e cast aloft from the head of the Muldrow Glacier the
most conspicuous feature of the view is a rudely conical tower of
granite, standing sentinel over the entrance to the Grand Basin, and at
the base of that tower is the pass into the upper glacier which is,
indeed, the key of the whole ascent of the mountain. (See illustration
opposite p. 40.)

[Sidenote: Tower, Pass, and Ridge]

We found no better place to set these names; we called the tower the
Browne Tower and the pass the Parker Pass. The "pass" may not, it is
true, conform to any strict Alpine definition of that term, but it gives
the only access to the glacier floor. From the ridge below to the
glacier above this place gives passage; and any place that gives passage
may broadly be termed a pass.

It was when this pass had been reached, after three weeks' toil, that
the author was moved to the bestowal of another name by his admiration
for the skill and pluck and perseverance of his chief colleague in the
ascent. Those who think that a long apprenticeship must be served under
skilled instructors before command of the technique of snow
mountaineering can be obtained would have been astonished at Karstens's
work on the Northeast Ridge. But it must be kept in mind that, while he
had no previous experience on the heights, he had many years of
experience with ice and snow--which is true of all of us except Tatum,
and _he_ had two winters' experience. In the course of winter travel in
the interior of Alaska most of the problems of snow mountaineering
present themselves at one time or another.

[Sidenote: Glacier]

The designation "Northeast," which the Parker-Browne party put upon the
ridge that affords passage from the lower glacier to the upper, is open
to question. Mr. Charles Sheldon, who spent a year around the base of
the mountain studying the fauna of the region, refers to the _outer_
wall of the Muldrow Glacier as the Northeast Ridge, that is, the wall
that rises to the North Peak. Perhaps "East Ridge of the South Peak"
would be the most exact description. But it is here proposed to
substitute Harry Karstens's name for points-of-the-compass designations,
and call the ridge, part of which the earthquake shattered, the dividing
ridge between the two arms of the Muldrow Glacier, soaring tremendously
and impressively with ice-incrusted cliffs in its lower course, the
Karstens Ridge. Regarded in its whole extent, it is one of the capital
features of the mount