First Ascents and Explorations from the Mons and Freshfield Icefields
First Ascents and Explorations from the Mons and Freshfield Icefields A
lden
F. M
egrew
T W E N T Y - E I G H T years ago a great peak w as discovered in B ritish C olum bia, only six miles to the w est of M t. F o rb es; a solitary m ountain mass, isolated from the num erous icefields and ris ing to an altitu d e of 10,770 ft. M essrs. Collie and Stutfield w ere its discoverers, and since 1902 no attem p t had been m ade to approach it. T h e ir object was not to reach this peak, w hich they nam ed Bush M o u n ta in , but to find M t. Colum bia, and they attacked from th e C olum bia R iver by w ay of the Bush valley. In three weeks they advanced from D onald to w ithin five o r six miles of its base, w here they w ere tu rn ed back largely by the denseness of the British Colum bia “ju n g le .” W h e n w e started o u t last year ou r objective was not lim ited to Bush M o u n ta in alone. W e wished also to clim b in and to reconnoitre from the Freshfield group. W e le ft L ake Louise on Ju n e 28th w ith three packers and fifteen horses. D yson D uncan and m yself w ere the only clim bers, for it w as n ot un til tw o days later, at B ow Lake, th a t o u r party w as com pleted by the addition of D r. T h o rin g to n , M r . O . E. C rom w ell and P e te r K au fm an n , the Swiss guide,1 O u r pack-train was increased here to tw enty-seven horses, five packers and five travelers, and w ith this o utfit w e p ro ceeded directly to the Freshfield group, w hich w e reached on Ju ly 4th. F irst of all w e planned to clim b P angm an Peak, situated at the north w est corner of the Freshfield névé. S tartin g from a bivouac a t N iverville m eadow , w e crossed a series of m oraines, heading straig h t for ou r objective. O nce on the P angm an glacier, w e ascended it to a col between P angm an P eak and a slight eminence 9,600 ft. high. O n e glance at the m ountain show ed th a t it w ould not “ go” u n d er the existing conditions. A ll the w ay up the glacier w e had been w ading through snow from knee to w aist deep. P an g m an itself w as covered w ith new snow , and ju s t a fte r w e arrived gentle avalanches began slipping off th e steep rocks dow n the precipitous slopes tow ards the Bush valley. U n d e r such conditions this side of P angm an is impossible, but a fte r a dry season it m ight very w ell 1 F o r a d d itio n a l d e ta ils of the e x p ed itio n , see A.J., M a y , 1931, a n d notes on g la c ia l m e asu rem en ts elsew h ere in th e p re se n t J o u r n a l .
be clim bed from the col, although it is ra th e r a steep face, con sidering the rotten rock. T h e only other evident w ay of reaching the sum m it w ould be to clim b M t. D en t and traverse the entire length of the ridge. T h is, how ever, w ould prove not only extrem ely long, b u t also difficult on account of the num ber of gendarm es along the ridge. A fte r having abandoned hope of reaching the sum m it of Pangm an Peak, D u n can and I tu rn e d o u r attention to M t. Freshfield, p artly because a guideless ascent of the m ountain had never been made, and p a rtly because it is the m ost outstan d in g peak of this group. Steve L atam , o u r head-packer, had never been up a real m ountain, so w e agreed to take him along, and I ’m afraid th a t it w ill be his last climb. A lthough he seemed to enjoy it, I rath e r th in k th a t he failed to solve the g rea t enigm a of w hy people spend th e ir tim e on the high h ills. A s the ascent is w ell know n I shall not go into details. B ut a fte r having read M essrs. C ollie and S tu tfield ’s account of the first ascent we hardly expected to find the south face a steep w all of snow and ice. H alf-fo rm e d cornices and a general angle of about fifty degrees forced us to cut steps from the “ F ro zen L ak e” for about seven hundred feet to the heavily-corniced sum m it. H o w ever, o u r efforts w ere w ell rew arded, for the day w as u tte rly cloud less, cold and cle a r; one of those rare days w hen the m ountains and the w eath er are harm oniously perfect. F ro m the top w e had an excellent view of Bush M o u n ta in , some ten miles aw ay. W e could not detect any obvious ro u te up the peak, fo r it is flanked on all sides by steep icefalls, and even if these w ere overcom e the route to the sum m it from the basin at the head of the icefalls is n ot self-evident. I t had taken us five hours to reach the sum m it of Freshfield from the m ain cam p at the tongue of the Freshfield glacier. A fte r a day of rest w e started o u t w ith D r. T h o rin g to n , M r . O . E . C rom w ell and P e te r K au fm an n , th eir guide, to clim b M t. Skene (10,100 f t .) . T h is w as a first ascent, and very easy. W e approached by a m oderately steep couloir between M ts. Skene and S trah an, and then reached the sum m it by easy snow slopes. T h e ascent had taken fo u r hours from cam p. F ro m Skene, D u n can and I crossed shale slopes to the sum m it of S trah an (9 ,9 6 0 f t .) , w here an o ther cairn w as built, w hile the rest of the p arty w e n t across th e C onw ay glacier to m ake a first ascent of M t. Conw ay.
A fte r leaving the Freshfield group w e moved over to G lacier L ake and camped on the flats about tw o miles above the lake, and about a m ile from the L yell icefall. O u r initial clim b here w as an unguided ascent of M t. Forbes by the w est ridge. W e bivouacked ju st below the icefall of the M ons glacier in a hollow protected from the w ind by a high m oraine on one side and Division M o u n ta in on the other. F ro m o u r tents w e could see the sunlight lingering in crim son tin ts on the g rea t n o rth face of Forbes, the fifth highest peak in the Rockies. A t 1 o’clock we w ere up and p reparin g breakfast. M r . C ro m w ell, P eter, D uncan and I planned to clim b by the w est ridge, b ut w hen w e reached the base of the cone, conditions looked favorable fo r an attem p t on the north ridge, hith erto unclim bed. A s it seemed inadvisable fo r too large a p arty to try the n o rth ridge, D uncan and I w en t on across the face to ascend th e w est ridge as we had already planned. W e reached the sum m it at 9 o ’clock, having taken six hours and a q u a rte r from the bivouac. M r . C ro m w ell and his guide joined us half an ho u r later, a fte r scaling the no rth ridge, and w e lingered for tw o hours enjoying a w arm and w indless sojourn. O u r next trip w as an investigation of the easiest approach to Bush Peak. I t w as too late in the season for a real attack on the m ountain, and all w e could hope for w as to find a route to the base, and, if possible, a feasible route to th e sum m it. T h e fo rm er w e did do, b u t the la tte r rem ains for those w ho have the tim e and equipm ent to m ake a real base cam p, and can stay in the valley as long as is necessary to cope w ith the w ea th er and th e m ountain. O n J u ly 15th w e le ft the M ons bivouac at 3 in the m orning, carrying approxim ately fifty pounds apiece, including food, ten t, sleeping-bags and ex tra clothing. T h e re w ere th ree of us, D u ncan, Steve and myself. P roceeding up the M o n s glacier w e crossed the D ivide by an easy snow pass betw een M o n s P eak and D ivision M o u n ta in , w hich w e took the liberty of nam ing M o n s pass. T h e n follow ing a series of snow couloirs, w e le ft the glacier a t tree-line. Bush m ountain had been in view ever since crossing th e D ivide, but fo r the first tim e on o u r trip forest fire smoke w as heavy and it prevented us from distinguishing m ore th an the general outline. M o re impressive than the m ountain, how ever, w as th e m agnificent gorge at the head of the Icefall Brook valley. I have never seen the equal o f this canyon, for it drops in a sheer precipice for nearly
3,000 ft. F ro m one point, w ith o u t tu rn in g around, we counted tw enty-one w aterfalls over five hundred feet high. W e ought to have realized th a t any attem p t to descend directly to the bottom w ould be impossible, but a t the tim e w e did not know th a t this w hole side of the valley, as far as the w estern end of M o n s Peak, is a series of cliffs and slopes covered w ith tim ber and alder. T h is m istake cost us three hours of extrem ely difficult going. F irs t w e descended about five hundred feet, but then a cliff forced us to re tu rn above tree-line. N o t only did this w aste tim e, b ut w ith o u r heavy packs it entailed considerable effort. H av in g reached tree-line again we decided to traverse a broad shale-covered ledge, in the hope of finding an easier w ay dow n. A fte r a m ile and a h alf w e came upon a stream w hich seemed to lead directly to the Hats 3,800 ft. below. B u t again w e w ere to be disappointed. T h e stream did lead to the floor of the valley, but a cliff, against whose sides the to rre n t raged, cut us off and to cross it w as too dangerous, as it w as deep and w e could hear subm erged boulders constantly strik in g against one ano th er w ith the force of the cu rren t. W e lunched and then began c u ttin g thro u g h the tan g le of u nderbrush and ald er above the cliff. In an h o u r and a h alf we had a trail, really a m akeshift, fo r m ost of it w as barely negotiable and w e balanced on ald er bushes three feet off the ground, b u t it brought us ou t on the flats at tw o -th irty in the afternoon, nine hours and a q u a rte r from the bivouac. T h a t afternoon w e explored dow n the valley to w here M o n s C reek joins the Icefall Brook. T h e views w ere m agnificent. J u s t above the camp rose the beautiful conical sum m it of M t. A rras, capped w ith a huge hanging glacier. Across the valley w ere the tow ering rock and ice slopes of Bush Peak, so heavily veiled by forest fire smoke th a t route picking w as impossible. A fte r a m iserable night, d u rin g w hich the mosquitoes did th eir best to drive us o u t of the valley— smudges m erely seemed to w het th eir appetites— w e w ere m ore than delighted w hen the sun drove them back to the woods. A fte r breakfast w e decided to resume exploration of the valley. W e saw th a t w e could not cross the m ain stream , for a w arm night had sw ollen it. W e therefore w en t dow n the valley fo r about a m ile and a half, below M o n s Creek, b ut here the tim ber offered extrem ely difficult going. M o reo v er, clouds w ere beginning to g ather so w e thought best to beat a hasty retrea t to the G lacier L ake camp.
T h a t we had taken nine hours and a q u a rte r to reach the valley might indicate that o u r route is not well adapted to back-packing, but on the return, know ing exactly how to go, coming up from 3,200 ft. to 8,200 ft., and descending to the bivouac, consumed ju st seven hours and a quarter, including time o ut for lunch. T h is means th a t to cross from the bivouac to the valley, once a trail is cut, should not take more than six hours. T o get over Icefall Brook a tree will have to be felled somewhere just below M o n s Creek, as the trees above this point are not large enough to make a secure bridge over which heavy loads could be carried. O n the crest of M o n s pass the storm broke; clouds and snow enveloped us; on the moraine above the icefall we w ere drenched w ith rain. F o r the next tw o hours we ran nearly all the way, anxious to get back to o u r com fortable balsam beds, a real meal, and a good game of poker in the tepee after supper. T h e following day it rained steadily until late in the evening, when it cleared. So we decided to have one more climbing day. W e hoped to make three first ascents of the peaks at the southeast corner of the M o n s Icefield, Alts. Cam brai (10,380 f t .) , Messines (10,290 f t.) , and St. Julien (10,140 f t .) . D u n c a n and I w ere up at m idnight at the bivouac, and off at 1 o ’clock. Clouds w ere low on Forbes, and it seemed doubtful if the w eather w ould give us a chance to make even one ascent. T h e marm ots had been w histling all night, as if they expected rain. T h e snow on the glacier was in good condition, and although we managed to run into w h a t is apparently the only patch of crevasses in the w hole icefield, w e finally found a detour around and reached the summ it of C am brai at 5.25. W e built a cairn, ate some chocolate, and m aking o ur w ay back over the rocky northw est ridge, soon reached the snow and glissaded to the col between C am brai and Messines. T h e n w e hurried up the steep and narro w snow ridge, to the sum m it of Messines. I t was only 6.40, but the clouds w ere already on Cam brai only half a mile away. St. J ulien stood a long way off, but we still had hopes of out-ru nning the w eather. W e descended Messines by the same route, and skirting along the north base, w en t around the mountain and struck straight up the northeast face of St. Julien, crossing the bergschrund by a none-too-secure snow-bridge. T h e climbing on the upper ridge was not too difficult but rathe r treacherous, for the rock was both steep and rotten. F o r an instant the clouds blew off Cambrai and
w e enjoyed an excellent view of the tw o peaks w e had ju s t left, b u t then the w in d rolled the cloud-bank back and w e did not see them again. O n reaching the sum m it w e built o u r th ird cairn, ate a real breakfast, and then started back for camp. O u r old snow -bridge looked a bit too unsafe for the descent, so w e traversed the length of the m ountain tow ards the w est before crossing the bergschrund. O nce off th e peak, w e ran dow n the icefield, reaching the bivouac at 11.20 A .M . O u r final day had been entirely successful, and now w e lay on the grass outside the te n t w atching the oncom ing storm , as peak a fte r peak w as enveloped in the grey clouds, already rem inisc ing on o u r tria ls and o u r trium phs.
lden
F. M
egrew
T W E N T Y - E I G H T years ago a great peak w as discovered in B ritish C olum bia, only six miles to the w est of M t. F o rb es; a solitary m ountain mass, isolated from the num erous icefields and ris ing to an altitu d e of 10,770 ft. M essrs. Collie and Stutfield w ere its discoverers, and since 1902 no attem p t had been m ade to approach it. T h e ir object was not to reach this peak, w hich they nam ed Bush M o u n ta in , but to find M t. Colum bia, and they attacked from th e C olum bia R iver by w ay of the Bush valley. In three weeks they advanced from D onald to w ithin five o r six miles of its base, w here they w ere tu rn ed back largely by the denseness of the British Colum bia “ju n g le .” W h e n w e started o u t last year ou r objective was not lim ited to Bush M o u n ta in alone. W e wished also to clim b in and to reconnoitre from the Freshfield group. W e le ft L ake Louise on Ju n e 28th w ith three packers and fifteen horses. D yson D uncan and m yself w ere the only clim bers, for it w as n ot un til tw o days later, at B ow Lake, th a t o u r party w as com pleted by the addition of D r. T h o rin g to n , M r . O . E. C rom w ell and P e te r K au fm an n , the Swiss guide,1 O u r pack-train was increased here to tw enty-seven horses, five packers and five travelers, and w ith this o utfit w e p ro ceeded directly to the Freshfield group, w hich w e reached on Ju ly 4th. F irst of all w e planned to clim b P angm an Peak, situated at the north w est corner of the Freshfield névé. S tartin g from a bivouac a t N iverville m eadow , w e crossed a series of m oraines, heading straig h t for ou r objective. O nce on the P angm an glacier, w e ascended it to a col between P angm an P eak and a slight eminence 9,600 ft. high. O n e glance at the m ountain show ed th a t it w ould not “ go” u n d er the existing conditions. A ll the w ay up the glacier w e had been w ading through snow from knee to w aist deep. P an g m an itself w as covered w ith new snow , and ju s t a fte r w e arrived gentle avalanches began slipping off th e steep rocks dow n the precipitous slopes tow ards the Bush valley. U n d e r such conditions this side of P angm an is impossible, but a fte r a dry season it m ight very w ell 1 F o r a d d itio n a l d e ta ils of the e x p ed itio n , see A.J., M a y , 1931, a n d notes on g la c ia l m e asu rem en ts elsew h ere in th e p re se n t J o u r n a l .
be clim bed from the col, although it is ra th e r a steep face, con sidering the rotten rock. T h e only other evident w ay of reaching the sum m it w ould be to clim b M t. D en t and traverse the entire length of the ridge. T h is, how ever, w ould prove not only extrem ely long, b u t also difficult on account of the num ber of gendarm es along the ridge. A fte r having abandoned hope of reaching the sum m it of Pangm an Peak, D u n can and I tu rn e d o u r attention to M t. Freshfield, p artly because a guideless ascent of the m ountain had never been made, and p a rtly because it is the m ost outstan d in g peak of this group. Steve L atam , o u r head-packer, had never been up a real m ountain, so w e agreed to take him along, and I ’m afraid th a t it w ill be his last climb. A lthough he seemed to enjoy it, I rath e r th in k th a t he failed to solve the g rea t enigm a of w hy people spend th e ir tim e on the high h ills. A s the ascent is w ell know n I shall not go into details. B ut a fte r having read M essrs. C ollie and S tu tfield ’s account of the first ascent we hardly expected to find the south face a steep w all of snow and ice. H alf-fo rm e d cornices and a general angle of about fifty degrees forced us to cut steps from the “ F ro zen L ak e” for about seven hundred feet to the heavily-corniced sum m it. H o w ever, o u r efforts w ere w ell rew arded, for the day w as u tte rly cloud less, cold and cle a r; one of those rare days w hen the m ountains and the w eath er are harm oniously perfect. F ro m the top w e had an excellent view of Bush M o u n ta in , some ten miles aw ay. W e could not detect any obvious ro u te up the peak, fo r it is flanked on all sides by steep icefalls, and even if these w ere overcom e the route to the sum m it from the basin at the head of the icefalls is n ot self-evident. I t had taken us five hours to reach the sum m it of Freshfield from the m ain cam p at the tongue of the Freshfield glacier. A fte r a day of rest w e started o u t w ith D r. T h o rin g to n , M r . O . E . C rom w ell and P e te r K au fm an n , th eir guide, to clim b M t. Skene (10,100 f t .) . T h is w as a first ascent, and very easy. W e approached by a m oderately steep couloir between M ts. Skene and S trah an, and then reached the sum m it by easy snow slopes. T h e ascent had taken fo u r hours from cam p. F ro m Skene, D u n can and I crossed shale slopes to the sum m it of S trah an (9 ,9 6 0 f t .) , w here an o ther cairn w as built, w hile the rest of the p arty w e n t across th e C onw ay glacier to m ake a first ascent of M t. Conw ay.
A fte r leaving the Freshfield group w e moved over to G lacier L ake and camped on the flats about tw o miles above the lake, and about a m ile from the L yell icefall. O u r initial clim b here w as an unguided ascent of M t. Forbes by the w est ridge. W e bivouacked ju st below the icefall of the M ons glacier in a hollow protected from the w ind by a high m oraine on one side and Division M o u n ta in on the other. F ro m o u r tents w e could see the sunlight lingering in crim son tin ts on the g rea t n o rth face of Forbes, the fifth highest peak in the Rockies. A t 1 o’clock we w ere up and p reparin g breakfast. M r . C ro m w ell, P eter, D uncan and I planned to clim b by the w est ridge, b ut w hen w e reached the base of the cone, conditions looked favorable fo r an attem p t on the north ridge, hith erto unclim bed. A s it seemed inadvisable fo r too large a p arty to try the n o rth ridge, D uncan and I w en t on across the face to ascend th e w est ridge as we had already planned. W e reached the sum m it at 9 o ’clock, having taken six hours and a q u a rte r from the bivouac. M r . C ro m w ell and his guide joined us half an ho u r later, a fte r scaling the no rth ridge, and w e lingered for tw o hours enjoying a w arm and w indless sojourn. O u r next trip w as an investigation of the easiest approach to Bush Peak. I t w as too late in the season for a real attack on the m ountain, and all w e could hope for w as to find a route to the base, and, if possible, a feasible route to th e sum m it. T h e fo rm er w e did do, b u t the la tte r rem ains for those w ho have the tim e and equipm ent to m ake a real base cam p, and can stay in the valley as long as is necessary to cope w ith the w ea th er and th e m ountain. O n J u ly 15th w e le ft the M ons bivouac at 3 in the m orning, carrying approxim ately fifty pounds apiece, including food, ten t, sleeping-bags and ex tra clothing. T h e re w ere th ree of us, D u ncan, Steve and myself. P roceeding up the M o n s glacier w e crossed the D ivide by an easy snow pass betw een M o n s P eak and D ivision M o u n ta in , w hich w e took the liberty of nam ing M o n s pass. T h e n follow ing a series of snow couloirs, w e le ft the glacier a t tree-line. Bush m ountain had been in view ever since crossing th e D ivide, but fo r the first tim e on o u r trip forest fire smoke w as heavy and it prevented us from distinguishing m ore th an the general outline. M o re impressive than the m ountain, how ever, w as th e m agnificent gorge at the head of the Icefall Brook valley. I have never seen the equal o f this canyon, for it drops in a sheer precipice for nearly
3,000 ft. F ro m one point, w ith o u t tu rn in g around, we counted tw enty-one w aterfalls over five hundred feet high. W e ought to have realized th a t any attem p t to descend directly to the bottom w ould be impossible, but a t the tim e w e did not know th a t this w hole side of the valley, as far as the w estern end of M o n s Peak, is a series of cliffs and slopes covered w ith tim ber and alder. T h is m istake cost us three hours of extrem ely difficult going. F irs t w e descended about five hundred feet, but then a cliff forced us to re tu rn above tree-line. N o t only did this w aste tim e, b ut w ith o u r heavy packs it entailed considerable effort. H av in g reached tree-line again we decided to traverse a broad shale-covered ledge, in the hope of finding an easier w ay dow n. A fte r a m ile and a h alf w e came upon a stream w hich seemed to lead directly to the Hats 3,800 ft. below. B u t again w e w ere to be disappointed. T h e stream did lead to the floor of the valley, but a cliff, against whose sides the to rre n t raged, cut us off and to cross it w as too dangerous, as it w as deep and w e could hear subm erged boulders constantly strik in g against one ano th er w ith the force of the cu rren t. W e lunched and then began c u ttin g thro u g h the tan g le of u nderbrush and ald er above the cliff. In an h o u r and a h alf we had a trail, really a m akeshift, fo r m ost of it w as barely negotiable and w e balanced on ald er bushes three feet off the ground, b u t it brought us ou t on the flats at tw o -th irty in the afternoon, nine hours and a q u a rte r from the bivouac. T h a t afternoon w e explored dow n the valley to w here M o n s C reek joins the Icefall Brook. T h e views w ere m agnificent. J u s t above the camp rose the beautiful conical sum m it of M t. A rras, capped w ith a huge hanging glacier. Across the valley w ere the tow ering rock and ice slopes of Bush Peak, so heavily veiled by forest fire smoke th a t route picking w as impossible. A fte r a m iserable night, d u rin g w hich the mosquitoes did th eir best to drive us o u t of the valley— smudges m erely seemed to w het th eir appetites— w e w ere m ore than delighted w hen the sun drove them back to the woods. A fte r breakfast w e decided to resume exploration of the valley. W e saw th a t w e could not cross the m ain stream , for a w arm night had sw ollen it. W e therefore w en t dow n the valley fo r about a m ile and a half, below M o n s Creek, b ut here the tim ber offered extrem ely difficult going. M o reo v er, clouds w ere beginning to g ather so w e thought best to beat a hasty retrea t to the G lacier L ake camp.
T h a t we had taken nine hours and a q u a rte r to reach the valley might indicate that o u r route is not well adapted to back-packing, but on the return, know ing exactly how to go, coming up from 3,200 ft. to 8,200 ft., and descending to the bivouac, consumed ju st seven hours and a quarter, including time o ut for lunch. T h is means th a t to cross from the bivouac to the valley, once a trail is cut, should not take more than six hours. T o get over Icefall Brook a tree will have to be felled somewhere just below M o n s Creek, as the trees above this point are not large enough to make a secure bridge over which heavy loads could be carried. O n the crest of M o n s pass the storm broke; clouds and snow enveloped us; on the moraine above the icefall we w ere drenched w ith rain. F o r the next tw o hours we ran nearly all the way, anxious to get back to o u r com fortable balsam beds, a real meal, and a good game of poker in the tepee after supper. T h e following day it rained steadily until late in the evening, when it cleared. So we decided to have one more climbing day. W e hoped to make three first ascents of the peaks at the southeast corner of the M o n s Icefield, Alts. Cam brai (10,380 f t .) , Messines (10,290 f t.) , and St. Julien (10,140 f t .) . D u n c a n and I w ere up at m idnight at the bivouac, and off at 1 o ’clock. Clouds w ere low on Forbes, and it seemed doubtful if the w eather w ould give us a chance to make even one ascent. T h e marm ots had been w histling all night, as if they expected rain. T h e snow on the glacier was in good condition, and although we managed to run into w h a t is apparently the only patch of crevasses in the w hole icefield, w e finally found a detour around and reached the summ it of C am brai at 5.25. W e built a cairn, ate some chocolate, and m aking o ur w ay back over the rocky northw est ridge, soon reached the snow and glissaded to the col between C am brai and Messines. T h e n w e hurried up the steep and narro w snow ridge, to the sum m it of Messines. I t was only 6.40, but the clouds w ere already on Cam brai only half a mile away. St. J ulien stood a long way off, but we still had hopes of out-ru nning the w eather. W e descended Messines by the same route, and skirting along the north base, w en t around the mountain and struck straight up the northeast face of St. Julien, crossing the bergschrund by a none-too-secure snow-bridge. T h e climbing on the upper ridge was not too difficult but rathe r treacherous, for the rock was both steep and rotten. F o r an instant the clouds blew off Cambrai and
w e enjoyed an excellent view of the tw o peaks w e had ju s t left, b u t then the w in d rolled the cloud-bank back and w e did not see them again. O n reaching the sum m it w e built o u r th ird cairn, ate a real breakfast, and then started back for camp. O u r old snow -bridge looked a bit too unsafe for the descent, so w e traversed the length of the m ountain tow ards the w est before crossing the bergschrund. O nce off th e peak, w e ran dow n the icefield, reaching the bivouac at 11.20 A .M . O u r final day had been entirely successful, and now w e lay on the grass outside the te n t w atching the oncom ing storm , as peak a fte r peak w as enveloped in the grey clouds, already rem inisc ing on o u r tria ls and o u r trium phs.
