' ' • NOVEMBER, 1 969 - the DHO

effect was deposited on the peak stating 'Tschingel
(A.C.) without guide'. Unfortunately his own
documentation, which he deposited on the peak,
has been eradicated by time, snow and storms.
Two years before Tschingel, had been cheated of
one proud peak, the Bietschhorn. Coolidge, Miss
Brevoort and Aimer had bivouacked at the foot of
the mountain and, the conditions being particularly
bad, had left Tschingel behind in the tent. On their
way back they were caught by a storm and had to
spend the night in the niche of a rock above the
glacier. It snowed all night and next morning the
rocks were completely iced up but finally the party
reached the tent safely to find a most unusual sight.
In the door of the tent lay Tschingel warm and well
behaved. In front of the tent in the open sat two
sorry looking men. Two porters who had been
previously ordered to bring up food the day before.
Their faces were blue, their clothes frozen stiff.
Half covered in snow and teeth chattering they
squatted in front of the tent out of whose opening
Tschingels friendly head appeared but with drawn
lips showing a row of very unfriendly white teeth.
'For heavens sake what is the matter? Why are you
sitting out here instead of spending the night in the
warm tent ?' The two men explained that the chance
of being frozen to icicles was still better than the
certainty of being torn to bits by that wild beast.
Tschingel then crawled out of the tent, wagging his
tail, but not without an occasional showing of
teeth. He was having his own private little laugh.
He then went to the porters' wooden carrying
crate, had a good look at it and then, with lifted leg,
demonstrated that he did not have a high opinion of
its owners.
Two great years followed, 1874 and 1875, during
which were noted among others Col du Tour, Pic
de la Grave (first), Ochsenhorn, Kleines Schreckhorn,
Pointe Marguerite (first) and Mont Blanc,
after which he was popularly called the 'Mont Blanc
Dog'. All his tours and climbs passed without a
single mishap and he carried them through as any
December 29th-January 5th
January 5th-7th
January 8th
January 13 th onwards
January 15th
January 22nd
February 5th
February 12th
February 19th
March 31st-April 1st
other dog would an evening walk. He knew nothing
of snowblindness nor did the thin air trouble him,
not even when he was eleven years old and was
ascending Mont Blanc. The only place where he was
bothered by sunburn was on the tip of his snout, and
he gladly shared the glacier cream of his masters.
In hewn steps in the ice he climbed with absolute
safety always placing both paws in a step together.
He liked to lead a party and only when the going
became very difficult, with two-legged alpinists
using all fours, did he let himself be put in a
specially constructed harness and be roped up.
One novelty which he introduced to alpinism,
was his system of marking his path. For this he
preferred conspicuous rocks or protruding corners.
His system put him in a unique position in that,
once having gone a certain way, he could return the
same way without fail, under any conditions.
He ate the same food as his mistress, drank tea
by preference and ate masses of snow to quench his
thirst. In his youth he is said to have preferred wine
to water. He was a good linguist and understood
the dialects of the Valais and the Bernese Oberland,
English and high German. Only to French did he
not react. Otherwise he was not considered clever;
all he could do was give a paw—when he wished.
He could not 'say please' or be 'dead dog'. But then
two legged alpinists are not perfect either.
In 1876 Miss Brevoort was taken seriously ill and
Tschingel did not move from her side until she died.
That was also the time for Tschingel. He kept
searching the house and soon became ill. He aged
rapidly, his coat became white and on June 16th,
1879 his time had come.
Coolidge buried him in Dorking and over his
grave stands a granite tombstone from the mountains
he and his masters had so dearly loved.
Translated from Grosse Berge Kleine Menschen.
Published by Schweizer Druck-und Verlagshaus A.G.
Zurich.
FIXTURE LIST—SEASON 1969-70
D.H.O. Race Week and Jumping Competition. Parallel Slalom
Coggins Championship and Family Race
Heinz Cup (W, with holiday class)
Weekly D.H.O. Run with Ski Instructor (subsidised for D.H.O. members)
Odling Cup (DH No-fall, with holiday class)
Polytechnic Cups (WN)
Finnigan Cup (DH, with holiday class)
MacMillan Cup (DH), Jarvis Cup (DH40), Bathchair Cup (DH50),
Stretcher Cup (DH60)
Kurverein Crystal (DH pairs)
D.H.O. Easter Training Races, Parallel Slalom
DH Open to members of the D.H.O. only.
N Open to Novices (i.e., those who have never won a ski race and who are below SCGB 2nd class standard).
W Open to visitors to Wengen district (i.e., Lauterbrunnen to Scheidegg inclusive).
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