The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-05-18
Am Experience Among the GlaeIeru

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considered necessary by our countrymcn
We had acquired some experience in gla
cicr work, having assembled the Alitscl
Horn, whose summit had been reached
fnr the first time 10y an EngliShman, i;
member Of the Alpine Club, only two
months before. We made the ascent sue
s., s,sSfully, and were protid Of having beer
the second exploring pRfty to stand on its
lofty peak, nearly fourteen hundred feel
high. On that occasion We passed twC
whole days on the snow and glacier.
rtfncnber well the first glimpse had
into one Of those terrible crevasScs which
int rScct glaciers. Getting a guide tC
hold my hand, ! leaned over its pawnine
brink and gnzcd carefully into the faith.
omIess abyss. The two perpendicular
walls Of ice appeared to join together
about three hundred feet down; an ap.
pcnrance resulting from the conycxity ol
the crevassc. Usually, ! believe, the
great split ends only where the glacier
tourhcs the ground beneath.
No one who falls into one OF these
ever comes out alive" says one of our
guides. "Ycs." says another, "a man
once escaped aud still lives at the Grin
dclW aid; he was n chamOis hunter, and
when coming home alone over the glacier,
his foot slipped, and he was precipitated
into u crevassc. Ills fall was broken by
projecting lodges and blocks of ice; which,
however. gave way as he cluDg to them.
After falling three hundred feet he reached
the bottom Of the glacier, with leg and
arm broken. lie found hollow space
between the ground and the ice, through
which n stream Of water ran. Instinc-
lively nc followed its course; despite the
great pain he suffered, and after crawling
along for three hours, he found himself
freed from the glacier.
Ordinary crevasscs are from three to
eight feet wide at the top, bat the sides
approaching each other rapidly, so that q
man would be wetlged in between the two
walls Of ice long before he could reach the
bottom. And then, unless there should
be ropes at hand long enough and strong
enough. What an Nv tul death. An unfor-
tunate Russian gentleman persisted thus
in a crcvasse only last year, half frozen,
half squeezed to death, the heat Of his
body ever melting the ice, he ever sink
ing deeper and deeper into this dreadful
grave.
My companion and asccnded the Bre-
want, and, as fcw climbing travellers leave
Chamouny without visiting the Mcr dc
G'ace and the Jar,lin. We arranged to make
tat excursion. TO shorten our days
work. we left Chamouny in the evening
and slept at MOntanvtrt, solitary little
mountain inn on the edge of the Mtr dc
Glacc. We were mp brtiin' in the morn.
ing. We provided ourselves with some
caiahl,> and wines, and with our guide,
whom We had brought from CourIunyour
1t was n glorious morning, and promised
well tor our expedition. Our road. for
about half an hour, was along mn uneven
path, >kiiling the glacier, which lay below
IN the lett hand, very much crcvasscd aud
covered with debIis. epath then came
to al end, and the guide and we must now
take to the glacier. We descended on to
1t, and trcade'l our way among the Eu
n.crouS crcvaSS,s
The excursion to the MGR dc Glace not
bci'g looked uron as regular glacier ex-
petition, is rot made with the attendant
precautions of ANS or ropes. We were
IN high spirits, aud went along at n great
rate SO quickly, indeed, that our guide,
who had fallen behind, cautioned US to
allow him to take, and keep, the lead.
just then our progress was arrested by
a wide crevasse. Looking to the left, |
perceived that it terminated some twenty
feet from us, in steep slope of ice, which
! thought could easily climb. As the
crevasse was about sixty yards long,
determined to try this slope rather than
90 round by the other end. Using my
ALI en- stock ins,cad Of an AK, therefore,
began making (oot.holcs in the ice with
it. lie looked at the ice slope and the
wide crcvassr, and said, very seriously,
at is dangerous, let US 60 round" by
this time | had, with the aid Of my Al
penstock climbed about half way up the
slope. had already come to the conclu
sion that it was much too steep to scale
without an AK, and had determined to re-
trace my steps. So when the guide had
spoken, carefully stretched back my
right leg, feeling for the last hole | had
made in the ice. My foot went past the
place, and felt that | was slipping
There was not the least projection that ]
could grasp. The slope became perpen-
dicular, and went head foremost into
the yawning crevasse below.
heard loud cry Of despair from my
fellow Traveller and the guide. My own
sensations cannot be described or even
distinctly separated from the whirl and
shock. felt that WAS being bumped
from side to side between the two walls
of ice; that was falling Q great depth !;
that was being hurried to utter dcstruc-
iion-to q horrible death. Suddenly
felt that was caught by something; that
| hung suspended. | was just able to
take breath, and call out for q A ropel a
rope"
by the most extraordinary chance my
fall had. been arrested by little ledge Of
ice which Spanned the crevassc like o
bridge. On this frail structure. not more
than two inches wide ct the top, and (as
well as ] could judge about two feet deep,
! had fallen, SO that my head hung down
on one side, my legs on the other. In
stinctivcly and Immediately, by means
which I cannot at oil recall, | raised my
self from this ledge, in which there was a
little niche sufficiently wide to admit one
foot. was so far collected that could
hear my fellow traveller saying from above,
1--WE never expected to hear your voice
again. For Gods ssigs take heart. The
guide is running to M0hanvert for men
and ropes, and will very soon be back
again..
"If he is not" ] answered, ~ shall
never come up alive"
Ny position was an awful one. The
little ledge wAsso narrow that could not
get both feet upon it. was in fact sup
porting myself on one leg, half leaning
against one side Of the crevasse and press
ing my head against the opposite side. II
was perfectly smooth and there was moth
ing to grasp. A stream Of water poured
over my shoulders, drenching me to the
skin and freezing me with Its icy coldness
Overhead l could see the long narrow
strip Of blue sky, bounded by the mouth