Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-01-18
AN ALPINE CLIMB.
Climbing That Meant the Most Terrlbl.
of Hard Work.

or Hard work.
Now began the real struggle. As we
went climbing up the steep bank abov,
the spot where we had breakfasted, tn,
wind blew in real earnest: the way wa
steep, but 1t was so cold as TO proven,
any but the very shortest halts The
rarity of the air too, a. height already
OF $4,000 feet, was becoming more and
more perceptiblo, and We were glad
enough at the end of 'three-qnarters Of
an hour to get 10 the .'Rocherdes Bosses. >
the only break near the summit in this
mighty world of 81 Nv. Behind this
rock we sat down, sh ltered from the
wind, and gazed tho1 gh .iully up at that
summit far, far above u~.
We now abandoned all our baggage
that was not absolut 'ly u ,cessary. and
giried ourselves for tn last fight. The
first half miln was at an angle OF nearly
forty-five degrees up an .'arete, as they
call 1t. An arete is delightful. IL means
originally the backbone of a fish; on the
snow mountain IL consists OF a ridge of
ice covered with snow, and coming to an
edge on top rarely as much as a 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 10 a frightful depth of hun
dreds or thousands Of feet. There is a
freshness and charm about the whole
thing when emphasized by blizzard OF
wind and snow whistling a mile 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 dc
but tackle IL in the same way. We
kept up this rather wearing amusement
for an hour and half pulling like por.
poises in the thin air, and we stood al
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, i5,73i 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 well enough that We
couldn't stay alive long up there, and
we started down on the dead run.
My fathers alpenstock 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 IL could never have stopped in its
wild slide till IL reached the ''Glaeer du
Geant," thousands of feet below. The
scarf that had tied over my ears was
wisked off. and before had gone ten
steps my right ear was pretty well
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 dowI
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 tn,
heat was now as intense as the cold had
been, the inevitable result Of walking
on the glaring snow, but we had mad,
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
tramped over forty of the hardest mile
In Europe In one day, and that. too, afte
night OF only three hours sleep.
They fired six cannon shots as we en-
tered the town. and we tramped in a
happy as larks. Every body was out
and we were the observed of all oh
servers.
Our ascension was the eleven hundred
and sixth which had been made in on,
hundred years, the seventh this year
We found that only one attempt in thir
ty-hve 10 reach the summit succeeds
some fail on account of bad weather
others because members of the party be
come worn out or grow delirious fron
the rarity OF the air. On the whole, W,
we're very lucky in our success, and ar
heppy enough over it.-Cor n. Y. Times