Evening Star Newspaper, November 9, 1930, Page 104

20 Two Daring Spirits and a Roar The Perilous Exploits of a Famous Pair of Moun- . tain Climbers—Scaling :; theWeisshorn—The - Guide Who Fell in a : Cre'vassc—Caught in - Whirl of an Avalanche. BY EDWIN MULLER, JR. 2 EN happen upon their true loves ;, i? in unexpected ways. Prof. John S : in 1854 ri volved he took home he devoted many months of research to the subject. It was sug- [ to him by one of his scientific associ- involved in the g HloE gr Bt igfgi’ A ! Tyndall met Bennen, liked him, was feturn and a climbing combination was - Wwith formed. The two looked about for eers. Its three faces are craggs, steep, over- ing and lined with ice-filled gullies; the ridges are knife edges of torn, twisted ks, with precipices on either side. It takes They spent a day at Randa, the foot. The professor fold of a well situated shallow cave high up on She side. With that as his first night's objec- five, he left the inn one afternoon with his two Ppuides and zigzagged up the lower pine-cov- ered slopes. ATE in the afternoon they reached their night's sheiter, really an overhanging Jedg: covering a flat bed of clay. All of " mearby summits were in sight except the of the Woeisshorn itself, which was hidden ng ledges above, They skirted the their own peak was in full view. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, NOVEMBER 9, 1930 To the astonishment of the others, Bennen began to cross the k;téfelike hopes sank as they saw the ridge that they meant to climb next day. Nevertheless, they carefully reconnoitered the route and commit- ted it to memory, then returned to their shelter with chastened spirits. The hours of the night passed slowly. About o’clock they-rose in the frigid darkness and coffee. The faint light of dawn an showed their faces gaunt and lined. they rounded the shoulder of the , crunched across a frozen snow field . diverged to the right, reached the foot of the great eastern ridge and started g i 3 § g ot AH il Bk il i i white and fine of grain. that, if a human being set I g . 'Then he began cross it, his toes turned outward like those a tight-rope walker. At last he reached opposite rocks and turned to the others with a smile. Inspired by his example and steadied by the rope, they followed him safely. Afterward Tyndall's scientific zeal classified the incident as an example of regelation—the freezing of the powdery snow under the weight fosses summit began to play hide and Seen over a minor eminence, talizingly close, then it drew away g hours had been spent on the ridge. became callous and, stupefied with inces- sant knocking about, they hoped that their muscles still carried the reserve necessary to meet an unforeseen emergency. “Another [eminence] now fronted us, behind which—how far we knew not—the summit lay. We scaled this height, and above us, but clearly within reach, a silvery pyramid projectéq itself the blue sky. I was assured ten times tight-rope walker. ARLY in the Summer of 1862 Tyndall Bennen were together again, this company with a scientific associate professor, John Lubbock. They decided on E!s;EE Betbut g . 141 55352555 1 on his face. Bennen addressed him in patois. The man replied and Bennen started, then looked around with a wild, bewildered . “Great heavens!"” he cried, “the other guide is killed—lost in a crevasse!” For a moment all were so stunned that the reality of the situation did not come home to mother? “Where is the man?” demanded Tyndall, “There in the crevasse,” replied the porter, pointing. Evidently he had stood for an hour or more as if in a trance, doing nothing to rescue his comrade, not even hurrying to get aid from Tyndall's party. “Lead the way to the place, you blockhead,” sald Tyndall, and they were soon at the spot the snow told the story. Footsteps led up to a wide, jagged cleft in the ice, down which one peered to blue depths far below. A snow bridge had spanned the crevasse, but this was broken in the middle, Evidently the porter had come to the spot, had lacked the patience to find the way around and had taken a chance on the stability of the bridge. The chance had gone against him. ‘They peered over the edge. Forty feet below was a mass of snow and newly fallen debris, but of the man they could see nothing. They & faint moan. For a moment Bennen lost his self-control; he tried frantically to get into the crevasse, but its smooth walls made him recoil. Tyndall’s hand was laid heavily on his shoulder. “If you behave like a man we shall save him.” The only rope in the party was with the man in the crevasse. Extra pieces of clothing— shirts, waistcoats and braces—were knotted to- gether. At last Bennen was dropped down to ridge, his toes turned outward like those of & the snow platform below. Tyndall followed him—there was no room for more. The moane- ing continued, but the resonance of the gloomy cavern was such that it was hard to tell whence the sounds came. With their axes they rooted away fragments of ice which tinkled down to the cavern below. At last a human hand emerged, 80 bloodless that it was as white as the sur- rounding snow. The fingers moved A man’s arm was cleared, then his once the brandy flask was at - tried to speak, but his of the glacier. BlNN!de’ryndfll men, soaked with the water the ice above them. Now the attempted to recross the from the inn, put the before he could unravel the maze of crevasses and he had t> return. . Meanwhil> v.arm wine had been given to the patient and he nad been wrapped in all the be moved and two days later Laax, with a few scars and bruises bui serious injury of any kind. During the Winter of 1863-64 Tyndall's leisure hours were much occupied with plans for further conquests of the Alps. In these projects Bennen played a leading part. Over the course of eight years the climbing partnership of the two had developed into a smooti: vk ing combination. Each recognized the peculiar qualities of the other; it was one of those cases where amateur and professional unite to form an ideal team. One morning in early Spring Tyndall was returning to London from a visit to the coune try. He was reading the morning paper. His interest was suddenly quickened by a brief ac- - Bennen to mount the Haut de . We started at'2:15 am. in a light carriage that brought to the village of Ardon, distant six mfles.gh v‘v‘: there met three men that were to accompany us as local guides and ean Joseph Nance, Frederic Rebot, who acted as my per- onal guide, and Auguste Bevard. = “We at once began to ascend on the righ bank of the Lyzerne. For about half an hour we went up through the vineyards ' ing Avalanche