Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the years 1860-69 Part 14

PART VIII.

CHAPTER XIV. THE ASCENT OF THE DENT BLANCHE

Croz and Biener did not return until past 5 A.M. on June 17, and we then set out at once for Zermatt, intending to cross the Col d'Herens. But we did not proceed far before the attractions of the Dent Blanche were felt to be irresistible, and we turned aside up the steep lateral glacier which descends along its south-western face.

The Dent Blanche is a mountain little known except to the climbing fraternity. It was, and is, reputed to be one of the most difficult mountains in the Alps. Many attempts were made to scale it before its ascent was accomplished. Even Leslie Stephen himself, fleetest of foot of the whole Alpine brotherhood, once upon a time returned discomfited from it.

[LESLIE STEPHEN.]

LESLIE STEPHEN.

It was not climbed until 1862, but in that year Mr. T. S. Kennedy, with Mr. Wigram and the guides Jean B. Croz and Kronig, managed to conquer it.

They had a hard fight, though, before they gained the victory: a furious wind and driving snow, added to the natural difficulties, nearly turned the scale against them.

Mr. Kennedy described his expedition in a very interesting paper in the _Alpine Journal._ His account bore the impress of truth, but unbelievers said that it was impossible to have told (in weather such as was then experienced) whether the summit had actually been attained, and sometimes roundly a.s.serted that the mountain, as the saying is, yet remained virgin.

I did not share these doubts, although they influenced me to make the ascent. I thought it might be possible to find an easier route than that taken by Mr. Kennedy, and that if we succeeded in discovering one we should be able at once to refute his traducers and to vaunt our superior wisdom. Actuated by these elevated motives, I halted my little army at the foot of the glacier, and inquired, "Which is best for us to do?-to ascend the Dent Blanche, or to cross to Zermatt?" They answered, with befitting solemnity, "We think Dent Blanche is best."

From the chalets of Abricolla the southwest face of the Dent Blanche is regarded almost exactly in profile. From thence it is seen that the angle of the face scarcely exceeds thirty degrees, and after observing this I concluded that the face would, in all probability, give an easier path to the summit than the crest of the very jagged ridge which was followed by Mr. Kennedy.

[THE BERGSCHRUND ON THE DENT BLANCHE IN 1865.]

THE BERGSCHRUND ON THE DENT BLANCHE IN 1865.

We zigzagged up the glacier along the foot of the face, and looked for a way on to it. We looked for some time in vain, for a mighty bergschrund effectually prevented approach, and, like a fortress' moat, protected the wall from a.s.sault. We went up and up, until, I suppose, we were not more than a thousand feet below the point marked 3912 metres: then a bridge was discovered, and we dropped down on hands and knees to cross it.

A bergschrund, it has been said, is a schrund and something more than a schrund. A schrund is simply a big creva.s.se: a bergschrund is frequently, but not always, a big creva.s.se. The term is applied to the last of the creva.s.ses one finds, in ascending, before quitting the glacier and taking to the rocks which bound it. It is the mountains' schrund. Sometimes it is _very_ large, but early in the season (that is to say, in the month of June or before) bergschrunds are usually snowed up or well bridged over, and do not give much trouble. Later in the year, say in August, they are frequently very great hindrances, and occasionally are completely impa.s.sable.

We crossed the bergschrund of the Dent Blanche, I suppose, at a height of about twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea. Our work may be said to have commenced at that point. The face, although not steep in its general inclination, was so cut up by little ridges and cliffs, and so seamed with incipient couloirs, that it had all the difficulty of a much more precipitous slope. The difficulties were never great, but they were numerous, and made a very respectable total when put together. We pa.s.sed the bergschrund soon after nine in the morning, and during the next eleven hours halted only five and forty minutes. The whole of the remainder of the time was occupied in ascending and descending the twenty-four hundred feet which compose this south-western face; and inasmuch as one thousand feet per hour (taking the mean of ascent and descent) is an ordinary rate of progression, it is tolerably certain that the Dent Blanche is a mountain of exceptional difficulty.

The hindrances opposed to us by the mountain itself were, however, as nothing compared with the atmospheric obstructions. It is true there was plenty of-"Are you fast, Almer?" "Yes." "Go ahead, Biener." Biener, made secure, cried, "Come on, sir," and monsieur endeavored. "No, no," said Almer, "not there-_here_" pointing with his baton to the right place to clutch. Then 'twas Croz's turn, and we all drew in the rope as the great man followed. "Forward" once more-and so on.

Five hundred feet of this kind of work had been accomplished when we were saluted (not entirely unexpectedly) by the first gust of a hurricane which was raging above. The day was a lovely one for dwellers in the valleys, but we had long ago noted some light, gossamer clouds that were hovering round our summit, being drawn out in a suspicious manner into long, silky threads. Croz, indeed, prophesied before we had crossed the schrund that we should be beaten by the wind, and had advised that we should return.

But I had retorted, "No, my good Croz, you said just now, 'Dent Blanche is best:' we must go up the Dent Blanche."

I have a very lively and disagreeable recollection of this wind. Upon the outskirts of the disturbed region it was only felt occasionally. It then seemed to make rushes at one particular man, and when it had discomfited him, it whisked itself away to some far-off spot, only to return presently in greater force than before.

My old enemy, the Matterhorn, seen across the basin of the Z'Muttgletscher, looked totally una.s.sailable. "Do you think," the men asked, "that you or any one else will ever get up _that_ mountain?" And when, undismayed by their ridicule, I stoutly answered, "Yes, but not upon that side," they burst into derisive chuckles. I must confess that my hopes sank, for nothing can look, or be, more completely inaccessible than the Matterhorn on its northern and north-west sides.

"Forward" once again. We overtopped the Dent d'Herens. "Not a thousand feet more: in three hours we shall be on the summit." "You mean _ten,_"

echoed Croz, so slow had been the progress. But I was not far wrong in the estimate. At 3.15 we struck the great ridge followed by Mr. Kennedy, close to the top of the mountain. The wind and cold were terrible there.

Progress was oftentimes impossible, and we waited, crouching under the lee of rocks, listening to "the shrieking of the mindless wind," while the blasts swept across, tearing off the upper snow and blowing it away in streamers over the Schonbuhl glacier-"nothing seen except an indescribable writhing in the air, like the wind made visible."

Our goal was concealed by the mist, though it was only a few yards away, and Croz's prophecy that we should stay all night upon the summit seemed likely to come true. The men rose with the occasion, although even their fingers had nearly lost sensation. There were no murmurings nor suggestions of return, and they pressed on for the little white cone which they knew must be near at hand. Stopped again-a big ma.s.s perched loosely on the ridge barred the way: we could not crawl over and scarcely dared creep round it. The wine went round for the last time. The liquor was half frozen-still we would more of it. It was all gone: the bottle was left behind, and we pushed on, for there was a lull.

The end came almost before it was expected. The clouds opened, and I saw that we were all but upon the highest point, and that between us and it, about twenty yards off, there was a little artificial pile of stones.

Kennedy was a true man-it was a cairn which he had erected. "What is that, Croz?" "Homme de pierres" he bawled. It was needless to proceed farther: I jerked the rope from Biener, and motioned that we would go back. He did the same to Almer, and we turned immediately. _They_ did not see the stones (they were cutting footsteps), and misinterpreted the reason of the retreat. Voices were inaudible and explanations impossible.

We commenced the descent of the face. It was hideous work. The men looked like impersonations of Winter, with their hair all frosted and their beards matted with ice. My hands were numbed-dead. I begged the others to stop. "We cannot afford to stop: we must continue to move," was their reply. They were right: to stop was to be entirely frozen. So we went down, gripping rocks varnished with ice, which pulled the skin from the fingers. Gloves were useless: they became iced too, and the batons slid through them as slippery as eels. The iron of the axes stuck to the fingers-it felt red hot; but it was useless to shrink: the rocks and the axes had to be firmly grasped-no faltering would do here.

We turned back at 4.12 P.M. and at 8.15 crossed the bergschrund, again, not having halted for a minute upon the entire descent. During the last two hours it was windless, but time was of such vital importance that we pressed on incessantly, and did not stop until we were fairly upon the glacier. Then we took stock of what remained of the tips of our fingers.

There was not much skin left: they were perfectly raw, and for weeks afterward I was reminded of the ascent of the Dent Blanche by the twinges which I felt when I pulled on my boots. The others escaped with some slight frost-bites, and altogether we had reason to congratulate ourselves that we got off so lightly. The men complimented me upon the descent, and I could do the same honestly by them. If they had worked less vigorously or harmoniously, we should have been benighted upon the face, where there was not a single spot upon which it was possible to sit; and if that had happened, I do not think that one would have survived to tell the tale.

We made the descent of the glacier in a mist, and of the moraine at its base and of the slopes below in total darkness, and regained the chalets of Abricolla at 11.45 P. M. We had been absent eighteen and a half hours, and out of that time had been going not less than seventeen. That night we slept the sleep of those who are thoroughly tired.(48)

Two days afterward, when walking into Zermatt, whom should we meet but Mr.

Kennedy! "Hullo!" we said, "we have just seen your cairn on the top of the Dent Blanche." "No, you haven't," he answered very positively. "What do you mean?" "Why, that you cannot have seen my cairn, because I didn't make one!" "Well, but we saw _a_ cairn." "No doubt: it was made by a man who went up the mountain last year with Lauener and Zurfluh." "O-o-h!" we said, rather disgusted at hearing news when we expected to communicate some-"O-o-h! Good-morning, Kennedy." Before this happened we managed to lose our way upon the Col d'Herens, but an account of that must be reserved for the next chapter.

[T. S. KENNEDY.]

T. S. KENNEDY.

CHAPTER XV. LOST ON THE COL D'HeRENS-MY SEVENTH ATTEMPT TO ASCEND THE MATTERHORN

We should have started for Zermatt about 7 A.M. on the 18th, had not Biener asked to be allowed to go to ma.s.s at Evolene, a village about two and a half hours from Abricolla. He received permission, on the condition that he returned not later than mid-day, but he did not come back until 2.30 P.M. and we thereby got into a pretty little mess.

The pa.s.s which we were about to traverse to Zermatt-the Col d'Herens-is one of the few glacier-pa.s.ses in this district which have been known almost from time immemorial. It is frequently crossed in the summer season, and is a very easy route, notwithstanding that the summit of the pa.s.s is 11,417 feet above the level of the sea.

From Abricolla to the summit the way lies chiefly over the flat Glacier de Ferpecle. The walk is of the most straightforward kind. The glacier rises in gentle undulations, its creva.s.ses are small and easily avoided, and all you have to do, after once getting upon the ice, is to proceed due south in the most direct manner possible. If you do so, in two hours you should be upon the summit of the pa.s.s.

We tied ourselves in line, of course, when we entered upon the glacier, and placed Biener to lead, as he had frequently crossed the pa.s.s, supposing that his local knowledge might save us some time upon the other side. We had proceeded, I suppose, about halfway up, when a little thin cloud dropped down upon us from above, but it was so light, so gauzy, that we did not for a moment suppose that it would become embarra.s.sing, and hence I neglected to note at the proper moment the course which we should steer-that is to say, to observe our precise situation in regard to the summit of the pa.s.s.

For some little time Biener progressed steadily, making a tolerably straight track, but at length he wavered, and deviated sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left. Croz rushed forward directly he saw this, and, taking the poor young man by his shoulders, gave him a good shaking, told him that he was an imbecile, to untie himself at once, and go to the rear. Biener looked half frightened, and obeyed without a murmur. Croz led off briskly, and made a good straight track for a few minutes, but then, it seemed to me, began to move steadily round to the left. I looked back, but the mist was now too thick to see our traces, and so we continued to follow our leader. At last the others (who were behind, and in a better position to judge) thought the same as I did, and we pulled up Croz to deliver our opinion. He took our criticism in good part, but when Biener opened his mouth, that was too much for him to stand, and he told the young man again, "You are imbecile: I bet you twenty francs to one that _my_ track is better than _yours-_twenty francs! Now then, imbecile!"

Almer went to the front. He commenced by returning in the track for a hundred yards or so, and then started off at a tangent from Croz's curve.

We kept this course for half an hour, and then were certain that we were not on the right route, because the snow became decidedly steep. We bore away more and more to the right to avoid this steep bank, but at last I rebelled, as we had for some time been going almost south-west, which was altogether the wrong direction. After a long discussion we returned some distance in our track, and then steered a little east of south, but we continually met steep snow-slopes, and to avoid them went right or left as the case might require.

We were greatly puzzled, and could not in the least tell whether we were too near the Dent Blanche or too close to the Tete Blanche. The mists had thickened, and were now as dense as a moderate London fog. There were no rocks or echoes to direct us, and the guidance of the compa.s.s brought us invariably against these steep snow-banks. The men were fairly beaten: they had all had a try, or more than one, and at last gave it up as a bad job, and asked what was to be done. It was 7.30 P.M. and only an hour of daylight was left. We were beginning to feel used up, for we had wandered about at tiptop speed for the last three hours and a half; so I said, "This is my advice: let us turn in our track, and go back as hard as ever we can, not quitting the track for an instant." They were well content, but just as we were starting off the clouds lifted a little, and we thought we saw the col. It was then to our right, and we went at it with a dash, but before we had gone a hundred paces down came the mist again. We kept on nevertheless for twenty minutes, and then, as darkness was perceptibly coming on, and the snow was yet rising in front, we turned back, and by running down the entire distance managed to get clear of the Ferpecle glacier just as it became pitch-dark. We arrived at our cheerless chalet in due course, and went to bed supper-less, for our food was gone -all very sulky, not to say savage, agreeing in nothing except in bullying Biener.

At 7 A.M. on the 19th we set out, for the third time, for the Col d'Herens. It was a fine day, and we gradually recovered our tempers as we saw the follies which had been committed on the previous evening. Biener's wavering track was not so bad, but Croz had swerved from the right route from the first, and had traced a complete semicircle, so that when we stopped him we were facing Abricolla, whence we had started. Almer had commenced with great discretion, but he kept on too long, and crossed the proper route. When I stopped them (because we were going south-west) we were a long way up the Tete Blanche! Our last attempt was in the right direction: we were actually upon the summit of the pa.s.s, and in another ten yards we should have commenced to go down hill! It is needless to point out that if the compa.s.s had been looked to at the proper moment-that is, immediately the mist came down-we should have avoided all our troubles. It was of little use afterward, except to tell us when we were going _wrong._

[THE MATTERHORN FROM THE RIFFELBERG.]

THE MATTERHORN FROM THE RIFFELBERG.

We arrived at Zermatt in six and a half hours' walking from Abricolla, and Seiler's hospitable reception set us all right again. On the 20th we crossed the Theodule pa.s.s, and diverged from its summit up the Theodulhorn (11,391) to examine a route which I suggested for the ascent of the Matterhorn; but before continuing an account of our proceedings, I must stop for a minute to explain why this new route was proposed, in place of that up the south-western ridge.