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Edward Whymper did not have any friendly relationships with the other Englishmen. He only met Douglas because Douglas visited him in Valtournenche just before the first ascent. Hudson and Kennedy were irritated by the fact that Whymper had ‘taken’ the Aiguille Verte from them and had made the ascent without informing them beforehand; they had been in Chamonix at the same time with the same goal in mind. Kennedy met Whymper in June of 1865, when they both stayed at the Hotel Monte Rosa. He allegedly told him about his intentions to be the first to climb the Aiguille Verte together with Peter Perren. At that time, the Aiguille Verte, apart from the Matterhorn, was the most discussed mountain in the British Alpine Club. Said ascent was supposed to be made together with Hudson, who was already in Chamonix. Back in England, Kennedy and Hudson had already made their plans for the summer. Whymper then decided to pre-empt them. He travelled to Valtournenche, where he met up with Michel Croz. However, Croz was only available for a few days before he had to go to Chamonix in order to guide Mr Birkbeck. That is why Whymper additionally recruited Franz <strong>Biner</strong> and Christian Almer as mountain guides. Together with his three guides, he then rushed to Courmayeur and was, in passing, the first to climb the Grandes Jorasses. The group lodged in Chamonix, but apparently without contacting Kennedy or Hudson. In the meantime, Peter Perren, together with Kennedy, had already made a first attempt to climb the Aiguille Verte through the north face; however, they had to give up due to the high level of difficulty and bad weather conditions. One day later, Whymper, together with <strong>Biner</strong> and Almer, successfully climbed to the summit via ‘his’ couloir. In Chamonix, this success was celebrated with gun salutes. Kennedy had to hear from his hotelier about Whymper’s victory and was deeply disappointed with his behaviour. He did congratulate Whymper, as good Englishmen do, but he made it very clear that he found it extremely irritating that Whymper decided to go behind his back in order for him to get the first ascent. Meanwhile in Chamonix, Mr Birkbeck, Michel Croz’ guest, fell ill; Croz found himself unoccupied and was immediately recruited by Hudson. Without said illness, Croz would not have been at the Matterhorn and the whole story would probably have taken a different turn. In the days to follow, Hudson was the second to climb the Aiguille Verte together with Croz, Kennedy, Peter Perren, Michel Ducroz and G.C. Hodgkinson. They had taken the Moine Ridge to reach the mountaintop – a route that is still considered to be very challenging today. The ascent took 16 hours and demanded the climbing of difficult and brittle rock. 28 The conquest of the Zermatt Mountains
Aiguille Verte. Together with the Matterhorn, this mountain was one of the great alpine challenges. In 1865, Whymper achieved the first ascent of both summits just within a few days. Thomas Stuart Kennedy. He could have been the first to climb the Matterhorn, together with Peter Perren – could have. The conquest of the Zermatt Mountains 29
Page 1: The Matterhorn and its mountain gui
Page 4 and 5: © 2015, Hermann Biner, Zermatt Pub
Page 7 and 8: Preface The Matterhorn - mystical,
Page 9 and 10: Monte Rosa and Lyskamm with Gorner
Page 11 and 12: On August 13 of 1792, natural scien
Page 13 and 14: Zermatt and the Matterhorn around 1
Page 15 and 16: ·· Johann Zumtaugwald (first asce
Page 17 and 18: Weisshorn from the north. Today sti
Page 19 and 20: First ascents between 1850 and 1865
Page 21 and 22: Background on the first ascent of t
Page 23 and 24: Lyskamm - one of the most dangerous
Page 25 and 26: Between 1850 and 1865, Zermatt moun
Page 27: Lord Francis Douglas was guided up
Page 31 and 32: The Matterhorn from the Zermatt sid
Page 33 and 34: After the second ascent of the Aigu
Page 35 and 36: Peter Taugwalder described Whymper
Page 37 and 38: The fall at the Matterhorn. This is
Page 39 and 40: The fall site on the Matterhorn. Fa
Page 41 and 42: The Matterhorn Museum in Zermatt ha
Page 43 and 44: The faulty rope at the Matterhorn M
Page 45 and 46: Interrogating Peter Taugwalder Seni
Page 47 and 48: 30. Please, tell us more about the
Page 49 and 50: 58. Was your son recruited as a gui
Page 51 and 52: The account of Peter Taugwalder Jun
Page 53 and 54: Obergabelhorn south face. Only in 1
Page 55 and 56: The summit of the Matterhorn. Stand
Page 57: of the things we were saying? He di

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