Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus (1908).djvu/161

Rh seventy feet below the col, when we had traversed to the right and assaulted a great slab, that we met with our first serious difficulty, and found it necessary to put on the rope. Both Venetz and I made sundry attempts, but, as soon as we got beyond the sure and certain support of Burgener's axe, progress upwards became impossible, and though we reached points within a few feet of broken and fairly easy rock, we were forced on each attempt to return. Whilst still doubtful whether a yet more determined attack might not conquer our enemy, Venetz wisely climbed back into the couloir and up to the col to see if any more convenient line could be discovered. He soon called on us to follow, and, leaving Burgener to pick up the rope and knapsack, I scrambled round and found Venetz perched some ten feet up a huge slab. This slab rests like a buttress against the great square rock, which shuts in the col on the Grépon side with a perpendicular wall. Its foot, accessible by a broad and convenient ledge, is about twenty feet below the col, whilst its top leads to the foot of a short gully, at the top of which is a curious hole in the ridge dubbed by Burgener the "Kanones Loch." From this, once attained, we believed the summit was accessible.

So soon as Burgener had brought round the rope and knapsack, Venetz tied up and set to work.