Golden age of alpinism

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The golden age of mountaineering is a time around the middle of the 19th century when most of the major mountains in the Western Alps were first climbed . Important events that mark the beginning of the Golden Age were the fourth ascent of the Wetterhorn in 1854 by Alfred Wills and his companions and the first ascent of the Dufourspitze in the Monte Rosa massif by five British mountaineers and three Swiss mountain guides in 1855. The first ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and companions 1865 is finally seen as the end of this historical phase of alpinism.

In the golden age of mountaineering, it was mainly British mountaineers with mountain guides from Switzerland and France who carried out most of the first ascent of the high peaks of the western Alps. Especially at the beginning, the ventures also served scientific purposes, with the physicist John Tyndall playing an important role . The historian and writer Leslie Stephen , the Anglican clergyman Charles Hudson and the first Matterhorn climber Edward Whymper were among the sporty alpine pioneers of that time . During this time the British Alpine Club was founded in 1857, the Austrian Alpine Club in 1862 and the Swiss Alpine Club in 1863.

First ascents in the golden age of alpinism

literature

  • Simon Thompson: Unjustifiable Risk? The Story of British Climbing . Milnthorpe UK, 2010
  • Jim Ring: How the English made the Alps . London UK 2000
  • Trevor Braham: When the Alps cast their spell. Mountaineers of the Alpine Golden Age . The In Pinn, Glasgow 2004