The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-06-17
TELLS OF CLIMB
UP MONT BLANC
Heart Thumps, and Pulse Goes to
100, Says Alpine Adventurer

Washington. ID. c.. June 16.-"The
heart thumps irregularly the pulse
goes up to 100, your knees knock to-
gether. and your poor legs seem un-
willing 10 carry you. Your throat is
parched, you feel suffocated. your chest
seems loaded down with a great weight
and such feeling of utter exhaustion
! This is not patent medicine adver-
tisement. 1t is Walter Woodburn
Hyde's description of ones condition
on reaching the summit of Mont Blanc,
switzerland, as written to the Nation
al Geographic society, at Washington
| ID. &.
Even Guides Must Hesitate.
The air has now become so rare
that even the stoutest guide is COM
PEELED To take breath every few steps" "
he continues. IF you ever saw an
asthmatic man trying to walk up hill
while paroXysm was on him, YOU can
form some idea of the last part of the
ascent. And what do you think is the
iirst use made of the glorious view
after all these hours of toll? Do Won
open your eyes wide in astonishment
ut the wonderful sight?'By no means.
You shut them as tight as you can and
throw yourself down on the snow i'm
utter WEAKNESS of mind and body. re-
senting the impertinence of your
guides. who urge YOU to look about.
But it is too cold to sleep. and soon you
are up trying to keep warm.
Panorama is Immense.
THE view if you have any desire to
see it, is indeed Incompatible The
panorama before you is immense: but
everything is on such a grand scale.
great agglomerations of plains and
mountains, that all details escape you.
Most of Switzerland. great portions
Of France as far south as Lyons, and
the plains of Piedmont and Lombardy,
I'm Italy, are spread out before YOU.
The cold was so intense that five min
utes after arriving at the summit we
were all ready to begin the descent.
Although the ascent of Mont Blanc
offers no greater dangers than that of
some other Swiss mountains il has the
name of being the longest and most
cxhausting climb in the Alps. While
such peaks as the Materhorn and the
ChamoniX Augilles are so formed that
no great quantities of snow can cling
To their sides, and consequently pre-
sent for the most part merely dangers
incident To rock climbing, Mont Blanc,
from it's peculiar formation, is almost
w fal IL, to, -,
snow and glacier, so that crevasses and
avalanches and all other dangers pc
cuiar to snow climbing are constant
menace to the climber
Cold is Serious Obstacle.
The extreme cold and rarity of the
air as YOU approach the summit are
also serious obstacles. The equipment
for the two-days' journey consists of
ice-aXes. hob-nailed boots. wooden leg
gings and gloves, mountain caps which
cover the face and protect il from blis-
tering from the glare of the sun, and
goodly supply of professionalism you
would he surprised at an Alpine appe-
tite. The guide himself brings a long
coil of rope. almost 100 feet in length,
slung over his shoulder.
Ten thousand feet above the sea
Is an island of rock projecting from
the snow. \ tiny chatlet has been
built here, where the climber can spend
the night sleeping in a good bed. The
little chatlct is leased to a man and
his wife, most woebegone couple,
whose detected looks eloquently be-
speal; the solitude of their lives amid
these eternal SHOWS, where the Their
mometer each night stands at zero.
Tri- weekly two hardy porters alter
nate in bringing up supplies from
ChamoniX, and they certainly earn
their few francs IA day. No wonder
a glass Of water costs 20 centimcs, |
oven if it be melted snow, for every
billet of wood has to he brought from
ChamoniX, seven hours below"