Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus (1908).djvu/191

Rh the "Kanones Loch," I found it plastered with ice. The walls are so narrow, and the gully itself is so precipitous, that it is scarcely possible to use the axe with effect, and I found the knapsack must be discarded. Free from its encumbrance, the obstacle was overcome, and stepping through the hole I reached glorious sunshine. The knapsack and other luggage were then hauled up, and the rest of the party followed. The ice-glazed ledges and wrinkles of the gully, to say nothing of having to constantly handle the snow-covered rope, had reduced our fingers to a degree of cold that was positively excruciating. We sat down on the warm sunny rocks, and bent and twisted ourselves into the various attitudes which seemed most conducive to mute suffering. Gradually the sensation of having one's fingers slit by a blunt knife, from the tips upwards, was replaced by a warm glow, and as we had no longer to deal with ice-glazing and the other similar abominations which render gloves an inadmissible luxury, we put them on and proceeded happily. Of one thing we felt satisfied, our sloth and laziness were justified; had we attempted to grapple with this part of the mountain earlier in the day, we must have been driven back by the cold.

From this point onward the sun was blazing on the ridge, and our spirits rose to the highest pitch. Miss Bristow showed the representatives of the Alpine Club the way in which steep rocks should