Jökull - 01.12.1952, Page 31

well east of the peak. We moved some distance
south, nearer the Rótarfjallshnúkur, before
again turning directly uphill and east. Again the
way was blocked by crevasses and, although very
small snow-bridges did exist, the softness of the
snow made the risks of crossing too high.
Finally, after careful examination of the
ground, we found a route leading between
two crevasses and over a third, which proved
fairly difficult but reasonably safe. After tra-
velling a considerable distance roughly east
we turned the end of the left hand crevasse and
reached the crater at a few minutes before 18.00.
The brilliant sunshine which had lasted all
day above 1000 meters gave us a perfect view
of the east face of the peak, fully 1/2 kilometers
away. With the aid of binoculars it was clear
that the east face was very nearly impossible,
being botli steep and very badly crevassed. As it
was now close on 18.00 hrs. we started down,
but with the firm intention of tryi'ng again next
day. The descent was straightforward until we
left the ice; then we ran into a belt of cloud
stretching between roughly 1000 and 400 metres,
wliich reduced visibility to about 30 metres and
forced us to ust the compass. We reached Sand-
fell at 20.30 hrs. It appeared from this and other
experience that a belt of cloud at around 1000
metres often hung over the Sandfell area, when
both Fagurhólsmýri in the east and Skaftafell
in the west were in sunshine, and also that in
spite of a wind from the south the cloud hardly
moved all day except to shift slowly backwards
and forwards, east and west.
Next day, Thursday the , 14th, the weather
was cloudy when we started out at 09.45 hrs.
but due to our experience of cloud movements
above Sandfell, we gambled on better weather
higher up.
We again encountered cloud at around 1000
metres, at the edge of the ice, but climbed bey-
ond it in roughly twenty minutes.
Once again the sun shone hotly, there was
hardly a breath of wind ancl melting was going
on fast. We followed our tracks of the previous
day easily enough ancl lunched just below the
crater, wltich we reached at about 14.00 hrs.
Turning north we began to cross the crater in
fairly dense cloud, occasional breaks being
enough to give us our general direction, but
luckily it cleared completely as we reached the
foot of the peak at about 15.00 hrs. From then
onwards, except for one brief period, we enjoy-
ed brillant sunshine.
The snow on the crater was soft, but the
east face of the peak proved to be still worse.
We crossed several doubtful snow-bridges
and climbed a steep pitch of very soft snow to
cross a narrow ice-bridge over a small crevasse.
On finding that the only way to proceed fart-
her was by crossing a frail looking snow-bridge
over an enormous crevasse, we decided that the
risks were too great and agreed to give up this
route.
A few minutes earlier an avalanche had fallen
from the top of the rock on the north-east face,
and we realised the danger of a general aval-
anche starting right along the entire slope.
So we came down to the bottom of the slope
after being well over half-way up, and then
with a growing sense of defeat decided to go
round and look at the north-west and west faces.
Our hopes revived slightly on our first glimpse
of the north-west face, the snow both looking
harder on the slopes and being harder underfoot.
It was at this point that it occurred to us that
the snow on the west side must offer a better
chance, since melting was bound to be less.
What is so obvious upon consideration had
never crossed our minds.
At roughly 17.30 hrs. we started to climb a
steep pitch of hard snow leading to a good snow-
bridge over a large crevasse. We kept the summit
on our left hand went straight up to a saddle
south of it, crossing three more crevasses, one on
our hands and knees, the snow being in perfect
condition. On the steepest part steps had to be
cut for 30 or 40 metres, but the pleasure of
climbing under really good condition was a
tremendous incentive.
The last 100 metres from the shoulder to the
summit above the north face presented no diff-
iculty, and at 18.35 hrs. we stood on the top.
The sky was still clear and we were rewarded
with a magnificent view across Vatnajökull to
the northern peaks, while nearer hand the sharp-
etched ranges to the east and west on the far
sides of the Breiðamerkur- and Skeiðarárjökulls
stood out in stark contrast to the snow slopes
and brilliantly clear blue sky.
We were free for a few moments to contemp-
late the whole intricate pattern of crevasses,
now things of beauty as well as of menace —
some running symmetrically in great arcs like
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