The slide of Alpnach, extending from Mount Pilatus to Lake Lucerne,
a distance of 8 miles, is composed of 25,000 trees, stripped of their
bark, and laid at an inclination of 10 to 18 degrees. Trees placed in
the slide rush from the mountain into the lake in 6 minutes.
The Alps comprise about 180 mountains, from 4,000 to 15,732 feet high,
the latter being the height of Mount Blanc, the highest spot in Europe.
The summit is a sharp ridge, like the roof of a house, consisting of
nearly vertical granite rocks. The ascent requires 2 days, 6 or 8 guides
are required, and each guide is paid 100 francs ($20.00). It was
ascended by two natives, Jacques Belmat and Dr. Packard, August 8, 1786,
at 6 a.m. They staid up 30 minutes, with the thermometer at 14 degrees
below the freezing point. The provisions froze in their pockets; their
faces were frost-bitten, lips swollen, and their sight much weakened,
but they soon recovered on their descent. De Saussure records in his
ascent August 2, 1760, that the color of the sky was deep blue; the
stars were visible in the shade; the barometer sunk to 16.08 inches
(being 27.08 in Geneva) the thermometer was 26-1/2 degrees, in the sun
29 degrees (being 87 degrees at Geneva). The thin air works the blood
into a high fever, you feel as if you hardly touched the ground, and you
scarcely make yourself heard. A French woman, Mademoiselle d'Angeville,
ascended in September, 1840, being dragged up the last 1,200 feet by
guides, and crying out: "If I die, carry me to the top.
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