Sierra Club Bulletin. 



fully the configuration of the mountain and to plan our 

 attack. It was evident to us all that the only practicable 

 approach would be over the large snow-field to the top 

 of the col between Banner and Ritter, and from there 

 we would have to investigate farther. 



The snow afforded much easier traveling than was 

 found in the ascent of Mt. Lyell, as the hummocks were 

 generally neither high nor far apart, and, during our 

 ascent, had not yet been softened by the morning sun. 

 Our progress as far as the saddle was therefore quite 

 rapid and comparatively easy. Here we stopped to take 

 photographs and to study the problem we were about to 

 try to solve. 



Ritter Mountain is peculiar in that it has several large 

 ridges of rocks extending far down its northern slope, 

 with long and narrow intervening tongues of snow, many 

 of which terminate abruptly at the feet of insurmountable 

 cliffs. The rocks are very large, unstable, and easily 

 dislodged. The snow is very steep, and when frozen 

 affords difficult footholds; when thawing it is unsafe 

 and is easily started in an avalanche. As it was still 

 early in the morning, and the snow was quite solid, we 

 planned our course up one of the largest of these snow- 

 tongues. As we ascended, the snow-blades became thinner 

 and farther apart and the spaces between them deeper, 

 while at the same time the inclination of the snow-field on 

 the mountain became steeper, the angle ranging, as we 

 estimated, from forty-five to sixty degrees. In some 

 places the snow was as nearly perpendicular as it could 

 well be and still 'cling to the mountain-side. A photo- 

 graph taken by Mr. Bade shows this perpendicularity in 

 an excellent manner, the members of the party being 



