Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus (1908).djvu/242

236 the lip and on to the slope. I was soon so battered by the lumps of ice hewn out by his axe that I withdrew from the cone and waited till such time as I should be wanted. The floor of the gully was exceptionally hard, and it was quite twenty minutes before the rope was taut and Burgener told me he was ready. The ascent of the lip was not easy, but once above it, an excellent staircase led me up to him. The gully in which we now stood being the track of stones and all the other good things the Verte keeps in store for the faithful, we decided to force our way out of it on to the slope. This was only effected after very great difficulty, the walls of the gully being so deeply eroded that it was impossible to stand on the steps without hand-hold, thus leaving only one hand to wield the axe. Once on the slope, we made straight for the nearest rocks, the ice being so terribly hard and steep that it was absolutely essential to get off it as soon as possible.

It was obvious that the easiest line up the cliff in front was well to our left, a line moreover that had previously been indicated to me by Mr. Eccles as affording the easiest route, but in the then state of the slopes, it was impossible to reach it without most undue loss of time, and we struck into a rock gully hoping to be able to traverse higher up. We climbed this, finding the rocks very rotten and a good deal glazed with ice; it was also the track of falling stones, and an occasional hum warned us to look out.