The deepest snow we had yet encountered clogged
our feet, but we plodded downward, and after descending about 500 ft.,
reducing our altitude to 2000 ft. above sea-level, we thought we saw
the way clear ahead. A steep gradient of blue ice was the next
obstacle. Worsley and Crean got a firm footing in a hole excavated
with the adze and then lowered me as I cut steps until the full 50 ft.
of our alpine rope was out. Then I made a hole big enough for the
three of us, and the other two men came down the steps. My end of the
rope was anchored to the adze and I had settled myself in the hole
braced for a strain in case they slipped. When we all stood in the
second hole I went down again to make more steps, and in this laborious
fashion we spent two hours descending about 500 ft. Halfway down we had
to strike away diagonally to the left, for we noticed that the
fragments of ice loosened by the adze were taking a leap into space at
the bottom of the slope. Eventually we got off the steep ice, very
gratefully, at a point where some rocks protruded, and we could see
then that there was a perilous precipice directly below the point where
we had started to cut steps. A slide down a slippery slope, with the
adze and our cooker going ahead, completed this descent, and
incidentally did considerable damage to our much-tried trousers.
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