The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1908-06-24
CLIMB FOR MISS PECK
viii Try Again to Scale Mount
Huascaran, In Peru.
THIS TIME WITH EXPERT HELP

Woman Mountain Climber Will Start
Guides and a Native SeaIer - Be-
lieves Peak Is Highest In America.
After q tedious rest of two years,
with not q single adventure in them,
the desire to fill her lungs with the
to the biting winds of the mountain
top has again seized Miss Annie S.
Peck, the champion woman mountain
scaler. In the Clarendon hotel at New
York the other night she announced
that once more she viii climb the
frosty sides of Mount Huascaran,
Peru, which she regards as the high
est peak on the American continent.
She failed to reach the top two years
ago because she was handicapped by
native guides, who drank all her al
cohol when she was asleep and other
| wise hampered her in her ascent. This
| time she is to have guides from Swift
zerIand who have no taste for pure al
| cohoI and who know what assistance
a woman mountain scaler needs, says
| the New York Press. The man who is
| to furnish the guides has assured Miss
Peck she need have no fear for her
alcohol this time. 1t might be explain
ed that the only use Miss Peck has
for that liquid is for fuel wherewith
to keep warm and cook on the noun
| tains. One native guide she will take,
but he will be in such minority that
the alcohol will undoubtedly hold out
until the pinnacle of the mountain is
reached.
| Before next autumn Miss Peck hopes
to stand on the tOpmost peak of Huas-
caran and look down upon all Peru
and then come back and tell all about
the sensation in magazines and lee
lures. None has yet reached the top
Of this formidable peak, so far as is
known, and If Miss Peck succeeds she
will indeed be the champion American
mountain scaler, not barring even
the men. Having done that she will
rest content unless perchance it should
be discovered that Mount Huascaran
Il
| tinent. Miss Peck will not rest until
she has conquered any mountain that
dares rear its head farther above the
sea level than Huascaran.
Miss Peck and two Swiss guides will
soon sail for Colon from New York
city; thence she will cross the isthmus
and go down the west coast until she
reaches Samanco; then she will cross
the Black range and rest for several
days at silver mine 1900 feet above
the sea level to let her lungs become
accustomed to the altitude. When she
has been there long enough to forget
about the altitude she will descend to
Yungay, which is at the foot of Huas-
caran. After increasing her equipment
by one native guide she will begin the
lascent
when / made the other attempt to
climb Huascaran," said the climber the
other night. 81 took four guides and
two tents. This time will have only
three guides. and | will take with
me instruments to measure the cold
the moisture and the exact height of
the mountain when / reach the top.
Will also have a camera to take pan.
oramic views of the surrounding coun-
try and lower peaks"
Miss Peck says she has a trained
eye for measuring the height of noun
tains. When she makes a guess she
finds 1t is pretty nearly correct, she
says. She estimates Huascaran to be
between $4,000 and $4,000 feet above
the sea level. At any rate, she thinks
J 1T is so high that when she reaches the
top she will have broken the worlds
record, now held by the Englishmar
w. w. Graham, who ascended to 6
height of 23,S0O feet in the Himalayas
to reach the peak of Mount HuascaraI
she attained height of 1880 feet
At that time the mountain was scanned
! with dangerous crevasses.
"Of course the feat will be ATTENDED
by great dangers" exclaimed Mis-
} Peck. I'VE will have to wear masks
to protect our faces from the weathe
and smoked glasses to protect our eye
from the bright sun. When we reacl
the ice and snow of the peak we will
have to use ropes and Ice axes; then
will chew quantities of the leaves from
which cocaine is extracted. 1t acts a
. a stimulant on such long tramp. Th
natives use it much as the American
do tobacco. 1t is harmful as habit
but helpful stimulant when sparingI,
used"
Miss Peck has gone to Washington
to make arrangements with federal OF
1cials for gathering information abou
; the country and the mountain she is I
climb.