Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1921-01-14
STORMS PREVENT
ASCENT Of GIANT
PEAK IN HIMALAYAS
MoUNTAlNEERS MAKE DARING
. ATTEMPT TO SCALE MOUNT
kINcHlNJUN6A, BUT ARE DRiV.
! EN- BACK BY RAINS AND SHIFT.
/ ING ICE FIELDS.

L
Manchester England.-A MancheS'
ter Guardian correspondent at Calcul'
Ia remarks that great interest mas
been aroused by I'm attempt TO cIllnD
Mount Klnchinjunga, one Of the giants
bf the Hmalayas.
/ Harold Racburn, editor OF NOM
taineering Art, and c, 6, Crawford OF
the Assam civil seyice, both m'NI-
berS of the Alpine club, were known
TO be conducting preliminary rNpIor"-
lions in the hope of finding an easy
access to the summit
More than one skirmIsh III Inc
vicinity of Kinchinjunsu was mace
though the rains al the time were
heavy and the eyer-ShfiIng ice ho'dN
In the mountains were likely to come
down in terrific avaanchc- making
all climbing impossible without sei''
pus risk TO life
Their explorations led the cIImue'S
plong the course of the Taluug RIVER
which takes its rise in the lalnhg
glacier. Here they crossed streams
the bridges of which had been washed
away, and passed impenetrahIe fer
ests. through which they had to hcw
their way for several days. IN
daunted by the rainy weather, they
Travelled almost straight north TO
Pamlonghi. across the Giuchu Pass,
1G,43O feet. to the Talung glacier
which is almost Immediately TO the
south of Einchinjunga, and there oh.
tanned a glorious view of the noun
tains.
h Encounter Great Difficulties.
The party returned to Darjeeling
md made their final preparations, en-
gaging coolies and large quantities OF
stores. The rains, however, were so
severe that it was not until September
2 that the two explorers were able TO
get away. Travelling out by the SIN
galila ridge, they attacked klnch.h'
1unga on the southwest side ami eN-
pored the glaciers Access 10 the
summit by that direction was found
difficult, but the party pcrSevered a"d
eventually camped out at level OF
10000 feet.
Here more difficulties were met and
bad weather was experienced. Snow
began to fall and the expedition he
came increasingly hazardous. \ fur
a l'gf
at this point the attempt had 10 be-
abandoned.
The return was made by a new
snow pass about $4,000 feet high. The
weather was at first exceedingly bad
but conditions became better later.
There was no rain on lower level, al
though occasional snow showers We're
met higher up. Considerable difficulty
was experienced when returning, oW-
ing to the depth of new SHOWS on the
Sikkhm side, which were probably due
TO the bad weather experienced In the
latter part Of September. Finally the
party reached Darjeeing in the mid
die of October, having been away
over month Both the explorers
were greatly impressed by the peaks,
but confident that, given good wealth
er, the summit could be attained.
Attempt Made in 1899.
II IS interesting to recall that
similar attempt was made by Douglas
w. Frpshficld in 1899 Mr.. Freshtield
was led to undertake the exploration
by the fact that owing, as he says,
partly to cost and the difficulty of
travel in Sikkhhm and partly to the
obstacle presented by the Nepa,ese
frontier, no European had up to the
end of the nineteenth century gone
around the mountain. Even Sir
Joseph Hooker did not approach near
enough to explore the glaciers Of the
giant. As for official surveys, these.
according to Mr.. FreshtieId. have al
ternatcly ignored and carjcatured the
glaciers.
Mr. Freshfeld did not think much
of his tour from q climbing point Of
view.
at is. Of course, impossible he
writes. ito 20 up and down 10000
feet without some climbing in the pop
ular sense of the word. but in the
Technically Alpine sense we had far
too little mountaineering for my ta@'"
Rope and ice-aX played but q very
subordinate part in our journey"