The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-23
TO ASCEND MT. ST. ELIAS.
TWO PARTIES OF MoUNThINBERS
TO 90 UP THE PEhK.

Their work and Its Dangers Described ~
rror. Angelo Henprin-The weed or Alpine
Guides 70 Scent Danger ana aafety-The
Avalanche and tire Crovasse.
One Of the most important and perhaps most
difficult pieces Of mountain work that have been
planned for many years in the ascent OF Mt.
st. Elies, the colossus that stands almost on tho
junction line which separates the American do
main In Alaska from tho British possessions.
Two parties have determined to mako the effort
during the coming summer, the one directed by
Mr.. Henry g. Bryant. vice-Presidcnt OF the
Geographical Society Of Philadelphia. and the
successful explorer OF tho Grand Falls OF Lnbra-
dor, and tho other, conducted by Vittorio Sella,
probably the most eminent of landscape photog-
raphers that the world has yet seen, and Prince
Luigi OF Savoy. Duke Of AbruEzl. with n retinuo
Of some OF the most experienced OF Alpine guides.
The expedition under tho direction Of MT.
Bryant ~contomplates the scientific examination
OF tho st. Elias region, central to which are the
ascent of the giant mountain, tho determination
of its geological, geological and botanical fea-
tu.es, and the examination Of the claims OF Mt.
Logan ESTIMATED to be 10. 800 feet In height) to
10 The loftiest summit of all North Amerio,. Mt.
Logan is distinctly on British territory, but the
valuation OF Its altitude is determined from
measurements OF Prof. Israel c. Russell, calcu.
lated in the bureaus of the United States Coast
Survey. Tho attack on Mt. ST. Elias, 1t is ex-
pscted, will be made from tho si6o Of tho
Malaspina Glacier. to which a seemingly
most accessible face Is turned. The peak
itself has much the form OF tho famous
Jungfrau Of Switzerland, on which the upper
SHOWS have a thickness of 200 to 800 feet. except
whore sharp rock ridges protrude to daylight;
what the thickness of the snow mantle on st.
Elias may be. only researches can determine.
Mr.. Bryant will be accompanied by Mr.. Samuel
J. Entrikan, who was associated with the He'll
prin-Peary relief expedition Of 1892, and subse-
quently. 1S93-9I. with Mr.. Peary: and n special
topographer from the United States service at
Washington: three or four additional aids will
no taken up on the California side. one of whom
served as guide to the Russell party in 1893.
The elevation Of Mount st. Elias, as recently
determined by Prof. Israel C. Russell. is about
1900 feet, or nearly l 800 feet lower than was
assumed from the earlier measurements made
by officers of the United States Coast Survey.
The mountain. consequently, lacks between
three-quartcrs of a mile and a mile OF the alti-
tude of Aconcagua and the Pioneer peak. But
It. has a factor in its construction which will
tend largely to increase the difficulties In the
way of its ascent. This is the enormous devel-
opment Of its snow covering. which has q
greater vertical extension than is known on any
other mountain, extending continuously from
about the level of 1000 feet to the summit. or
through an interval of 10000 feet. 1t Is this
which will tax the best energies of the noun
taineer. and call out a resource which perhaps
no previous mountain exploration has done.
The successful accomplishment of high noun
tains OF the class Of Aconcagua, the Pioneer
peak, or st. Elias is not a matter that is associ-
ated with special danger from a rareied atmos-
pherc. Experience has plainly demonstrated
that a much more rarefled atmosphere than is to
be found on any Of the mountain submits of the
globe can be safely endured by almost any
healthy heart and pair of lungs. but it Is the
difficulty or exhaustion that is bound in with
muscular exercise under these special condi-
tions OF reduced atmosphere Tor oxygen)
which makes a result doubtful. or even
forces permanent injury to those attempting
the effort. Mountain sickness in one form or an
other. and the peculiar blood transpirations from
nose, cars. and eyes are certainly existent con-
ditions with some, but seemingly they are of
much less frequent experience than they
were in the early days Of mountain work.
Whymper, Clinton. Dent, and other Alpinists
are probably justified in their contention that
no mountain height is too high for mans ulti.
mate powers of endurance, and that with proper
effort the l%oftiest of them will be conquered like
the less lofty.
Nothing so convincingly demonstrates for sue
and is seemingly Unborn with the class Of men
remarkably rapid accents Of the equatorial
vices of the famous Alpine guide, Jean.Antoine
Carrel; Hans Meyer. in his ascent OF Kilima'n-
conway took Zurbrieeen. with him to the Hima.
layas, and now Fitzgerald is essaying the ser
fan and Chilian Andes. What. it may be asked.
is the special knowledge of a mountain that
mifs Ai tseIP to P Ss sppiie ddng 3yo@ sb that n5 per:
m 1slRs Of th Sns part q q t mi,, world dI.s s9 those %a re- F.;
ineXnArienCad m0untain fapaR link Iaruelv
alike: and they seemingly present few features
fully satisfy tho wants Of The % Eoa Il
follow with the eye an available ridge or crest,
sor 1aSw c %aef Be cireu move it%Re &c hsve sr a esrt aaa
knowledge Of position Of stable and unstable
snow. iies, or sI rocks RSf are likely TH to im nSs5ff the tra1 ..
eller, Of the frmness or insecurity of ice bridges,
study which can only be acquired after long,
toilsome, and almost continuous experience, and
sthat which pertains to forecasting the weather,
to know the signs of approaching storm. Of
m move .%h' w shhitaS1 are o. the SsT iRse1itance so Of t aie
mountain world.
main ags II peppetaaHi ice aef has gi its w SSsum lnfS ioe a Of
bard lying and soft lying or movable SHOWS.
a asssd seb%e Fo ate of trayei T. s sste In I the eq lst slws sSs
which are frequently not readily appreciable on
their face. The avalanche has proved itself to
30 an unremitting foe to the mountaineer, and
its death-dealing work continues from year to
year despite all efforts that. are made to avoid
Its presence. 1t is an exceedingly small and in
significant effort that calls It into existence,
which frequently battles the experience Of the
IS we'll known that the discharge Of a gun
will often dislodge a hanging cornice with its
hands has been known to turn a bed OF peaceful
ly lying snow into the raging and ,tempestuous
avalanche, A Bt6D too low on the mountain
slope may likewise disiodge a movable bank and
convert It into a swtft-iyfng avalanche. In tho
passage of the Pie Morteratsch by Prof. Tyndall
OF the mountain seems to have originated In the
nero slipping of ono of the members. Many ac-
ing cornice are chronicled among. the archives
of Alpine mountaineering; OF thelatter there 10
Moore, experienced In q desert OF the Monch with
Melchior and Jacob Anderegg, the first named
famed as one of the best OF Swiss guides. To