Josef Lochmatter

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Portrait of the mountain and ski guide Josef Lochmatter (1872–1915) by Albert Gos from 1903.

Josef Lochmatter (born June 19, 1872 in St. Niklaus ; † April 18, 1915 in Brig ) was a Swiss mountaineer , mountain and ski guide pioneer . He was a great all-round mountain guide and the founder of the new St. Niklaus mountain guide school, which remained unmatched until the 1930s.

family

Josef Lochmatter from St. Niklaus in the Swiss canton of Valais is the second son of Josef Marie Lochmatter , the founder and ancestor of the well-known St. Niklaus mountain guide dynasty. The couple Magdalena Imboden (1875–1954) and Josef Lochmatter had a total of six children, with Adolf (1899–1915), the eldest son, died as a young man of appendicitis and the two subsequent sons Arnold and Bernhard died as small children.

Erwin Lochmatter (1911–1987), the fifth son, became an entrepreneur and also a mountain and ski guide like his father. One of his regulars was the Belgian banker Jacques Verhagen, who said that Lochmatter drives as well as drives. These alpine skills benefited him as an entrepreneur, as the quartzite slab quarries in the municipality of St. Niklaus are one of the few European quarries without road access. The successful entrepreneur Erwin Lochmatter made St. Niklaus quartzite known beyond the borders of the Valais in Europe.

All-round mountain guide and founder of the new school

Ski guide

Josef Lochmatter traveled to Norway around 1900 to improve his skiing technique there. On January 10, 1902, he made the first winter ascent of the Weisshorn ( 4505  m ) and on January 31, 1911 that of the Matterhorn ( 4478  m ) over the Hörnligrat.

Josef Lochmatter learned the carpentry trade from his cousin Josef Marie Lochmatter (1861–1919), who was also a St. Niklaus mountain guide. Josef Lochmatter made the skis himself.

Comet of the Alps

In 1896/1897 Josef Lochmatter was a member of the expedition of the successful first ascent of America's highest mountain, the Aconcagua ( 6958  m ), which set a new world record for high altitude.

In 1905 he was the first to climb the Furggengrat on the Matterhorn ( 4478  m ). In 1880 the “King of Mountain Guides” Alexander Burgener declared the Furggengrat to be inaccessible.

In 1906 he was the first to climb the 900 meter high south face of the Täschhorn (55 ° -60 °, 4491  m ). In 1955, Geoffrey Winthrop Young reported : “It is only right to tell of this, for I hardly believe that in overcoming natural difficulties, resistance to the effects of cold, fatigue, and contagion through dejection and fear is in any area of ​​the Adventure or conflict was often unparalleled. "

In 1913 he was the first to climb the Lochmatter chimney named after him on the Aiguille du Grépon ( 3482  m ), although the great mountain guide François Simond from Chamonix and others had previously been forced back into the Lochmatter chimney .

First ascents (selection)

  • April 29, 1897: Forked Peak, Aconcagua Group
  • January 10, 1901: First winter ascent of the Weisshorn ( 4505  m )
  • July 1901: first crossing from Grand ( 3754  m ) to Petit Dru ( 3733  m )
  • August 1905: Furggengrat of the Matterhorn ( 4478  m )
  • June 20, 1906: East ridge (Lochmatter-Ryan route) of the Aiguille du Plan ( 3673  m )
  • August 11, 1906: south face of the Täschhorn (55 ° -60 °, 4491  m )
  • January 31, 1911: First winter ascent of the Hörnli ridge of the Matterhorn ( 4478  m )
  • 26 August 1913: direct ascent over the western slope (Lochmatter chimney) of the Aiguille du Grépon ( 3482  m )
  • the other first ascents see below under literature

See also

literature

  • Christian Imboden: Mountains: job, calling, fate . Rotten Verlag, Visp 2013, ISBN 3-907624-48-3 . P. 91 ff .: Josef Lochmatter (1872–1915), P. 126 ff .: The first ascents.

Web links

Commons : Josef Lochmatter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erwin Lochmatter in the Switzerland Wiki, viewed on October 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ Christian Imboden: Mountains: Profession, Vocation, Fate . Rotten Verlag, Visp 2013, ISBN 3-907624-48-3 . P. 92: Ski guide.
  3. ↑ Christian Imboden: Mountains: Profession, Vocation, Fate . Rotten Verlag, Visp 2013, ISBN 3-907624-48-3 . P. 168 ff .: The St. Niklaus mountain guide families. The Lochmatter mountain guides.
  4. ↑ Christian Imboden: Mountains: Profession, Vocation, Fate . Rotten Verlag, Visp 2013, ISBN 3-907624-48-3 . P. 92 ff .: Seilschaft Lochmatter-Ryan, Comet of the Alps.
  5. ↑ Christian Imboden: Mountains: Profession, Vocation, Fate . Rotten Verlag, Visp 2013, ISBN 3-907624-48-3 . P. 95: Lochmatter-Rolleston rope team.
personal data
SURNAME Lochmatter, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lochmatter, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss mountaineer, mountain and ski guide pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Niklaus , Canton of Valais, Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1915
Place of death Brig , Canton of Valais, Switzerland