Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus.djvu/194

Rh My first attempt failed, owing partly to the cold, which, the moment we got into the shade, was still excessive, and partly to the fact that the first reliable grip, some ten feet above the base, was glazed with ice and more or less masked with frozen snow. By the time this latter had been pulled off, my fingers were so chilled and so inclined to cramp that I was glad to get safely down again.

It being undesirable to repeat this performance, Slingsby left the hitch and scrambled on to the "take off." His shoulder enabled me to do without the ice-glazed holds, and to reach the perpendicular, but happily dry, part of the crack above. On reaching the shelving ledge midway up, I saw that a good deal of snow had drifted into the crack and frozen on to the two wedged stones which are more or'less essential to progress. It is needless to say that the removal of this frozen snow was a matter of great difficulty, and was only effected by using my elbow as an ice-axe—a painful process and one, moreover, apt to be injurious to the joint. However, after many efforts and much gasping for breath, I reached the top of the rock, and Miss Bristow then came round from the Camera tower and ascended the crack. I did not notice that she