THE WORLD'S HIGHEST ALTITUDES 



513 



The year 1901 saw the first of a series 

 of visits from Edward Whymper, the 

 conqueror of the Matterhorn and Chim- 

 borazo. Though he made no ascents of 

 the first order, he was by no means idle, 

 visiting many heights and some secluded 

 valleys, collecting much interesting data. 

 That year also brought for the second 

 time another British climber, of a very 

 strenuous type, whose appetite had only 

 been whetted by a hasty visit in 1900. 

 Mr James Outram's record is not likely 

 soon to be surpassed. It includes for 

 1901 Cathedral (10,454), Assiniboine 

 (11,860), Vaux (10,881), and the Chan- 

 cellor (10,751), the last two with com- 

 panions. In 1902, in a single campaign, 

 with only the guide Christian Kaufmann, 

 he secured the summit of Alexandra 

 (11,650c), Bryce (11,686), Lyell (11,- 

 950), and Columbia (12,750), and in con- 

 junction with Collie's party, Mount 

 Forbes (12,075). 



The principal victories of 1903 were 

 won by climbers from the United States, 

 Parker and Fay securing the south peak 

 of Mount Goodsir (11,676), which as- 

 serts some claim (until a more accu- 

 rate measurement is made of Mount 

 Assiniboine) to be the highest Canadian 

 peak south of the railway. Later Par- 

 ker and Eggers conquered Hungabee 

 (11,447), Deltaform (11,225), an< ^ 

 dle (10,500), three of the most forbid- 

 ding peaks of the Canadian Alps. 



In 1906 our cousins beyond the bound- 

 ary became impressed with the long neg- 

 lect of their splendid opportunity and 

 formed the Alpine Club of Canada, which 

 has made a phenomenal growth under the 

 presidency of A. O. Wheeler, Esq., the 

 government topographer for that region, 

 who, as likewise his professional associ- 

 ates, has a long list of first ascents to his 

 credit. 



THE) TIAN SHAN RANGE 



Contemporaneously with the most 

 active work in the Canadian Alps, the 

 first survey was being made in a little- 

 heard-of-range of gigantic snow peaks — 

 the Tian-Shan range, in the very heart of 

 Asia — by Herr Merzbacher, whose name 



we have already mentioned in connection 

 with the Caucasus. Recognizing the ab- 

 solute necessity of an alpine equipment, 

 he took with him expert guides, and in 

 the course of his explorations climbed 

 several peaks between 13,000 and 17,000 

 feet and passed around the massif of 

 Khan-Tengri (23,600 c). As this peak 

 is almost exactly on the same parallel as 

 Boston, one may judge that it towers far 

 above the line of perpetual snow. The 

 peculiarly dry powdery character of the 

 snow at the higher levels rendered prog- 

 ress very difficult and dangerous, exciting 

 serious doubts as to the possibility of ever 

 reaching the highest summits. 



the; ANDES 



It was in the late nineties also that 

 attention was called afresh to the Andes, 

 where in 1879-80 Mr Edward Whymper 

 the first to climb the Matterhorn (1865 ) 

 and to produce a true classic on moun- 

 taineering, had won new fame. Mount 

 Chimborazo (20,498) was his chief ob- 

 jective point, and his confessed motive to 

 investigate the effect of high altitudes 

 upon the human organism. Humboldt in 

 1802 had ascended to above 19,000 feet, 

 just to the place where some knowledge 

 of the climber's craft was requisite for 

 further advance. A generation later, in 

 1 83 1, the French naturalist, Boussin- 

 gault, had reached apparently the same 

 turning point. Carefully making his 

 preparations, accompanied by his favor- 

 ite guide, Carrel, and a Swiss porter, Mr 

 Whymper betook himself to the high 

 table-land of Ecuador. In the course of 

 his expedition he ascended, measured, 

 and mapped not only Chimborazo, but 

 also the active volcano Cotopaxi (19,613) , 

 Antisana (19,335), Cayamba (19,186), 

 and several other peaks over 15,000 feet 

 high. Employing his unusual powers of 

 critical observation in many directions 

 and bringing home data from various 

 fields, he published the results in a no- 

 table work,* which stands as an unsur- 

 passed model of its class. 



* Travel among the High Andes of the Equa- 

 tor, 2 vols. London, John Murray, 1892. 



