L'Equipement de l'Alpiniste 1900

Showing the patina of its age this lovely Charlet Moser hammer probably dates from just after WWII and belonged to Ian Leigh, who for many years was the Commandant of the Joint Services Mountain Training Centre at Fort George in Scotland and a retired Army major. Along with Simond, Charlet Moser were and still are in 2010, long established gear manufacturers in the Chamonix Valley beneath Mont Blanc.

The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection: http://www.smhc.co.uk/objects_item.asp?item_id=31718

Bhend ice axes earned their first great success in 1938, when German climbers Anderl Heckmair and Ludwig Vorg, and Austrian climbers Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek, completed the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, a climb which repelled numerous other parties, and lead to several widely-reported tragedies, including the deaths of German climbers Max Sedlmayr and Karl Mehringer, in 1935, who froze during a storm, and the death of German climber Toni Kurz, in 1936, who hung lifeless on a rope before the eyes of would-be rescuers. These tragedies contributed to the myth of the Eiger, which became known as the Morwand, or Wall of Death, a play on the common name, Norwand, or north face.

Following World War Two, the British Everest expedition, lead by Colonel John Hunt, contracted with Alfred to supply crampons, ice axes and ice hammers, and New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary, and Nepalese climber Tenzing Norgay, carried Bhend ice axes on the first ascent of Everest, in 1953. A photograph taken by Hillary shows Norgay standing on the summit, cloaked in an insulated jacket and overboots, holding a Bhend ice axe triumphantly over his head. Bhend ice axes were also used by the Swiss expedition of 1956, lead by Dolf Reist, which succeeded in making the second and third ascents of Everest, and the first ascent of Lhotse.

When I visited Bhend Metallbau, Ruedi showed me two ice axes, an old ice axe, made in 1880, and a new ice axe, made in 2010. The old ice axe was over one meter long, with a shaft of dark, rough-grained wood. The pick was chipped, and the head was dull gray, although the characteristic engraving was still visible: K. Bhend, Grindelwald. It was strange to hold an ice axe more than one hundred years old, and it was hard for me to imagine how the tool would have been used. I reasoned that the long shaft was held like a staff, and the spike was important for balance. The pick was straight, with small teeth on the underside, and the adze was flat and angular. Perhaps the pick was anchored in the ice, and climbers pulled themselves along the shaft, like a handrail, while the adze was used to hack platforms.

The new ice axe, in contrast, was about seventy centimeters long, and felt much like a modern ice axe. The shaft was made of blond, fine-grained wood, and the swing was light and balanced. Compared to the old ice axe, the head was smooth and polished, a graceful form, pleasing to hold in a variety of positions: pick forward, pick backward and so on.

The most striking feature of the new ice axe was the lack of teeth on the underside of the pick. Indeed, there seemed little to secure the pick in ice. This can be explained by the fact that a Bhend ice axe is, above all, a tool for cutting steps. There are several other features, in addition to the lack of teeth, which make the ice axe suitable for step-cutting. These include the smooth curve along the top of the head, the wide rounded blade of the adze, and the tip of the pick, which is flattened into a small horizontal blade.

Ende der Dreissigerjahre entwickelte Alfred Bhend (Vater) ein Leichtsteigeisen. Zu Beginn der Siebzigerjahre wurde die Herstellung eingestellt. Die industrielle Produktion von Steigeisen aller Art rechtfertigte die aufwendige Einzelherstellung nicht mehr.

In 1883, a group of Geneva climbers coined the phrase ‘varrape’ (rock climbing in French) while climbing on the face of the Salève mountain overlooking the city. Of these climbers, one was to later revolutionize alpine equipment. Perhaps Felix Genecand was fed up with destroying his street shoes on the Salève face, perhaps it was the death of a friend who’s shoe fell apart that inspired him to invent better climbing footwear.He adopted the nickname Tricouni which was the name of an Italian climber he admired. Tricouni invented several models of steel climbing boot nails which could be attached to the leather soled shoes of the time. The Tricouni climbing nail was later to be known the world over.

A dozen number model #1 Tricouni nails attached to the sole of the shoe, weighed only seventy grams and revolutionized mountain climbing at the time.

Ice axe, metal/wood, made by Leonhard Kost, used during the Sir Douglas Mawson's Antarctic Expedition, Antarctica, 1911-1914

This ice axe was used for cutting hand and foot holds in ice, and was used during Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE), Antarctica, 1911-1914.

One of the objectives of this expedition was the exploration and charting of the largely unexplored coastline of Antarctica. This included meteorological and magnetic observations, and the collection of biological and geological samples. It also aimed to establish a wireless weather station to assist with weather forecasting. Sailing on the Newfoundland sealing vessel 'Aurora', the team entered a part of the world which was then little known.

The expedition was not without tragedy. During a sledding trip to the east of the base with Douglas Mawson, Xavier Mertz and Belgrade Ninnis, a crevasse swallowed up Ninnis, a team of six dogs, and the sled containing most of their food. The survivors began the arduous journey back to base, some 500 kilometres away, during which they ate the remaining dogs for food. Mertz died during the return, leaving Mawson to travel the 100 kilometres back to base alone.

Mawson later led the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expeditions (BANZARE), 1929-1931. The expeditions aimed to assert British territorial claims in Antarctica, and were responsible for the mapping of more than 3000 kilometres of what is now Australian Antarctic Territory coastline. The AA and BANZAR expeditions were two of the most important Australian scientific expeditions of the 20th century, laying the basis for Australia's later claims to almost 42 per cent of the Antarctic continent.

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com

Und willst du an der welt dich freun,
Am besten wird's von oben sein;
Frisch auf, den Fuss gehoben!
Lass Tintenfass und Bücher ruhn
Und klimme in den Nagelschuh'n
Nach oben!

(Baumbach.)

Georges-Louis Arlaud (1862-1944) di Ginevra, e Marcel Meys (1885-1972) di Parigi, noti per la produzione di nudi femminili en plein air negli anni 1920-1930. Di gusto tardo-pittorialista, sia nella scelta di genere sia nella trattazione del soggetto, entrambi gli autori inseriscono la figura femminile nell’ambiente naturale, come quello alpino della zona franco-provenzale, in una comunione panica con la natura; più però nell’intenzione che nella resa finale in cui l'attenzione è esplicitamente rivolta al corpo, nella sua duplice forma: ideale ed erotica, mentre l'ambiente è ridotto a semplice ambientazione; l'arcadia della mitologia greca, abitata da naiadi e driadi, ninfe e divinità dei boschi.

Firmengeschichte – seit 1837 unvergleichlich anders.

Als erstes Sportgeschäft der Schweiz blicken wir auf über 175 Jahre Firmengeschichte zurück, die wir Ihnen hier gerne Meilenstein für Meilenstein etwas nähere bringen.

1812
Jean Roux der Gründer unserer Firma wird am Weihnachtstag in Genf geboren.

1837
Jean Roux gründet in Genf ein Geschäft für Spielwaren und Geschenkartikel.

1869
Jean Roux übergibt das blühende Geschäft seinen beiden älteren Söhnen und zieht sich auf sein Landgut in Versoix (Kanton Genf) zurück.

1900
Seine beiden Söhne führen das Geschäft bis 1900 erfolgreich weiter und übergeben es dann, selbst kinderlos geblieben, ihren beiden Neffen Albert und Maurice Och, den Enkeln des Firmengründers. Die neue Firma Och Frères reagiert auf das Aufkommen der Sportbewegung und ergänzt das Sortiment mit Sportartikel.

1912
Die Gebrüder Och eröffnen das erste echte Sportgeschäft der Schweiz in Montreux. Im gleichen Jahr wird auch die Filiale in Zürich an der Sihlstrasse eröffnet. Bald zieht die Zürcher Filiale aus Platzgründen an die Bahnhofstrasse 56, den heutigen Geschäftssitz.

1920/21
Der 1895 gegründete Fussball- und Athletikverband teilt in seinem Jahresbericht folgendes mit: "Die bekannte Sportfirma Och Frères hat der Abteilung Fussball einen Becher, genannt Och-Cup, zur Verfügung gestellt. Dieser Becher soll den früheren "Anglo-Cup" ersetzen und nach dem System des englischen Cups ausgetragen werden". Der FC Bern gewinnt darauf als erster Club die Och-Trophäe. Als 1925 der Schweizer Fussballverband beschliesst, einen eigenen offiziellen Schweizer Cup zu lancieren, wird der Och-Cup unter den bisherigen Siegern ausgespielt. Im Entscheidungsspiel am 11. Januar 1925 schlägt der FC Bern Concordia Basel mit 2:0 und gelangt damit definitiv in den Besitz des Och Cups. Der Pokal ist heute wieder im Besitz des Hauses Och.

1928
Um die Schweizerische Nationalmannschaft für die Olympiade in St. Moritz ganz besonders elegant einzukleiden und weil Och-Sport-Verkäufer und Skispringer "Chiogna" nach aerodynamischeren Bekleidung sucht, entwickelt der Schneidermeister des Hauses Och die Keilhose. Eine Erfindung, die zur Sensation der Olympiade werden sollte und die Auftragsbücher der Firma lange Zeit füllt.

1928
Raymond Och übernimmt das Geschäft und aus Och Frères wird die Och Sport AG. Sein Bruder Emmanuel Och leitet die immer wichtigere Filiale an der Zürcher Bahnhofstrasse.

1928
Raymond Och übernimmt das Geschäft und aus Och Frères wird die Och Sport AG. Sein Bruder Emmanuel Och leitet die immer wichtigere Filiale an der Zürcher Bahnhofstrasse.

Ihr (Heckmair and Vörg) Joker aber sollen die gerade neu entwikelten zwölfzackigen Steigeisen werden, die nicht nur immens Zeit einsparen helfen, weil das lästige Pickeln einer Stufenleiter im Eis entfällt, sondern auch, weil man mit diesen Eisen an den Füssen vereiste Passagen im Fels überwinden kann. Ein grosses Sporthaus im München hilft, Spezialanfertigungen zu verschaffen, und besorgt den beiden Eiger-Aspiranten unter grösster Diskretion die besten Produkte, die es auf dem Markt gibt.

Source: Was zählt ist das Erlebnis. Uli Auffermann

Two women led themselves on a wild goose chase from Italy to Munich after arranging to meet their niece in Monaco -- which in Italian can mean either the tiny principality on the French Riviera, or Bavaria's capital.

"The problem was they thought Munich was Monaco," said a spokesman for Munich police on Wednesday.

Called Monaco di Baviera in Italian, the city is known as Muenchen in High German, Mnichov in Czech, Monachium in Polish and Minga in the local Bavarian dialect.

The two women, originally from the Dominican Republic, had driven across the Alps from Trento in northern Italy to collect the 14-year-old from the Paris-Munich train, but started to panic and went to the police when the girl failed to appear.

As the two spoke only Italian and Spanish, and because the niece had no mobile phone, it took police 1 1/2 hours to establish that she had actually gone to the Mediterranean.

Afterwards, the women got back in their car and set off on the 840 km (523 mile) journey to Monaco, the spokesman said.

Placidus a Spescha was a benedictine monk and early Alpine explorer born in Trun, near Disentis, in the valley of the upper Rhine in Graubünden. He became a monk in 1774 in Disentis and went to Einsiedeln to complete his education.

The rest of his life was spent in serving various cures in his native valley, though he suffered much at the hands of his brother monks, who could not understand his scientific tastes. In 1799 he was accused of being a spy (his climbs and maps were held suspicious) in favour of the French invaders, and, when the French did come, he had to give up to them all his scientific collections. In addition he had the dreadful experience of learning, soon after his departure, that his monastery, with all its most precious archives, including his own original collection, had been burnt by order of a French general so as to punish the peasants who dared to resist his advance.

Spescha achieved an extraordinary amount of success in his mountain explorations around his native valley. It is true that Spescha failed to attain the very highest summit, the Tödi, although in 1788 he ascended the Stockgron (11,214 ft), close to it, and only 673 ft lower, while in 1824, sitting on the depression (close to the Stockgron and 863 ft lower than the Todi), now called the "Porta da Spescha", he had the satisfaction of seeing the two local chamois hunters that he had sent forward actually attain the loftiest point. Here are the names of some of his principal climbs -in 1789, the Rheinwaldhorn (11,149 ft), the highest summit around the sources of the Hinter Rhine, and, in 1806, the Güferhorn (11,132 ft.), the second summit of that region; in 1792, the Oberalpstock (10,926 ft), the highest point anywhere near Disentis; in 1793, the Piz Urlaun (11,060 ft), near the Todi; in 1801, Piz Aul (10,250 ft) and Piz Scharboda (10,250 ft); and in 1802, Piz Terri (10,338 ft), these three mountains being the culminating points in the ranges that rise to the north of the Rheinwaldhorn group. Oddly enough, he does not seem to have visited any of the higher peaks of the Medel group, but only its outliers, here again the dread of glaciers probably holding him back. It is noteworthy that in the course of all his climbs he rarely set foot on a glacier, though in 1812, on occasion of his second ascent of the Oberalpstock, he did cross the easy glacier Brunni Pass (8977 ft).

The Raetian Museum in Chur contains part of his geological collection.

Wikipedia

Yamanouchi was working at a metal lab of Tohoku University in Sendai city. Around 1925, an alpinist stopped by and asked him to make an ice axe. He then started his challenging career of making ice axes with 2 assistants and 1 polisher. He could only make 5-6 axes a month because he was very dedicated. It took time to finish his precise work. Many ice axe makers are showing up these days, but you find bends or cracks in the cheap ice axes after 1 grand tour on a mountain.

Yamanouchi is a quiet and honest person. He loves to drink with the tools he is making in his hands. Living in poverty, he does not care much about money. He believes ice axe making is only for himself and will not let his son follow in his footsteps.

In 1933 Yamanouchi was the first person to use Nickel Chrome steel to make an ice axe.

1884 à 1904 - LA PRATIQUE HIVERNALE DE LA MONTAGNE
 
Les raquettes à neige
 
En France, c'est d'abord les raquettes qui sont utilisées pour aller en montagne... Pour les habitants des hauts villages de montagne, des raquettes à neige rudimentaires étaient d'une utilisation courante depuis très longtemps, pour leurs déplacements très circonscrits en hiver sur la neige.
 
Dès 1884 au Club Alpin, les alpinistes découvrent la pratique hivernale de la montagne, avec l'utilisation des raquettes à neige ( voir le dossier : La pratique du ski au Club Alpin ).
 
Dès 1891, nombreuses sorties hivernales avec les raquettes, par les alpinistes et les troupes de montagne. Notamment vers le Pic de la Croix de Belledonne qui est visité le 15 février une caravane de 30 membres de la Section de l'Isère du Club Alpin conduite par le commandant Allotte de la Fuye, et le 27 février par 64 hommes de la 3e Section du 12e bataillon de Chasseurs à pied.
 
Les balbutiements du ski
 
En 1878, un premier essai d'utilisation de skis est tenté par Henry Duhamel, qui sera l'initiateur et le premier propagandiste de cette pratique nouvelle en France, très ancienne dans les pays scandinaves. Un essai peu convaincant à l'occasion de l'ascension de la Croix de Chamrousse à cause des difficultés de fixation entre ski et chaussure.

Henry Duhamel avait été l'un des fondateurs de la Section de l'Isère du Club Alpin en 1874, il avait découvert les skis sur un stand suédois de l'Exposition Universelle de 1878 ( voir le dossier : La pratique du ski au Club Alpin ).
 
En 1889, visite d'Henry Duhamel au stand du Grand Duché de Finlande de l'Exposition Universelle de 1889, elle lui permettra d'entrer en relations avec un Français demeurant en Finlande et de commander 14 paires de skis finlandais avec leurs fixations - les pièces manquantes des essais de 1878 - qui seront récupérées l'année suivante...
 
En 1890, expérimentation plus probante des skis par des membres du Club Alpin comprenant Henry Duhamel et 4 compagnons pendant l'ascension de la Croix de Chamrousse, 2253m.
 
En 1891, première sortie à ski de la Section de l'Isère du Club Alpin en février, avec l'ascension du Pic de la Croix de Belledonne, 2926m pour 22 ascensionnistes-skieurs.
 
L'intérêt des militaires
 
En France, les efforts pour la propagation de la pratique du ski s'exerceront dans une étroite collaboration entre les militaires des Troupes alpines et le Club Alpin.

Au cours de l'hiver 1900-1901, premiers essais suivis de l'emploi des skis par les Troupes alpines.

Les avantages des skis pour les déplacements - comparés à ceux des raquettes - sont évalués par les militaires... Et les Bataillons alpins se dotent de paires de skis ( voir le dossier : La pratique du ski au Club Alpin ).

C'est cette pratique - comme moyen de mobilité dans la montagne enneigée par les militaires - qui va amener la diffusion du ski en France, puis viendront les compétitions déjà en vogue dans les pays scandinaves et plus tard le ski de descente lié aux remontés mécaniques...
 
Le premier Ski-Club
 
En 1895, le premier Ski-Club est fondé sur l'initiative de la Section de l'Isère du Club Alpin et d'Henry Duhamel...
 
Le développement du ski en Suisse
 
En 1900, début des villégiatures d'hiver en Suisse, d'abord Davos puis Grindelwald.

Le développement du tourisme d'hiver dans les Alpes suisses sera vite beaucoup plus avancé qu'en France.

En 1906, Davos et Saint Moritz sont déjà des stations de ski reconnues, avec ses moniteurs... norvégiens... La fédération suisse de ski forme à Andermatt ses premiers moniteurs, elle compte 32 clubs et 2000 skieurs sont actifs ; et trois fabriques de skis sont créées à Zürich, Glaris et Berne.

In Valle d’Aosta, the smallest and least populous region of Italy just on the other side of the French Alps, cowbells have achieved cult status with collectors. One of those collectors had a fever … and the only prescription … was more cowbell. So he hired three men to stalk a 90-year-old widow for a week, then at dawn on February 8th they invaded her home in the town of Gressan when she came back from her morning constitutional. They bound Cornelia Betral’s wrists and ankles, gagged her, hooded her and laid her out on her bed while they broke into a locked room where she kept a collection of ten vintage cowbells with elaborately decorated leather collars worth an estimated 20,000 euros (ca. $26,500).

They got away with their euphonious booty, but not for long. Police received tips from the tightly knit cattle breeders community that this theft had been commissioned by 66-year-old Renato Quendoz, a local cattleman and avid cowbell aficionado. On Saturday, February 18th, police arrested Quendoz and two of the hired thieves, Salvatore Agostino (52) and Corrado Daudry (60). A third suspect, thought to be a Romanian citizen, is still at large. The cowbells were found unharmed, stashed in a hidey-hole under a highway overpass just on the other side of town.

You can tell that those are not just any old cowbell. They’re huge, for one thing, and those thick bedazzled collars are rare and valuable. They were made in the capital of old school cowbell manufacture: the Alpine town of Chamonix on the French side of the Mont Blanc Pass. The Devouassoud family have been making cowbells and church bells the traditional way since 1829.

Cornelia Betral was left the cowbells by her husband, a cattle breeder who had won them all as trophies in the yearly Batailles de Reines. Here’s where the cowbell entry gets even cooler than you imagined possible, and I know you imagined a lot.

The cattle carrying the bells had won prices. Because of the advantages conferred by their tough characters in this tough environment, Valdostane cattle retain a fascinating connection to their primal nature. Every Spring, the females fight each other for a spot in the herd hierarchy. Watching the dominance displays has been a spectator sport since at least the 19th century, and probably for millennia. The gatherings were banned by Mussolini in 1926 as part of his campaign to stamp out regional differences. At the same time he was seeding the Aosta valley with Italian speakers to muscle out the local Francophone dialect and culture.

As soon as the war was over, local organizations started the Queen battles again on an informal basis. In 1957 they made it official and created the Batailles de Reines (the Battles of Queens) as we know it today, a cruelty-free tournament over the course of months wherein the greatest ladycows wearing the greatest bells throw down for lowing rights. Nobody gets gored, nobody gets stabbed, nobody gets ridden, nobody gets hogtied. The cows lock horns (their sharp points have been filed down) and push against each other until one gives, Sumo style. The loser just trots off and the winner hangs out a bit before her owner comes over with a lead and she meekly walks off the field with him. Ornery though they are, they are still dairy cows, after all.

Mr. Betral’s cows won ten of these battles, which is how he got those special bells and why they’re so rare and sought-after that a collector would treat a 90-year-old woman far worse than he would ever treat his cows just to get his hands on them.

Established in 1821, the Chamonix Guides’ Company is the oldest and largest guides’ association in the world. Today, a total of 240 self- employed mountain guides and leaders work with our company. Like our elders, passion and professionalism have shaped and inspired our line of conduct until today, always pushing us towards new alpine adventures worldwide. We perform with respect and humanity , always in search of activity renewal and professional improvement. We hope that someday, you will come and share these intense moments with us.
Our very best regards.

La Compagnie des guides de Chamonix est née d'une délibération municipale du 24 juillet 1821. Il s'agit alors d'une caisse de secours pour aider les familles des guides disparus. L'expédition au mont Blanc du Docteur Hammel en 1820 a coûté la vie à trois guides et a fortement marqué les esprits.

La Savoie est alors sous l'autorité du roi de Sardaigne, sa Majesté Charles-Félix de Savoie. C'est le 9 mai 1823 qu'il approuve un manifeste de la chambre des députés de Turin, rendant officielle la création de la Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix.

En 1863, la Savoie étant passée sous administration française, la compagnie devient une société de secours mutuel.

En 1930, Roger Frison-Roche devient le premier « étranger » (non-Chamoniard) admis à la compagnie des guides de Chamonix.

En 1942, un autre étranger, Gaston Rébuffat, intègre la Compagnie avec une dispense d'âge. Il en devient alors le plus jeune élément (il n'a que 21 ans).

En 1958, à la suite de deux sauvetages tragiques et d'un contentieux entre la Société dauphinoise de Secours en montagne en 1956, la Compagnie des Guides abandonne le secours en montagne. Ce dernier sera dès lors assuré par le Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haut-Montagne (PGHM), en vertu surtout de la procédure du plan ORSEC (1952) qui est étendu au domaine montagnard.

En 1966, René Desmaison, qui est allé secourir deux alpinistes allemands en difficulté (dans la face ouest des Drus), contre l'avis de la Compagnie, en est radié.

Enfin, il faudra attendre 1985 pour voir une femme guide à Chamonix : Sylviane Tavernier.

Aujourd'hui, la Compagnie compte plus de 200 membres.

This is the complete history of Chamonix's Compagnie des Guides, brought together for the first time in one book. The work chronicles the exploits and tragedies, great names, early travellers and the traditional working life of the guides. Previously unseen material provided by local families and five years research, Mario Colonel presents, in collaboration with the Compagnie des Guides, the remarkable and hitherto unknown history of a unique professional body. This book covers the whole history of mountaineering in the Mont Blanc Massif as well as that of Chamonix itself.

What you are calling plugs are peened round pins that anchor the top spike in place through wood and metal

ANY attempt to present the development of American mountaineering in the Alps must, of very necessity, be fragmentary. Records were inadequately kept, and much material is buried away in inaccessible press notices, diaries and Führerbücher.

We find, however, that American travel in Switzerland began at an early date. A “Native of Pennsylvania”1 wandered from Paris through Switzerland and Italy in 1801-2. A Mr. Carter resided in parts of Switzerland and France during 1813-15. A quarter of a century before this he had been in Geneva, studying under the naturalist Charles Bonnet (Saussure’s uncle) at Genthod. Visiting Chamonix, he walked to Montenvers and registered at M. Desportes “Temple.”

James Fenimore Cooper toured Switzerland in 1828 and 1832, and, while at Lauterbrunnen on the first of these years, saw the flag on the summit of the Jungfrau, planted by Rohrdorf's party.

Dumas describes a large party of Americans on the Faulhorn in 1832, and W. A. B. Coolidge records the visit of his grandmother, Mrs. Brevoort, to the summit in 1835. Forbes mentions that on September 17, 1842, he and Auguste Balmat rescued an American traveller on the Trelaporte precipice above the Mer de Glace, who “had not shown himself generously sensible of the great effort used in his preservation.”

Among the first Americans to write a volume dealing with the Alps was the militant Presbyterian clergyman, George Barrell Cheever (1807-90), of New York, whose Wanderings of a Pilgrim in the Shadow of Mont Blanc and the Jungfrau Alp appeared in 1846.

Schirmer has recently summarized descriptions of Switzerland in American literature up to 1848.

It is natural that the highest peak of the Alps, Mont Blanc, should have attracted Americans as it did travellers of other nationality. Chamonix was a part of the Grand Tour, and Mont Blanc an adventure for a lifetime. Certain it is that many who reached its summit never made any other great ascent or maintained interest in mountaineering.

AAC

91 EQUIPMENT FOR THE ALPS

OUTFIT
BY J. P.;FARRAR

Even the beginner had better accustom himself to carry a sack, which may contain his gloves, sweater, etc.

Rucksack: A good size is 21 inches wide and 21 inches deep, the bottom and side walls 4 inches wide, as this gives a flatter sack. Two outside pockets with flap and button the carrying straps of woollen webbing ij inch wide the whole made of waterproof sailcloth with a flap. A good pattern is supplied by Alpine outfitters such as Fritsch & Co. of Zurich, who issue elaborate catalogues of alpine equipment. The Continental dealers supply a very light frame which goes between the back and the sack, thus preventing the back getting hot. The best I know is the "Touristenfreund Rucksackstiitze," No. 20, 3-marks, supplied by Fritsch. The Norwegians make "a novel kind of sack, the weight of which is carried partly by the hips.

The best ice-axes I know are made by Schenk in Grindelwald (difficult to get delivery) . The same pattern Ice-axes are also made by Fritz Jorg, Zweilutschinen, near Interlaken, from whom I have had several
good axes. It is necessary, however, to specify the pattern, as he makes several. Sizes are as follows :

Length of adze-side of head from centre of handle 12 cms
Length of pick-side of head from centre of handle 18 cms
Width of blade of adze 6 cms.
Depth of socket of head (to give weight) 5 cms
Length of side irons of head from lower edge of socket 7" to 8" (about 20 cms.)

Side irons should be fastened to the stock by 3 copper rivets, not screws.

Length of ferrule of axe handle 6 cms.
Length of point of axe handle 5 cms.

The point must not be sharp, and if longer than stated, may tear one's clothes when cutting. The point and ferrule made in one piece are very objectionable, as they allow the point no play if caught.

See article in the Climbers' Club Journal, 1912, p. 147.

I was slightly surprised to find both Svea stoves and Primus stoves available before the turn of the nineteenth century.

On 29 August 1816, Byron left for an expedition to the Swiss mountains. He saw his first avalanche, heard the roaring of ice springs below him, and slid alarmingly down the ridge of a glacier. He despaired of English tourists. At Mont Blanc, he found one lady asleep in a carriage "in the most anti-narcotic spot in the world!", and heard another declare, a wave of her hand taking in the immensity of summits, boulders, pine forests and torrents, "Did you ever see anything more rural?"

In September, they hit the Bernese Oberland, in the canton of Berne – according to Byron, "the district famous for cheese, liberty, property and no taxes". He kept an Alpine journal and, from 22-26 September, its gathering excitement is plain to see. After crossing Lake Thun, he arrived at Interlaken and "entered upon a range of scenes beyond all description or previous conception". He gazed in wonder at the Jungfrau mountain, the valley of Lauterbrunnen and its 900ft waterfall, the Staubbach Falls, which he compared to the long white tale of the pale horse upon which death is mounted in the Book of Revelations.

He climbed the Wengen mountain and recorded: "On one side, our view comprised the Jungfrau, with all her glaciers; then the Dent d'Argent [the Silberhorn] shining like truth; then the Little Giant [Kleine Eiger]; and the Great Giant [Grosse Eiger] and last, not least, the Wetterhorn... On the other, the clouds rose from the opposite valley, curling up perpendicular precipices like the foam of the ocean of hell during a spring tide." He rhapsodised about the town of Grindelwald, its glaciers "like a frozen hurricane". Later he saw the Reichenbach Falls, where Sherlock Holmes would meet his twice-fictional demise a century later and, after watching the locals waltzing at Brienz, he returned to Interlaken, glumly noting, "The wild part of our tour is over ... my journal shall be as flat as my journey".

Byron's Alpine journal is a record of travel rather than mystic urgings, but its legacy was obvious. Filled with a new Wordsworthian passion for nature, and its power to affect the human mind, he wrote Manfred, a three-act "dramatic poem" about a reclusive demi-god and magician who lives alone on a mountain, maddened by guilt and longing extinction; instead he is tormented by the spirits of the universe who offer him everything but the death he desires.

Byron admitted to his publisher, John Murray, that he'd recently read Goethe, but "it was the Staubbach and the Jungfrau – and something else – much more than Faustus" that had made him write it. What was the "something else"? His private sorrow, mingled with guilt, embarrassment and his hatred of both the British upper classes and the reading public, the "spirits of the universe", who once offered him everything. From this cluster of images came his invention of this early Superman, brooding and solitary, a romantic hero dwarfed by the immensity of the natural world.

Manfred acquired a second and third life since its publication in June 1817. Schumann set it to music in 1852. Tchaikovsky's Opus 58 was the Manfred Symphony. Nietzsche was so impressed by the Byronic concept of the Superman, he was moved to write a piano piece.