eommunlcatlorrc for the Edltor should be addressed 6, tholcbrnke Avcnue, Loedc. vol. v. L927. I.[0. 17. THE YoRKstIIRE RembtflRs' Club JdunNAL. Iiprrnu BY trRNEST E. ROBERTS. CONTENT S., PAGS Peaks arrrl I)orter;tge in tlre ltyrettees G. It. SurrH 16r Across to Andorra .I. lV. Wnront x7S Food arrd the Motttttrittt:cr E. CnrroHToN t?g Concerning Classification C. E. Bnnsos r85 Sorne Severes Ittiss M. I].r,nxrn tgz Calnp at l,och (ltrl'rtisk Miss M. R,tnxBn r98 Esk Ruttrcss, Scarvfcll llike (:. D. IrH,rlrxLAND 2o4 Junilrer (ir.rlf G. l,:,, Gntrrrlrrs 2o9 Girrglirrg Pot, lrotttrtiritrs [t:ll J. HtrroN zts Cle;rring up in Gaping GhYll 't44 In lllenroriatn-' '.1. A. Iiitr.rcr, A. S. Lowtlcn, J. W. Swithinbank, J. .q,.' Cr"". : : :: ;;.; Chippings .. ., ,. 233 On the llills e. .. ,. ";"237 9*ug Exploration-I. New Discoveries, II. Other'Expeditions . .. .. .r 24O Reyiey; .. ', .. ,l .e .. ,. 246 Club Meets .. .. .. .r 25O Club Proceedings .; .... -"' ... 253 Ngw.Mgmbgrs .. .. ',' .. .. .;. Haclr.Nugbers'." ., .. .. .. 256 ILLUSTRATIONS. Le Cytindre, from Mt. Perdu ... lfontBalaitous:.. r. "; ... .. 'fo face page 164 Saut de Gaulis {Val d'Arazas) t, rr r72 Septerrrber Snow on Dent Blanche tt ,, r8o Botterill's Slab, Soawfell . '.. ,, tt Tgz Ling Gill . ,, ,r. 22? Arthur Sheridan Lowden . 23U- Joseph William Swithinbank ': : ,, ,t 1'l -John Arthur Green , .. ,r., ,, 232 and Aiguille'tlu :Ce".rt ::-' :: :: Grandes Jorasses ' 'tl '''l ' 46 Mont lllanc seen au-ovb Moine and Requin.. : . , r' t, 24C Iligh Cup Nick .. ' . o .. '' .. ,, it 252 PLANS. Sketclr T\t;r1r ol I'Yrenees 176 .f rtnigrr (irrlf .. 212 Publirhod by the Yorkrhire Ramblers' Club, 10, Park Squarc, I.eedE. Coplsr fnom Hon. l,lbrnrlnn. 2b. Ilrudoncll lHount, Leodt. PRIOE FIVE TSHILUINGS NET, POSTAGE 4d. " Must be well tcsted and guaranteed by a reliable The ROPE Maher " - Mountaineering Art that each Cltmber needs viz. THE ALPINE CLT]B ROPE RRCENT BREAKING STRA]N 1+ TONS SOLE AGENT ron GREAT BRITAIN ron SIMOND ET FILS CHAMONIX MADE I Ctr AXtrS REFERENCES-The abozte goods were ordered of me for THE MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITIONS SIR ERNEST SHACI(LETON'S TRANS-ANTARCTIC I]XPtrDITION THE OXFORD SPITSBERGEN EXPEDITION THE SHACKLETON-ROWETT EXPEDITION AND OTHER PRIVATE EXPEDITIONS AMENDED PRICE LIST ON APPLICATION FOR Alpine Club Rope and Line, Ice Axes of French and Swiss make. Rucksacks, Crampons, 'Crooke's' Glasses, etc., etc. Special Safety Slings from Stock or made to order. THE LATEST AND MOST UP-TO-DATE The "NEO" BELAY Invaluable on Pot-holing Expeditions Illustrations frorn A R T H U R B E A L E Hli""!n*11i,"",. I94 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W C 2 Agent for'Tricounis'Boot Nails, aLo for'Jaeger'All Wool Alpine Wear "! JAMES S. CARTER CLIMBERS' GUIDE BOOKS TO THE The Alpine Boot Mafter 16 SOUTH MOLTON STREET WELSH MOUNTAINS (FTRST FLOOR) Issuep BY THE Cr-rrasERs' CLus LONDON W I The Climbs on Lliwedd Bv J. M. ARCHER THOMSON and A. W. ANDREWS Bv J. M. ARCHER THOMSON With an Appendix by H. E. L. PORTER A Climbers' Guide to Snowdon and the Beddgelert District Ring Clinkers Rrnc Clinkers and Hobnails and Tricounis Bv H. R. C. CARR Price 5/- each Postage 4d, J. S. Carterts THE CLIMBERS' POCKET NOTE BOOK Climbing Boots Price 1/- Post Free l/l s"4 t2 6 BROCHURE ON ROPES and KNOTS (ILLUS:TRATED) By Captain J. P. FARRAR, D.S.O. Price 6d. Post Free 7d. Copies can be obtained from Stanford, Ring Clinkers and Short Clinkers Edward Ltd., Whitehall, London, S.W. I S.kcorb Screws and Hobnarls ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE ON APPLICATION )orlcsbire Ramblers' Club Journal Vor. V. 1927. No. 17. PEAKS AND PORTERAGE IN THE PYRENEES. By G. R. Surrn. Arrg. ttth, rg4.-I cannot bear to write of that terrible rright spcnt in a third class railway carriage between Paris and .lJordeaux ! Another veil must be drawn ovcr the journey from Bayonne to Pau. The carriages were so lrot that one had to pad one's seat all round. to avoid being scorched. At every station the engine was abandoned by its staff, who went and paddled in the neighbouring river. At I'au, in a grocer's shop full of electric fans, we bought srrplrlics of bacon, tea, coffee, sugar, cheese, bread, candles ;rrrrl tinned food. Wafted out on a bacon-scented breeze, we Itcirtlcd gently through the scorching streets for the station. llt'rc: we caught a train for Laryns, the railhead,; that night wc bivouacked outside the village. Aug. gth.-We started. on an uphill tramp through pine- forcsts and over long stretches of open road which flung back a blistering heat in our faces We tried in vain to quench a most terrible thirst. Each was carrying an cnormous weight. In addition to a necessary change of clothes, shorts and espadrilles, cardigans, sweaters and mufflers for warmth at night, we had a tent (which just held threre), ground-sheets and army blankets; two saucepans, ;L frying-pan, knives, forks, spoons, plates and mugs ; lanterns, cameras, mackintoshes ; and food, a very heavy item, since il r:onsisted chiefly of tinned meat and tinned fruit. Villages orrt lhcre are few and far between, and we had to get in srrllicit,nt food at a time to last us for at least five days. Wr, lrlsscd through Eaux Chaudes and Gabas, and at length lritr:lrcrl our tent beside a waterfall above Gabas. After a bittlur atrcl <linner we went through the ritual of turning in, t:ovcrcct thc food with mackintosh squares and placed Photo by G. R. Swith, LE CYLINDRE, FROM MT. PERDU- t, r62 The Yorkskire Ramblers' CIub Jowrnal. Peaks and, Pwterage. in the Pyrenees. 163 with it some dry wood for the morrow's fire, donned a vast The descent was very easy, since we discovered the correct amount of extra clothing, and crept one by one into the tent. route, which consisted of three chimneys fitted with crampons Aug. roth.-We breakfasted by lantern light, intending to (Pyrenean for spikes or pitons). The idea of taking a guide climb the Pic du Midi d'Ossau (9,6oo ft.). Our French up such a climb seemed ludicrous; the rope was not once guide-book had labelled this ascent impossible without a guide, needed, and we had left our axes with the rucksacks below. but we were anxious to discover whether this statement was We had the same experience in all our subsequent climbs, true. until the ever-recurring phrase, " gurde indispensable," became We started in the halfJight up a very stiff path through a byword. the woods. The track soon disappeared and lor the best part rrth.-We struck camp and returned to Gabas, where we of an hour we had to scramble through thick undergrowth collected provisions for the next five days. These! consisted and fallen trees. At last we reached level ground, andthe of two enormous loaves of bread, like millstones in size and trees fell away on either side. In front of us stretched shape and not unlike them in substance, and numerous tins undulating grassland, reminiscent of English downs, which of sardines. Thus fortified we followed the road up the Val climbed to the rocky foot of a pass. The line of the pass d'Ossau which we left towards evening, striking ofi up the Val and the Pic du Midi ahead of us were free from cloud, and d'Arrius, a trackless, wooded pass. That night we camped had that clear-cut look which the early morning atmosphere above the woods at a height of 6,ooo ft. always lends to hills. rzth,-After a terribly hot climb up the CoI d'Arrius, we We followed an ill-defined track, skirting a low forest of pitched the tent just above the Lac d'Artouste, in whose stunted bushes, and finally reached a broad belt of loose waters we bathed and vainly fished. Heavy rain drove us boulders and broken rock. The sun was well up by the time back to the tent which we found surrounded by standing water lve had, reached grass again and we were on the sunny side and looking like Noah's Ark. So we decided to try and find of the pass. Although the hour was only 9.3o the heat was the Refuge of Arrdmoulit. This was not marked on the map, overwhelming, and we were completely exhausted when we and the clouds were down, but as anything seemed preferable arrived, From here the Pic stood out in all its grandeur. to sleeping in a lake, we packed up and attacked the Col On the south-east side it rose in precipitous cliffs from its d'Arr6moulit. From the top of the Col, and a little above us very base, and towered above us, its buttresses and pinnacles we saw some stone walls without a roof which we reluctantly glowing red against a deep blue sky in which some eagles decided must be the refuge. The clouds had lifted and were were slowly wheeling. piled in yellow masses on the peaks: it was a wild world We clambered to the foot and tried to find the route of grey stone into which we had entered, not the broken recommended by the guide-book; but failing in this we jagged rock so much as the smooth worn stone of antiquity, struck up on our own over some rough rock, rather like the pierced by narrow lanes of grass which radiated in all direc- rock on Crib Goch (Snowdon). This deteriorated into scree tions. Deep glassy lakes, linked by waterfalls, reflected the which, combined with the intense heat of the sun blazing cloud light ; blocks of stone lay about like ruined temple on our backs, reduced us to a terrible state of weakness.