Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 1.djvu/179

116 attempt alone. Thanks to the guides, however, these were made without difficulty.

At one point we had to cross a glacier between two peaks. The usual method would be for the foremost guide to cut steps, for the others on the rope to follow, steadying themselves with their ice-axes. But this takes time; so our guides clambered up the snow cornice at the edge of the glacier, and passed over to see how the snow lay. The guides decided to risk it; we crossed on the cornice; and breathed freely when we stood on solid rock again.

The only actual mishap was the loss of his hat by one member of the party. The breeze carried it gaily into the valley a couple of thousand feet below; even for this mishap the guides were prepared, Gottfried promptly produced from his rucksack a cloth cap, and the climber exchanged the hat of the cleric for that of the mountaineer. So on we went, over rock and glacier, until we came to a rock which would defy even a mountain goat. The upward slope of thirty or forty feet was steep, the ledges were all turned the wrong way. It looked as if nothing but a fly or a limpet could hold on. But in some wonderful fashion Gottfried made his way up, taking the rope with him, and then by means of the rope he pulled us up one by one. A few minutes more of easy work brought us to the summit. So far as we knew, we were the first to stand there. A second "stone-man" was erected to mark this event. It was now half-past two o'clock. All along we had had brilliant sunshine. After enjoying the superb view for three-quarters of an hour, we began the descent towards the glacier lying between Mt. Marpole and The President. From time to time Edouard would reconnoitre: standing on the edges of a cliff overhanging space, he picked out the route, and we got down as easily and safely as if we had been walking on prairie. Then came a walk over a snow-