ALPINE GUIDE'S AXE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2131, 24 April 1914, Page 5

ALPINE GUIDE'S AXE

| A STRANGE COINCIDENCE. '■■ Apropos of strange eoiucidcticesj a remarkable story is related in a recent number of tho "Saturday Westminster." It concerns the finding of the axo of Zurbriggen, a Swiss Alpme climber, who, while in New Zealand several years ago, made -some aotaKte ascents of the New Zealand Alps. Tho writer (Sir Martin Conway) says: "In tho year 1892, when I was conducting exploration in the Karakkoram Himalayas, I was accompanied' by tho well-known Swiss guide, Mattias Zurbriggen. One of my companions vrss tho Hon. (now Lieutenant-Colonel) C. •G. Bruce, then of tho sth Gurkhas, and with him were some Gurkha Sepoys! of whom Harkbir Ttiapa was the chief. Harkbir learnt the art of eliiiibing snow mountains from Zurbriggen during tho six months in -which we ' climbed together, and bo became ono of the halfdozen best climbers in tho world. Zurbriggen taught him the use of the iceaxe, and it will easily he understood how well Zurbriggen's axe (marked, MZ) became known to Harkbir, who' often handled it. At the end of 18S8 the party broke up, Bruce and his Gurklias returned to Abbottabad, Zurbriggen and' Ito Europe. In the summer of 1893 Zurbriggen climbed in the Alps with M. Fonblauque. One of their climbs was on a peak of Le-s Dames Anglaises, near Chanionix. Tho peak is precipitous.on one side., and down this precipice Zurbriggen' accidentally dropped his from near ths summit of the peak. It fell some thousands of feet, 1 believe, and at* all events camo to rest on tho neve below. Of course it was lost to Zurbriggen. In the normal course, of things it was buried in snow and swallowed up by the glaeier, being covered deeper and deeper every year for some years, and flt 'the same timo being carried slowly downward as the ice flowed on. Several years passed —I know not. how many, perhaps' seven or eight. Then Bruce came to Europe on leave, and brought Harkbir with him in order that they might have the pleasure of climbing together in the Alps. ' Ono day they attempted tho ascent of tho Aiguille du Midi from Chamonix. They reached the col.- and then were driven down on tho Montanverfc sido by fog and had weather. They had to find a way down La Valloo Blanche, M'hich is very intricately crcvassed in its lower part. Harkbir. I believe, led with great skill and intelligence through this niazo, and one difficulty was ■••verconie after another. At last,'just as twilight was fading, a final great crevasse barred their way. Not being able to find a bridge over it, Harkbir cut his way down into it, and there at the bottom ho trod on an ice-axe. Ho picked it up, and at once said, 'Why this is Zurbriggen's axe,' and so in fact it was. There was tho MZ branded en it, but, even without that, Harkbir would have known it. Ho had followed it for six months over the glaciers and up the mountains that form the central knot of tho ranges of Asia. It was the first axe he had ever seen. It was tho ono that ho had watched in use and from which ho had learned to use his own ; and hero was he, come all tho way from Asia, and knowing only one guide and ono guide's axe hi Europe, and that axe, after travelling for years in the bowels of a glacier, now newly revoaled by the opening of a crevasse just where it lay, and it is into that crevasso at tho very point whore the axo lay that Harkbir and Bruce- were driven to descend at the last moment of daylight in utmost haste, and stumbled at tho bottom of it exactly on to tho axe." Sir Martin concludes by observing that he lias always thought this to bo as remarkable a coincidence as fts\Y hitherto put on record.