has not, sooner or later, fallen to me. Our failure was mortifying, but I am satisfied that we did wisely in returning, and that if we had persevered, by Carrel's route, another Alpine accident would have been recorded. I have not heard that another ascent has been made of the Dent d'Erin.[1]
On the 7th of August we crossed the Va Cornère pass,[2] and had a good look at the mountain named the Grand Tournalin as we descended the Val de Chignana. This mountain was seen from so many points, and was so much higher than any peak in its immediate neighbourhood, that it was bound to give a very fine view; and (as the weather continued unfavourable for the Matterhorn) I arranged with Carrel to ascend it the next day, and despatched him direct to the village of Val Tournanche to make the necessary preparations, whilst I, with Meynet, made a short
- ↑ On p. 10 it is stated that there was not a pass from Prerayen to Breil in 1860, and this is correct. On July 8, 1868, my enterprising guide, Jean-Antoine Carrel, started from Breil at 2 a.m. with a well-known comrade—J. Baptiste Bic, of Val Tournanche—to endeavour to make one. They went towards the glacier which descends from the Dent d'Erin to the south-east, and on arriving at its base, ascended at first by some snow between it and the cliffs on its south, and afterwards took to the cliffs themselves. [This glacier they called the glacier of Mont Albert, after the local name of the peak which on Mr. Reilly's map of the Valpelline is called ' Les Jumeaux.' On Mr. Reilly's map the glacier is called 'Glacier d'Erin.'] They ascended the rocks to a considerable height, and then struck across the glacier, towards the north, to a small 'rognon' (isolated patch of rocks) that is nearly in the centre of the glacier. They passed above this, and between it and the great seracs. Afterwards their route led them towards the Dent d'Erin, and they arrived at the base of its final peak by mounting a couloir (gully filled with snow), and the rocks at the head of the glacier. They gained the summit of their pass at 1 p.m., and, descending by the glacier of Zardesan, arrived at Prerayen at 6.30 p.m.
As their route joins that taken by Messrs. Hall, Grove, and Macdonald, on their ascent of the Dent d'Erin in 1863, it is evident that that mountain can be ascended from Breil. Carrel considers that the route taken by himself and his comrade Bic can be improved upon; and, if so, it is possible that the ascent of the Dent d'Erin can be made from Breil in less time than from Prerayen. Breil is very much to be preferred as a starting-point.
- ↑ See p. 11. The height of this pass, according to Canon Carrel, is 10,335 feet.
