Making a long traverse of the southern face on a wide and easy ledge, we came at length to a wider and less steep couloir than the one which we had ascended in the morning. We glissaded this to the bottom, lying prone and shooting down at tobaggan speed, pulling up with the axes before reaching the bergschrund. Feuz tested the bridge and then shot over it safely on his back. We followed, and the glacier was reached.
This ended the interesting part of the climb. Dr. Herdman, never weary, wanted to climb Swiss peak and make a red-letter day of it, but, as this would have meant getting back to Glacier House at midnight, nobody seconded the motion. All that sticks in the memory concerning the return to the cabin was the intolerable glare of the sunlight on the glacier and the wearisome ploughing through the soft, wet snow. We reached the cabin at four p.m., and after a meal, started down the path to the railway and footed the ties five miles to Glacier House, reaching the hotel at seven o'clock.
Hermit is well worth climbing—Mr. Gordon and I climbed Lefroy, a week later, with Hans Kauffmann, and were amply rewarded, but the long, steady pull up that interminable snow and ice incline is not to be compared, from the climber's point of view, to the varied and exciting work on snow and rock which one meets with on Hermit; and, while the view from Lefroy is one of awe-inspiring grandeur, it does not compare in richness and variety of form and color with the view from Hermit. This, of course, is a matter of taste, but I think my companions will share my view.
