Matterhorn / Mont Cervin / Monte Cervino

The Matterhorn (French Mont Cervin, Italian Monte Cervino: 4,478 m/ 14,692ft) was first climbed on July 14, 1865 by a British team consisting of Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas and Douglas Hadow, with Michel Croz and the two Peter Taugwalders, father and son, as guides. On the way down, 400 m/1,312ft below the summit, Hadow slipped and fell on to the Matterhorn glacier, dragging Hudson, Douglas and Croz with him: Whymper and the Taugwalders were saved by the breaking of the rope. The ascent of the Matterhorn from Zermatt is no longer considered to be particularly difficult, as it is achieved by some 3,000 people every summer, but it should be attempted only by experienced climbers (4.5-6 hours from the Hörnli ridge; the Italian or southwest ridge was climbed a few days later by a guide named Carrell, the Zmutt ridge in 1879, the difficult Furgg Ridge in 1911. The west face was climbed in 1927, the ice-covered north face and the south face in 1931 and the east face in 1932; the first winter climb of the north face was made in 1962.