First ascent by
Elizabeth Main (a.k.a. Aubrey Le Blond) (UK),
Josef and Emil Imboden (CH), August 2nd. 1898.
"August 1st was a truly
pictorial day. Masses of mist floated in the valleys and occasionally
enveloped the mountain-tops. A deep-blue sky spread over all, and a hot
sun lit up the
spires of rock and made the snow brilliantly white and glistening. We
had made a start
from Lyngseidet at 9.15 P.M., bound for the Urtind, a conspicuous rocky
peak which looks
well from everywhere in the neighbourhood.
We ascended the slopes above the Kjosenfjord for a long distance
diagonally, till we struck
the beginning of a broad shelf which sloped back again across the
mountain. Following
this till immediately below the summit, we went straight up a useful
ridge, over a snow
patch, and, without requiring to put on the rope, reached the top at
2.45 A.M. There was
no sign of a previous ascent. While Emil carried out building
operations, Imboden and
I decided that our next move should be an attempt to follow the long
ridge which connects
the Urtind with the Tytteboertind, another new peak, and one which
looks very well from
Lyngseidet.
Tying ourselves together, we set off about 3.45 A.M., and had a very
pleasant scramble
along the ridge. In more than one place we had to descend a little and
traverse on the
face to our right, to avoid precipitous drops on the aréte.
About midway along the ridge
a curious seam of what I imagine is yellow sandstone occurs, and the
surface of this is very
smooth. A scratch on it is easily made, and is as conspicuous as the
mark of a pencil on a slate.
The aréte continued to be pleasant and interesting till
near the final spring of the Tytteboertind. Then, as there was a bit we
were not quite
sure of, we traversed again to our right and completed the ascent by
another ridge. We
saw afterwards that had we kept straight on, we should have got up all
the same.
We spent some time on the top, resting and eating and building. The
mist always
hung persistently over the side of the peak we wished to descend, so we
had finally to
move off without a clear view. I gave my opinion as to the identity of
a certain aréte.
Imboden positively asserted that the one we had seen previously from
below was another.
I was so used to being in the wrong whenever I differed from Imboden,
that I started
off quite contentedly down his ridge, well satisfied that it was not
necessary to take mine,
which was much steeper and harder. However, after descending about 300
feet Imboden
declared he was puzzled, and having explored a little the order was
given to traverse sundry
couloirs till we gained my ridge, if gain it we could from there. This
necessitated some
rather awkward work, especially a few steps across a precipitous face
where everything
one touched came away in one's hands. But at last we topped the
aréte, and from here,
with the exception of several doubts as to possible "drops," all went
well. The length
of that ridge was preposterous. It seemed to stretch for miles ahead,
and what with the
inordinate distance and the fact that it was so rotten that close
attention to hands and
feet was unceasingly needed, we were mightily glad when a mossy knoll
was reached when
the rope could be removed and a pleasanter surface obtained for
walking. Having had
no very definite plans on starting, we did not order a boat to meet us,
so when we reached
the border of the fjord at the mouth of the Tytteboerdal, a long tramp
home of two hours
or more still awaited us. As this led all the time beneath the arete we
had passed along,
the view of the latter interested us, and afforded some help in passing
the time."
(Aubrey Le Blond: Mountaineering In The Land of the Midnight Sun, 1908)
