
in which a secure foothold could only be obtained by
use of the axe. The Grands Mulets were regained at
1.30 and Chamounix at about 5.30 the same evening.
Unfortunately, the cold wind had not been contented
with attacking the contents of the wine sacs, but
had also left more permanent souvenirs in frost-
bites on both of the feet of one of the gentle-
men. This feat of ascending Mont Blanc with-
out professional assistance has been accomplished but
twice previously, once by the three brothers Young,
one of whom lost his life in the attempt, and again by
a Scotchman, who successfully made the ascent, not
only without guides, but even without any companion.
Messrs. Cawood and Colgrove spent about ten days at
Chamounix in getting into proper condition for this
expedition, and they had neither of them been on this
mountain before they made this ascent. Two years
ago, in company with Mr. Oust, they ascended the
Matterhorn without guides, and during previous ex-
cursions in Switzerland they, by themselves, ascended
the Jungfrau, Grosse, Windgelfe, Oberalp Stock, and
Galenstock, and made two or three of the higher cols."