Near the termination of the glacier we could not avoid traversing a portion of its abominable moraine, but at 1.30 p.m. we were clear of it, and threw ourselves upon some springy turf conscious that our day's work was over. An hour afterwards we resumed the march, crossed the Doire torrent by a bridge a little below Gruetta, and at five o'clock entered Courmayeur, having occupied somewhat less than ten hours on the way. Mr. Girdlestone's party came in, I believe, about four hours afterwards, so there was no doubt that we made a shorter pass than the Col du Géant; and I believe we discovered a quicker way of getting from Chamounix to Courmayeur, or vice versa, than will be found elsewhere, so long as the chain of Mont Blanc remains in its present condition.[1]
- ↑ Comparison of the Col de Triolet with the Col de Talèfre will show what a great difference in ease there may be between tracks which are nearly identical. For a distance of several miles these routes are scarcely more than half-a-mile apart. Nearly every step of the former is difficult, whilst the latter has no difficulty whatever. The route we adopted over the Col de Talèfre may perhaps be improved. It may be possible to go directly from the head of the Glacier de Triolet to its right bank, and, if so, at least thirty minutes might be saved.
The following is a complete list of the so-called passes across the main ridge of the range of Mont Blanc, with the years in which the first passages were effected, as far as I know them:—1. Col de Trélatête (1864), between Aig. du Glacier and Aig. de Trélatête. 2. Col de Miage, between Aig. de Miage and Aig. de Bionnassay. 3. Col du Dôme (1865), over the Dôme du Goûter. 4. Col du Mont Blanc (1868), over Mont Blanc. 5. Col de la Brenva (1865), between Mont Blanc and Mont Maudit. 6. Col de la Tour Ronde (1867), over la Tour Ronde. 7. Col du Géant, between la Tour Ronde and Aigs. Marbrées. 8. Col Pierre Joseph (1866), over Aig. de l'Eboulement. 9. Col de Talèfre (1865), between Aigs. Talèfre and Triolet. 10. Col de Triolet (1864), between Aigs. Talèfre and Triolet. 11. Col Dolent (1865), between Aig. de Triolet and Mont Dolent, 12. Col d'Argentière (1861), between Mont Dolent and le Tour Noir. 13. Col du Chardonnet (1863), between Aigs. d' Argentière and Chardonnet. 14. Col du Tour, between Aigs. du Chardonnet and Tour.
