The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-30
THE ASCENT OF AcoNcAoUA.

THE ASCENT OF ACONCAGU
AT meeting of the Royal Geograph-
ical society held on Monday night at
the University of London Mr.. Edward
Fitzgerald read paper on "Explora-
ton on and Around Mount Aconcagua."
Sir Clements Markham was in the
chair.
The base camp from which the ope-
rations We're conducted was situated
near the mouth of the Horcones val
ley, close to Puente del Inca. Starting
on December 23, 1896, with Zurbriggen,
four porters, two horses and ten mules,
Mr.. Fitzgerald reached the head of the
valley on the same day, and slept for
the night at an attitude of sixteen
thousand feet. Next day they roved
one thousand feet higher, and on the
10Th established, at an altitude of 1890
feet, the permanent base camp from
which all subsequent attempts to
climb the mountain We're made. Here,
although it was fairly warm in the sum-
the maximum temperature in the shade
was only twenty-seven degrees Fab
renheit. Their pulses registered about
| SAAS AiuiiNtiCi ttllN city VI OllG
dred and thirty beats a minute, Eighty
and intermittent, and their blood circu~
lation was very bad. The spirits in the
cook1ng-lamp refusing to burn, it was
decided to retreat to the foot of the
Horcones valley and bring UP wood, so
as to enable proper meals to be cooked.
After this three unsuccessful at
tempts were made to scale the noun
tain. At the fourth, on January IA,
when an altitude of twenty-five thou
sand feet was attained Mr.. Fitzgerald
found 1T absolutely impossible to go
further himself. He therefore sent
Aurbriggen on to complete the ascent
and turned back himself. His knees
We're so weak that he repeatedly fell,
and, coming to large patch of snow,
he was obliged from sheer exhaustion
to lie down and practically roll down
the mountainside. Zurbriggen arrived
later on at the camp and reported that
he had reached the summit, but was
unable to get any view owing to a small
local snow storm which ragged over the
| peak. Next day they returned to the
base camp at the Inca. On the 10Th
| another start was made, but, owing to
a violent snow storm, they did not get
further than their tent, at nearly nine
| teen thousand feet. On February Mr..
Vines and Mr.. Fitzgerald made a fresh
| start, but did not manage to crawl to
| the upper camp till the 10th. The 18th
andF12th were spent there, but, as they
were getting enfeebled by the altitude,
they thought the only chance was to
make an attempt at once.
| On the 18th, which promised to be q
fine day, they started with an Italian
| porter, Nicola Lent, for a final effort
Again Mr.. Fitzgerald had to turn back
at twenty thousand feet, but begged
Mr.. Vines to go on with the porter.
This he did, and with much labor and
suffering, reached the summit in eight
and one-half hours from the camp
| The summit was observed to be in the
shape of a square plateau. seventy-tive
PAGES each way, sloping at an angle of
seventeen degrees towards the north
! and entirely free from SNOW The
| western and northwestern sides of the
| mountain fell away at an angle OF
twenty degrees, and Were composed
| more or less of great slopes of loose
stones kept clear of snow in summer by
the winds. To the south and south
west the sides We're more precipitous
and fairly clear of ice and snow, but tic
| the southeast an enormous precipice of
nearly ten thousand feet, covered with
| great overhanging masses of snow
and ice, formed one of the most impos-
ing sights imaginable. The descent
which was begun at $3.50, was most ex-
haustlng. The camp was reached al
| $3.50. Next day the party returned tc
Inca, and as it was found necessary
that all should take a rest after their
hardships, they crossed the Cumbre
pass into Chill for a few days. On re-
turning Mr. Fitzgerald sent Mr. Vines
to the south to attempt Tupungato-a
mountain about 21,500 feet high, situa-
ted fifty miles east of Santiago and one
hundred and twenty from the Pacific
coast After many failures Mr. Vines
| and Zurbriggen were successful. The
rest Of the time was spent in survey
work and measurements to determine
the height of Aconcagua, which has
been Professionally put at 23,0S0 feet
London Times.