Matterhorn

The Matterhorn was climbed later than most of the main mountains of the Alps, not because of its technical difficulty, but because of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers. The first serious attempts began around 1857, mostly from the Italian side; but despite appearances, the southern routes are harder, and parties repeatedly found themselves on difficult rock and had to turn back.

It was not until 14 July 1865, after several failed attempts and some nationalistically motivated backstabbing, that the party of Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, and Douglas Robert Hadow was able to reach the summit, along with Michel Croz and the two Peter Taugwalders (father and son). The party tried the Hörnli route and found it considerably easier than expected. On the descent, Hadow slipped, knocking Croz off his feet, and dragging Hudson and Douglas with him. The rope connecting them to the other three men broke; the four fell to their deaths on the Matterhorn Glacier 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) below. The bodies of all but Douglas were later found, and are buried in the Zermatt churchyard. Whymper's ascent is considered to be the last of the golden age of alpinism.

Three days later, on 17 July, a party led by Jean-Antoine Carrel reached the summit from the Italian side. Julius Elliott made the second ascent from the Zermatt side, in 1868, and in the same year John Tyndall traversed the summit, together with J. J. Maquinaz and J. P. Maquinaz. In 1871, Lucy Walker became the first woman to stand on top of the mountain, followed a few weeks later by her rival Meta Brevoort.

Today, all ridges and faces of the Matterhorn have been ascended in all seasons, and mountain guides take a large number of people up the Hörnli route each summer. By modern standards, the climb is fairly difficult (AD Difficulty rating), but not hard for skilled mountaineers. There are fixed ropes on parts of the route to help. Still, because of the scale of the climb and inherent dangers, inexperience, falling rocks, and overcrowded routes, several climbers die each year. The usual pattern is to take the Schwarzsee cable car up from Zermatt, hike up to the Hörnli-hütte (elev. 3,260 m/10,695 ft), a large stone building at the base of the main ridge, and spend the night. The next day the climber rises at 3:30 am, so as to reach the summit and descend before the regular afternoon clouds and storms come in.

Other routes on the mountain include the Italian ridge (D, first ascent by Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich on 17 July 1865), the Zmutt ridge (D, first ascent by Albert F. Mummery, A. Burgener, J. Petrus and A. Gentinetta on 3 September 1879) and the north face route, one of the six classic north faces in the Alps (TD+, first ascent by Franz and Toni Schmid on 31 July-1 August 1931).

HILLANDGLEN