Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-09-29
SCALES LOFTY PEAK
Prof. Parker's Story of Peril
on Mount Mckinley.
HEADS EXPLORING PARTY
Ascends Over Icy Surface to Height
of 10000 Feet.
CROSSES SHAKY SNOW BRIDGES
Graphic Recital of Experiences on
the Highest Mountain in
North America.
HEADS EXPLORING PARTY
CROSSES sHAKY SNOW BRIDGES

SPECIAL Dispatch 10 The Star.
NEW YORK, September 2S.-Prof
Herschel c. Parker. professor of physics
in Columbia University, who has just re-
turned from Alaska. where he headed the
expedition that scaled Mount Mckinley.
the Hottest peak in North America talked
today of his efforts to reach the summit
of the mountain.
Prof Parker came within 300 feet of
the highest hummock of snow that
crowns the Mckinley dome. For days at
a time the Parker expedition subsisted on
crackers and tea.
ION January Is last Prof. Parker said
today. I'VE landed at Seward. From Sew
ard We had dogs and sledges. We Travelled
10 miles. following the Susitana river
and thence $50 miles along the banks of
the Chulina. and then, crossing forty
miles, we came to the most favorable
part of the Alaskan range.
ION April % we established our base
camp. We cached a months supply of
fuel and food at an altitude of 1",op feet.
1t was then bitter cold. and we had to
spend eight days here waiting for the
weather to moderate. We knew from Tor
mer experiences that the ascent of Nc
kfnley from the south was impossible so
we Iald our plans Ior Il cnino IRON Tic
northeast
Begin Ascent May 1.
MAY l came. and on that date we left
our cache and began to climb. 1t was
then 10 degrees below zero. Billiards still
prevailed, and it was getting colder all
the time. the outcome being that we had
to halt after short journey, owing to
the intense cold. and this time we were
held up until June D.
Prof Parker described in brief the
hardships encountered in the ascent
from an altitude of 5000 to 10000 feet.
AT times he says I'VE were forced
to cross shaky snow bridges. and it al
most drove us crazy. 4 single misStep
would have finished At the 1000
mark we struck ridge that in places
was scarcely five inches with a fifty
degree slope This is the only way to
scale the mountain. and 1t was so diff
cult that il took us week to relay our
supplies only 1900 feet.
Our last camp was made at the 1900
mark-just 1000 feet from the summit.
The storms We're SO binding that we had
to stay there four days. Our progress
for the last 1000 feet was up a sheet
of glistening ice, where steps had to be
chopped: and the great danger lay in the
fact that just fast the steps were
cut they were filled again with the drift
ing snow
Prof. Parker was asked what the top
of Mckinley was like.
1T Is a great dome Of ice was the
reply, land scattered along the range
are numbers of large hummocks. or hills
of ice. The point we reached was about
200 or 300 feet from the highest of these.
So you can readily see that the SO-called
failure upon our part to top the highest
of these hills was certainly no failure.
Undergo Terrible Ordeal.
We reached the top on June %
Meanwhile. from the time we passed the
13,OO0-foot point We had discovered that
our pemmican was bad. This popular
NORTH food does not do for those high
attitudes and for two weeks. ascending
and making the still more hazardous and
trying descent. we were compelled to
exist on crackers and tea. Living prac-
tically upon our own tissue it was u ter
rible ordeal.
Il came to the conclusion that there
was absolutely nothing TO be gained by
trying to make the last 300 feet. Every
hour we stayed there or tried to force
our way forward meant that we were
endangering our lives. and in our ex-
hauSted condition. with no substantial
food to assist. it wouldn't take much to
freeze us to death. We had made our
goal. There was no scientific reason to
stay there in the hope of getting better
weather, so we started back, after TAX
ing a remarkable series of photograph