A CLIMBER'S HOLIDAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 47, 24 February 1906, Page 9

A CLIMBER'S HOLIDAY.

:/THE FIRSX CROSSING OF MOUNT' , .' COOK, By MALCOLM ROSS. — i. (Specially Written for the Evening Post.). 'No. V. ' On the 'Summit of Aornngl— Wo Commonco tho Descent— An Ice-glazed Rock Arete— Suspended ovor a- Pro- - cJpi««—''A Sloping 'Chimney?"— An Ungraceful Descent — Grahnm loses hits hat— A cold Wind. . " The solemn peaks but to tho stars' are known, But to tho stars ond the cokj lunar 1 beam* j Alone th« Situ arJseg," and nlono Spring tho great streams.!' 1 ~'tyfl spsnb altogether twenty-fly© mln« tites on >tlt 0 summit of tho ' mountain^ 12,307 ft' above tho soo. Tho views; wero certrtiflly grand and rory beatttifnl, but not so fin© ns from between the altitudes of ten and oloven thousand feet, for the aimplo reason that, from tho greaterheight. l of tho summit, all the lesser mountains were dwarfed, and many of tlvo#e that looked imposing from 'below had now dwindled into insignificance. Having .repacked our rucksacks, 'wo gave ono last glanco about us, and then started down tho slope on the othor sido df the mountain. Wo were now struck' by a wind, which, of course, at this altitude, was very cold, The dwwslopo was not steep, but it was frozen, and wo had to onb n, number of stops beforo wo could teach the rock arete. In h(vlf-an« hour wo wero on tho highest rooks of this flrote, "and, to our horror, we foiind them in tho worst possiblp condition lot cHmbing— plastered with snow and ico and festooned with 'great icicles', Wo talght hftvo returned to tho tiwwAi and oMrabed Hack to , safety beforo nightfall down our upward toutoj bvty we wero rary ko,on ,to/col" tho peak for tlio first time, and decided to take the 'risk. Very lfltle was said, and, .after \ brief oofisttltation ■ between JTyfe, and myself, the word was. given to.cantinuo tho descent, and \te nUmi with «rim deter' tnination to conquer tho cHfßcuHie.s and overcomo the daagars that ky between Us and tho upper slopes of the Hooker Glacier, .'four thousand feet below tho summit on tho weslorn side. „ It now became a question, not only of climbing with care, but* also' with all posalblo speed, for thero was no place on this long ridge, in its present condition and with tha cold wind blowing, where wo oould bivouno in safety; • We had reckoned on ,a eoflipttratlvoly easy climb down i these rooks, and also upon crossing tho bergschruna at the 'head of tho Hooker Glacier before nightfall \ but we ■ soon saw that .this would* be out/of the question, especially as Tumor was 0. slow, ■ climber, both on' snow and 6n rocks. Fyfe repeatedly, urged him to htirry and trust for, saflty ( to the rope., fyfo was In tho, responsible, position— last man on the rope. I came next, and Tumor was between' ma 1 and. Graham, who. under general direction* from Ityfa, lea down. After descending for a few hundred feet, we soon" found, that, owing to tho ioo\ glazing and the sndw, it was impossible to keep to the crest of the ridge_, and the descent, becjwno largely a 'senes <of 'towrtw aofoss dlffl l o«lt;',Mia"Bt ,tlmfeS precipitous faces of Wok, mostly on the eastern face of the arete. On tho west the climbing, was even more difficult, and there was- a bitter wind blowing, so we (avoided that side as much as possible. In one plaoe we had to climb back from the ! eastern iioe through a. gap qf overhanging rock and great icicles, Peter ■swashed the 'greater /part of the icicles with the handle of his ice-axe, and the, broken ' pieces ' wont" swishing , down the precipices towards the Hooker. Under the, circumstances, there was naturally soffla hesitancy in,, seleotina tho best route: but there was little time for undue deliberation, and as Graham paused now and then in some doubt Fyfo would pall out! "Will it. >/ Peter r ]>6ter, in. plot and solemn, tones would Invariably give tho one answer— " Well, it '^doesn't look too good," and then Would come the answering admonition from Fyfe— ''Get down—got' somewhere I" , At last wo came to a break in the ridge that looked utterly unscaleablo.* Wo Halted and glanced 'ahead and from side to' side. < Then we cast longing eyes to some- snow-slopes leading down to Uie Linda Glacier on the 'east; but that was thousands of feet), below us. "Will It 'go,' Peter?" we asked, and back came tae noncommittal reply—" It ' doesn't look too good."' Thgto was considerable hesitancy. It now appeared to mo .that tho moment for deoisfvo' action had come, ,so <L suggested 'that, we should unro'pe, and be lowered down singly over the faeo of rook. I ,was lowered down first, nnd then, untying, tlie rope was hrtuldd np. and Graham was lowered* I' had ?:ained a footing on a, knob of rock that utted out 'from tbo "snow &tid ie&ln'a narrow '" ohlmnoy "} but .there was not room on this for two .people,, so I. cut a few steps and climbed down some twelve or fifteen feet, and held on in a, somewhat intfeeure position. I confess that I was anxious to see the last man make his appearance, lor, with a- keon wind" nearly freezing the finger* 'with which I- clung to tho rook, and .without even tho "moral" support of the ropo, my 'position was not altogether 1 tfno to be envied. Graham cHmbod .down the slanting ," chimney" for ft few "feet towards mo, and then Turner was lowered to the, knob ; of rock on whioh, I had gataod my first secure footing. It remainedior Fyfe to get down.'-' This was the position, of tho gwalost responsibility, and required a 'cool Wead 1 ftnd spWndid fterve, /or.tbero wtU noiono.to lower him, W L «« had to use tlio ropY doubled and , Wtehetl ovef,« projection 6! rock. Tho B**<fto«j' ,c«re had ,to bo oxereißed, ospe> ekJly tot the first 1 few feet, in cftss tho two should slip over -tin 1 knob, "Fyfe, hbvrevoY, manaoefd to, get down ro safety, and then we all roped up* onco more. Wo could not .shift our positions to revort to- thfr original order on' tho 1 rope, so t&«* I now had to take, tho .lead. We ' Ajjmbtfd round tfto foot ,of the steep wall i that Jiod cut us off, and onco more gained : the orost of tho ridge i) but it would not ' go, and we crossed to {Re eastern face, scrambling dawn a ohort broken couloir," and then, traversing back to 1 regain the ndao. I had to haok a,' hole < through lon« ioleles"that were lmni(in(f 1 I from a ' jutting rocK liiere was just \ l room to- wnwl through, the knapsack grazing tho broken fingers of lee abovo, There mlffhe ha^e' been a route on tho : qastorn Side o/^lhls face; but <i ghtuxs \ down tho dark -prooipleos and "couFoirs," 1 filled with elo«r lee, to « depth of thrao 1 or four thousand feet, wan somewhat < startling, whon- that glance was made In ( March of tt*pracliOabio line of descent. Besides, under suoh conditions as we were , faw to face with, the known lo «iwav« preferable ;-to ' the unknown, espooiafly when time is so Important a factor in a climbf Wo knew the ridge we' were on ■ could be 'descended, but we might have 1 got into a cul de mo on those grim 100- 1 plastered eastern procipicos, 1 Ow difficulties," however, woro, by no 1 mentis j over, for, In- a, few . minute*, i ] wns peering over tho face of a dangerous- ■ looking precipitous cliff,' A glancd showed i that 'the.re was no pracltaable route 1 .either to the' right or tho loft,< TheJj

afternoon was wearing on, thero was no time for hesitnnoy, so I wont over the 'edge, and with tho assistance of the ■rope, scrambled down a stoop chimney with Squaro smooth sides and few hand grips., This chimney, howover, fell awny from the porpendioulnr near its foot and sloped inwards. On its final twelve feot there were neither hand nor foot holds. There wa» accordingly nothing for it but to unrope flgftin, and bo lowered down singly. Graham lowered mo down with one rope, Fyfo and Turner anchoring on the rocks ' above. For a little way, by clawing at tho rook with foot and hands, and by the friction of my body, I was able to descend with some slight amount of dignity', nnd I told Orahnni to lower away. Then, as I reached tho part wheifl tho chimney sloped inward from the perpendicular, I lost contact with ,the rocks, and hung suapendod like Mahomet's coffin betweon hoavon and earbh. Tho strain of 'tho rope round one's waist, threatening to effect a complete change in one's internal anatomy, a vaguo dtwlrig aVftlr with one's hands tmd nn equally vague searching for foothold with the nether limbs as you dnngle in midair at the end' of a forty-foot ropo with precipices and snow-slopos of ovor a thousand feet below, have a chastening influence on the most seasoned moun-. kineer, and, however exhilarating the experience may bo, it is always with feelings of supreme satisfaction and almost devout thankfulness that ho once more comos t to close grips with mothor earth. At alt events, when, after my brief and more or less graceful gyrations at tho end of that particular rope, I 'found the strain removod from my waist, and footholds and handholds once more actual ' realities, t made no complafyt,' even though the middlo finger of 1 my left hand, which had boon cut on the Bliarp rooks, was spuHlng blood, and dyeing the, snow at my feet a beautiful crimson. ' ' Ths spot' Con which I found my feet tad!' not I , tho 'best, of landings, for tho rock shebted outwards into snow. It was, now;, jPeter's . turn ■to descend,' so I planted mvlelf'afe well as I could, nnd watched the operation. Ho was a good stone and a half heavier, so thoro must have been a considerable strain on Fyfo's arms. ■ As" hd slid off tho rooks into tho air, his ice-axe caught in tho chimney, and sent him swinging round. I saw a long body, a swirling mass of arms and logs, and a nice felt, hat sailing down on the wind to tho Linda .Glacier thousands of "feet below, add then n, somewhat blown, but otherwise. 'COol mountaineer, with a; littlo (assistance as to where to 1 plant* his feet; Wde'd.'besido mo. Peter's descent was «o comical that I could not refrain from laughing. Turner was the nest man, and Syfo urged him forward. iThe rope was faaldndd round his waist,' and hc/'iotr, cut a comical figure as ho slid off from tho perpendlouter, clawed at vacancy, and eventuajly' landed besidd' us, Fyfe's grinning ' countenance peered ovor tho edge of tho ollff above, as if ha wore enjoying tho sport. Sensational , as this ' performance was, especially until a landing-p!ne>, had boon found, a,,m<ire serious one remained for Fyfo to accomplish. I, howover, know Fyfo's ' capabilities, otherwise I should never have undertaken such a descent.' I had been with 'him in dome tight corners before, and 1 had absolute with in his abiHty tciget down.' Onqo more he hitched, the doublo ropo^vor a rook, and scrambled down the precipice. The only rook, available; was slightly loose, so ho had to be very careful at > the start in case tho rope should slip over the pro. jeetion. , Such experiences are opt to bo ft' little nerve-shattering, and these t^o sensational descent*— especially the latter one—must have taken; something' out' of >Hlra7' f Heiw<*e I r, he was again equal to 1 tho einorgetKiy, and, assisted by Grahnm's long reach as ho swung over the last fejv feWllke a ptnduluia, he wa» soon beei'do us ,ln safety, '_ ' ' v Wo' now .halted ior a few minutes while wo donned ettv spare Nothing. , t g.ave Graham my hat, as I- had "a spare cap in my rucksack, and then r bduna up my bleeding finger with somfii/sftips of Johnston's adhesive piaster, Aftor all: • there was something very exhilarating in «uoh difficult work, Every norve'and muscle was at full and thoughts of alt olse save the 'matter in hand wore banished from tho brain., Tho way /ahead, now seemed clear. Wo' hod "drank d«« light of battle with, our peers" and, thus far, had won. „ ' '(To be continued,) », >»■' ' !i it \ i i > ,i'