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Sierra Club Bulletin. 



snow climbing, in the former our main care being to avoid 

 dislodging rocks, and in the latter to choose our footholds 

 so as to keep from slipping. On the rocks it was at times 

 necessary for two or three persons only to proceed simul- 

 taneously, in order to avoid as much as possible the 

 danger of precipitating rocks upon the heads of people 

 below. There were places on the snow where a dexterous 

 use of the alpenstock might have rendered a misstep 

 harmless. But there were places also where the slope 

 was so nearly vertical that no power on earth could have 

 arrested a falling climber. At Gibraltar still greater 

 obstacles confronted us. On the west side of the rock 

 there was a narrow ledge from which a steep talus fell 

 away, terminating abruptly over a precipice. This ledge 

 had to be footed with great care, for a good part of it 

 was covered with ice, and nothing could have saved 

 the luckless person who had slipped there. In places of 

 this kind one element of danger against which a moun- 

 taineer's skill is powerless consists in cannonades of rocks 

 started by the action of the sun on frosted surfaces. 

 Fortunately our early start obviated this danger in large 

 measure. But we lost no time in passing this point. The 

 end of the ledge led to a steep chute of glacial ice. Here 

 the leader's ice-ax came into play, for every step had 

 to be cut. Then a rope was passed up, and with the aid 

 of that and our alpenstocks we reached the top of the 

 slope safely. Not, however, without the utmost precau- 

 tions, for here also a misstep would have been fatal. 

 Arrived at the top of Gibraltar, wc stopped to rest a 

 moment in a nook sheltered from the chilling wind and 

 suffused with the first rays of the rising sun. Presently 

 another great snow-field was under our feet. Our prog- 

 ress now was slow and interrupted by frequent short halts 

 to enable us to catch our breath. The effect of the altitude 

 began to tell in the efJort that had to be put forth at 

 every step. Despite the warmth of the sun's rays, a 

 strong westerly wind chilled us to the bone. Fortunately 

 it acted as a spur also to our flagging energies, and we 



