82 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



to climb the Matterhorn in these days become mere bag- 

 gage in the hands of the guides, who wisely insist on 

 going in pairs with every inexperienced climber. Inas- 

 much as the guides cannot collect the full tariff of a 

 hundred francs ($20) each if they do not get their man 

 to the top, and since it is also a matter of professional 

 pride and future patronage with them to succeed, they do 

 not hesitate to push and drag their man to the top, so 

 long as he can be induced to move. Many a one who has 

 been on the summit of the Matterhorn has gone there in 

 spite of himself, and with the feeling of a victim that is 

 led to the slaughter. I saw one young German that day, 

 evidently a tyro at mountaineering, who would have been 

 willing to mortgage his hope of salvation to be safely in 

 Zermatt again. On the way down he became so terrified 

 that one of his guides threatened to brain him with an 

 ice-ax if he did not move on. It gave the poor fellow at 

 least the courage of anger. Now he doubtless is among 

 those who levy a high toll of admiration for a daring bit 

 of mountaineering, though he confessed freely in the 

 evening that it was the first and last mountain he would 

 ever climb. Audendo magnus fegitur timor. 



We were at an altitude of I4,cxdo feet as we turned to 

 the north side of the mountain at the shoulder. The 

 height and the isolation of the mountain exposed us to 

 the full force of the wind, which had reached a high de- 

 gree of velocity. Rocks and chunks of ice were constantly 

 being torn loose and went bounding past us into bottom- 

 less space, like things possessed. No wonder that before 

 the fateful first ascent the simple folk of the mountains 

 believed this dizzy summit guarded by demons. It was 

 bitterly cold. Our gloves were in shreds and we could 

 feel the skin of our hands freezing to the rocks during 

 those momentary halts when Burgener was cutting an- 

 other step or two in the congealed snow with which the 

 storm of the previous day had filled every crevice. Our 

 rope now was kept taut to minimize the effect of the 

 slightest possible slip. ''Stehen Sie fest," would come 



