Evening star., 1925-08-30

- exploration or unknown W1lds
4 i had been made by the Cas-
cadians, a mountaineering club.
organized at Yakima, Wash, and
Mount Stuart was selected for a climb.
The party included Mr.. and Mrs.
W. f. Richardson, Mr.. and Mrs. Rolfe
Whitnan, Clarence Truit, Harold Carey
and Vern Mason, Joseph r. Vincent,
ROLAND Whitmore and myself.
We got to broken ridge or cleaver,
leading to the first summit, without
once setting foot on snow. Then came
an arduous climb up the great rocks
and through the narrow chimneys, the
ropes being brought into frequent
requisition. When we We're about
halfway UP came the adventure of
the day.
We had come out on the great
fat-topped shelf of rock abutting upon
the ice chute. Immediately above the
party was perpendicular wall. eight
or ten feet high, which shut off the
view upward. 1t could he seen, how
ever, that we should either have TO
retrace our steps and find a route to
the right or pass around the point of
the wall next to the ice chute. 1t was
a relief to get onto a level surface
again, no matter how small. Two or
three of US went around the point to
reconnoiter.
The ice chute led straight down the
bottom of the couloir at a frightfully
steep angle. with here and there a
jagged point of rocks jutting out
into the ice. 1t was so hard that it
would have been folly for any man
TO hope to get a footing on it with
out the cutting of deep steps.
Above our shelf a very steep incline
of rather smooth granite led upward
for seventy-five or one hundred feet to
q iT1r iSa Of
secure footing. The slope of this in
cline was such that it met the surface
of the ice chute at about the same
angle it maintained the entire length
of its face.
When l came around the point Just
out of sight of the party, | saw that
Vincent, on his own initiative. had
taken the end of a 100-foot rope in
his hand and had started up the in
cline, climbing with hands and feet.
He had reached a, point about 20 feet
above the ice chute when he dropped
the rope. He grabbed for it and lost
his balance. Grasping desperately for
handholds, he rolled over and over,
down the face of the rock and struck
the ice chute asprawl. His body i'm
mediately shot downward on the fiinty
surface of the ice.
1 L now seemed IndI no edTtnIN
power could save him from being
dashed to death on the Jagged rocks
below. All of the rest of the party
We're still around the point out of
sight, in blissful unconsciousness of
the tragic denouement. In the swift
moment that was given me for de-
cision l think l did the only thing |
could have done under the circum
stances. l stepped as far out on the
rocks as l could, thrust the point
Of my alpenstock as firmly as possible
into the ice, and yelled to Vincent 10
catch it as he shot by. Whether or
not he heard me and comprehended
my meaning, / cannot say. Ii was
never to be known if my action would
have helped him any.
A near miracle interviewed to put
an end to the remarkab BILE adventure.
Several days before our visit there
had been a considerable fall of fresh
snow on the mountain. This had all
melted away except in a. few hooks
we'll sheltered from the sun. 1t so
happened that a narrow fringe of this
snow now filed the crevice between
the margin of the ice and the rocky
wall.
AS Vincent shot downward he
fought desperately for his life. He
attempted to throw himself toward the
rocks. He was a large. strong man
and he did not intend to give up
without a struggle. A nightly thrust
with one of his arms brought it down
through the soft snow into the
crevice. His speed was checked. In
the twinkling of an eye he had rolled
himself on to the rocks and grasped
the friendly projections. A white
streak on the surface of the ice,
where he had plowed away the dirty
covering, was the only reminder of
that near ira gedy-mute token of
what would have been had that streak
continued down the chute.
Vincent was determined not to be
baked by the granite incline. l was
the only one of the party who had
seen the accident. When the others
had been told of it, and had felt the
resultant thrills run over them. we
were ready to proceed. This time Vim
cent tied the rope around his waist.
Selecting a more favorable starting
point, a little farther from the ice