THE AWFUL AVALANCHE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VI, Issue 310, 28 March 1879, Page 11

THE AWFUL AVALANCHE.

If D E siffr°o™ n HTf aphic f^ Coun ? ; of . the P erils of avalanches in the John twS + if ™ ? 4 . Exe A msc in the A] P S '" h y th ° celebrated ift e atf mP I? rethem ' . aM h °P es of B«cces S P cheWtLi P r %iS? tL, * y Came to snow frozen u P° n the surface .which would w*^ afew S , teps and then break do ™- Thi 3» of course, dethai^d^^f r % and^ very fatiguing. Finally, it came to a point that, in order to reach a certain arete, they would be obii^cd to co ud iT^eltunV oo^ h S h ' 1S « Abroad at the ?dp an« If LpU <ftl a p',- the ascent, they sank about one foot deep m 3& After mounting for some distance, the two leading SSJSf? 7 <■ abOVC their waists - They wcl 'c called to get cam?/n tl me f^SSles, and presently found better footing, and came to the conclusion that the snow was accidentally softer there than elsewhere But Bennen was afraid of starting an avalanche! tTe story :°' StaTled f ° nVard "S^-but let th? book complete iw Th? oKT^??f f l i hl vV ° aboUt folultecn or fifteen feet above An awfnl l!" f ffrßt I^ ltc ■ narrow, not more than an inch broad. voice" ' then ifc was brokeu by Bcnnen's 4tJ'*rJ!lZr£* d aUe ™:i or ™ ' X we are all lost). His words were ™T«t i, i' an £ those who knew Lim fe l fc wh at they really S J * T0 ™ m / alpenstock into the snow, and brought the he ton y T 5* yto O V t " Weilt in t0 Vitbin thref inches S,rn2iT' i ?+ Wa \ «•« • Ifc was an awful moment of suspense. I thing ° n *° SCC whetbeT he hf id done the same •jmflil*Sn? y ft° n i shment » x saw him turn round, face the valley, and stretch out both anas. The ground on which we stood began to %Z !l°Z y ' a " + d LfcltL felt Vtho,V tho , Utter « seless «ess of any alpenstofk. I P?VH? " P °?? shonlders - and began descending backwards, of th^ ?art mm ° men SaW nothin S of what fa ad happened to the rest Th/l™}Z h t a J° Od dea V° f trouble X succeeded in turning round. The speed of the avalanche increased rapidly, and before long I was SSS^t? W - tl V 8 ?° W^ and 1 in utter darkness. I was suffocating, 3n3 n ' m S a 3 er J' X suddenly came to the surface again. The rope tJL™l S i m ?f,P r o ba bly on a rock, and this was evidently the if hS mrf 1 t G - *TSOU a wavo of the avaiancho. antl saw it before me as I was carried down. ihp ™i a T£ tllG m i° St aWfnl sighfc J ever witnessed. The head of the avalanche vvas already at the spot where we had met our last Si«f SS eaa alone was preceded by a thick cloud of raov-ilnst ; the rest of the avalanche was clear WnrllTtw? 0 I h . eard t^ hor » d "issing of the snow, and far before me the thiindenng of the foremost part of the avalanche. To Efmot my T" kinS again X maAe use of ™y arms, much in the same way as when swimming in a standing position, At List I noticed that I was moving slower ; then I saw the pieces of snow in tront of me stop at some yards distance ; then the snow straight beS^^fw o^^'^, 1 henid on a lar^ c scale the ™ me creaking sonnd that is produced when a heavy cart passes over hard-frozen snow in winter. .wiU felt * bat , * also stO PP«I, and instantly tbiew up both arms to protect my head in case I should again be covered up. I had stopped, but the snow behind me was still in motion ; its pressure on my body was so strong that I thought that I should be crushed to death. This tremendous pressure lasted but a short time, and ceased as suddenly as it Had begun. I was then covered up with snow coming from behind me. My first impulse was to try and recover my head, but this I could not do. The avalanche had frozen by pressure the moment it stopped, and I was frozen in. " Y^lfu t t ying vainly t0 move my arms, I suddcnlv became aware that the hands as far as the wrists had the faculty of motion. The conclusion was easy ; they must be above the snow. I set to work as well as I could ; it was time, for I could not have held out much longer. At last I saw a faint glimmer of light. The ernst above my head was getting thinner and it let a little air pass, but I could not reach it any more with my hands ; the idea struck me that 1 might pierce it with my breath. After several efforts I succeeded vn doing so, and felt suddenly a rush of air towards my mouth • I saw the sky again through a little round hole. A dead silence reigned around me. s " I was so surprised to be still alire, and so persuaded at the first moment that none of my fellow-sufferers had survived, that I did not think of even shouting for them, I then made vain efforts to extricate my arms, but found it impossible ; the most that I could do was to put in the end of my fingers, but they could not reach the snow any longer. After a few minutes I heard a man shouting. What a relief it was to know that I was not the sole survivor 1 To know that perhaps he was not frozen in, and could come to my assistance ! I answered. The voice approached, but seemed uncertain where to go, and yet it was quite near. "A sudden exclamation of surprise ! Eebot had seen my hands. He cleared my head in an instant, and was about to try to cut me out completely, when I saw a foot above the snow, and so near to me that I could touch it with my arms, although they were not quite free yet. lat once tried to move the foot ; it was my poor friend's. A pang of agony shot through me, as I saw that the foot did not move. Poor Boissoult had lost sensation, and was perhaps already dead. Kebot did his best ; after some time he wished me to help him, so he freed my arms a little more, so that I could make use of them. I could do but little, for Kebot had torn the axe from my shoulder as soon as he had cleared my head (I generally carry an axe separate from my alpenstock, the blade tied to the belt and the handle attached to the left shoulder).

he wa?lvWnTi Dg t° ™ 6'6 ' ?^ 0t tiad hel P ed Nance out of the snow; NaS^nf S5i 7i7 i h0 " ZCmtally ' .audwas not much covered over tSi Afu'f' T?° was u P. ri e ht in the snow, but covered up to cameim" W«» ♦?* SVS V minUteS ' the two last naracd S uides tE^ P rlnin? out ; the snow had to be cut with after" one liwl £** beforC * could be P ullctl Ol * A f ew minutes SiLS ♦ r0?,r 0 ?, P ' M - we came l 0 mv P° or Mend's face. I wished Jl°ffl c teke » out completely, but nothing could induce the too££\n Z Ork a 7 lo , nger ' frOlD the moraenfc thQ y saw it was incanSlt of a * im> lu acknowled S« that Ahey were\as nearly as P < xrrt n * an y thin g as I was. triPd tw^ 1 W - aS *? ken Ut of the snow the cord bad t0 be ™t. We 5Si j£ %n gWn | towai * 8 Bennen > *ut could not move it ; it went 533? vS « .' and sbowed us *at there was the grave of the bravest guide Valais ever had, and ever will have."