Number in series 21; Year of publication 1927 - Fell and Rock ...

328 THE FELL AND ROCK CLIMBING CLUB JOURNAL.later taking off crampons in the cold. To cross this couloir toanother buttress would have exposed us to falling stones for halfan hour of stepcutting, and perhaps in vain. After much toil,we still seemed to be miles above the Innominata, while thelittle Aiguille Joseph Croux looked like a tiny nick on the ridge.We scill had the idea that a bivouac might be necessary, thoughon all that inhospitable bastion, we never saw a place where onecould even sit down comfortably. It was our object to avoida night out in the storm which was now imminent.With much labour and sorrow and the aid of four " abseils,"we got down to the level of the glacier, close below the hugeice-cliff, which loomed hundreds of feet above us in the mist.Gigantic seracs hung threateningly at an incredible angle.Even as we watched, a mass of ice, vast as a church, lurchedforwards and, for what seemed ages, tottered slowly forwardsto subside with a thump that shook the solid mountain. Forseveral minutes, smaller seracs, dislodged by this ice-quake, keptfalling and spattering the part of the glacier we had to traversewith fragments large enough to end our mortal careers, if wewere unfortunate enough to intercept them.Once over the bergschrund, we did not stop to explore acolossal cavern penetrating deeply at the foot of the cliff, like averitable ice-king's cave. We fairly ran over the dangerouszone, past the stone-shooting couloir at the foot of which thebodies of Professor Balfour and Johann Petrus were found aftertheir attempted descent.It was now nearly dusk, and no time to linger on the glacier.The long slope, broken by only a few crevasses, was quicklycovered, and we soon reached the top of the other icefall. Wewere prepared for any measures necessary to get down beforedark. Imagine our delight at finding steps cut towards theicefall; for this not only meant that descent was possible,but also saved us time and trouble. We had for a long timeforgotten about food, but ate a little below the difficulties ofthe s6racs. We soon reached the top of the familar Col del'lnnominata. It was by now dark, but no lantern wasneeded, for the storm broke in full fury. The lightning wasalmost continuous. As we staggered down the moraine, we didnot fail to realise that no human being in a bivouac could have