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It is a well-recognized fact that after the menopause women become more hirsute, the same being the case after removal of any of the functional generative apparatus. Vicat saw a virgin who had a beard, and Joch speaks of "foeminis barbati." Leblond says that certain women of Ethiopia and South America have beards and little or no menstruation.
One party was going for Monte Rosa, another for the Lyskamm Joch. We knew that they could see us too. But these little lantern lights upon the vast expanse of snow looked very strange and lonely and very human. We seemed small ourselves, we were like glow-worms, like wounded fire-flies crawling on a plain. And still we saw these little climbing lights upon the Matterhorn.
Roland knew every step of the road, and for a while he seemed to himself to be this traveller, starting from the little inn, not yet vacated by its peasant landlord, but soon to be left to icy solitude, and taking the narrow path along the Engstlensee, toiling up the Joch pass under the mighty Wendenstöcke and the snowy Titlis, clear of clouds from base to summit yesterday.
The two great draw-backs to this Ski-ing are, firstly, the expense and, secondly, the difficulty of breathing. The expense is unavoidable because the carriage of building materials, food, etc. to such a height must necessarily entail high prices. Glacier Ski-ing, except on the snow-field near the Joch, also usually necessitates the employment of Guides.
But these snow-fields are so extensive and so safe that a week could be spent in practising without a Guide. After the first night on the Joch the feeling of breathlessness is reduced, and so long as all climbing is done slowly no bad effects need be expected by people in good health and condition.
I a little overestimated my mountaineering, and it came about that I was benighted while I was still high above the Joch Pass on my descent. Some of this was steep and needed caution. I had to come down slowly with my folding lantern, in which a reluctant candle went out at regular intervals, and I did not reach the little inn at Engstlen Alp until long after eleven at night.
The days moved on in a golden round of riding and driving and shooting: down to Landl and Thiersee for chamois, across the river to the magic Achensee, up the Zillerthal, across the Schmerner Joch, even to the railway station at Steinach.
First-Class Guides and Ski Instructors can be found at the Joch. People who would prefer not to sleep at so great a height could stay at the Scheidegg or Eiger Gletscher, at both of which places hotels exist. In view of the shortness of Winter holidays, it seems a pity that more enthusiasts do not profit by the chance of practising which the Jungfrau Joch Railway offers in Summer time.
The Jungfrau Joch can be reached from London in twenty-six hours, and keen runners could enjoy a week or a fortnight of amusing Ski-ing on snow which lends itself particularly well to the practice of all turns. The Jungfrau Joch branch of the Swiss Ski Club holds an annual meet on the Joch in the month of July, which is well attended by Runners and Jumpers from all parts of Switzerland.
From the Grimsel I went over the Rhone glacier to the inn on the Furka Pass, and then, paying off my guide and becoming frankly a pedestrian, I made my way round by the Schöllenen gorge to Goeschenen, and over the Susten Joch to the Susten Pass and Stein, meaning to descend to Meiringen. But I still had four days before I went on to Italy, and so I decided to take one more mountain.
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