Ski-runs in the high Alps . the preceding day. Foehn and was nothing to do. We ran down to Zermattin two hours along the whole of the Gorner glacier. This laconic record is extremely instructive. Itbears out the contentions already formulated inother parts of this book. The snow surface was 244 SKI-RUNS IN THE HIGH ALPS hard, reduced in volume, and as cemented by thewind. The aretes were bare of snow, free from ice,and perfectly dry. The crevasses were either plainlyvisible or firmly crusted over. Ski were throughoutuseful in preventing the surface from breaking under-foot, perhaps s
Ski-runs in the high Alps . the preceding day. Foehn and was nothing to do. We ran down to Zermattin two hours along the whole of the Gorner glacier. This laconic record is extremely instructive. Itbears out the contentions already formulated inother parts of this book. The snow surface was 244 SKI-RUNS IN THE HIGH ALPS hard, reduced in volume, and as cemented by thewind. The aretes were bare of snow, free from ice,and perfectly dry. The crevasses were either plainlyvisible or firmly crusted over. Ski were throughoutuseful in preventing the surface from breaking under-foot, perhaps still more in going uphill than whenrapidity of movement lightens ones weight flyingdownhill. The summer of 1911, as one knows,was one of the two driest on record in the precedinghalf-century. The glacier snow was therefore worndown to its thinnest when the winter snows beganto pile themselves in layers above them. Thesetoo remained comparatively thin, affording admir-able running surfaces when sprinkled over withfresh CHAPTER IX THE PIZ BEKNINA SKI CIRCUIT IN ONE DAY Old snow well padded with new—Christmas Eve in the Berninahospice—The alarum rings—Misgivings before battle—Crampons and sealskins—A causeway of snow—An outragedglacier—The Disgrazia—A chess-player and a ski-man—Unroped !—In the twilight—The Tschierva hut—Back toPontresina—Hotel limpets—Waiting for imitators. T the close of 1910 Marcel Kurzwas at Pontresina. I hadoccasion to draw up certainreports upon the winter aspectof the district, and he kindlyundertook the inspection ofthe glacier routes for me. Afew glorious days seemed aboutto efface the memory of manyprevious gloomy ones. On theday on which this accountbegins, a little snow had fallen in the morning, theskiers welcome quotum. Nothing affords suchexcellent sport as old snow well padded out withabout a foot of new floury stuff. The ski bladessink nicely through the top layer of rustling ski-points pop out of th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmountai, bookyear1913
