The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-12-04
Afj ALPINE CLIMB.
Climbing That Meant the Most Terrible
of Hard Work.

Va mar" ""iN'
Now began the real struggle. AS wa
went climbing up the steep bank above
the spot where we had breakfasted, the
wind blew in real earnest; the way was
steep, but it was so cold as to prevent
any but the very shortest halts. The
rarity of the air, too, at a height already
of $4,000 feet, was becoming more and
more pcrceptible, and we were glad
enough at the end Of three-quarters OF
an hour 10 get to the "Rocherdes Bosses"
the only break near the summit in this
mighty world of snow. Behind this
rock we sat down, sheltered from the
wind, and gazed thoughtfully up at that
summit far, far above us.
We now abandoned all our baggage
that was not absolutely necessary, and
first half mile was at an angle of nearly
forty-fivc degrees up an ''arete, as they
call it, An arete is delightful. 1t means
originally the backbone of fish; on the
snow mountain it consists of a ridge OF
ice covered with snow, and coming to an
edge on top rarely as much as foot in
width. The path leads along this ridge
pole, ascending all the while at sharp
incline, and the sides of the arete sweep
Off and down to frightful depth of hum
dreds or thousands of feet. There is a
freshness and charm about the whole
thing when emphasized by a blizzard of
wind and snow whistling mile a min
ute up one side and down the other
which is very engrossing.
AS soon as the promenade up the first
arete was completed, another appeared
before us, and there was nothing to do
but tackle it in the same way. We
kept up this rather wearing amusement
for an hour and half, putting like por-
poises in the thin air, and we stood at
last at the foot of the final arete, which
ended in the summit. The wind helped
us up somewhat, but we had scarcely
won our victory, and stood at last upon
the loftiest point in Europe, 1871 feet
above the sea, and were enjoying the
magnificent view to our hearts content,
when whirlwind of snow struck US
with tremendous violence.
The guides knew we'll enough that we
couldn't stay alive long up there, and
we started down on the dead run.
My fathers al penstock got tangled in
the rope as we turned, and as the rope
frightened for the descent the stick went
shooting off miles into space; the guides
said it could never have stopped in its
wild slide till it reached the "Glacer du
Geant, thousands of feet below. Tho
scarf that had tied over my cars was
wished off, and before | had gone ten
steps my right ear was pretty we'll
frozen and my face perfectly numb. We
were soon protected from the full force
of the wind, and the few blasts that
whistled round us on the way down
seemed like the breath of spring after
what we had come through.
The rest of the descent to the "Grands
Mulets" was long, hard pull, and the
heat was now as intense as the cold had
been, the inevitable result of walking
on the glaring snow, but we had made
the top and cared for nothing.
After an hours rest at the cabin we
walked all the way down to Chamounix,
arriving there at nine o'clock, having
trampcd over forty of the hardest miles
in Europe in one day, and that, too, after
a night of only three hours sleep.
They fired six cannon shots as we en-
tered the town, and we tramped in as
happy as larks. Every body was out,
and we were the observed of all OBJ
servers.
Our ascension was the eleven hundred
and sixth which had been made in one
hundred years, the seventh this year.
We found that only one attempt in thir-
ty-five to reach the summit succeeds;
some fail on account of bad weather,
others because members of the party be-
come worn out or grow delirious from
the rarity of the air. On the whole, we
were very lucky in our success, and are
happy enough verit.-Cor N. Y. Times,