Armand continues:
Alpenglow on the Grand, fine, and the view to the
west showed the Sawtooths etched against the sky
200-250 miles away. Above them the sky was orange-
red and the slimmest of crescent moons lay just
above
this layer. As it grew dark we could see the lights
twinkling in little towns like Tetonia in
Idaho.
I was warm enough in my covers, but the
cramped quarters and the squirming and noises of
the party, and especially my tense state of excitement,
kept me awake virtually all night. At one point I put on
my glasses, lay on my back and watched the
magnificent starry heavens, so clear at this altitude.
Up at 5:30 and on our way by 6:20. Reached the
Upper Saddle in under 2 hours. I found that last year I
had only gone at most 1/4 way to the Upper Saddle
when I quit. The climb steep, stiff, icy in places,
occasionally dangerous to U. Saddle but no roping
was done till we almost reached it.
At one neat little point we go through a
short, "stooping high" natural tunnel called the
Needle's
Eye. When we put the rope on we start going
in continuous motion - each of party in constant
motion and taking up in loops or paying out the slack
in the rope in front of him as is necessary.
Soon after leaving the Upper Saddle, we start
discontinuous climbing, with only one or 2 of party in
motion at one time, and the rest bracing themselves
and belaying man in motion. We soon reach the Belly
Roll, not very hard and immediately after it the
Cooning Place or Crawl - really
easy in fact. Right after
it though, comes a slab that you hang to by your hands
(unless your boots have hobnails, they won't hold.
Only Bob and Fred had nails, and the rest of us felt a
constant lack of security on icy places), and after
traversing 6 or so feet of this you must pull yourself up
into a chimney that starts
immediately.
We all found this bad, since, though roped, a slip
if not caught would send you thousands of feet. The
chimney is 75 or so feet up and the first of three
chimneys of about the same height. In places, these
chimneys are almost perpendicular. The top one is
sheltered, but the first two are open. All had some
snow and ice in them, especially the first two. The ice
was pretty much at a minimum for the year, but new
granular, loose snow made the going slippery in
places, as well as cutting one's face cruelly in the
wind.
These three gullies almost finished me. I barely
got up them, since my shoes offered little help.
Without the rope, which I clung to desperately, I would
have been sunk. Worse, the cold and wind were
intense and long stands in windy spots, with feet in
snowbanks and hands holding a rope, tended to
freeze both into a state of senselessness. I almost
froze my fingers and the tips are sore even now, 4
days later. I could hardly make my feet hold up at all,
or grip the rope with my fingers.
Did Armand give up? Find out next week.
Photo: JayWalks