Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 184, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1913 — GLACIER CLIMBING IDEAL SPORT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GLACIER CLIMBING IDEAL SPORT

American outdoor women, who are always looking for new worlds of sport to conquer, have been afforded a new and thrilling fbrm of entertainment in Glacier National park, which Uncle Sam has thrown open for the benefit of those who like to climb glaciers. f This glacial wonderland, which was only created by act of congress in 1910, has been practically unknown. Americans have spent many thousands of dollars visiting Switzerland and the rookies, in the belief that America had no glaciers worth the attempt to conquer. Yet in Glacier National park there are more than €0 glaciers within an area of five square miles, not to mention snow-capped peaks without number, rising to ah altitude of from 7,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level. The principal glaciers in the new park are Blackfoot, Harrison, PUmpelly* Red Eagle, Sperry and Chaney. In these great Ice Aids there are many wide and deep crevasses. Ice avalanches come thundering down the slopes in warm weather, and under the chill coverings trickle chill waters, which form hundreds of beautiful cataracts at the headwaters of rollicking mountain streams "where trout are to be found in abundance. Adventurous Trips. The summer of 1911 was the first “season” of Glacier National park, but the fame of the land of glaciers had spread, and hundreds of pleasureseekers turned to the new national playground which Uncle Sam will keep unspoiled through the years to come. Many Women visited the park, and most of .them refused to be left behind when parties were organized to scale the nearest glaciers. It is Btrenuous work climbing even the most accessible of the glaciers, and some of the women were compelled to give up before the Ice slopes were reached, but most of them gained the ice in safety and returned so enthusiastic over the new sport that more adventurous trips to the outlying glaciers were planned. ‘ I have climbed glaciers in Switzerland and the Canadian Rockies,” said one tired but enthusiastic woman who had spent most of the sekson in Glacier park, “but nowhere 1b there finer sport than right here. There is such a variety of glaciers, and the surroundings are so beautiful that any active woman will find a whole summer of inspiration right here in Glacier park—and in addition she will benefit her health past all computation, for there is nothing else quite bo beneficial as mountain climbing, in particular.” The woman who resolves to explore this land of glaciers should be prepared to “rough it.” There are good hotel and cottage accommodations at L&ke McDonald, a few miles from Belton, the entrance to the park, but wien one strikes toward the mountains she is plunging into a wilderness, with few trails and entirely innocent of wagon roads. It is thir primeval aspect of the new park that proves one of the greatest charms. Generally parties of climbers are formed and horses and guides are engaged, the individual expense thus being reduced to a minimum. The trip to Sperry glacier, nearest the hotel, can be made comfortably In two days. Camp is made at the foot of the glacier the first night. Here the saddle horses are abandoned, and the climb to the glacier is made on foot. All supplies fo{ the trip have to be packed on the backs of horses. It requires about 20 horses to carry the average party and the supplies needed. Many Huge Cravaaaes. Sperry la one of the largest glaciers in the park and its slopes contain many huge crevasses. Those who venture upon Its surface must travel with extreme caution if the weather Is warm and avalanches are falling. Generally the guide proceeds in advance, the tourists following, singlefile, and attached to one jmother by a strong rope. No fatal accidents have occurred upon the glaciers of the new park, but the guides Impress It upon visitors that no foolhardiness will

,be permitted. Sometimes the trail leads around crevasses half a mile long and hundreds of feet deep, or skirts huge holes in the ice, down which one can look and observe the water from nature’s huge ice-storage plant starting on its long journey to the sea. r : Several days could be spent with profit exploring the slopes of Sperry glacier, and when one considers that, within pn area of five square miles there are 60 more glaciers, great and small, to be explored, it is realized that the glacier climber cannot exhaust the resources of this American Switzerland in many seasons. In addition to the pleasure of glacier climbing for its own sake, there is the satisfaction of knowing that one is, in a sense, a pioneer. Glacier National park has been little explored. It is a primeval wilderness today, almost as it was when the Indians roamed across it Many of the glaciers have never been thoroughly explored. There are new trails to be made everywhere, and countless places where the climber will have the satisfaction of knowing that he or she is first to crosß an alluring ice field, or first to catch an inspiring view from some high point The park is from 50 to 60 miles in length and contains 916,000 acres. Besides its glaciers and peaks, this wonderland that has been opened by Uncle Sam contains countless water* falls. In Avalanche basin, a remarkable U-shaped valley about 12 miles north of Lake McDonald, are dozens of cascades and cataracts, which dash from a great height into Avalanche lake. From almost any spot In the park, innumerable waterfalls are seen like silver threads against the dark background of pine.

Mr. Jackson