Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
75
Figure 3.7. Unseen by
David's party during the
first ascent of Mount Ere-
bus, a lava lake that con-
tinuously convects within
the inner crater.
despite his frostbite. With the goal of descending as fast as possible, the party glissaded
whenever it reached the snow stretches free of rock.
To perform a glissade, you slide on your feet as though they are skis, using the tip of
your ice axe as a brake. Grasp the top of the ice axe in one hand and with the other grab
about halfway down the shaft. Now hold it so that the arm on the axe head is across your
body and the hand holding the shaft is against the side of your hip, with the point stick-
ing down and behind you. Bend into a half-crouch, as if you are sitting in a chair, and
put weight back onto the point of the axe. Lean forward, taking pressure oV the ice axe,
and pick up speed; put weight back onto the axe and slow down. If you get going too fast
and fall, be sure to roll over on your stomach and do a self-arrest with the point of the axe
head; otherwise, you could build up too much speed and wipe out.
The one hundred-centimeter axe that the men used was perfect for this maneuver.
It also doubled as a walking stick on rough terrain, saved them from bending over too
far when cutting ice steps, and could be used as a handy probe for crevasses. In the late
twentieth century, when ice climbing became all the rage, the alpinists traded in their
old-style axes for ice “tools,” a pair of stubby picks that could be used for climbing frozen
waterfalls. Glissading became a lost art, and everyone stumbled a lot more than they once
did with the old reliable long axe providing balance.
By 10:00 P.M., the men had descended five thousand feet and reached the depot they
had created on March 7. Everyone was pretty bruised from all the spills that they had
taken, the sastrugi (windswept surface patterns on snow) having been rough in places,
but now they were breathing thicker air again, and the hoosh warmed their bellies.
The party was on the trail by 5:30 A.M. the following day; by 7:30 A.M. it had reached
