In winter-time, when the inequalities are all smoothed over with a sheet of hard snow, both sides of the rock are rather dangerous, but especially the eastern, where a man who slipped would have the greatest difficulty in stopping himself before he shot over the precipitous gully at the end. This gully (occupying, as it were, the place of the water-pipe) is known, in allusion to an accident which occurred there in 1883, as _Walker's Gully_. When the question arises of how to climb the _High Man_, it is obvious that the scree just above it will be the nearest point to the summit; but equally obvious that the climb, though short, would be nearly vertical. The plan which at once suggests itself for getting to the top is to work round to the back of the rock and climb it from the top of the ridge behind. The ridge may be reached from either side, and in this fact we have the secret of two of the most important climbs. So much for the general appearance of the Pillar; but the part which admits of the easiest and most varied attack is the east wall of the _High Man_, and of this side it is necessary to give a more detailed description. This part of the rock is the only one which is at all well known to the general public, and its chief features, being well marked, have for the most part received, by common consent of climbers, distinctive names. In order to see the formation of the rock properly it is well worth the climber's while to descend for a few yards and mount the _Sham Rock_ on the other side of the east scree. The peculiar structure of the opposite wall may now be clearly seen. [Illustration: PILLAR ROCK FROM THE SOUTH-EAST A, _Pisgah_; B, _Jordan_; C, Summit; D, Top of _Curtain_; E, Corner between the _Curtain_ and the main rock.] On our left hand, between the mountain and the rock, is seen an outlying mass severed from the High Man by a deep square-cut gap. When the Pillar is looked at from the direction of the mountain-top, this gap is entirely concealed by the outlying piece, which then appears to present a fairly easy way direct to the summit. 'The climber (says Mr. Williamson) mounts gaily and with confidence, only to find himself cut off from the High Man by an impassable cleft.' He sees it indeed with his eyes, but he cannot go up thither. Hence the names--_Pisgah_ for the false rock, and _Jordan_ for the chasm. A very well-known Pillarite once proposed to bridge the cleft with a plank or ladder and hold a tea-party on the top. This very original idea was not carried into execution, but certainly, without some such application, the passage of _Jordan Gap_ is a formidable undertaking; for the north wall is only less vertical than the other, and though barely 60 ft. high--not much more, that is, than half as much as must be climbed by any other route--this is decidedly one of those cases in which the longer way round will prove to be the shorter way up.