The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-01
THIS SEASON BAD IN THE ALPS
An Unprecedented Number of Fatal
| Accidents to Mountain Climbers.

An UNPRECEDENTED Number of Fata
Accidents to Mountain Climbers.
London Express
THE worst season for years" SO SAID
a disconnected member of the Swiss Al
pine Club to me few days ago.
Whether this verdict be correct or not
the fact remains that the Alpine season
has been bad from start to finish. Ac
| cidents have been continuous ana tht
death rate terribly high. There was M
| Spring, little Summer. and sharp Au'
| tumn weather was experienced toward
| the end of August. Violent storms nave
been Of unusual frequency; snow has fall
en- at odd moments In unexpected places
| and while experienced climbers have
| vainly waited week after week for favor
| able conditions under which to make the
ascents upon which their hearts were set,
| rash and over confident novices have, In
spite of all warnings, gone to meet their
doom upon the snow clad peaks.
| Fatal accidents have this season been
| not only out of all proportion to the num-
Der of ascents made but also FAR above
| the average.
On the Wetterhorn no fewer than six
good climbers were killed within a sin
| gle week in August, while in July the
| body of well known guide was found at
| bottom of rocky precipice-seven victims.
The fearful accident which befell
Messrs. Brown and Garden, who with
the guides Krubel and Imboden. were
swept down the Wetterhorn by an ava
lanche, and the awful fate of the Rev.
Robert Fearon and his brother. who with
the guides Brawand and BOhren were
struck by lightning on the summit of
the same nountdin, must be fresh IN the
minds of all Both these accidents were
due to the unusually bad weather. and,
in the first case, to the amount of fresh
snow upon the m0untaln.
Mr.. Garden, who, with Imboden. had
wonderful escape from death, recounts
that he. while fighting against tine mass
FzII It'll hair haaR1 a
down the pricipice or to the Krinnen
glacier. nearly 1000 feet below. retained
firm hold of mis- ice AK and never lost
COZ sciousness until he was dashed on TO
the glacier where he vas afterward
found comparatively uninjured. This is
an experience probably without equal In
the recOunts of the Alps.
Mont Blanc has this season been won
derfully free from accidents, considering
the enormous number of ascents which
have been made, for the most part by in
experienced climbers.
The terrible Dome de Coulter disaster
of Aug s. when Messrs. Stalking and
Hauduit together with the porter, Gu
let, lost their lives. came as an unex-
pected shock to ChamounlX, after a long
spell OF good fortune. Mont Blanc is, in
fair weather an easy mountain for climb
ers of some experience; III bad weather
II Is dangerous Tor all.
To be caught in a storm near the sum-
NIT means the chance of being frozen to
DEATH to he on Mont Blanc with guides
who do not know the mountains is mad
ness. IT was owing to these two causes
that the Inflated party on the Petit Pla-
teau lost their lives, Another victim
claimed by Mont Blanc was Henry Bos-
soney. a native of Savoy. whose body
was found on the Tete Rouse glacier on
Aug. q, while a French lady fell from
the Mauvias Pas on Aug. 3.
In February two German tourists were
lost on Monte Rosa, while in April two
Young Englishmen were killed in the
Dent du Midi. In the Valais district there
have been many other fatal accidents.
including that of Professor Dunant of
Geneva, who lost his life on Aug. "a,
while climbing Mont Pieureur, and that
OF Walter Gilmore. killed by fall on
the Pierre-a-Voir some fewa days earlier.
Both of these accidents might have been
prevented had the climbers been accompa-
MED by guides.
Three fatal accidents happened on Mont
SaloVe, while many deaths have occurred
during the past three months in the Aus
TRAN Alps
The Nadelhorn claimed one victim in