THE ASCENT OF MONT BLANC 



873- 



When he had again reached the Grand 

 Plateau, he found he was completely 

 snow-blind. So he sat with his eyes 

 closed for a half hour, until his sight re- 

 turned ; but now it was growing dark and 

 he could not find the snow bridge over 

 the huge crevasse which he and his 

 friends had crossed early that morning. 

 There was nothing to do but pass the 

 night where he was. 



Burrowing a hole m the snow, he kept 

 himself as warm as he could, with the 

 genial lights of Chamonix in full view 

 far below him, where doubtless his com- 

 panions were cosily seated around their 

 fires or already tucked away in their 

 warm beds. It seems incredible he could 

 have survived the cold and exposure, and 

 indeed only the most favorable weather 

 conditions could have made it possible. 



To think of this poor peasant guide, 

 alone and unprotected, at this altitude — 

 it was certainly two and a half miles 

 above sea-level — fighting f-ie numbing 

 cold all the weary hours of that awful 

 night and living to return to his home 

 next day, makes his surprising feat all 

 the more wonderful. To have ascended 

 almost to the top of the loftiest peak in 

 Europe, alone and with no other help than 

 what a simple alpenstock could afford, 

 and after two days of exposure to cold 

 and rarefied air, is incredible enough. If 

 he had not been endowed with an iron 

 constitution and determination, he never 

 could have performed such a feat and 

 have survived. His fatigue was so great 

 on arriving in Chamonix that he slept 24 

 hours without waking; but he could fall 

 asleep with the proud consciousness that 

 he alone knew the way up the giant peak, 

 and that soon the reward would be his! 

 Now he could laugh at his envious com- 

 panions, who had so heartlessly aban- 

 doned him. 



THE I^IRST SUCCKSSFUIv ASCE:nT 



He kept his secret even from his wife, 

 and finally only divulged it to the village 

 doctor, a man named Paccard, whom he 

 heard was thinking of making the at- 

 tempt to ascend the mountain. Though 

 he might be (and as the sequel showed, 

 he was) of little service as a companion. 



still Balmat wanted a witness, so the two- 

 determined to make the attempt. 



Three weeks of bad weather delayed 

 the project, but finally, on August 8,. 

 1786, they started late in the afternoon, 

 one taking the right and the other the 

 left bank of the Arve, lest any one should 

 learn of their intention, and rejoined each, 

 other at the top of the Montague de la. 

 Cote, where they encamped about 5,500 

 feet above Chamonix. At half past one 

 in the morning they were under way 

 again, slowly making their way over the- 

 glacier and snow to the Grand Plateau. 



The wind rose higher and higher, but 

 undaunted the two worked their way 

 over the same steep path that Balmat had 

 traversed alone three weeks before. 

 Gradually they mounted to the group of 

 rocks called the 'Tetits Mulcts," only 

 350 feet below the summit, and 600 feet 

 above the ''Rochers Rouges," where Bal- 

 mat had arrived before. 



Here they were assailed by such a 

 squall of wind that for ten minutes they 

 had to lie flat on the ice in order not to 

 be blown off. The poor doctor became 

 disheartened and would only proceed on 

 all fours to a point whence the village 

 could be seen far below. 



With their glass they could see a 

 crowd of people watching them through 

 a telescope from the village street. Con- 

 siderations of self-respect induced the 

 poor half-frozen doctor to get on his 

 legs, but he was too exhausted to go fur- 

 ther. So Balmat made the last part of 

 the ascent alone, himself suffering terri- 

 bly from the freezing cold and the rare- 

 fied air. 



THE SUMMIT CONQUEROR 



Finally, about six o'clock in the even- 

 ing, he stood where no man had ever 

 stood before, at an altitude of nearly 

 16,000 feet. Waving his hat on the end 

 of his stock, he saw he was answered 

 from below, and soon he descended to 

 where he had left the unfortunate doctor. 

 He found him seated, motionless and al- 

 most asleep, but forced him to get up and 

 try to walk. Finally, by main force, by 

 pulling and pushing, he brought him also 

 to the summit. 



