Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus (1908).djvu/181

Rh This final peak had nearly baffled Burgener and Venetz, and we scarcely hoped to be able to climb it by fair means. We had determined, in consequence, to try and win the summit by throwing a rope over the top. It is true Burgener and I had failed signally in so doing, but on this occasion we had a light rope with us, far better adapted for that purpose than the ordinary Alpine Club rope we had used in 1881. Collie, on the way along the ridge, selected two excellent stones wherewith to weight the rope and give it some chance of facing the furious gale. With much discomfort to himself and grave damage to the pockets of his coat, he conveyed these murderous weapons through various difficulties to the very foot of the final climb.

The preparations for a preliminary assault by fair and legitimate methods were in progress, when Pasteur joyfully shouted that we had already joined the C. P. route, and could ascend by a perfectly simple and fairly easy line. The crack, by which Venetz had climbed, is not the only one leading to the top. To the right, and rather on the Nantillon face, is a second cleft, precipitous at the bottom, where a friend can conveniently give you a shoulder, but quite practicable above. M. Dunod, ascending from C. P., reached the base of this crack, and naturally utilised it for the ascent. We, in 1881, reached the base of the other crack, and Burgener dismissed the alternative line with a contemptuous "Es ist