Biner_Leseprobe

Obergabelhorn south face. Only
in 1923, mountain guides Adolf
and Alfred Aufdenblatten and
their guest succeeded in climbing
this face on a direct route.
Mountain guides Peter Taugwalder
Senior and Joseph Vianin,
with Lord Francis as their guest,
were the second party to climb
this mountain in 1865. Their route
led them through the north side.
But to come back to the main subject: when it came to mountaineering, I
was not an amateur anymore. At the time, I had already under my belt the
ascent of the Breithorn and several others, which is why I suggested to my
father to let me accompany them. Originally, he had planned on hiring two
additional mountain guides, creating two roped parties, but his idea did not
please Mr Hudson; he, the humble man he was, believed that he and his
companions were more skilled than the mountain guides.
In the morning of July 13, we fetched the necessary provisions from the
Hotel Monte Rosa and started our journey at around 9 o’clock. The weather
was wonderful; the Matterhorn, completely free of snow, was warmly
welcoming us in the morning sun. We had lunch on the Hörnli. The view
was magnificent; we were surrounded by great, majestic summits. Above
the green of the valley, the dark scots pines thronged to the edge of the
eternal ice. My heart was pounding out of joy, and I could barely await
the next morning. When we reached the foot of the Matterhorn, we set
up our tents and camped. However, Croz and I climbed quite a bit higher
to approximately the same spot where they later built the so-called Altes
Refugium (‘Old Refuge’). Everything went without a glitch and we did not
have the slightest difficulties. We returned to our companions and told
them the good news. We enjoyed the soup the others had prepared in the
meantime and eventually laid our heads on our knapsacks to get some
rest. I slept like an angel.
The conquest of the Zermatt Mountains
53