Autumn Travel – Day 36 – Zermatt.

I visited the underground Matterhorn Museum this afternoon as the clouds had settled in and the mountains were all hidden from view for the whole day.

The bravery and intrepidness of the early mountaineers is admirable, especially given their clothing and equipment. The first successful climb of The Matterhorn on 14th July 1865 was immediately followed by a tragedy when on the descent, four of the seven successful summitters plunged over the north face and fell a thousand metres. Three of the bodies were sought and found within a day, but the fourth body has never been found.  

The first successful ascent by a female climber was in 1873 and I’m amazed that she was able to walk down the street, let alone climb a mountain. The clothes were long and cumbersome and she wore a big hat.