There has been a deplorable mountaineering accident in Cumberland. It
appears that four gentlemen — Mr. S. Ridsdale, Mr. A. E. W. Garratt, Mr. H. L. Jupp, and Mr. R. W. Broadrick—attempted on Monday to ascend the Scafell Pillar, one of the most difficult and dangerous climbs in the Lake District. A second party, who had accompanied them in an earlier stage of the climb, were descending, when they found their friends lying at the foot of Deep Glyn. Mr. Ridsdale, who was mortally wounded, his spine and legs being broken, bade them look after his companions, who were all dead ; and explained as well as his agony would permit that Mr. Broadrick, as an accomplished climber, was leading, the four being roped together, when, as he was tired, Mr. Garrett took the lead. Mr. Garratt slipped, and the whole four were precipitated to the bottom of a "chimney," or upright gully, with the terrible results recorded. No one was to blame, the episode only proving that as dangerous rock climbing can be found in England as in Switzerland, and, further, that in certain cases the practice of roping together only aggravates disaster. The English notion that a mountain of 3,200 ft. must be safer than one of 10,000 ft. is a groundless assumption.
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