Matterhorn (Switzerland and Italy); Mountaineering
I waited at the tent to welcome the Professor, and when he arrived went
down to Breil. Early next morning some one ran to me saying that a flag
was seen on the summit of the Matterhorn. It was not so, however, although
I saw that they had passed the place where we had turned back on the 26th.
I had now no doubt of their final success, for they had got beyond the
point which Carrel, not less than myself, had always considered to be the
most questionable place on the whole mountain. Up to it there was no
choice of route,—I suppose that at no one point between it and the Col was
it possible to diverge a dozen paces to the right or left, but beyond it
it was otherwise, and we had always agreed, in our debates, that if it
could be passed success was certain. The accompanying outline from a
sketch taken from the door of the inn at Breil will help to explain. The
letter *A* indicates the position of the Great Tower; *C* the “cravate”
(the strongly-marked streak of snow referred to on p. 76, and which we
just failed to arrive at on the 26th); *B* the place where we now saw
something that looked like a flag. Behind the point B a nearly level ridge
leads up to the foot of the final peak, which will be understood by a
reference to the outline facing p. 44, on which the same letters indicate
the same places. It was just now said, we considered that if the point *C*
could be passed, success was certain. Tyndall was at *B* very early in the
morning, and I did not doubt that he would reach the summit, although it
yet remained problematical whether he would be able to stand on the very
highest point. The summit was evidently formed of a long ridge, on which
there were two points nearly equally elevated—so equally that one could
not say which was the highest—and between the two there seemed to be a
deep notch, marked *D* on the outlines, which might defeat one at the very
last moment.
[Illustration: A CANNONADE ON THE MATTERHORN (1862).]
[Illustration: The Matterhorn from Breil]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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