Lucy Walker (mountaineer)
Lucy Walker (* 1836 ; † September 10, 1916 in Liverpool ) was a British mountaineer who was the first woman to climb the Matterhorn in 1871 .
Life
Walker began her career as a mountaineer in 1858 on the advice of a doctor in order to alleviate her rheumatism with hiking. Together with her father Frank Walker and her brother Horace Walker , both members of the British Alpine Club , she made regular mountain tours in the Alps . Together with her brother and father and the mountain guides Jakob and Melchior Anderegg , Lucy Walker made the first ascent of the Balmhorn on July 21, 1864 . In 1866 she was the first woman to climb the Wetterhorn , in 1868 the Liskamm and in 1869 the Piz Bernina .
As for the men, the Matterhorn was the most coveted peak of the era. Several women were on the mountain, with the American mountaineer Meta Brevoort in particular being one of the favorites for the first women ascent. When Walker found out about the Meta Brevoort project, she hired Melchior Anderegg again . On July 22nd, 1871, the time had come: A telegram reached the newspaper offices, according to which Lucy Walker was the first woman to stand on the summit of the Matterhorn. Meta Brevoort arrived in Zermatt on the same day or shortly after and was disappointed to hear the news. A few weeks later, she managed to cross the Horn for the first time from Zermatt to Breuil. Although the two women were basically rivaling, they cherished and admired each other.
Since no women were allowed as members at the time in the Alpine Club, Walker joined the newly founded Ladies' Alpine Club in 1907 . From 1913 to 1915 she was the club's second chairman.
Mountain guide monument
The mountain guide monument in St. Niklaus Dorf honors u. a. Lucy Walker as a guest of the St. Niklaus mountain guides.
literature
- Caroline Fink, Karin Steinbach: First on the rope - pioneers in rock and ice Tyrolia Verlag , Innsbruck 2013, ISBN 978-3-7022-3252-8
- Fergus Fleming: Up. The first conquests of the Alpine peaks. Piper Verlag , Munich 2003, ISBN 3492247512
- Tanja Wirz: summiteers. A gender history of alpinism in Switzerland 1840-1940. Hier + now-Verlag , Baden 2007, ISBN 978-3-03919-033-1
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Walker, Lucy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British alpinist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1836 |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1916 |
| Place of death | Liverpool |