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The making of a mountaineer

Chapter 2: ILLUSTRATIONS
By George Ingle Finch
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About This Book

An autobiographical account traces a climber’s progression from early bush excursions to demanding alpine ascents, mixing personal reminiscence with practical observation. It surveys climbs in Corsica and the Bernese Oberland, extended sketches of Jungfrau and the Tödi, and vivid narratives of ascents on the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Dent d'Hérens, Mont Blanc and several Chamonix needles. Winter ski journeys, route-finding on ice and rock, and the hazards of cornices, bergschrunds, crevasses and séracs are described alongside daily hut life. Later chapters recount participation in an Everest expedition and conclude with reflections on mountaineering photography, technique and equipment.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Climbing the Matterhorn by the Zmutt ridge Frontispiece
FACING
PAGE
Rock-climbing 14
Crossing a steep snow slope 14
Scrambling in the range of the Tödi 18
Climbing the Capo al Dente 24
The southern summit of Capo Tafonato 28
The Cinque Fratri from below the Col de Foggiale 32
Paglia Orba from the Cinque Fratri 36
Morning mists 44
Climbing down a steep ridge 48
The short cut—roping down 48
The north face of the Jungfrau 52
The icefall of the Guggi Glacier 56
“We basked on the roof of the Guggi hut” 62
Cutting steps over the upper lip of a bergschrund 76
Evening storm 80
Morning calm 80
The Eismeer icefall 86
Sounding a snowbridge 86
Cornices on the Punta Margherita 98
A cornice on the Rôchefort ridge 98
The Tödi 108
The Tödi from the Bifertenlücke 116
The summit of the Tödi 116
The Bifertenstock from the Bündner Tödi 128
“... a faithful record of Forster’s blood-bespattered condition” 136
The east face of Monte Rosa 142
The Frisallücke 148
The Grenz Gipfel 150
The Val Sesia from Monte Rosa 150
A crevasse on the Zwillings Glacier 154
Castor 154
The Swiss ridge of the Matterhorn from the Matterhorn hut 166
The Swiss summit of the Matterhorn from the Italian summit 170
The summit of Mont Blanc in 1911 170
Descending the Italian ridge 174
The Matterhorn from the Dent d’Hérens 178
The Matterhorn from the Stockje 184
The Matterhorn at sunset 184
“... that tremendous overhang called the ‘Nose of Zmutt’” 186
An ice avalanche 196
The north face of the Dent d’Hérens, showing route followed 210
Back at the Schönbühl hut after the climb 210
Mont Blanc from the Dôme hut 218
Descending Mont Maudit 224
The Peuteret ridge from the Col du Géant 224
Mont Blanc from the Val Veni 228
The Innominata from the Col du Fresnay 236
The Aiguilles Blanche and Noire de Peuteret 244
“A traverse of about thirty yards across the steep western flank of the Peuteret ridge....” 244
Chamonix Aiguilles and Mont Blanc 250
Descending the Grépon 250
A stiff chimney 250
A sérac 254
“Two ladders tied together and laid across the chasm” 254
The summit of the Grépon 258
Good, sound rock 264
The bergschrund below the Dru 270
Where next? 272
“La Pendule” 274
“... A rather steep ice slope—the Mur de la Côte” 274
On the summit of the little Dru 278
On the first day out from Phari Dzong 290
Shekar Dzong 290
Mount Everest and the Base Camp 294
Camp II. 294
“A suitable slope was soon found” 302
Amid the séracs of the East Rongbuk Glacier 304
Crossing a trough on the East Rongbuk Glacier 304
Mount Everest from Camp III. 306
The North Peak and the North Col Camp 314
The North Peak from an altitude of nearly 24,500 feet on Mount Everest 316
Mount Everest from the North Col, showing route 330
Monsoon clouds 330
On the return journey to the Base Camp 332
In a mountain hut 336
The Aiguille du Géant 338
The Sella Pass 338