The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-11-05
ON MOUNTAINEERING.
VALUABLE HINTS FOR CLIMB
ING IN THE ALPS.
Grand hut Risky sport-Thrilling Re-
creations Above the Clouds--snow-
Cleft and ock-Ciimbing-
A Clear Mind.

A Clear Mind.
Mountaineering as a distinct sport
reaches back only about half q
century. or course there were hardy
spirits ages ago who tried to ascend
the highest peaks but no class was
devoted to climbing for the sake OF
adventure. The author dates modern
mountaineering from the years 1851
So. when the Wetterhorn and Monte
Rose were fully mastered and Mount
Blanc was assembled without guides.
says the Inter Ocean. Then the
amateur came forward.
Climbing was no longer labor
ious curiosity; 1t was p new form OF
active life and pastime embracing the
noblest form OF outdoor pleasure and
exercising the power OF mind as we'll
as body" Alfred Wills writes OF the
magnetism that draws certain men to
the mountains--men equal to learn
ing all the necessary lessons Of
self-reliance patience and self-re-
straint The Alps may be the play
ground OF Europe but they exact u
heavy toll in human life. Mr.. Wills
says the three things most to be
dreaded in mountaineering are bad
weather falling stones. and travelling
over treacherous grass slopes with
heritage either short or dry. or long
and wet or frozen. The worst wealth
er may come on with great swiftnesa
and Mr.. Wills has seen from his Alp
inc home "a whole flake OF mountain
side peel of without warning and
sweep with cannonade of thirty
hours duration u gully that / and
mine have used for years as high.
way to. the upper world"
Men lose their lives in this hardy
sport as u matter of course. The
author says OF the record in this re.
spect: I'm ten years closing in 1850
no serious accident occurred ON the
Alps with one unimportant excep.
ton. The founders of tho craft did
not attempt tho gymnastic feats which
are common in these days but their
work was sufficiently arduous and they
climbed under exceptional disad-
4hO lc5SOu tucJ
learned was to take every conceivable
precaution against danger Then the
pendulum swung back. 1t had been
thought that knowledge. experience
and training were indispensable pre-
liminaries TO n severe Alpine expedi-
tion. But men rushed out from Eng
land DESTROYS of repeating in q hurry
~ ~, thof Afhnrc ho1 10, a. L.
with serious sense OF responsibility.
They refused to serve any apprentice
ship The result was that ,he noun
tains made an emphatic proto st
against the ignorance and incompet-
ence OF the tyro and enforced a need
full warning by series of terrible
disasters.
Then men began to understand
the meaning of the mountain gloom. ;
and were taught to treat q great peak
with the respect which it deserves.
As a matter of fact since the season
OF 1860 about $50 persons have lost
their lives in strictly Alpine accidents
that Is IN accidents that have hap
pened to climbers at work. Familiar
ity has bred contempt, even ordinary
precautions have not been observed.
/ fear that these accidents are on the
increase. and am sure that il any con-
siderable portion of the increased
number OF tourists who now visit the
Alps takes to mountaineering many
further calamities will occur"
But the true mountain climber en-
Joys himself immensely. AS Mr..
Matthew puts it: I'VE mako our daily
expeditions in the midst OF the most
glorious natural beauty. No cruelty
is connected with our craft We
breathe divine air. We watch the
clear streams bounding out OF the
mountain sides and racing laughingly
down to the green fields rs II. as Mr..
Ruskin says the day were all too
short for them to get down the HILL
We see the great forests wave and the
great rivers roll. We are hushed to
silence in tho early morning by the
awful beauty OF the rose OF dawn.
We see tho rising sun strike the sno W
peaks with a crimson flush; we see the
western horizon in the evening one
vast sea OF fire. We hear the crash
of the avalanche and the roar OF the
torrent and yet beyond these voices
there Is peace. There is scarcely an
expedition Of any magnitude which lie
not associated in our minds with some
happy recollection. Tho night
bivouac by tho glacier under the
stars the moonlight amongst the
snow. the jest and laughter by the
camp fire. when old friends long
parted recall the experiences OF by
gone years. Some great peak is to-
morrow's goal; shall we be successful
Or notP None OF us can tell; and the
uncertainty adds zest to tho expe-
dition.