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Sierra Club Bulletin. 



perceived that he had begun climbing up the wrong chim- 

 ney, and made haste to come back. He averred that he was 

 ready and able to climb any mountain in the Alps. But 

 Herr Elkuss assured him that he was not looking for any 

 trouble among the precipices, and I was not anxious to 

 engage a man who solicited patronage so far from his 

 base of operations. By mere chance I asked him to give 

 me his name. It was Alexander Burgener, a name I 

 immediately recognized as illustrious in the annals of 

 Alpine mountaineering. The senior Burgener, still active 

 as a guide, made several difficult first ascents, among them 

 that of the Aiguille du Dru. Our interlocutor was Bur- 

 gener Junior, the eldest son of the former, who also holds 

 an enviable record as a cautious and expert guide. His 

 home is at Stalden, and he was on his way to Zermatt 

 when he met us at the station in Stalden. The more I 

 conversed with him the more I liked him, and before 

 we reached Zermatt had engaged him for a few days of 

 climbing. 



During the afternoon of the next day we set out for 

 the Fluhalp auberge, intending to climb the Rimpfisch- 

 horn for practice. Cockroft had had little experience 

 in mountaineering, and it was deemed desirable to let him 

 try himself out before attempting the much more difficult 

 ascent of the Matterhorn (altitude 14,705 feet). 



The altitude of the Rimpfischhorn is 13,790 feet. In 

 the course of its ascent one encounters a variety of 

 climbing over snow, glacial ice, loose rocks, and some 

 precipitous cliifs. While much more difficult than the 

 Breithorn, there is nothing in the ascent of this moun- 

 tain which a skillful mountaineer would call difficult. 

 Toughened by several days of strenuous footing over high 

 passes, we found the conquest of the Rimpfischhorn easy, 

 and returned in prime condition. 



Burgener, who felt that a change of weather was im- 

 pending, urged that we rest a day before starting for the 

 Matterhorn. But I insisted on starting the next after- 

 noon, for I was due to sail from Rotterdam at the end 



