THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
THE SNOWY LYSKAMM, MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALPINE HEIGHTS, WAS SUPERB BY THE DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT 
From near the top of 
ht, the Matterhorn. 
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i 
At the r 
Photo by Dora Keen 
far away above the clouds. 
Monte Rosa. 
Beyond is the Breithorn, over whose top appears Mont Blanc, 
asses had ruptured. Atour 
left were the snowy rocks 
of our peak above, far 
across the great Matter- 
horn, the Dent Blanche, 
and even the tip of Mont 
Blanc, far away. ‘These. 
indeed, were sights to give 
joy to the eye and wings 
to the imagination, and on 
it all gradually, as we rose, 
came the changing lights 
and colors of the long 
dawn and the first rays of - 
the sun. 
At the base of the ridge, 
at 7.30, we breakfasted. 
For two hours it had been 
bitterly cold, and although 
we climbed up to a point 
where the sun’s warmth 
might strike us before even 
this brief stop, and I kicked 
my feet against the rocks 
at every step, still for the 
whole of the next hour 
they were so _persistentiy 
numb that one of the guides 
had to work over them. 
So long and exhausting 
did this ridge seem that I 
remember, after an hour 
and a half of it, looking up 
in silent despair. I saw that 
it would take me at least 
an hour more to reach 
that far glistening summit, 
towering as it did almost 
directly overhead. I won- 
dered whether I should 
reach it, or whether fa- 
tigue, cold; or valutude 
would compel me to give it 
up. But once onmtopeer 
Monte Rosa, | forgot the 
cold and effort and felt it 
to be the most beautiful 
climb I have ever had; for, 
almost the only time in my 
experience, on this high 
summit there was little 
wind and sufficient time 
and warmth for an hour 
of enjoyment and rest. 
