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l ’rnnn ; ffyiîïjf P . CLIMBS IN THE ALPS AND CAUCASUS Y CLIMBS IN THE ALPS AND CAUCASUS BY A. F. MUMMERY $ ILLUSTRATED Lo n d o n t . f i s h e r u n w i n NEW YORK CHAS. SCRIBNER’S SONS MDCCCXCV 1895 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAO K THE MATTERHORN—ZMUTT RIDGE . 1 CHAPTER II. THE MATTERHORN— FURGGEN RIDGE . 24 CHAPTER III. THE COL DU LION . .45 CHAPTER IV. DER TEUFELSGRAT ..... 6 6 CHAPTER V. THE AIGUILLE DES CHARMOZ .96 CHAPTER VI. THE GRÉPON ...... 120 ix X CONTENTS, P AO K CHAPTER VIL THE DENT DU REQUIN ..... 161 CHAPTER VIII. AIGUILLE DU PLAN ..... 183 CHAPTER IX. THE AIGUILLE VERTE— BY THE CHARPOUA GLACIER . 205 CHAPTER X. THE AIGUILLE VERTE— BY THE MOINE RIDGE . 221 CHAPTER XI. A LITTLE PASS—COL DES COURTES . 239 CHAPTER XII. DYCH TAU ...... 258 CHAPTER XIII. SOME CAUCASIAN PASSES ..... 285 CHAPTER XIV. THE PLEASURES AND PENALTIES OP MOUNTAINEERING 324 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. PAO* TOURISTS ....... 2 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. ZERMATT FASHIONS . .3 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. AN “ OFF DAY” AT THE MONTE ROSA HOTEL 8 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. CONSULTING THE GUIDES . .10 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. NEUBRÜCKE . 2 6 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. STALDEN ....... 27 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. NEAR ZERMATT . 2 8 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. THE HIGH STREET . 4 6 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. THE TRIFTBACH BRIDGE . 4 8 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. THE VILLAGE OF ZERMATT . 6 7 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. THE RIFFEL PATH . .95 From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. THE “ CRACK” ...... 156 From a photograph by Miss Bristow. GOATS ....... 186 From a sketch by Miss Bristow. THE B LAITIÈRE AND PLAN .... 188 From a photograph by Mr. Holmes. xi Xll ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE IN THE VAL D ’AOSTE ..... 229 From a sketch by Miss E. Petherick. COUBMAYEUR ...... 240 From a sketCh by Miss Bristow. GOING TO CHURCH . 242 From a sketch by Miss Bristow. A STREET IN COURMAYEUB .... 266 From a sketch by Miss E. PetheriCk. DYCH TAU FROM THE SOUTH .... 270 From a photograph by Signor Sella. JANGA FROM THE BEZINGI GLACIER . 286 From a photograph by Mr. Woolley. A SUANETIAN VILLAGE ..... 302 From a photograph by Mr. Woolley. PLATES. THE WEISSHORN PIERCING THROUGH THE GREYNESS Frontispiece A lithograph plate From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. Matterhorn . to face page 17 A photogravure From a photograph by Signor Sella. CHARMOZ . 96 A photogravure From a drawing by Miss Bristow. THE GRÉPON . ,, „ 128 A photogravure From a photograph by Mr. Holmes. the lower peak of the GRÉPON . ,, „ ,, 135 A photogravure From a photograph by Mr. Holmes. A CRAG ON THE GRÉPON . „ „ „ 150 From a photograph by Mr. Holmes. MONT BLANC AND THE DENT DU REQUIN . „ ,, 160 A photogravure From a photograph by Mr. Holmes. MONT BLANC AND THE AIGUILLE DU PLAN ,, ,, ,, 183 A photogravure From a photograph by Mr. Holmes. THE VERTE . 232 A photogravure From a photograph by Mr. Holmes. DYCH TAU . ,, 261 A photogravure From a photograph by Signor Sella. GUIDES ON A CLOUDY DAY AT THE RIFFEL ,, ,, ,, 324 A lithograph plate From a drawing by Mr. Pennell. PKEFACE. F a te decrees that the mountaineer should, sooner or later, Fall a viCtim to the furor scribendi, and, since it is useless for a mere mortal to Contend with the gods, I have yielded to their behests. A fitting reward has been allotted me ; though the delight oF wandering among the great snow fields, oF Climbing the jagged ridges, and oF plunging down through the primeval forest oF some CauCasian valley, cannot be rivalled by the rarest Fabric built oF memory, yet the pieCing together oF old incidents, the interweaving oF the laughter and the Fears, the desperate struggles and the wild triumph oF old-won victories, has tinged many a winter evening with the gorgeous Colouring oF Alpine sunsets and has knitted more firmly the bonds oF well-tried friendships; to some extent, even, it has brought me nearer to that reckless, lucky, tireless youth, when the grass slopes, and the stones, and the other ills oF life, had not found the art oF troubling. tH viii PREFACE. I fear no contributions to scienCe, or topography, or learning oF any sort are to be found sandwiched in between the story oF crags and séraCs, oF driving storm and perfect weather. To tell the truth, I have only the vaguest ideas about theodolites, and as for plane tables, their very name is an abomi­ nation. To those who think with me, who regard mountaineering as unmixed play, these pages are alone addressed. Should they, in some dim after­ glow Fashion, refleCt the joy and froliC oF sunshine holidays, their utmost mission will have been aC­ complished, and pride will mightily inFlate their author. My sincerest thanks are due* to those Friends who have so kindly placed drawings and photo­ graphs at my disposal ; indeed, I feel that my debt to them is wholly beyond expression. A. F. MUMMERY. CHAPTER I. THE MATTERHORN-ZMUTT RIDGE. A t the age oF fifteen the crags oF the Via Mala and the snows oF the Théodule roused a passion within me that has grown with years, and has to no small extent moulded my liFe and thought. It has led me into regions oF such Fairy beauty that the fabled wonders oF Zanadu seem CommonplaCe beside them ; it has brought me friends who may be relied on in Fair weather and in foul ; and it has stored my mind with memories that are treasures, corruptible neither by moth nor rust, sickness nor old age. My boyish delight in the great white peaks towering above the gloom oF pines is still awakened when the lumber­ ing diligence rolls through the gorge oF the Diosaz or when the Matterhorn rises from out the foliage oF the Yal ToumanChe. I remember, as iF it were yesterday, my First sight oF the great mountain. It was shining in all the calm majesty oF a Sep­ tember moon, and, in the stillness oF an autumn night, it seemed the very embodiment oF mystery 2 2 THE MATTERHORN. and a fitting dwelling-place for the spirits with which old legends people its stone swept slopes. From that moment I have been one oF the great peak’s most reverent worshippers, and whenever the mighty rock appears above the distant hori- TOURISTS. zon, I hail its advent with devoutest joy. Even the vulgarisation oF Zermatt, the cheap trippers and their trumpery fashions, Cannot wholly drive me from the lower slopes, and I still love to gaze at it from amongst the pines oF the Eifielberg, or to watCh its huge mass soaring above the flowery meadows oF the StaFFel Alp. ZMUTT RIDGE. 8 In those distant days (1871), however, it was still shrouded with a halo oF but halF banished inaccessibility, and, as I looked at it through the tangle oF the pines or from the breezy alps, I scarcely dared to hope that one day I might be numbered among the glorious few who had scaled its frozen cliffs. Three years later, however, the ascent had beCome fashionable, the deluge had ZERMATT FASHION». begun, and with its earlier waves I was swept on to the long desired summit. I am aware that from that moment my interest in the peak should have ceased, that the well- ConduCted climber never repeats an ascent ; that his objeCt is to reach the summit, and, that objeCt onCe attained, his work is over and he should rest in ignoble ease. The true faith on this subject is 4 THE MATTERHORN. crystallised and resplendent in a remark made to me last year by a bandbox inmate oF the Monte Bosa Hotel : “ I had to go to Grindelwald to ascend the Eiger ; it was a beastly nuisance, but I wanted to finish off the Oberlànd : shall never go there again ” ! For myself, I am Fain to confess a deplorable weakness in my character. No sooner have I ascended a peak than it beComes a Mend, and delightful as it may be to seek “ fresh woods and pastures new,” in my heart oF hearts I long for the slopes oF which I know every wrinkle, and on which each crag awakens memories oF mirth and laughter and oF the friends oF long ago. As a Consequence oF this terrible weakness, I have been no less than seven times on the top oF the Matterhorn. I have sat on the summit with my wife when a lighted match would not flicker in the windless air, and I have been Chased from its shattered crest and down the Italian ridge by the mad fury oF thunder, lightning, and whirling snow. Yet each memory has its own peculiar charm, and the wild music oF the hurricane is hardly a less delight than the glories oF a perfeCt day. The idea which cleaves unto the orthodox mountaineer that a single ascent, on one day, in one year, enables that same moun­ taineer to know and realise how that peak looks on all other days, in all other years, suggests that he is still wallowing in the lowest bogs oF Philis­ tinism. It is true the crags and pinnacles are the ZMUTT RIDGE. 5 same, but their charm and beauty lies in the ever changing light and shade, in the mists which wreath around them, in the huge ComiCes and pendent iCiCles, in all the varying circumstance oF weather, season, and hour.

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