# The First Passage of the Col Dolent explained — Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the Years 1860–69

> Chapter companion for Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the Years 1860–69 by Edward Whymper.

## What happens

Whymper and his party attempt a new pass over the Col Dolent, hoping for a quicker route from Courmayeur to Chamounix. The ascent is straightforward, but the descent on the Argentière side reveals a treacherous ice slope at a 50° angle. The guides laboriously cut steps and navigate crevasses and schrunds, using ropes and ice-axes. After seven hours of descent, they reach the Argentière Glacier and arrive at Chamounix late at night, exhausted but successful.

## Themes in this chapter

### Exploration and Discovery

The party attempts a new, untested pass (Col Dolent) to find a quicker route, embodying the spirit of alpine exploration.

### Danger and Mortality

The descent on a 50° ice slope with risk of slipping and falling highlights the constant danger and potential for fatal accidents.

### Scientific Observation

Whymper provides detailed observations on ice-axe design, step-cutting techniques, and the behavior of ice and snow slopes.

## Character check-ins

### Edward Whymper

Leader and narrator; sketches the view while guides work; descends the icy staircase and joins the others.

### Michel Croz

Leads the descent, cutting steps and anchoring to rocks; first to go down the ice slope.

### Christian Almer

Works with Biener to cut steps and pay out rope; descends the ice slope with steadiness.

### Franz Biener

Assists Almer in cutting and rope work; descends to join Croz after being attached to the rope.

## Key lines

> Freethinking mountaineers have been latterly in the habit of going up one side of an Alp and coming down the other, and calling the route a pass.

Some climbers now consider crossing a mountain from one side to the other as a valid pass.

_Whymper humorously critiques the evolving definition of a mountain pass._

> For the first time in my life I looked down a slope more than a thousand feet long, set at an angle of about 50°, which was a sheet of ice from top to bottom.

Whymper saw a continuous ice slope over 1,000 feet long at a 50° angle, unlike anything he had encountered before.

_Describes the extreme and dangerous ice slope on the descent._

> I do not believe that the use of the rope, in the ordinary way, affords the least real security upon ice-slopes.

Whymper argues that a rope provides no real safety on ice slopes.

_Reflects his skepticism about standard rope techniques on steep ice._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/scrambles_amongst_the_alps_in_the_years_1860_69_se/chapters/xvii-the-first-passage-of-the-col-dolent
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/scrambles_amongst_the_alps_in_the_years_1860_69_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/scrambles_amongst_the_alps_in_the_years_1860_69_se/chapters