The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-01-13
CHANCES HARSHLY TAKEN.
Why So Many Fatal Accidents Occur
from Mountain Climbing.

1t is a recorded fact that since the year
1860 nearly two hundred fatal accidents have
occurred upon the Swiss Alps alone. OF
these how many were occasioned by NAL
adroit, feeble or timid climbers? The safe
ty of every mountaineering party demands
in advance that each member OF ii should
serious ascent should be Undertaken by any
man who cannot rely on his own nerve
and capabilities, his power of Drawing
fatigue and standing cold and, finally, that
the party should be accompa MED by a suffi-
cient number Of professional guides. Mr.
Leslie Stephen lays it down as a rule. that
safety by trained mountaineers, provided
that fine weather, good guides and favorable
conditions of rock and snow have first been
secured. ION the other hand, he adds,
there is no mountain which may not be
excessively dangerous If the weather is bad,
the guides incompetent, the climbers mex
perienced the conditions of rock or snow
Who, for instance, can say with conf
dence, until he has been tried. that he has
E rsrf enough to stand the crucial test which
more than he could bear when, in 1871, he
was Was one 3,In OF party of twelve who assembled
sional guides, with the celebrated Jacob
Lenthold. who died soon afterward of con.
sumption. at their head? I'VE started"
wrote Agassiz, from the Grimsel hospce
night at the chalets of Meril. and compiet-
ing the ascent Of the Jungfrau the next
day. Our difficulties were not little In
creased by heavy mist and intense cold.
At last the ascent became more and more
steep. and every step had to be cut in the
ice. Lenthold kept us close to the edge of
the rage or frozen snow, because the ice
yielded there more easily to the axe. 1t
was. however. so trying to the nerves, that
1, for one, should NOT like to repeat the
experience The awful precpice beneath us
was constantly In view, and we could drive
our alpenstocks through the rim of frozen
snow. and gaze sheer down through the
- 49, ~-l-fsI
yawning. TO swallow us thousands upon
thousands of yards below The apex of the
Jungfrau is so small that only one person
can stand upon IT.. At p. m. we started
upon our downward path. turning our faces
to the icy slope and feeling with the foot
for each step below, these steps being more
we reached the chalets of Meril. which we
had left that morning at the earliest dawn
of day."
The least imaginative mind can readily
realize what one false step made upon a
surface so steep and slippery that 1t is i'm
possible to think of 1t without a shudder
dent that ever happened on the Matter
horn-that which befell Lord Francis Doug
las and his three hapless companions-it Is
notorious that one false step made by an
inexperienced climber and followed by the
breaking of a rope vas the sole cause of
that terrible tragedy. 1t may be hoped that
place in the Tyrol will induce Mr. Justice
Wills and other lovers of mountaineering
to take measures for improving the laws
which regulate Alpine climbing. At Cham
ounix for instance. the corporation Of guides
is controlled by the State, and very precise
rules are laid down. but these rules are not
enforced, and they are framed in many
respects so as to worry and fleece the
climber, rather than TO assist him. The
best guides of Chamounix are engaged be-
forehand for the season. and their places
are taken by second-rate or third-rate men.
The right to act as guide in Switzerland
and the Tyrol should be conceded TO no man
until the State has subjected him to a
rigid examination. Whether he should al
so be required to elbow no tourist to VEN
ture upon high and dangerous ascent
until his or her capabilities have been fully
tested is question for the Swiss. Italian
and Austrian authorities TO decide.