New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-11
CLIMBS ABOVE THE CLOUDS
SIR MARTIN CONWAY'S ASCENT OF
ILLIMANI
THE HERO OF THE ALPS AND HIMAIAYAs
ACHIEVES NEW TRIUMPHs IN THE
ANDES-A DETAILED STORY


Cir Martins letter 10 The London Chronicle.
My previous letter was written to you from
the lower slopes Of Illimani. In it did not like
to confess how little 1 expected that our enter
prise would soon be crowned with success. or
that we were even on the right track; yet three
days later we actually stood on the summit Of
the highest peak, and attained our ends 1t
was terribly slow work urging the supersttiOus
Indians TO carry our loads toward the dreaded
fastneSs Of their still-reverenced mountain god.
a days march for them was little more than
two hours ascent for At last. early on Sep
TENDER 1. We reached the top of the stony gully.
whose ascent had taken three days. and
there the real climbing Of the great mountain
had to begin. We at 1000 feet above sea
level.
steep wall of rocks rose above us. ahead and
on both hands. over the top Of them elittered
the edge of Il great glacier. whose "seracs
great masses Of ice). falling over from time to
time in mighty avalanches, reformed below into
the smaller low-level glacier beside which We
had pitched our second camp 1t was. of course.
impossible to climb rocks down which these ava
lanchcs fell; but small part Of the great wall
was not swept. Accordingly / sent the
guides. laden with two heavy packs Of stores 10
find way up at this point. In two or three
hours they Nere on the snow above. where they
disappeared from my view. They came down
again before nightfal with good news.
THE CLIMB BEGINS
Next day (September s. at an early hour
packed up all oul goods. some to be left behind
on the camp terrace the rest 20 be carried with
uS-tWO tents. sleeping bags. cooking apparatus
and provisions for several days. so mat we
might hold out against spell OF bad weather.
Only two Indians remained with us We were
also accompanied by Senior Cullen son Of ,he
steward of Cotana to whose influence over the
Indians and power Of conversng with them in
their own Aymara language. the ultimate sue
cess OF expedition was largely due. Ilg-
gag we went. following all convenient Lodges.
but the scrambling from ledge to ledge was
often far from easy; in fact. the whole of tins
part Of the ascent is about equal in dfhculty TO
that of any of the harder Zermatt Mountains
such as the Matterhorn. GabelhOrn or Dent
Blanche. I stood at the top Of each dihcult
SPOT. holding forth small silver coins for the
Indians to come up and possess. Thus by help
OF money and the rope We made slow but steady
advance About two-hirds of the way up the
rock wall there came a perpendicular chimney
thickly covered with ice. 1t was really the last
hard place. But nothing would induce the Ind
ians to attempt it. Their cup Of dread had been
steadily filling; here it overlooked ihey
dropped their loads near the foot of the chin
hey, turned tail and bolted
THE OUTWORKS PASSED.
BY hauling the loads up with ropes in difficult
places and bv planting enormous bundles the
guides heads and backs in easy ones, we at last
came successfully out on the snow above. and III
a few yards found ourselves advancing along
the right side If a large and easy glacier. with
rock slope close left hand. 1t was beside
these rocks that the guides had chosen the site
for camp the previous day ana mad lett
their first loads We pitched the tents at an
altitude of 1900 feet with great satisfaction
for it evident that the outworks of the
mountain fortress were now passed: ii only re-
manned to deliver the assault on the final peak
Senor Cullen. born mountaineer if ever
man was, revealed in the newly revealed world
Of snow. II = seemed to be drinking in a new
life Bred at an altitude of 1900 feet he felt
the effects of diminished atmospheric pressure
less than any of us. He about like cham
dis on snow and rocks. and seemed anxious to
plant his foot every surrounding eminence
and look abroad in every direction
CHECK
camp, and were winding our way upward among
great yaWning crevasSes by the light Of a can
die Fifteen miles away. across the great val
ley of the La Paz River. another twnklng
of a remote farmhouse That was our sole link
with the world of men. The night was not
cold (Only II degrees FahrenheiU. but the snow
was as hard a board, and we made rapd
progress once Senior Cullen fell into ere
vase but being roped, no harm was done. The
old moon rising over the snOwfield rendered the
lantern needless TWO hours and a half after
starting We reached the head of the glacier, the
very crest of the Cordilela Real. ana looked
down an appalling pTecpice of at least HUN
feet into the black depths Of some valley OF
fertile Youngas 1t was still night
Durine all this part of our ascent there mao
Indio (as | named iD. behind which we knew
there was a SNOW plateau. and. beyond that. the
highest peaks Of Illimani. There was nothing
for il. then but to climb over this intervening
the ridge forming The edge Of the great preci-
pce
STIFF CLIMB
A boss of ice. about the size Of cow stuck
out of the ridge and had to be climbed. steps
were cut into il, and We slowly hauled ourselves
on 10 the crest above. with one leg hanging over
the cliff side and the other over steep