Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
50
Figure S.5. Diagram
of crevasse interior
explored by the
author in 1971.
of blocks that littered the floor of the crevasse. At that point the blocks met the
bridge and merged into the plug of ice in the broad part of the crevasse that I had
been crawling along to get here.
I signaled to be given more rope and climbed forward and down over a half-
dozen of the big blocks till they dropped off steeply and I felt it would be unsafe
to go farther. Standing close to the middle of the room, I could feel the immensity
of the space, a nearly perfect tetrahedron, crafted by Nature, hidden away. It was
like being in the hull of a giant ship, looking toward the bow. I lingered longer
than I thought was fair, then crawled back to the surface so the others could
descend into the blue. Although I have been in many crevasses since that time,
each with its own fascination, there has never been another with such grandeur.
ridgelines rose to Mount Lister, the northern summit of the Royal Society Range. The
party had to turn back if they were to find a route to the interior.
The next day a strong blizzard pinned them in camp, dropping several inches of wet
snow, and the following day they were laid up in a thick fog. When the fog lifted, the
party lowered its sledges down to the previous camp below the pass. Because of the ex-
tra resistance that the snow gave to the runners, and adamant that he would succeed in
reaching the far side of the mountains, Armitage reconsidered lowering the sledges down
the small glacier beyond the pass. Though one may question his route-finding abilities,
Armitage's tenacity was dogged.
The morning of December 16 was fine and clear, although a fog hung part way down
the valley. Armitage, Skelton, Evans, and Wild hiked to the pass to reconnoiter the route
while the others packed up camp. By sighting down the slope, they measured that its av-
erage gradient was about 27°. Armitage put on a rope and attached a second to the nine-
foot sledge that they had brought along. The others then lowered him down on the sledge
while he probed for crevasses. Once the pitch proved to be safe, they anchored the sledge,
