Mountaineering Club to Present Films of Mt. Blanc Climbs at Union Benefit

Moving pictures of a rock climb on the Aiguille du Grepon and of a ski ascent of Monte Rosa will be shown in the Living Room of the Harvard Union on Sunday at 7.30 o'clock, under the joint auspices of the Harvard Mountaineering Club and the Harvard Union. The pictures of the climbing of Grepon, which is a part of the Mont Blanc Massif at Chamonix, show the mountaineering technique of professional guides in their ascent of what is considered by tourists as one of the most difficult peaks in Chamonix.

The film is unusually complete in the views presented because of the fact that another tooth or "gendarme", as it is called, rises in close proximity to the one ascended and the pictures were taken from the first tooth looking toward the second. The peak of Grepon is composed of rock, and though it is relatively small it offers plenty of opportunity for skillful climbing. The second reel of the ascent shows much of the technical difficulties of mountaineering and this one will be run again in slow motion at the end of the showing.

O'Brien Explains Purpose

The purpose of the film showing was explained to a CRIMSON; reporter by Lincoln O'Brien '29, president of the Harvard Mountaineering Club. A few years ago, when O'Brien was in Chamonix, the guide who took the pictures was the victim of a tragedy on one of the peaks above the Mer de Glace.

"It seems," O'Brien said, "that the guide, who took the pictures, which are to be shown on Sunday, was climbing an almost perpendicular cliff on the Aiguille du Dru, which rises 12,000 feet above the Mer de Glace, in company with a young guide and an American climber. This cliff has the longest sheer drop on the mountain--perhaps 1,000 feet. The older guide who ranked as the second best in Chamonix led the way while the two less experienced climbers followed. It was the duty of the younger guide to 'belay' the rope to a rock while the older guide ascended to the next ledge or resting place. This he did by taking a turn of the line around a rock. In one instance while the leader was ascending, the rope kept paying out as it should and the guide disappeared out of sight above the two followers. Suddenly a large rock fell past them, clearing the face of the cliff by five or six feet and a moment later the unfortunate guide followed it. The turn of rope around the rock saved the others for the sharp edges of the rock severed the rope as the weight of the falling body strained it. At any rate the body of the luckless climber was found when the two who were left descended. So these moving pictures are being shown to various audiences for the benefit of the widow and children of the lost guide. The Mountaineering Club is not charging admission to the pictures and welcomes all members of the Union as well as members of the Mountaineering Club and their guests."

O'Brien in answer to a query about the dangers of mountain climbing and ski ascents remarked that the peak upon which the incident described above took place has received the reputation of being a bad one because of the long drop of the perpendicular cliff. The mountains which will be shown in the moving pictures are two of the best for the experienced climber. The Aiguille du Grepon is a massive rock structure that was not scaled until thirty years after the Matterhorn was conquered.