A Sportswoman in India 



nothing more nor less than a gully partly filled with 

 snow, often a most useful institution, and the joy of 

 the mountaineer. Couloirs look prodigiously steep 

 when seen from the front, but snow does not actually 

 lie steeper in them than in other places ; this one was 

 like a half section of a sloping chimney, grooved with 

 the passage of stones down it. 



U A daring leader is a dangerous thing. F. pro- 

 nounced our best way to lie down the couloir, and 

 taking H.'s place, cut footholes for our descent. It 

 certainly was steep. We were going cautiously, 

 moving one at a time, when suddenly we heard 

 * Crack ! ' and all our hearts stood still. H., just above 

 me, said quietly, ' We're done for ! ' The snow had 

 cracked across just above us, at first only a gape of 

 half an inch ; but now the crust of the lower half was 

 slowly beginning to slide downwards, and away we 

 went on it. 



" c Stop ! ' we all shouted instantaneously, dashing 

 our axes into the underlying ice. They slid over 

 the hard surface fruitlessly. * Stop ! ' thundered F., 

 again and again hewing at the ice. But there was no 

 stopping. Slowly at first, faster and faster every 

 moment, we flew down the couloir on our avalanche, 

 driving up clouds of snow in front of it. Was this 

 the end? 



" The couloir, however, turned a corner before it 

 reached the bottom, where a wide terrace ended in a 

 precipice. We all saw that our only chance lay in the 

 angle, and shouting ' Jump ! ' we all threw ourselves, 



