Vol. XX, Xo. 6 



WASHINGTON 



June, 1909 



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MATIONAIL 



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THE WORLD'S HIGHEST ALTITUDES 

 AND FIRST ASCENTS 



By Charles E. Fay, A. M., Litt. D. 



President (1878, 1881, 1S93, 1905) of the Appalachian Mountain Club 

 First President of the American Alpine Club 



NO field of geographic explora- 

 tion, not even the kindred one 

 of polar quests, has proved so 

 fascinating during the last half century 

 .as that of lofty mountains in the various 

 quarters of our globe. Naturally, there- 

 fore, any attempt in a single article to 

 more than outline our present knowledge 

 of its highest altitudes and the manner in 

 which this knowledge has been attained 

 would prove disappointing. 



That the lure of the heights is no new 

 one comes home to whoever catches sight 

 of Mr W. A. B. Coolidge's masterly 

 work "Josias Simler ou I'alpinisme de- 

 puis ses origines jusquen 1600/' setting 

 forth the history of mountaineering pre- 

 vious to the year 1600 — a volume of a 

 thousand pages! But modern moun- 

 taineering dates from nearly two centu- 

 ries later — from the first ascent of Mont 

 Blanc, in 1786 — and for more than half 

 a century ascents of importance were 

 rare and confined almost exclusively to 

 the Alps. Another epoch-making date 

 was 1857, in which year was founded the 

 English Alpine Club, destined to become 

 the prototype of more than eight score 

 similar organizations, represented in 



nearly every civilized land, societies 

 whose leaders generally turned to "the 

 playground of Europe" for the enjoy- 

 ment of their chosen recreation. Hence 

 it is not strange that in the next quarter 

 of a century Switzerland and Tyrol had 

 become hackneyed, with scarcely an im- 

 portant peak left unclimbed. 



Probably there is no domain in which 

 the element of pure sport has allied itself 

 to so great an extent with a genuine 

 spirit of scientific research to further 

 human knowledge. The ice-world even 

 of the Alps, with all its interesting prob- 

 lems of "the forms of water," glaciers 

 and mountain meteorology, had been lit- 

 tle known, save in general features, be- 

 fore the visitation of these men of leisure, 

 in many of whom there existed a vigor- 

 ous germ of that scientific curiosity 

 which, coupled with the subtle primary 

 appetite that the Germans call wander- 

 lust, furnishes forth the true explorer. 



We do not forget that famous natural- 

 ists, like Alexander von Humboldt and 

 Sir Joseph Hooker, and certain enter- 

 prising surveyors had carried on their 

 investigations in fields as grand and re- 

 mote as the Andes and the Himalayas ; 



