Riassunto
Riassunto di Al di sopra della linea delle nevi
A chi è rivolto
Readers who love mountains, dry British humor and true tales of first ascents will feel at home here, as will anyone who enjoys a companionable voice and a good laugh at human nature.
Che cos’è questo libro
Above the Snow Line is a book of mountaineering sketches by C. T. Dent, a Victorian climber who spent many seasons in the Alps and died in 1912. He wrote it after the great pioneering years, when most of the big peaks had already been climbed and the Alps were filling with visitors. Looking back with a smile, he tells of his own seasons at Saas, Zermatt and Chamouni, starting in 1870.
The heart of the book is the Aiguille du Dru, a needle of rock above Chamouni that beat Dent and his guide Alexander Burgener again and again before it gave way. Around that struggle sit shorter tales of storms, falling rocks, shabby inns and odd tourists. Dent jokes at his own expense and at the habits of climbers, yet when he describes rock, snow and ice he is exact and sure. You will meet guides who talk of chamois, a roofless hut, a landlord who sleeps while he serves, and a porter who speaks only twice.
The book also teaches. You learn how a guide probes a snow bridge, why a climber should turn back, and why rock gives the amateur more to do than snow. At the close, Dent looks ahead to climbing in the Himalayas and sets out his bold view about Mount Everest. Let us begin in a hot valley and an almost empty hotel.
In questo riassunto
- 1Old-style climbing begins in a quiet valleyFree
- 2Rock gives the climber more to do
- 3The Dru beats the first attempts
- 4A wet summer and the Bietschhorn
- 5A storm on the Aiguille du Midi
- 6Nineteen tries at the Dru
- 7The summit at last, and the ball
- 8Lighter days between the big climbs
- 9What the mountains may become
Punto chiave 1 di 9
Old-style climbing begins in a quiet valley
The book opens in early August 1870, when Dent walks up the Saas valley on a sweltering day. Dust coats his boots, the streams have shrunk to trickles, and lizards dash between the stones. He explains that he writes years afterward, to see how an old climb looks once time has softened it. He adds that this was the age before climbers sat on camp stools to eat truffle pie.
The party stays at an almost empty inn, since war rumors keep tourists away. A man named Franz seems to be bootblack, waiter and chambermaid in turn. Only later does the party learn that Franz owns the hotel. The dinner has ten dishes, and the last is a starved blackbird puffed out with stuffing.
Burgener suggests the Dom or the first climb of the Südlenzspitz. A hut has been built above Fée with money sent from England, and the guides describe it as quite grand. When the climbers reach it, a falling rock has swept away the roof and left a crooked stone wall against a cliff. They spend a miserable night there in hail, rain and snow, and Dent jokes that they took possession without any legal formalities.
On the Südlenzspitz the route follows a snow ridge with an overhanging cornice. Burgener probes every step with the care of a ragpicker. Dent uses the moment to explain that judging a snow bridge with one thrust of the axe takes years of practice, and that many guides never gain the skill. Without experience, he says, an amateur can hardly tell a careful guide from a careless one.
On the summit the party finds no trace of earlier climbers and plans the Matterhorn for the next year. Dent grows wistful and tells later climbers that the Alps will never give them quite the same feeling, like skating on ice already scored by others. The party then crosses to Zermatt by the Alphubel Joch with a talkative Swiss man who keeps falling into crevasses and carrying on with his story. At the Monte Rosa hotel nothing has changed, and the warmest welcome of the trip comes at an inn.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Al di sopra della linea delle nevi
What is Above the Snow Line about?
It is C. T. Dent's account of his Alpine seasons in the 1870s, at Saas, Zermatt and Chamouni. Its main story is the long effort to climb the Aiguille du Dru, mixed with comic scenes, mountain lessons and a look at the future of climbing.
Who is Alexander Burgener in the book?
Burgener is Dent's chief guide, a strong, bold and careful man from the Saas valley. He leads on rock and ice, encourages Dent after many failures on the Dru, and points out the small crack that begins to convince them the climb is possible.
Is Above the Snow Line a true story?
Yes, it is Dent's own memoir of real climbs, with real peaks, guides and dates, including the first ascent of the Aiguille du Dru in 1878. He adds jokes and exaggeration for effect, and a parody chapter called A Fragment is plainly invented.
Is the book funny or serious?
Both. Dent pokes fun at tourists, hotels, guides and himself in a lively, light voice, yet he writes closely and seriously about snow, rock and danger. Short chapters on separate climbs make it easy to dip into.
What does Dent say about the future of mountaineering?
He suggests that crowded Alpine climbing may fade but its skills will serve in greater ranges. He argues that a person could climb Mount Everest with good acclimatization, and he urges climbers to learn their craft and respect real dangers.