Mountains
Black ice on rocks in the mountains is known as verglas (glaze ice), and is a great hazard for climbers and scramblers. Cold weather is common at high altitudes, and black ice quickly forms on rock surfaces. Loss of traction is as sudden and unexpected as on a pavement or road, but can be fatal if the rock is in an exposed position with a drop below. The ice-axe and crampons are of little use in such circumstances, a belay rope being the only protection which can prevent a fall.
Read more about this topic: Black Ice
Famous quotes containing the word mountains:
“And open field, through which the pathway wound,
And homeward led my steps. Magnificent
The morning rose, in memorable pomp,
Glorious as e’er I had beheld—in front,
The sea lay laughing at a distance; near,
The solid mountains shone, bright as the clouds,
Grain-tinctured, drenched in empyrean light;”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“It is true that genius takes its rise out of the mountains of rectitude; that all beauty and power which men covet are somehow born out of that Alpine district; that any extraordinary degree of beauty in man or woman involves a moral charm.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Here among the mountains the pinions of thought should be strong, and one should see the errors of men from a calmer height of love and wisdom.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)