Rock-climbing in the English Lake District . t thechimney was only iced at its entrance, and that theupper storey of the cave could be reached. Someof the others quickly followed, and we found ourselvesin a spacious chamber into which the great heap ofsnow had scarcely encroached. This was threw ourselves into the drift that blocked themain entrance, and cut away at it with vigour till atlast we had tunnelled through to the daylight. Thebiggest man of the party yet remained outside and wepersuaded him to insert his legs into the giving him time to change his mind
Rock-climbing in the English Lake District . t thechimney was only iced at its entrance, and that theupper storey of the cave could be reached. Someof the others quickly followed, and we found ourselvesin a spacious chamber into which the great heap ofsnow had scarcely encroached. This was threw ourselves into the drift that blocked themain entrance, and cut away at it with vigour till atlast we had tunnelled through to the daylight. Thebiggest man of the party yet remained outside and wepersuaded him to insert his legs into the giving him time to change his mind we seizedhis boots and hauled hard. For one dread momentwe thought him jammed for ever, but immediatelyafterwards we found ourselves lying on our backsin the cave with a yawning opening in the snow-drift, the while our massive friend measured hisdiminished circumference with a loop of rope. Theothers then came in and made themselves at home onropes, ice-axes, and other peoples cameras. We werea party of ten, large enough to be a merry FIRST PITCH, NEW ROUTE 21 Our surroundings were weird and savage, unlike theBritish notions for a Christmas Day, but I rememberthat we behaved like civilized people in perhaps onerespect. We discussed the years literature. FancyTroglodytes discussing Trilby ! Then it occurredto us that our feet were very cold, and that weshould not have much dayhght for climbing if wewaited longer. Our intention had been to climbDeep Ghyll in two separate parties, by the ordinaryway. But the drift suggested a trial of the crack upthe left-hand side of the first pitch. The snow wouldserve as a high take-off, and also a good cushion tosoften the fall if the leader were destined to first difficulty was to get safely into the crack ;then it was found that the holds were very scarce,and the recess somewhat too constricted to allow anybracing across from one side to the other. Think of a foothold ; double it. Put your wholeweight on to it as you straight
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