Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1910-06-24
Copyright, 1aao; b,y American lIrs Press 80
.aisi ~. 6.

w eOef, knowing IldC the only way 10
prevent his being dragged after me
was to throw himself On the opposite
side, did 60. There We hung, each
dangling over precipice divided by
! a sharp edge Of rock. Unfortunately
Weber's right arm had become caught
in a loop Of the rope and bone
snapped.
"Herr," he called, II cannot pull
myself up. My arm is broken. think
there Is snow beneath you. The rope
must be cut. You will fall short
distance and may not be hurt
"And your? :,.--~a..s~. ~ ~~,-'-"~':~
II shall go down thousand feet"
'Then the rope shall not be cut.
will go up hand over hand and, strad-
ding the edge, will pull you up"
This I did. I expected Weber would
be overjoyed at his escape. but he did
not appear to- be So much pleased as
one would suppose.
Zach" he exclaimed bitterly. II
shall never be the same man after
having been saved by one have guild
3D."
This was the last time Weber and l
ever climbed together. Not long aft
| erward, while conducting a party of
Englishmen to the summit Of Mont
Blanc. the snow gave way beneath
them, an avalanche was started, and
they were all lost. Weber's body was
found buried under. thirty feet Of
snow, head down, his alpenstock held
! tight in the grip of his icy hand.
On hearing Of my faithful guides
death resolved that would never
climb again. This was partly because
to climb without Weber would not be
enjoyable and partly because his death
caused me to realize that there is no
safety in Alpine climbing even with
the best guide. refrained for two
years; then, business calling me to
Europe, 1 found myself near my be-
loved Switzerland in the summer sea-
son and ran down to Chamonix for a
visit. Unluckily for my resolution
while at Chamonix I fell in with q
party about to climb to the summit
Of Mont Blanc.
l stood looking up one morning at
the magnificent sight Of the mountain
on which Weber had met his death,
greatly tempted to make one more as
cent. I wondered If the soul Of my
guide, freed from flesh and the at
traction of gravitation, was fitting
over the cliffs, sailing through the
vast splits between the peaks, revel-
ing in being able to 60 like bird
wherever it pleased. Then came to
me superstitious dread lest If wait
I should meet with misfortune.
l determined to adhere to my reso-
luton to climb no more, when one of
the party began to talk with me about
the trip and when I spoke Of remain
ing below manifested some surprise
that such ''noted climber should be
content to see others go without going
himself. This decided me to be one Of
the party.
We made the Grand Mulets, the hut
built for halfway stop, by evening
and started the next morning under
q cloudy sky for the summit. Within
an hour we were enveloped in by far
the worst snowstorm I had ever en-
countered in any Of my ascents. It
was like an American blizzard, the
snow falling in miniature spirals and
deepening So: rapidly that we soon
found moving, in any direction diff
cult. -: .-
have never before seen Alpine
guides thoroughly frightened. I've
must return to the Grand Mulets,"
they all said, and, turning, we began
to descend. But how could we: de-
scend any more than ascend, not be-
ing able to see a distance Of ten
yards? If we stopped we would be
overcome by the snow. If we proceed
ed we would likely go into a crevice
or over precipice. And what was
the use of moving when we did not
know which way to move?
went out on circumscribed ex-
ploring trip and stood apart from the:
rest, awed by the. whirling snow,
when heard q voice-a: voice IA
miliar, never to be forgotten. y
"Herr, folgen sic mich!"s fsir,: fol-
low mel. - 49,. -, = -, -. 3
At that moment, saw through the
snow fakes a vague form short dis
lstance bsfore me. Calling! to the 9TH
ers to come; followed # they trail-.
Ing IN behind me. There were
haia hts above and chasms below, bnt
- walked near hem without dan-
|lSer. And there. before as, hickering.j
nkk fading. disappear ring but aafays;
Ele1ppearng was the dgsure.s 49,
E1sWlthin twenty minutes We te4fhed
'ets6S Gra6d Mulets. = ). so = = i 3
Who @ What led qs Z. g .safstyll !
th6seads rs.