The Justedalsbrae: A Warning
By Wm. Cecil Slingsby
(Reprinted from “Bayer’s Weekly News” 1897)
EACH summer as it comes round sees a large increase in the number of – shall I say – tourists or mountaineers? who cross this, the greatest snowfield in Europe, and the demand for guides who possess a good knowledge of snow craft, that highest branch of the art of mountaineering, is, I fear, considerably in excess of the supply. Hence, through inexperience, there is a growing tendency to underrate and indeed occasionally to ignore entirely the dangers which are inseparably connected with a trudge over a snow-covered glacier. Under these conditions it is surely advisable that at least one tourist in each party should possess some little elementary mountaineering knowledge suitable for the occasion. Briefly, the following points should be borne in mind:
That crevasses of some sort are present everywhere on a glacier, whether visible or not.
The real dangers begin when the hard ice is exchanged for snow.
Generally, the direction of the crevasses is across the snow basin or valley, except at the sides, where the friction of the rocks, acting against the advance of the glacier, breaks up the continuity of the crevasses and causes a chaos, either visible or invisible.
It is safer to go straight up or down a snow-covered glacier and across the crevasses than across the glacier and along the line of the crevasses.
Three persons form the smallest party which can with safety traverse the upper snows.
A good strong rope, not a piece of window cord or a clothes’ line, must always be used, each person must be firmly tied round the Waist, and under no circumstances whatever must it be considered sufficient for the leader or any other member of the party merely to hold the rope in his hand without being tied fast to the others.
The rope must at all times be held taut, but not tight.
The snowy domes and more especially the snowy ridges or back bones, consist, if the snow be deep, of a chaotic mass of more or less rectangular masses of névé formed by there being pulls in three different directions, one down or along the ridge in the general direction in which the two adjoining glaciers are moving, and one each towards the centre of these glaciers.
These huge cubes of snow are rarely visible before August and not always then. They are, however, always present.
Another form of danger, to which I have often drawn attention, occasionally exists towards the end of the summer after a long unbroken spell of fine sunny weather, especially if it be in a year of little snow. I refer to the overhanging eaves or lips of crevasses which I have known to project 25 to 30 feet over crevasses which are, to all intents and purposes, unfathomable, and yet, strange to say, they could not be detected by any hollows on the surface of the névé, but could only be seen in profile. These long eaves are never seen in the Alps, and, fortunately, but rarely in Norway. They face, generally speaking, the south, and are formed by the melting of one of the walls of the crevasse by the rays of the sun, which shines in the higher latitude of Norway much more horizontally than is the case in Switzerland. When these eaves are present the very greatest care is necessary in order to circumvent them safely, and, very often, “a strategic movement to the rear” would be a wise course to pursue.
What is a pure uncrevassed snowfield with unbroken and subtle lines in June or in the first half of July, may in August be a maze of hungry-looking crevasses and well nigh impassable. An easy route in July one year may be impracticable 365 days later.
Never go up or down a gully where you have reason to believe that ice, snow, rocks, or stones are accustomed to fall. There is not much difference in the damage which can be done to a man’s skull by a small stone falling on it from a height of 400 or 500 feet or by a bullet shot out of a rifle.
Never go on steep snow or ice without having proper nails in your boots. Many a Norskman has come to grief for want of nails. Take an ice-axe too.
Always have a map and compass with you. The maps are not perfect, but are better than none at all.
Remember that the west side of the Justedalsbrae is, as a rule, much steeper than the eastern side, and that there are, on the former, comparatively few places where it is possible to descend.
The snowy solitudes of this weird glacier-region are terrible in driving snow and mist, and should only be visited in fine weather.
Warm gloves and goggles (snow spectacles) should always be taken when making a pass over the Justedalsbrae. The changes of temperature may be very sudden and the variation extreme.
Whatever your guides may say to the contrary, it is better to start an hour too early than an hour too late.
If the pass be long, go fairly slowly, but keep at it, and do not spend more than 20 minutes over each of your first two meals.
Do not take a long glissade unless you see a clear way on snow the whole way to the bottom of the slope. A dark patch on the snow near the bottom means ice.
When descending steep rocks, snow, or ice let the best climber go last, if he has nails in his boots. If he has no nails, put him in the middle, no matter what amount of experience he has had. A man with nails in his boots must always be at each end of the rope.
Never relax care and vigilance, however easy the place may be, as accidents usually happen when least expected.
Avoid ice-glazed rocks whenever it is possible to do so.
At all times the upper snow fields must be treated with the greatest respect, as their dangers are more real than those on the bare ice below, because, in the one case they are hidden, and in the other they are so very apparent that it is hardly necessary to call attention to them.
Drink no aquavitae or cognac until you have finished your day’s work, and, if by chance you are benighted, avoid both like poison.
Take plenty to eat and to drink. The pass may take longer to cross than you expect.
The notes are of course not written for experienced mountaineers, but rather for the benefit of the many strong and active young men and girls whose love of adventure naturally tempts them at their first opportunity to leave the ease and luxury of the valleys for the joys of the mountains, and who would, if at Zermatt, engage at once a couple of guides and run a tilt at the Matterhorn, usually of course with perfect safety. Whilst writing about the Justedalsbrae, l take the opportunity of drawing attention to the strange fact that though, owing to the papers written by Herr Bing and myself, the Austerdalsbrae is now much visited, yet the superb Langedalsbrae – still more easy of access – is quite neglected since the time when it was visited and also photographed by Monsieur C. de Seue, who in his excellent but little known work, “Le névé de Justedal et ses glaciers,” page 13, says:-
“Le glacier de Langedal occupant le fond de la vallée de Veitestrand est formé par la conjonction de quatre glaciers, dont deux viennent du cote O. — Ce glacier présente peutêtre l’aspect le plus grandiose et le plus magnifigue des régions glaciaires, que notre pays puisse offrir a la vue …. “
Who will go to verify these statements, made 30 years ago by the gallant Frenchman, who was at that time attached to the university at Christiania?
I think that now only three glaciers join together to form the Langedalsbrae, but am not sure, as l have only seen them from above. It is, however, well worth an exploration in detail.