Mont Blanc is probably the mountain in which bad weather makes the
greatest difference. On a fine day, the ascent of it is scarcely more
dangerous than the ascent of Primrose Hill; but in a storm you will
lose your way, and wander round and round, until you sink down
exhausted, and freeze to death.
In September, 1870, a party of eleven persons, eight of whom were
guides or porters, were lost in this way. When their bodies were
recovered, a memorandum was found in the pocket of one of them, J.
Beane, of the United States of America, finished apparently just
before his death, and giving a brief summary of the circumstances of
the calamity. This is how it read:
"Tuesday, September 6.--I have made the ascent of Mont Blanc, with ten
persons; eight guides, Mr. Corkendal and Mr. Randall. We arrived at
the summit at 2.30 o'clock. Immediately after leaving it, I was
enveloped in clouds of snow. We passed the night in a grotto excavated
out of snow, affording very uncomfortable shelter, and I was ill all
night.
"September 7 (morning).--Intense cold; much snow falls uninterruptedly:
guides restless.
[Illustration: PYRAMIDS OF THE MORTERATSCH.]
"September 7 (evening).--We have been on Mont Blanc for two days in a
terrible snow-storm: we have lost our way and are in a hole scooped
out of the snow, at a height of fifteen thousand feet. I have no hope
of descending. Perhaps this book may be found and forwarded. (Here
follow some instructions on his private affairs.) We have no food; my
feet are already frozen and I am exhausted; I have only strength to
write a few words. I die in the faith of Jesus Christ, with
affectionate thoughts of my family. My remembrance to all. I trust we
may meet in heaven."
Says Leslie Stephen, commenting on the incident in the "Alpine
Journal:"
"The main facts are so simple that little explanation is needed. The
one special danger of Mont Blanc is bad weather. The inexperienced
travellers were probably ignorant of the fearful danger they were
encountering, and had not the slightest conception of the risk to life
and limb which accompanies even a successful ascent of the mountain
under such circumstances. I once ascended Mont Blanc on a day so
unusually fine that we could lie on the summit for an hour, light
matches in the open air, and enjoy the temperature. Yet, in two or
three hours before sunrise, the guide of another party which ascended
the same day was so severely frost-bitten as to lose his toes. Such
things may happen in the finest weather, when proper precautions are
neglected; but in bad weather it is simple madness to proceed. Why,
one cannot help asking, did not the guides oppose the wishes of their
employers?"