Leo Fulviosky
Matterhorn -Cervino --Whymper and party left Zermatt early in the morning of July 13, 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 It
First ascent
Main article: First ascent of the Matterhorn
Whymper and party left Zermatt early in the morning of July 13, 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 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.[40]
The first ascent of the Matterhorn, by Gustave Doré
After camping for the night, Whymper and party started on the ridge. According to Whymper:
The whole of this great slope 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 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.[40]
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".[40] At this point of the ascent Whymper wrote that the less experienced Hadow "required continual assistance".[40] 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.[40]
Precisely at this moment, Carrel and party were approximatively 400 metres below, still dealing with 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.
The first descent of the Matterhorn, by Gustave Doré
After building a cairn, Whymper and party stayed an hour on the summit. Then they began their descent of the Hörnli ridge. Croz descended first, then Hadow, Hudson and Douglas, the elder Taugwalder, Whymper, with the younger Taugwalder coming last. They climbed down with great care, only one man moving at a time. Whymper wrote:
As far as I know, at the moment of the accident no one was actually moving. I cannot speak with certainty, neither can the Taugwalders, because the two leading men were partially hidden from our sight by an intervening mass of rock. Poor Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow greater security was absolutely taking hold of his legs and putting his feet, one by one, into their proper positions. From the movements of their shoulders it is my belief that Croz, having done as I have said, was in the act of turning round to go down a step or two himself; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, fell on him, and knocked him over.[41]
The weight of the falling men pulled Hudson and Douglas from their holds and dragged them down the north face. The Taugwalders and Whymper were left alive when the rope linking Douglas to the elder Taugwalder broke. They were stunned by the accident and for a time could not move until the younger Taugwalder descended to enable them to advance. When they were together Whymper asked to see the broken rope and saw that it had been employed by mistake as it was the weakest and oldest of the three ropes they had brought. They frantically looked, but in vain, for traces of their fallen companions. They continued their descent, including an hour in the dark, until 9.30 p.m. when a resting place was found. At daybreak the descent was resumed and the group finally reached Zermatt, where a search of the victims was quickly organized. The bodies of Croz, Hadow and Hudson were found on the Matterhorn Glacier, but the body of Douglas was never found. Although the elder Taugwalder was accused of cutting the rope to save himself and his son, the official inquest found no proof of this. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
La prima ascensione
Dopo avere congedato Michel Croz, impegnato con un altro cliente, Whymper si dispose a effettuare un nuovo tentativo con Jean-Antoine Carrel. Egli però si era impegnato con il Club Alpino Italiano per effettuare un tentativo tutto italiano, fortemente voluto da Quintino Sella. Una squadra italiana, formata da César e Jean-Antoine Carrel, Jean-Joseph Maquignaz e una quarta guida, partì per la vetta l'11 luglio seguendo la via italiana.[12][13] Ritornato a Zermatt, Whymper vi trovò un gruppo di compatrioti: Lord Francis Douglas, D. Hadow, e il reverendo Charles Hudson, accompagnati da tre guide, Peter Taugwalder padre e figlio, e Michel Croz che, rilasciato dal suo precedente cliente, si era unito ai tre britannici. I sette formarono una cordata unica, che il 13 luglio 1865 attaccò la salita per quella che è oggi la via normale svizzera. Dopo avere pernottato all'aperto i sette ripartirono il mattino dopo e arrivarono in vetta alle 13.40 del 14 luglio. Dalla vetta videro la squadra italiana guidata da Carrel, che si trovava alcune centinaia di metri più in basso; gli italiani visti i britannici in vetta, si ritirarono.[12]
La discesa fu funestata da un gravissimo incidente. I sette erano tutti legati insieme, con Michel Croz in testa, seguito da Hadow, Hudson, Douglas, Taugwalder padre, Whymper e Taugwalder figlio. Su un passaggio non particolarmente difficile Hadow scivolò e cadde addosso a Croz, che perse l'equilibrio; i due caddero per il precipizio sul versante svizzero, trascinando prima Hudson, poi Douglas. A questo punto la corda tra Douglas e Taugwalder padre si spezzò, e i tre superstiti videro i quattro compagni precipitare per oltre mille metri verso il sottostante ghiacciaio del Matterhorn. I due Taugwalder e Whymper riuscirono a rientrare in serata a Zermatt, dove diedero la notizia. Il 16 luglio una squadra di ricerca trovò le salme dei caduti, tranne quella di Lord Douglas; le salme furono recuperate il 19 luglio.[12]
Fu la prima grande tragedia dell'alpinismo moderno ed ebbe notevole eco nell'opinione pubblica.
Matterhorn -Cervino --Whymper and party left Zermatt early in the morning of July 13, 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 It
First ascent
Main article: First ascent of the Matterhorn
Whymper and party left Zermatt early in the morning of July 13, 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 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.[40]
The first ascent of the Matterhorn, by Gustave Doré
After camping for the night, Whymper and party started on the ridge. According to Whymper:
The whole of this great slope 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 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.[40]
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".[40] At this point of the ascent Whymper wrote that the less experienced Hadow "required continual assistance".[40] 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.[40]
Precisely at this moment, Carrel and party were approximatively 400 metres below, still dealing with 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.
The first descent of the Matterhorn, by Gustave Doré
After building a cairn, Whymper and party stayed an hour on the summit. Then they began their descent of the Hörnli ridge. Croz descended first, then Hadow, Hudson and Douglas, the elder Taugwalder, Whymper, with the younger Taugwalder coming last. They climbed down with great care, only one man moving at a time. Whymper wrote:
As far as I know, at the moment of the accident no one was actually moving. I cannot speak with certainty, neither can the Taugwalders, because the two leading men were partially hidden from our sight by an intervening mass of rock. Poor Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow greater security was absolutely taking hold of his legs and putting his feet, one by one, into their proper positions. From the movements of their shoulders it is my belief that Croz, having done as I have said, was in the act of turning round to go down a step or two himself; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, fell on him, and knocked him over.[41]
The weight of the falling men pulled Hudson and Douglas from their holds and dragged them down the north face. The Taugwalders and Whymper were left alive when the rope linking Douglas to the elder Taugwalder broke. They were stunned by the accident and for a time could not move until the younger Taugwalder descended to enable them to advance. When they were together Whymper asked to see the broken rope and saw that it had been employed by mistake as it was the weakest and oldest of the three ropes they had brought. They frantically looked, but in vain, for traces of their fallen companions. They continued their descent, including an hour in the dark, until 9.30 p.m. when a resting place was found. At daybreak the descent was resumed and the group finally reached Zermatt, where a search of the victims was quickly organized. The bodies of Croz, Hadow and Hudson were found on the Matterhorn Glacier, but the body of Douglas was never found. Although the elder Taugwalder was accused of cutting the rope to save himself and his son, the official inquest found no proof of this. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
La prima ascensione
Dopo avere congedato Michel Croz, impegnato con un altro cliente, Whymper si dispose a effettuare un nuovo tentativo con Jean-Antoine Carrel. Egli però si era impegnato con il Club Alpino Italiano per effettuare un tentativo tutto italiano, fortemente voluto da Quintino Sella. Una squadra italiana, formata da César e Jean-Antoine Carrel, Jean-Joseph Maquignaz e una quarta guida, partì per la vetta l'11 luglio seguendo la via italiana.[12][13] Ritornato a Zermatt, Whymper vi trovò un gruppo di compatrioti: Lord Francis Douglas, D. Hadow, e il reverendo Charles Hudson, accompagnati da tre guide, Peter Taugwalder padre e figlio, e Michel Croz che, rilasciato dal suo precedente cliente, si era unito ai tre britannici. I sette formarono una cordata unica, che il 13 luglio 1865 attaccò la salita per quella che è oggi la via normale svizzera. Dopo avere pernottato all'aperto i sette ripartirono il mattino dopo e arrivarono in vetta alle 13.40 del 14 luglio. Dalla vetta videro la squadra italiana guidata da Carrel, che si trovava alcune centinaia di metri più in basso; gli italiani visti i britannici in vetta, si ritirarono.[12]
La discesa fu funestata da un gravissimo incidente. I sette erano tutti legati insieme, con Michel Croz in testa, seguito da Hadow, Hudson, Douglas, Taugwalder padre, Whymper e Taugwalder figlio. Su un passaggio non particolarmente difficile Hadow scivolò e cadde addosso a Croz, che perse l'equilibrio; i due caddero per il precipizio sul versante svizzero, trascinando prima Hudson, poi Douglas. A questo punto la corda tra Douglas e Taugwalder padre si spezzò, e i tre superstiti videro i quattro compagni precipitare per oltre mille metri verso il sottostante ghiacciaio del Matterhorn. I due Taugwalder e Whymper riuscirono a rientrare in serata a Zermatt, dove diedero la notizia. Il 16 luglio una squadra di ricerca trovò le salme dei caduti, tranne quella di Lord Douglas; le salme furono recuperate il 19 luglio.[12]
Fu la prima grande tragedia dell'alpinismo moderno ed ebbe notevole eco nell'opinione pubblica.