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Did the rope break? This next part of the story is widely known. The seven mountaineers successfully reached the summit of the Matterhorn. The descent was taken on in the following order: Croz, Hadow, Hudson, Lord Douglas and Peter Taugwalder Senior. Whymper and Peter Taugwalder Junior were the last ones to attach themselves to the roped party, so in the end, they were one roped party of seven. Then the tragedy occurred: just below the summit, in the almost vertical north face, Hadow slipped, according to Whymper’s account. He dragged Hudson, Douglas and Croz down with him. The rope was under such tension that it broke off between Lord Douglas and Peter Taugwalder Senior. The first four mountaineers disappeared into the awful abyss of the north face and fell almost 1,000m to their deaths. Whymper and the Taugwalders were the remaining three survivors. This tragedy is still controversially discussed today, 150 years after the accident. In Whymper’s account, it seems as if he was the one leading the two mountain guides down, instead of the other way around. The Taugwalders described it as being quite the opposite. The fact that Whymper remained roped up between the two Taugwalders speaks in favour of the second version of the story. The leader of the roped party should definitely not be in the middle. Furthermore, Peter Taugwalder Senior’s quick reflexes saved Whymper’s life; he managed to fixate the lax part of the rope between him and Whymper behind a boulder before the pull of the falling companions got to them. Did Peter Taugwalder or one of the other survivors cut the rope? This claim was first made by an author who never in his life had anything to do with Zermatt or the Matterhorn: Alfred Meissner, an Austrian poet and writer who grew up in Bohemia. However, the same question had already been raised in Zermatt immediately after the accident. Nonetheless, several facts contradict this version. 36 The conquest of the Zermatt Mountains
The fall at the Matterhorn. This is what might have happened. The conquest of the Zermatt Mountains 37
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 and 28: Lord Francis Douglas was guided up
Page 29 and 30: Aiguille Verte. Together with the M
Page 31 and 32: The Matterhorn from the Zermatt sid
Page 33 and 34: After the second ascent of the Aigu
Page 35: Peter Taugwalder described Whymper
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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