MOUNTAINEERING 



B 8 6 7 



MOUNTAINEERING 



ill. Monte Rosa region, became 

 .-..nuci-tfil \\itli tin; great name of 



do -l:i Yin. -I. Wholly ililTrr 



, MI in fh:ir;icti-r were the as'-mt- 

 l,v ('.mm < 'turner of Zuri.-li in tin- 

 niiililli- <>f the 16th century. It 

 u,.n!.l seem that at about that 

 pi-rioil ;i Swiss Alpine Club, with 

 -.mill mountaineering ideas, was 

 IMMMI; formed among the stutl.-n!- 

 nt' /urirli. We Icuni from Josias 

 Sun!.-! that tin- u-<e of the rope was 

 u.j'i. i.ited, and that the value of 

 darkened glasses on dazzling snow- 

 in-Ill^ and of certain precautions 

 against frost-bite was understood. 



This promising beginning was 

 lit short by war, and there fol- 

 lo\\i-d n hiatus of nearly 200 years, 

 with the bright interval of Scheuch- 

 \peditions, 1702-11. In 1739 

 came the first ascent of a snow 

 mountain, the Titlis, by a monk 

 whose name is unknown, and, two 

 ran later, the epoch-making expe- 

 dition of Windham and Pocockc 

 to the Montanvert. Shortly after, 

 definite attacks were made on the 

 high peaks. The Buet was climbed 

 by the brothers de Luc in 1770, and 

 about 1783 Mt. Blanc was at- 

 i i n | it ed, though without success, by 

 the artist Bourrit. Three years later 

 (1786) the monarch of mountains 

 yielded to Jacques Balmat and 

 Michel Paccard, and again in 1787 

 to Balmat and De Saussure. War 

 then again intervened, yet the 

 Jungfrau was climbed in 1811 and 

 the Finsteraarhorn in 1812. 



During the first fifty years of 

 the 19th century several notable 

 peaks had been conquered, and 

 the ascent of Mt. Blanc became 

 finally popularised, it might almost 

 be said vulgarised, by Albert 

 Smith's ascent in 1851 and its ad- 

 vertisement. Then, with the climb- 

 ing of the Wetterhorn by Alfred 

 Wills in 1854, came the birth of 

 modern mountaineering, mountain 

 climbing for the love of the sport. 

 The year 1856 witnessed a notable 

 departure, a guideless ascent of Mt. 

 Blanc by Hudson and Kennedy's 

 party. 



In the winter of 1857-58 the 

 foundation of modern mountain- 

 eering was laid by the establish- 

 ment of the Alpine Club. With 

 its formation came an organized 

 assault on the Alpine giants, and 

 they were conquered in quick 

 succession by the skill and resolu- 

 tion of the pioneers. 



From about 1870 mountaineer- 

 ing enterprise, aided by the spread 

 of civilization and the increased 

 facility of travel, has extended to 

 the most remote of the world's 

 high lands. Some of the most 

 notable of these exploits have been : 

 in Europe, the opening of a new 

 playground in Norway, and several 



Mountaineering on the most difficult crag in England, Pillar Rock, near 



Ennerdale, Cumberland. Left, beginning New North-east climb ; right, 



rounding the notch 



a. P. Abraham. Ketwick 



ascents in the Caucasus ; in Asia, 

 the exploration of the Karakoram 

 range, and other Himalayan ex- 

 peditions, and visits to the distant 

 Altai ; in America there have been 

 numerous ascents in the Rockies 

 from end to end, and also in the 

 northern and southern Andes ; in 

 Africa, Kenya, Kilima-Njaro, and 

 Ruwenzori have been conquered, 

 and excellent work has been accom- 

 plished in New Zealand and Japan. 

 It is curious to note that it was not 

 until 1873 that Sgurr Alasdair, the 

 highest peak in Skye, was scaled 

 by Sheriff Nicholson. The loftiest 

 of the Andes, Aconcagua, 23,080 

 ft., w^is climbed by Stuart Vines, 

 and even greater altitudes have 

 been attained in the Himalayas. 

 It may be accepted that the high- 

 est ascents are Bride Peak, 24,400 

 ft., by the duke of the Abruzzi, 

 with 23,975 ft. on Kabru, by W. W. 

 Graham, and heights of 23,000 ft. 

 and upwards by Rubenson and 

 Monrad Aas, Longstaff, Hunter 

 Workman, and Sir Martin Conway. 

 Both among the Alps and further 

 afield the names of British pioneers 

 enormously preponderate. 



Until quite recently access to 

 Tibet, on the borders of which Mt. 

 Everest, reputedly the highest 

 mountain in the world, is situated, 

 was forbidden to foreigners. Early 

 in 1921 it was announced that the 

 Dalai Lama had granted permission 

 for a party to enter Tibet. The 



English Alpine Club and the Royal 

 Geographical Society promptly 

 organized a powerful and well- 

 equipped joint expedition to at- 

 tempt to scale the peak. The party 

 set out on May 18, 1921, with the 

 intention of spending the first 

 season in reconnaissance work, and 

 in other preparations for the main 

 effort, in 1922, by the climbers, 

 who, led by Harold Raeburn, re- 

 present the English Alpine Club. 

 Valuable scientific results were 

 anticipated, and it was anticipated 

 that the question raised on 

 Graham's expedition, 1883, as to 

 whether there are or are not loftier 

 peaks than Everest would be 

 decided. 



The first essentials of mountain- 

 eering are nerve and condition. 

 There is no greater mountaineering 

 danger than a member of a party 

 who loses his nerve, or is out of 

 condition. Excellent guides are few 

 born mountaineers with great 

 natural talent, men who would be 

 internationals in other branches 

 of sport. They are very difficult to 

 secure, being booked long in ad- 

 vance, for the most part by the 

 men who least require their 

 assistance. The good are tolerably 

 frequent, and are qualified to take 

 charge on any reasonable expedi- 

 tion. The bad are numerous, fortl* 

 coming locally to meet the in- 

 creasing demand, but without 

 sound qualifications, and for the 



