Forniation of S'jiotv Crests. 143 



had become soft under the summer's sun, and walking over it 

 with heavy loads was wearisome in the extreme. We could see, 

 however, that the way ahead was clear, and that encouraged us 

 to push on. Toward night we found a camping place on a steep 

 ridge of shale and sandstone projecting eastward from a spur of 

 Mount Malaspina. This ridge rises about five hundred feet 

 above the surrounding glacier, and has steep roof-like slopes. 

 The summer sun had melted nearly all the snoAV from its southern 

 face, but the northern slope was still heavily loaded. The snow 

 on the northern side stood some thirty or forty feet higher than 

 the rocky crest of the ridge itself, and between the rock crest and 

 the snow crest there was a little valley which afforded ample 

 shelter for our tent and was quite safe from avalanches. The 

 melting of the snow-bank during the warm days supplied us 

 with water. 



The formation of crests of snow standing high above the rocky 

 ridges on which they rest is a peculiar and interesting feature of 

 the mountains of the St. Elias region. A north-and-south section 

 through the ridge on which Camp 15 was situated, exhibiting 

 the double crests, one of rock and the other of snow, is shown at 

 a in figure 6. 6 is a section through a similar ridge with a still 



Figure 6 — Snow Quests on Ridges and Peaks; from Field Sketches. 



higher snow crest. The remaining figures in the illustration 

 are sketches of mountain peaks, as seen from the south, which 

 have been increased in height by a heavy accumulation of snow 

 on their northern slopes. These sketches are of peaks among 

 the foothills of Mount Malaspina, and show snow pinnacles from 

 fifty to more than a hundred feet high. In some instances, 

 domes and crests of snow were seen along the western sides of 

 the ridges and peaks, but as a rule these snoAV-tips on the moun- 

 tains are confined to their northern slopes. The edges and sum- 

 mits of the snow-ridges are sharply defined and clearly cut. 

 The southern slope exposed above the crest of rock is often con- 

 cave, while the northern slopes ai*e usually convex. 



In climbing steep ridges the double crests are frequently of 

 great assistance. Safe footing may frequently be found in the 

 channels between the crests of rock and snow, by the aid of which 



