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72-698: The pass lies between the Matterhorn on the west and the Breithorn on the east and is overlooked by the Theodulhorn and Testa Grigia . The Rifugio del Teodulo (hut) is located just above the pass. The east side of the pass is covered by large glaciers part of the Theodul Glacier system and is part of a year-round ski area. On the Italian side, the pass can be reached from Breuil-Cervinia by

144-619: A cirque . Four cirques led to the shape of the mountain. Most of the base of the mountain lies in the Tsaté nappe, a remnant of the Piedmont-Liguria oceanic crust ( ophiolites ) and its sedimentary rocks. Up to 3,400 metres the mountain is composed of successive layers of ophiolites and sedimentary rocks . From 3,400 metres to the top, the rocks are gneisses from the Dent Blanche nappe (Austroalpine nappes). They are divided into

216-514: A mercury barometer , which he had taken to the summit. The Dufour map , which was afterwards followed by the Italian surveyors, gave 4,482 m (14,705 ft) as the height of the Swiss summit. In 1999, the summit height was precisely determined to be at 4,477.54 m (14,690 ft) above sea level by using Global Positioning System technology as part of the TOWER Project (Top of

288-611: A dead-end trail. On the Swiss side, trails go up from Trockener Steg and Gandegg Hut . In 1965, Percy Stallard (aged 55) rode his bicycle solo over the Theodul Pass. The Rough Stuff Fellowship, an organisation for enthusiasts of cross-country cycling, acknowledged that it was probably the first time a cyclist had done it. Stallard made it in less than 15 hours, sometimes through deep snow. [REDACTED] Media related to Theodul Pass at Wikimedia Commons This article on

360-429: A deep cleft that defied their utmost efforts. The Matterhorn remained unclimbed. Whymper returned to Breuil in 1863, persuading Carrel to join forces with him and try the mountain once more via the Italian ridge. On this attempt, however, a storm soon developed and they were stuck halfway to the summit. They remained there for 26 hours in their tent before giving up. Whymper did not make another attempt for two years. In

432-503: A good portion of the Valtournenche. The Matterhorn does not form a perfect square pyramid , as the north and south faces are wider than the west and east faces. Moreover, the latter faces do not actually meet on the summit but are connected by a 100-metre-long horizontal west–east ridge between the north and south faces. The Matterhorn's faces are steep, and only small patches of snow and ice cling to them; regular avalanches send

504-408: A height of 12,800 feet and halted for half an hour; we then continued the ascent without a break until 9.55, when we stopped for fifty minutes, at a height of 14,000 feet. When the party came close to the summit, they had to leave the ridge for the north face because "[the ridge] was usually more rotten and steep, and always more difficult than the face". At this point of the ascent Whymper wrote that

576-545: A location in Aosta Valley is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Valais location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Matterhorn The Matterhorn ( German: [ˈmatɐˌhɔʁn] , Swiss Standard German: [ˈmatərˌhɔrn] ; Italian : Cervino [tʃerˈviːno] ; French : Cervin [sɛʁvɛ̃] ; Romansh : Mont(e) Cervin(u) or Matterhorn [mɐˈtɛrorn] )

648-465: A trade route since the Roman Era . The Matterhorn was studied by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the late eighteenth century, and was followed by other renowned naturalists and artists, such as John Ruskin , in the 19th century. It remained unclimbed after most of the other great Alpine peaks had been attained and became the subject of an international competition for the summit. The first ascent of

720-516: A variety of companions could only reach a maximum height of 4,100 m (13,500 ft). However, on 14 July 1865, in what is considered the last ascent of the golden age of alpinism , he was able to reach the summit by an ascent of the Hörnli ridge in Switzerland, guided by the famed French mountaineer Michel Croz and the Swiss father and son Peter Taugwalder Sr. and Jr., and accompanied by

792-570: Is a mountain of the Alps , straddling the main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland . It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps , whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) above sea level , making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe . The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face

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864-528: Is also frequented by hikers. The Zermatt and Breuil-Cervinia resorts function as separate ski resort all year round and are connected by skilifts over the Theodul Pass. In 2023, a cable car link between Testa Grigia (or Tête grise ) and the Klein Matterhorn opened. It finally provided a direct link between the Swiss and Italian side of the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn Museum (Zermatt) relates

936-491: Is also named Gran Bècca ("big mountain") by the Valdôtains and Horu by the local Walliser German speaking people. Because of its recognizable shape, many other similar mountains around the world were named or nicknamed 'the Matterhorn of' their respective countries or mountain ranges. The Matterhorn has two distinct summits , situated at either end of a 100-metre-long (330 ft) exposed rocky crest which forms

1008-557: Is listed in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments since 1983. The Matterhorn is an isolated mountain. Because of its position on the main Alpine watershed and its great height, the Matterhorn is exposed to rapid weather changes. In addition, the steep faces of the mountain and its isolated location make it prone to banner clouds formation, with the air flowing around the mountain producing condensation of

1080-522: Is no connection with the village of Breuil-Cervinia on the Italian side. Travellers have to hire mountain guides to cross the 3,300-metre-high glaciated Theodul Pass , separating the two resorts. The town of Zermatt remains almost completely free of internal combustion vehicles and can be reached by train only. (Apart from the local police service which uses a Volkswagen car, and the refuse collection lorry, only electric vehicles are used locally). Rail and cable-car facilities have been built to make some of

1152-517: Is that débris which, in the form of pebbles, boulders, and sand, fills our valleys and our plains. The formation of the Matterhorn (and the whole Alpine range) started with the break-up of the Pangaea continent 200 million years ago into Laurasia (containing Europe) and Gondwana (containing Africa). While the rocks constituting the nearby Monte Rosa remained in Laurasia, the rocks constituting

1224-637: The Alps saw their first ascents . With its beginning slightly predating the formation of the Alpine Club in London in 1857, the golden age was dominated by British alpinists and their Swiss and French guides. Prominent figures of the period include Lord Francis Douglas , Paul Grohmann , Florence Crauford Grove , Charles Hudson , E. S. Kennedy , William Mathews , A. W. Moore , John Ball , Leslie Stephen , Francis Fox Tuckett , John Tyndall , Horace Walker and Edward Whymper . Well-known guides of

1296-690: The Austroalpine nappes , lying over the Penninic nappes . The Austroalpine nappes are part of the Apulian plate , a small continent that broke up from Africa before the Alpine orogeny . For this reason, the Matterhorn has been popularized as an African mountain. The Austroalpine nappes are mostly common in the Eastern Alps. The Swiss explorer and geologist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure , inspired by

1368-528: The Caucasus Mountains . It is the fifth-highest summit of Valais and Switzerland and the third highest summit of the Aosta Valley and Italy. Locally, it is the third-highest summit in the municipality of Zermatt and the highest summit in the municipality of Valtournenche . On the official International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation list of Alpine four-thousanders , which also includes subsidiary summits of higher mountains such as

1440-531: The Penninic nappes . The mountain's current shape is the result of cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from the peak, such as the Matterhorn Glacier at the base of the north face. Sometimes referred to as the Mountain of Mountains ( German : Berg der Berge ), it has become an indelible emblem of the Alps in general. Since the end of the 19th century, when railways were built in

1512-534: The Theodul Glacier . Well-known faces are the east and north, visible from the area of Zermatt, although mostly hidden from the Mattertal by the chain of the Weisshorn . The east face is 1,000 metres high and, because it is "a long, monotonous slope of rotten rocks", presents a high risk of rockfall, making its ascent dangerous. The north face is 1,200 metres high and is one of the most dangerous north faces in

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1584-723: The Theodul Pass to Zermatt to hire local guides. He encountered Lord Francis Douglas , a Scottish mountaineer, who also wanted to climb the Matterhorn. They arrived later in Zermatt in the Monte Rosa Hotel , where they met two other British climbers — the Reverend Charles Hudson and his young and inexperienced companion, Douglas Robert Hadow — who had hired the French guide Michel Croz to try to make

1656-586: The Valtournenche area, who made the first attempts in 1857 and 1858, reaching 3,800 m (12,500 ft) on the latter occasion. In July 1860, three brothers from Liverpool attempted the mountain, Alfred, Charles and Sandbach Parker, but they turned back at about 3,500 m (11,500 ft). In August of the same year, Jean-Jacques Carrel returned to guide, with Johann Joseph Bennen  [ de ] , Vaughan Hawkins and John Tyndall to about 3,960 m (12,990 ft) before turning back. In 1861

1728-729: The Zmutt Glacier and valley (above Zermatt ), the east face overlooks the Gorner Glacier system between the Gornergrat and Monte Rosa (respectively 10 and 17 km away) across the Theodul Pass , the west face overlooks the upper basin of the Zmutt Glacier between the Dent Blanche and the Dent d'Hérens (respectively 7 and 4 km away) and the south face fronts the resort town of Breuil-Cervinia and overlooks

1800-935: The drainage basin of the Rhone on the north ( Mediterranean Sea ) and that of the Po on the south ( Adriatic Sea ). The north side is drained by the Zmuttbach (west and north faces) and the Gornera through the Furggbach (east face), tributaries of the Rhone through the (Matter) Vispa . The south side and face is drained by the Marmore torrent, a tributary of the Po through the Dora Baltea (or Doire baltée ). The Theodul Pass , located on

1872-400: The " golden age ", scientific pursuits were intermixed with the sport. More often than not, the mountaineers carried a variety of instruments up the mountain with them to be used for scientific observations. The physicist John Tyndall was the most prominent of the scientists. Among the non-scientist mountaineers, the literary critic Leslie Stephen was the most prominent. In the later years of

1944-414: The Alps , in particular for its risk of rockfall and storms. The south face, well visible from the Valtournenche, is 1,350 metres high and offers many different routes. The west face, the highest at 1,400 metres, has the fewest ascent routes and lies in a more remote area than the other faces. The four main ridges separating the four faces are the main climbing routes. The least difficult technical climb and

2016-596: The Arolla series (below 4,200 m) and the Valpelline zone (the summit). Other mountains in the region (Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn, Dent Blanche, Mont Collon) also belong to the Dent Blanche nappe. Since the eighteenth century, the Alps have attracted more and more people and fascinated generations of explorers and climbers. The Matterhorn remained relatively little known until 1865, but the successful ascent followed by

2088-837: The Augstbord and Meiden passes, the trekker crosses the Col de Sorebois and the Col de Torrent before arriving at Arolla . Then the Arolla Glacier and the Col Collon must be crossed on the way to Prarayer , followed by the Col de Valcournera to Breuil-Cervinia. In the last and highest section, the Theodul Pass must be crossed before returning to Zermatt. In total, seven passes between 2,800 and 3,300 metres must be crossed on relatively difficult terrain. As of 2015, almost two million visitors arrive at Zermatt annually. An average of around twelve people per year have died on Matterhorn in

2160-461: The British gentlemen Charles Hudson , Lord Francis Douglas , Douglas Robert Hadow . Upon descent, Hadow, Croz, Hudson and Douglas fell to their deaths on the Matterhorn Glacier , and all but Douglas (whose body was never found) are buried in the Zermatt churchyard. Just three days later, on 17 July 1865, Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich reached the summit from the Italian side. In

2232-586: The Carrels managed to reach the Crête du Coq at 4,032 m (13,228 ft). In July 1862, Jean-Antoine, together with César Carrel, accompanied as porters (sic) John Tyndall, Anton Walters and J.J. Bennen to Matterhorn's Shoulder at 4,248 m (13,937 ft), which was subsequently named Pic Tyndall in honor of the client. Edward Whymper joined the efforts in August 1861, but in his first 7 attempts with

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2304-504: The Carrels went alone to reach a new high on Matterhorn of 4,032 m (13,228 ft) the next day. Whymper and his guide camped one more night on the Col du lion (= Col Tournanche) 3,479 m (11,414 ft) and were forced to turn around only an hour above this pass the day after. In 1862 Whymper made further attempts, still from the south side, on the Lion ridge (or Italian ridge), where

2376-580: The Col Durand, a saddle between the Pointe de Zinal and the Mont Durand . The topographic isolation is 13.9 km (8.6 mi), as the nearest point of higher elevation is the one-metre (3 ft 3 in) higher Western Liskamm . Considering mountains with a topographic prominence of at least 300 m (980 ft), the Matterhorn is the sixth-highest summit in the Alps and Europe outside

2448-632: The German words Matte ("meadow") and Horn ("horn"), and is often translated as "the peak of the meadows". In the Schalbetter map , printed by Sebastian Münster in 1545, the valley is labelled Mattertal , but the mountain has the Latin name Mons Silvius as well as the German name Augstalberg , in concord with the Aosta Valley (German Augstal ). The 1548 map by Johannes Stumpf gives only Mons Silvius . The French name Cervin , from which

2520-580: The Italian ridge. Despite its appearance, Whymper wrote that the Hörnli ridge was much easier to climb than the Italian ridge: We were now fairly upon the mountain, and were astonished to find that places which from the Riffel, or even from the Furggen Glacier, looked entirely impracticable, were so easy that we could run about . After camping for the night, Whymper and party started on the ridge. According to Whymper: The whole of this great slope

2592-569: The Italian term Cervino derives, stems from the Latin Mons Silvanus (or Mons Sylvanus ), where silva means "forest"; this was corrupted to Selvin and then Servin . The change of the first letter "s" to "c" is attributed to Horace Bénédict de Saussure , who thought the word was related to "deer" (French: cerf and Italian: cervo ). Josias Simler hypothesized in De Alpibus Commentarius (1574) that

2664-593: The Italian/Swiss border. In August 1792, the Genevan geologist and explorer Horace Bénédict de Saussure made the first measurement of the Matterhorn's height, using a sextant and a 50-foot-long (15 m) chain spread out on the Theodul glacier. He calculated its height as 4,501.7 m (14,769 ft). In 1868 the Italian engineer Felice Giordano measured a height of 4,505 m (14,780 ft) by means of

2736-402: The Matterhorn was in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper , but during the descent, a sudden fall claimed the lives of four of the seven climbers. This disaster, later portrayed in several films , marked the end of the golden age of alpinism . The north face was not climbed until 1931 and is among the three biggest north faces of the Alps , known as "The Trilogy". The west face,

2808-717: The Matterhorn found themselves in Gondwana, separated by the newly formed Tethys Ocean . 100 million years ago the extension of the Tethys Ocean stopped and the Apulian plate broke from Gondwana and moved toward the European continent. This resulted in the closure of the western Tethys by subduction under the Apulian plate (with the Piemont-Liguria Ocean first and Valais Ocean later). The subduction of

2880-480: The Matterhorn is here, suspiciously prying into everything. I have taken all the best men away from him; and yet he is so enamored of the mountain that he may go with others...He is here in the hotel and I try to avoid speaking to him. Just as he did two years before, Whymper asked Carrel to be his guide, but Carrel declined; Whymper was also unsuccessful in hiring other local guides from Breuil. When Whymper discovered Giordano and Carrel's plan, he left Breuil and crossed

2952-545: The Swiss and Italian valleys for centuries. The circuit includes alpine meadows, balcony trails, larch forests and glacial crossings. It connects six valleys embracing three different cultures: the German-speaking high Valais, the French-speaking central Valais and the bilingual French/Italian-speaking Aosta Valley. Good conditions are necessary to circumnavigate the peak. After reaching Zinal from Zermatt by

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3024-649: The Valais, and pitched his camp there. The passes which he had orders to open from there could be no other than the St. Bernard , the Simplon , the Theodul, and the Moro ; it therefore seems likely that the name of Servius, whence Silvius and later Servin, or Cervin, was given in his honour to the famous pyramid." It is unknown when the new name of Servin, or Cervin, replaced the old, from which it seems to be derived. The Matterhorn

3096-558: The World Elevations Remeasurement) and to an accuracy of less than one centimetre, which allows future changes to be tracked. The topographic prominence of the Matterhorn is 1,042 metres (3,419 ft) as the ridge connecting it with a higher summit (in this case the Weisshorn , which is the culminating point of the range west of the Mattertal valley) sinks to a height of 3,436 m (11,273 ft) at

3168-469: The air on the lee side and also creating vortices. The Matterhorn's pyramid is composed of Paleozoic rocks, which were thrusted over the Matterhorn's Mesozoic base during the Cenozoic . Quaternary glaciation and weathering give the mountain its current shape. Apart from the base of the mountain, the Matterhorn is composed of gneiss belonging to the Dent Blanche klippe , an isolated part of

3240-528: The area with his guides, before going back to Breuil on 7 July. Meanwhile, the Italian Alpine Club was founded and its leaders, Felice Giordano and Quintino Sella , established plans to conquer the Matterhorn before any non-Italian could succeed. Felice Giordano hired Carrel as a guide. He feared the arrival of Whymper, now a rival, and wrote to Quintino Sella: I have tried to keep everything secret, but that fellow whose life seems to depend on

3312-440: The area, the mountain has attracted increasing numbers of visitors and climbers. Each year, numerous mountaineers try to climb the Matterhorn from the Hörnli Hut via the northeast Hörnli ridge, the most popular route to the summit. Many trekkers also undertake the 10-day-long circuit around the mountain. The Matterhorn has been part of the Swiss Federal Inventory of Natural Monuments since 1983. The name Matterhorn derives from

3384-426: The decisive year 1865, Whymper returned with new plans, deciding to attack the Matterhorn via its south face instead of the Italian ridge. On 21 June, Whymper began his ascent with Swiss guides, but halfway up they experienced severe rockfall; although nobody was injured, they decided to give up the ascent. This was Whymper's seventh attempt. During the following weeks, Whymper spent his time climbing other mountains in

3456-401: The era include Christian Almer , Jakob Anderegg , Melchior Anderegg , Johann Joseph Bennen ( fr ), Peter Bohren , Jean-Antoine Carrel , Michel Croz , Ulrich Kaufmann and Johannes Zumtaugwald. Lucy Walker , sister of Horace, attained some notable firsts during the period, including the first ascent of the Balmhorn (1864), and later several first female ascents. In the early years of

3528-456: The first ascent. These two groups decided to join forces and try the ascent of the Hörnli ridge. They hired another two local guides, a father and son, both named Peter Taugwalder. Whymper and party left Zermatt early in the morning of 13 July 1865, heading to the foot of the Hörnli ridge, which they reached 6 hours later (approximately where the Hörnli Hut is situated today). Meanwhile, Carrel and six other Italian guides also began their ascent of

3600-409: The four compass points and are split by the Hörnli , Furggen , Leone / Lion , and Zmutt ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt , in the canton of Valais , to the northeast; and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass , the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, which has been

3672-447: The general history of the region from alpinism to tourism. In the museum, which is in the form of a reconstituted mountain village, the visitors can relive the first and tragic ascent of the Matterhorn and see the objects that belonged to the protagonists. The Tour of the Matterhorn can be effected by trekkers in about 10 days. Considered by some as one of the most beautiful treks in the Alps, it follows many ancient trails that have linked

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3744-407: The highest of the Matterhorn's four faces, was completely climbed only in 1962. It is estimated that over 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world. The Matterhorn is mainly composed of gneisses (originally fragments of the African Plate before the Alpine orogeny ) from the Dent Blanche nappe , lying over ophiolites and sedimentary rocks of

3816-509: The less experienced Hadow "required continual assistance". Having overcome these difficulties the group finally arrived in the summit area, with Croz and Whymper reaching the top first. The slope eased off, and Croz and I, dashing away, ran a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a dead heat. At 1.40 p.m. the world was at our feet, and the Matterhorn was conquered. Hurrah! Not a footstep could be seen. Precisely at this moment, Carrel and party were approximatively 400 metres below, still dealing with

3888-403: The most difficult parts of the Italian ridge. When seeing his rival on the summit, Carrel and party gave up on their attempt and went back to Breuil. Golden age of alpinism The golden age of alpinism was the decade in mountaineering between Alfred Wills 's ascent of the Wetterhorn in 1854 and Edward Whymper 's ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, during which many major peaks in

3960-588: The name Mons Silvius was readopted by T. G. Farinetti: "Silvius was probably a Roman leader who sojourned with his legions in the land of the Salassi and the Seduni , and perhaps crossed the Theodul Pass between these two places. This Silvius may have been that same Servius Galba whom Caesar charged with the opening up of the Alpine passes, which from that time onward traders have been wanting to cross with great danger and grave difficulty. Servius Galba, in order to carry out Caesar's orders, came with his legions from Allobroges ( Savoy ) to Octodurum ( Martigny ) in

4032-442: The nearby Monte Rosa , the Matterhorn is the 12th highest summit in the Alps. The Matterhorn has a pyramidal shape with four faces nearly facing the four compass points. Three of them (north, east and west) are on the Swiss side of the border and watershed ( Mattertal valley) and one of them (south) is on the Italian side of the border ( Valtournenche valley). The north face overlooks the Ober Gabelhorn (7 km away) across

4104-411: The oceanic crust left traces still visible today at the base of the Matterhorn ( accretionary prism ). The orogeny itself began after the end of the oceanic subduction when the European continental crust collided with the Apulian continent, resulting in the formation of nappes . The Matterhorn acquired its characteristic pyramidal shape in much more recent times as it was caused by natural erosion over

4176-434: The past million years. At the beginning of alpine orogeny, the Matterhorn was only a rounded mountain like a hill. Because its height is above the snowline , its flanks are covered by ice, resulting from the accumulation and compaction of snow. During the warmer period of summer, part of the ice melts and seeps into the bedrock. When it freezes again, it fractures pieces of rock because of its dilatation ( freeze-thaw ), forming

4248-420: The ridges [...] the ridge still has an awesome reputation but is not too difficult in good conditions by the indirect finish". While the Matterhorn is the culminating point of the Valtournenche on the south, it is only one of the many 4000 metres summits of the Mattertal valley on the north. Its height is exceeded by four major summits: the Weisshorn (4,505 m), the Dom (4,545 m), the Liskamm (4,527 m) and

4320-420: The route seemed easier than the Hörnli ridge (the normal route today). On his own, he reached above 4,000 metres, but was injured on his way down to Breuil. In July John Tyndall with Johann Joseph Bennen and another guide overcame most of the difficulties of the ridge that seemed so formidable from below and successfully reached the main shoulder ; but at a point not very far below the summit they were stopped by

4392-463: The second-highest in the Alps, Monte Rosa (4,634 m). This section of the Pennine Alps , including the Matterhorn, the Zinalrothorn , the Dent Blanche , the Dent d'Hérens , the Breithorn , the Strahlhorn , the Rimpfischhorn and the Alphubel , concentrates most of western Europe's highest mountains and forms a crown of peaks around Zermatt. The deeply glaciated region between the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa (named Dent Blanche-Matterhorn-Monte Rosa )

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4464-426: The snow down to accumulate on the glaciers at the base of each face, the largest of which are the Tiefmattengletscher to the west, part of the Zmutt Glacier , and the Matterhorn Glacier to the north. Smaller glaciers lie at the base of the south face (the Lower Matterhorn Glacier) and the east face (unnamed). In this area, the border between Switzerland and Italy coincides with the main Alpine watershed , separating

4536-465: The south and west faces and aligned towards the Dent d'Hérens is the Italian normal route and goes across Pic Tyndall ; Collomb comments, "A superb rock ridge, the shortest on the mountain, now draped with many fixed ropes, but a far superior climb compared with the Hörnli." Finally the south side is separated from the east side by the Furggen ridge ( Furggengrat ), which is aligned towards the Klein Matterhorn . It is, according to Collomb, "the hardest of

4608-429: The south side. In Châtillon he hired a Swiss guide, who remained anonymous in his accounts, and in Valtournanche he almost hired Jean-Antoine Carrel as well, but, disliking the looks of Carrel's uncle, he changed his mind. The Carrels decided to give Matterhorn a try by themselves again, and caught up with Whymper at nightfall. Whymper now had "a strong inclination to engage the pair; but, finally, decided against it" and

4680-406: The summer of 1860, Edward Whymper came across the Matterhorn for the first time. He was an English artist and engraver who had been hired by a London publisher to make sketches of the mountains in the region of Zermatt . Although the unclimbed Matterhorn had a mixed reputation among British mountaineers, it fascinated Whymper. Whymper's first attempt was in August 1861, from the village of Breuil on

4752-427: The summits in the area more accessible. The Gornergrat railway , reaching a record altitude of 3,100 metres, was inaugurated in 1898. Areas served by cable car are the Unterrothorn and the Klein Matterhorn ( Little Matterhorn ) (3,883 m, highest transportation system in Europe). The Hörnli Hut (3,260 m), which is the start of the normal route via the Hörnli ridge, is easily accessible from Schwarzsee (2,600 m) and

4824-445: The ten years from 2005 to 2015. The Matterhorn was one of the last of the main Alpine mountains to be ascended, not because of its technical difficulty, but because of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers . The first serious attempts were all from the Italian side, although, despite appearances, the southern routes are technically more difficult. The main figures were Jean-Antoine Carrel and his uncle Jean-Jacques Carrel, from

4896-433: The tragic accident of the expedition led by Edward Whymper caused a rush on the mountains surrounding Zermatt . The construction of the railway linking the village of Zermatt from the town of Visp started in 1888. The first train reached Zermatt on 18 July 1891 and the entire line was electrified in 1930. Since 1930 the village is directly connected to St. Moritz by the Glacier Express panoramic train. However, there

4968-460: The usual climbing route , the Hörnli ridge ( Hörnligrat ), lies between the east and north faces and is aligned towards the Oberrothorn above Zermatt. To its west lies the Zmutt ridge ( Zmuttgrat ), between the north and west faces and aligned towards the Wandfluehorn ; this is, according to Collomb, "the classic route up the mountain, its longest ridge, also the most disjointed." The Lion ridge ( Cresta del Leone / Arête du lion ), lying between

5040-419: The view of the Matterhorn, anticipated modern theories of geology: What power must have been required to shatter and to sweep away the missing parts of this pyramid; for we do not see it surrounded by heaps of fragments; one only sees other peaks - themselves rooted to the ground - whose sides, equally rent, indicate an immense mass of débris, of which we do not see any trace in the neighbourhood. Doubtless, this

5112-400: The watershed between the Matterhorn and the Breithorn , at 3,295 metres, is the easiest passage between the two valleys and countries (the slightly lower Furggjoch not being used as a pass). The pass was used as a crossover and trade route for the Romans and the Romanised Celtic population Salassi between 100 BCE and 400 CE. The area is now heavily glaciated and covered on the north side by

5184-420: Was now revealed, rising for 3,000 feet like a huge natural staircase. Some parts were more, and others were less, easy; but we were not once brought to a halt by any serious impediment, for when an obstruction was met in front it could always be turned to the right or left. For the greater part of the way there was, indeed, no occasion for the rope, and sometimes Hudson led, sometimes myself. At 6.20 we had attained

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