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Show D. W. ROPER of Chicago recently recent-ly made an unusually dangerous danger-ous ascent of Long's peak, the giant of the new Rocky Mountain national park, and has given details of the exploit in a letter to a friend. Long's peak, which is 14,255 feet high, was considered unclimbable for many years. Its summit is reached by passing from Boulder field, which lies 12,000 feet up, through an opening in the rocky wall known as Keyhole out upon the side of a sharp-angled slope covered with perpetual ice and snow, which slants from near the summit far down the mountain side to end in a nearly precipitous drop of a good deal more than a thousand feet into Glacier Gla-cier gorge. This is called the Trough and it is ascended by steps cut in the ice and snow, which are frequently obliterated by fresh snowfalls and must be renewed re-newed continually. So far, none of the hardy scalers of the summit, which include, by the way, an increasing in-creasing number of women, has lost control on this dangerous slope, though stories are whispered of occasional occa-sional slips caught just in time. Mr. Roper, while ascending the lower low-er levels, met four young men, two of them with frozen feet, who had been held overnight on the summit by a snow squall obliterating the steps too late in the day to enable them to cut new ones on their descent. In the Face of a Gale. "As there was a heavy snow on the summit of Long's peak the night after "I had taken opportunity to enjoy the many magnificent views on the way up the peak, and it was fortunate that I did so, as I there found a storm gathering, the clouds being about on the level with the summit of the peak and snow starting to fall. I made a slight tour of the summit and then located and examined the register of the Colorado Mountain club. Fighting a Snow Storm. "The snowfall rapidly increased, so that in twenty minutes after reaching the summit I started the descent, as I feared difficulty due to the snow covering cover-ing the steps in the ice through the Trough. My fears were well founded. More than half of the steps were not only filled but entirely covered and obliterated, so that it was impossible to locate them. There were several places from fifty to a hundred feet wide or more between the bowlders along the side of the Trough where there was no sign of any footing, and if one should start to slip it was hard to see just where one might expect to stop. The only certain place appeared to be down near Glacier lake, some 2,000 feet below. "In these places I made steps by repeated re-peated kicks with my heel, at the same time making hand holds higher up with my hands in the crusty snow. "Fortunately, I was able to find the steps in that portion of the side of the Trough that was covered with ice. In one place I attempted to go down over-a over-a bowlder by lowering myself feet first, but after getting so far that I swung freely below the chest I found p ;if ' n ' ' ' fiiiM1 - f "iH !' Zi&& , ' -v. 1 v - , so. r - sr ;vTti VIEW OF LONG'S PEAK " I arrived at the inn," writes Mr. Roper, "I was advised not to attempt the ascent as-cent for several days on account of the danger. I therefore waited until the fourth day after the snow. Starting Start-ing about seven in the morning, I rode alone a"nd without guide to Boulder field, where the horse was left. I had some description of the appearance of the Keyhole, and it had been suggested suggest-ed that perhaps I would find difficulty in getting by the snow in the Trough and might do better to climb the bowlders bowl-ders along the side. The geological survey map constituted the rest of my iniormation about the ascent. "Walking across Boulder field I was somewhat sheltered from the wind, which was blowing a gale from the southwest. On reaching the Keyhole I found the wind blowing against me so strong that I could hardly stand. I therefore retraced a few steps, sat down in the lee of a projecting rock and ate a portion of my lunch. It was so cold that there appeared to be no prospect of rain at higher altitudes, and I therefore left at this point my knapsack, containing my raincoat, the remainder of my lunch and a few other oth-er incidentals. Cutting Steps in the Ice. "After leaving the Keyhole the general gen-eral direction of the trail was indicated indi-cated by a few cairns, but they were very scarce. The footprints in the snow of a party that had made the ascent as-cent the previous day were of considerable consid-erable assistance and particularly so in the Trough, where I found their steps cut in the ice and crusty snow. I did not have to cut more than six or eight steps, and as I had nothing that could be used for the purpose except my hunting knife this was very fortunate. "The ascent from the Keyhole to the summit required an hour and thirty thir-ty minutes. In the Trough I was on all fours about half the time and did considerable climbing over and amongst the bowlders. I would characterize char-acterize the ascent as dangerous rather rath-er than difficult. There was no snow of any consequence except in the Trough, although the notes in the register on the summit showed that the party had found two inches on the summit the previous day. it impossible to find safe footing and had to climb up again over the bowlder. bowl-der. As this bowlder was located in a position with a steep crusty snow slope below it, the climbing up was attended at-tended with some danger, and especially espe-cially so as the first part of the climbing climb-ing consisted of a series of kicks and wriggles in an attempt to lift my clothing clear of the rough bowlder and to move forward at the same time until I could bring my foot or knee into action. "The trail was very dim after getting get-ting out of the Trough. Several times I found myself a considerable distance above the trail, and nearly descended through the transom, if there is one, instead of the Keyhole. The difficulties difficul-ties in the Trough and in losing the trail resulted in my making the descent de-scent to the Keyhole in an hur and thirty-five minutes, or five minutes longer than the time required for the ascent." |