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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



new era began for cis-Atlantic alpinism. 

 Though rising but from 9,000 to 12,500 

 feet above sea-level, the highest summits 

 spring from 5,000 to 8,000 above their 

 bases, which, after all, for the climber 

 is the true criterion of height. They bear 

 extensive glaciers with intricate ice-falls 

 and, with their manifold architecture, 

 present every variety of climbing to be 

 found in the Swiss Alps. Mr Green's 

 visit of 1888, to which we have referred, 

 was followed two years later by that of 

 Herren E. Huber and C. Sulzer, of the 

 Swiss Alpine Club. Mr H. W. Topham, 

 of the English club, was also on the 

 ground. Their excursions were confined 

 to the Selkirks, where interest first 

 centered. Huber and Sulzer together 

 climbed Sir Donald (10,808), Sulzer 

 took in Swiss Peak (10,515), and Huber 

 and Topham Purity (10,457) and other 

 peaks beyond the Asulkan Pass. Like 

 Green, they brought no guides and de- 

 pended for porters on what the country 

 had to furnish. 



Two recently graduated Yale men, S. 

 E. S. Allen and W. D. Wilcox, then be- 

 came interested in the more easterly range 

 of the Canadian Rockies, and as early as 

 1903 began their series of visits, in which 

 they explored several of the less-known 

 valleys, climbing in 1904 Mount Temple 

 (11,626), the ponderous and impressive 

 mass towering above Laggan. Mr Wil- 

 cox is an expert photographer, and the 

 beautiful results of his camera illustrate 

 his two books on that region.* 



In 1905 a delegation of three members 

 of the Appalachian Mountain Club — 

 Abbott, Fay, and Thompson — made their 

 first serious attack on these peaks, cap- 

 turing Mount Hector (11,125) in the 

 Rockies, and Castor and several minor 

 peaks in the Selkirks, reconnoitering also 

 for the ascent of Mount Lefroy (11,220). 

 Joined by Professor Little, in 1906 they 

 returned. Three of the party captured 

 Mount Rogers (10,536), and then the 

 four proceeded to renew the attack on 

 Lefroy. In this attempt the valuable life 



*Camping in the Canadian Rockies, 1896 

 (Putnam) ; The Rockies of Canada, 1900 (id.). 



of Abbott was sacrificed. This was in 

 the days before the coming of expert 

 guides. 



In 1907 an Anglo-American party of 

 nine, with the Swiss guide Peter Sarbach, 

 brought over by the British members, 

 made the successful ascent of Lefroy. 

 Two days later three of the company and 

 the guide made Victoria (11,355), an ^ 

 some days thereafter Mount Gordon 

 ( 10,336) was climbed by the entire party. 

 In the number were men who had climbed 

 in many lands, among them Professor 

 Collie, of the ill-starred expedition to 

 Nanga Parbat. In the climb of Mount 

 Gordon a noble mountain was sighted, 

 and as a memorial to his lost companion 

 named Mount Mummery (10,908). 



That Collie found here a region 

 answering all demands was proven by 

 his repeated visits, during which he ex- 

 plored a wider field than most of his con- 

 temporaries, ascending, among other 

 peaks, Athabasca (11,900), Freshfield 

 (10,900), Forbes (12,075), The Dome 

 (11,650), Diadem Peak (11,500), and 

 Murchison (11,100).* It was he also who 

 first called attention to Mount Columbia 

 (12,740), the highest conquered summit 

 of the Canadian Alps, the unsuccessful 

 goal of his second visit. In two of his 

 expeditions he was accompanied by H. 

 Wooley, of Caucasian fame. Doctor Col- 

 lie's expeditions are interestingly nar- 

 rated in the book already referred to and 

 a later publication, f 



The year 1907 also brought hither the 

 late Herr Jean Habel, fresh from explo- 

 rations at the base of Aconcagua, who in 

 this visit discovered and revealed the 

 beauties of the now well-known Yoho 

 Valley, and in 1901 pushed his explora- 

 tions northward to the base of Mount 

 Columbia. Our picture of this beautiful 

 pyramid is from his camera. 



In i8oq Parker and Fay, with the 

 Swiss guides Hasler and Feuz, made the 

 summit of Mount Dawson (11,113), one 

 of the highest of the Selkirk range. 



* This series of altitudes is approximate. 



f Climbs and Explorations in the Canadian 

 Rockies, by J. N. Collie and H. Stutfield, Long- 

 mans, 1903. 



