This morning, Edward Whymper left his Lambeth home, in London close to the River Thames. He is going to the Alps he has grown to love and the mountaineering that challenges and inspires him. Aged only 25 years, but with 5 climbing seasons under his belt, he is strong with the exuberance of youth. His season of 1864 was spectacularly successful and cemented his reputation in the close-knit fraternity of the Alpine Club.

Today Whymper travels alone. Adams-Reilly, great friend and partner in several of last year’s exploits, is off to spend the summer mapping the Italian side of the Alps for the Alpine Club, but they will meet in a few weeks time. Edward Whymper is growing up and feels ready to plan routes over peaks and passes for himself. He wants to set himself strategic challenges and looks forward to a time when he will use these skills out in the wider world. Crossing the border into France, there is often a bit of banter with Customs Officers who assume that someone carrying ropes and ladders must have burglary on the mind, which each year amuses the young Whymper. Now he has arrived in Paris ready to board tomorrow’s train east towards the Alps.

Early this morning a letter arrived at Whymper’s house in London. Adams Reilly, knowing that Whymper’s plans for the summer include another go at the Matterhorn, thought it best to warn his friend of other climbers with the same ambition. In March, Thomas Kennedy, Joseph McCormick and Charles Hudson met at Hudson’s country parish and they worked on strategy for a Matterhorn ascent. A day too late, the letter will lie unread until Whymper’s return late in July. He will be a different person then.

The journey continued to Lauterbrunnen. Towered over by the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau, the village nestles in a dramatic valley between gigantic rock faces and thundering waterfalls. This evening, Whymper and one of the three guides he has engaged for the summer’s energetic climbing programme will meet. Christian Almer comes from neighbouring Grindelwald. Whymper was impressed by his skills last year when he spent some weeks climbing with Horace Walker and Adolphus Moore, who had Almer as their guide.

In spite of arriving in Lauterbrunnen late last night, Whymper was up early today to spend happy hours scouting the terrain with his guide, Christian Almer. They are hoping to find a new pass to Concordiaplatz, which lies at the heart of the Alps’ largest glacial region, and to reach the 2,927m Eggishorn. Daylight was employed making observations of the topography and this evening they are studying maps and charts.

Edward Whymper has become one of the most accomplished climbers of his time, but it is not simply about the physical demands of scrambling over rocks and snow. For Whymper, a driving factor in making first ascents is the mental challenge of finding a route that might actually make that ascent feasible. His curious mind has absorbed vast amounts of information on the geology, weather systems and geography of the Alps. Now, he is keen to put this to use, which does require the mountain know-how, the sheer strength and the willingness of the guides who accompany him on these adventures.

The Reverend William Hawker is a climbing colleague of Whymper’s who lives in Interlaken. The two Englishmen teamed up today for an attempt on the 3,750m, as yet unclimbed, Ebnefluhjoch. Like Hawker, British climbers are largely drawn from the rising Victorian class of professionals - they are lawyers, clergymen, academics and business-men, who arrange to be absent from their obligations for many weeks in the summer. Whymper is by profession a wood engraver, working for the family’s successful business illustrating books and periodicals, often about travel. The main climbing season is July and August, so leaving in June has given Whymper, in 1865, a bit of a head start.

Sadly, Whymper’s first real climb of the season had to be aborted, but knowing when to turn back is an important skill for a mountaineer. The Ebnefluhjoch held out, and Whymper and Hawker have returned to pass the night at Lauterbrunnen.

Whymper and Almer left Lauterbrunnen this morning and crossed the icy ridge of the 3,202m Petersgrat. This route has become established among mountaineers to reach the village of Turtmann in the Rhône valley. Here, Whymper has arranged to meet the other two guides who make up his team for this summer of scrambling in the Alps – Michel Croz and Franz Biner.

Michel Croz from Tour near Chamonix has already won Whymper’s complete admiration and respect. In 1864, they spent many weeks together which would have culminated in an attempt on the Matterhorn except that Whymper’s work called him urgently back to London. Franz Biner from Zermatt is less experienced but known to be reliable and kind-hearted. He is also useful because Croz speaks only French, Almer only German and their attempts at communication can be hampered by unfortunate misunderstandings. Although Whymper often manages to solve the muddle with the use of sketch book and pencil, Biner’s understanding of both languages can make the crucial difference between heading north or south.

Today, Whymper and his three guides, Croz, Almer and Biner, travelled on foot from Turtmann to Zinal, a small village at 1,675m circled by 5 peaks of over 4,000m. From here their plan is to attempt the unclimbed 3,962m Grand Cornier. Whymper is aware that Adolphus Moore tried but failed to reach its summit last year. As they crossed the Forcletta Pass they took time to study the north face of the massive mountain. They agreed that there is no feasible route on that side so an alternative will have to be found.

Over the next weeks, Whymper intends to accomplish as much climbing activity as is humanly possible. His engagement of Michel Croz ends sooner than he would have liked, on June 27^th, so he wants to make full use until then of the guide’s strength and skill. After that, in July, he will get down to some serious sketching. This will be more than his habitual doodling in his journal, but will involve generating material for book illustrations, the purpose that brought him to the Alps in the first place, back in 1860.

Just after 2am, Whymper, Croz, Almer and Biner left Zinal to work their way round to the south side of the Grand Cornier. Here they found a route almost entirely on snow right to the summit, which they reached at 12.30. It was a tough climb, the narrow ridge leading to the peak taking them right underneath a heavy cornice dripping with icicles. The descent proved to be no less demanding. Whymper smiled to himself that the guides as well as the Monsieur were reduced to descending cautiously, one at a time, facing into the slope.

Down on the glacier, they retrieved the baggage left earlier and continued towards Abricolla. This is a shepherd’s hamlet perched on a grassy ledge way above the glacier. In recent years it has become a stopping place for mountaineers. But when they reached its Inn, they found a burnt out shell and the rest of the chalets abandoned. The nearest village, Evolène, is almost 12 kilometres away, but that didn’t stop Croz and Biner marching all the way down, so desperate were they for food and a bed. But Almer has remained with Whymper and will be rewarded for his loyalty. Whymper is right now unpacking the special delicacies he keeps for such occasions for the two of them to share as they pass the night on the bare boards of an empty chalet.

The best laid plans often change, as Whymper’s did today. The intention was to set out early and get quickly to Zermatt. This would then allow enough days to attempt the Matterhorn before Croz has to take up his engagement with another English climber, John Birkbeck, on June 27^th. That Croz and Biner returned from Evolène, where they had spent the night, at 5am rather than 4am as instructed, did not significantly alter the plan. The lure of the Dent Blanche, however, did.

At 4,357m the Dent Blanche is known not only as one of the highest peaks in Switzerland but also as one of the most difficult. No one, Whymper believes, has reached its summit since the first ascent by Kennedy and Wigram with guides Jean Baptiste Croz (brother of Michel) and Kronig in 1862. Now Whymper wants to be the second. So they diverted their route and, in spite of nearly 12 hours of hard and dangerous work, whipped by bitter and unforgiving winds, they reached their goal and made it down. But by this time it was becoming too dark to attempt the pass to Zermatt. So now they are back to spend a second night in an empty chalet in Abricolla. However, the achievement of making an ascent of the Dent Blanche, and in abominable conditions, has demonstrated just how strong is the team of Whymper with Croz, Almer and Biner.

This morning, Whymper and his guides left the deserted hamlet of Abricolla unusually late. Biner, from the devout village of Zermatt, feels he is commanded to hear Mass on a Sunday morning before going anywhere. So he asked leave to return the whole 12 kilometres down to Evolène, and back up again, for that purpose. At least that meant he would have an opportunity to replenish depleted supplies of food and wine. He returned at 2.30pm with the latter but without the former. Is this a question of priorities!

Not only was it late when the party set out to make the crossing to Zermatt, they were then completely thwarted by the weather. A thin veil of mist thickened to an impenetrable fog. The way, which should have been easy, was totally lost. The guides took turns in leading, but none seemed to be making progress in spite of the insults that flew. So now they are back in Abricolla for another hungry night in an abandoned chalet.

Whymper and his guides spent a third night in the deserted hamlet of Abricolla, then morning sunshine lit the way over the Col d’Hérens towards Zermatt. The clear, fresh light revealed the results of yesterday’s disorientation. Their tracks in the snow meandered aimlessly, especially those when Croz was leading, where a complete semi-circle brought them round to face the way they had come. However, it’s wonderful how kind weather and camaraderie can soothe tempers and the team was in good spirits. On the descent of the Zmutt Glacier at the base of the Matterhorn, Whymper drew his guides’ attention to a potential route up the mountain using the so far untried eastern face, which from this viewpoint looked much easier than it does from Zermatt. This will be the next challenge! They made it to Zermatt in six and a half hours, and Whymper was delighted to be welcomed back at the Monte Rosa hotel by Herr Seiler.

Thomas Kennedy, travelling with his wife before looking to do some serious mountaineering with Hudson and McCormick, is also in Zermatt tonight. Whymper and he meet and chat about the experience of the Dent Blanche. It turns out that there had already been a 2^nd Ascent so Whymper has to content himself with a 3^rd.

Whymper is now determined that the Matterhorn become the focus of his party’s endeavour. Although he holds the view that an attempt from Zermatt might be feasible, and said as much to Croz just a few days ago, he has decided to cross the Théodule to Breuil. He seems to be fighting the conviction, shared by Almer and Biner, that the mountain is unclimbable. So during the crossing, he suggested a diversion up the Théodulhorn to point out another route that would give access to the eastern face. Croz is convinced, although Almer and Biner used the discussion as time to take a nap. Then they continued the descent to Breuil to make preparations.

While the kitchen at Favre’s hotel at Giomein was putting together three days’ worth of provisions, Whymper went down to Val Tournenche. He needs a porter and he wants Luc Meynet. Having worked with Luc before he enjoys his willing outlook and, above all, the positive and cheery attitude (despite being afflicted with a hunch back) with which the diminutive man approaches every challenge. And it is done, Luc is hired – in spite of concerns expressed by Croz and the Swiss guides about the peasant’s dubious approach to personal hygiene.

At 05.45, as a hint of morning light glanced of the Matterhorn’s cliffs, Whymper with his guides set off to try to conquer the mountain from Breuil. By 10.00 they were at the foot of the great couloir leading to the east face, which Whymper had reconnoitred the previous day. It looked impossibly steep. Any climber would be at the mercy of life threatening ricochets of rocky debris. Almer and Biner refused point blank to ascend, Croz tried a little way and then argued the foolishness of continuing. Whymper stubbornly pushed on until he had to accept defeat. Even in the face of his guides’ resistance, Whymper’s determination was relentless. He insisted on finding a way over to the Hörnli. But there an unforeseen obstacle lurked. The glacier had shrunk since Whymper was last here two years ago. There was no way over.

Whymper continued to plead that they should not give up. While Almer and Biner were adamant that further attempts would be simple lunacy, Croz employed a different tactic. If they were to stay on the Matterhorn they would surely miss their opportunity for other prizes in the chain of Mont Blanc before he must leave Whymper in the 27^th. Whymper paused. Then the weather closed in and he had to concede. They descended and are back for another night at Val Tournenche.

So ended the 17^th attempt to reach the Matterhorn’s summit, the 8^th for Whymper himself. Its reputation for invincibility is only getting stronger.

Edward Whymper has given up on the Matterhorn – at least for the next few weeks. Michel Croz’s suggestion that the Mont Blanc chain offers challenges they should embrace refers chiefly to the unclimbed peak of the Aiguille Verte. At 4,122m, this monumental peak has become one of the big potential prizes of the year. However, there are some additional opportunities en route, and Whymper’s ambition and the skill of his guides means that he can’t simply pass them by.

The summit of the Grandes Jorasses, straddling Italy and France, has yet to be claimed. Whymper has also been considering new routes over the watershed that separates Courmayeur and Chamonix. However, speed is crucial. In only a few days, he loses Croz to Birkbeck. The journey through the region of Aosta was taken by carriage – although Christian Almer took it into his head to run part of the way. Now they are in Courmayeur.

Whymper and his guides, Michel Croz, Christian Almer and Franz Biner are in Courmayeur. Today was used to make the reconnaissance they need to plan an ascent of the unclimbed Grandes Jorasses for tomorrow. They climbed to Mont Saxe and from there made their observations. It seems that the complex network of ridges and glaciers on the upper section of the mountain will present an accessible route. On the lower part, there is an area where the glacier has receded, the rock is polished smooth and looks treacherous. But they will give it a try and are going soon to their beds in preparation for a suitably early start tomorrow.

The “day” began in the dark at 1.30am, as Whymper, Croz, Almer and Biner left the hotel in Courmayeur. Three hours later they had passed the difficult section on the lower part of the ascent where the glacier slides down the Grandes Jorasses. By 13.00, after scrambling up some steep rocks that thoroughly tested their skills, they reached 4,184m, the summit of the western point of the mountain. But an attempt to scale the ridge in order to attain the slightly higher eastern point, at 4,208m, proved to be impossible. As visibility became hindered by swirling mist, a return to Courmayeur was agreed.

The descent turned out much quicker than they had intended. The sugary snow had no purchase on an icy base, the climbers made an attempt to cross to some rocks but failed to reach them before the whole slope started to move. Ice axes were useless to stop the accelerating slide downwards. Then, as the incline softened out, Croz and Almer in the lead managed to jump aside, the others followed just in time and the pouring snow tumbled over a crevasse just below. Without extraordinary skill and balance, as least one of them would not have made it back down to Bertolini’s hotel.

At last, a day of rest in Courmayeur for Whymper and his guides. Late arising from comfortable beds, time to attend the rites of Sunday – there is a church service for the English contingent at the hotel. However, relaxation will not last long. Whymper’s plans for tomorrow require his team to leave soon after midnight, after only 1 ½ hours of sleep.

A few mountain valleys away, in Sankt Niklaus, the paths of some other players in our story are crossing. Thomas Kennedy, with his wife and their dog, is travelling from Zermatt towards Chamonix where he will meet Charles Hudson. Lord Francis Douglas, at only 18 years of age relatively new to the climbing world but physically fit and naturally talented, is heading up towards Zermatt. At the same hotel, are they meeting this evening over dinner and talking about attempts on the Matterhorn? It is doubtful but we shall probably never know.

Whymper’s extremely early start was to achieve a new crossing over the watershed between Courmayeur and Chamonix. The usual route is via the Col du Géant, but he hoped to find a way that, if not quicker and easier, would be at least more elegant. The first crossing of a pass or a traverse can be even more challenging and a greater achievement than reaching the top of a peak. By 10.00 they had climbed to the Col Dolent and were peering down the other side. What they found was a narrow couloir, 50 degrees steep. It was bare ice all the way, necessitating precarious ropework and relentless step-cutting for at least 300 metres. After 7 hours of peril, they reached the relative safety of the Argentière glacier but have many hours yet, as darkness falls, before they enjoy the comforts offered at Chamonix.

Today, some more contenders for the Matterhorn met in London. Charles Hudson, John Birkbeck and Joseph McCormick are travelling towards Paris. With Hudson are two young men new to the mountains, his pupil Campbell and former pupil Douglas Hadow.

Today has been a day of rest for Whymper, who made it to Chamonix at ten o’clock last night, even if rest does involve what he deems to be a stroll up to Montenvers on the Mer de Glace to share a few beers with the owner M. Couttet. He just made it back in time to enjoy a convivial dinner among fellow climbers at the table d’hôte. He was thrilled by the achievement of the Col Dolent crossing, especially the technical skills it demanded, but has to admit that the new route is not exactly preferable to the old.

After weeks of intense mountaineering, Michel Croz is now idle. His next employer, John Birkbeck, has failed to arrive in Chamonix. With Whymper planning to attempt a First Ascent of the Aiguille Verte, the most renowned unclimbed peak in his home valley, Croz would not be blamed for feeling a little frustrated.

Lord Francis Douglas has arrived at Zermatt and checked into the Hotel Mont Cervin. Having recently climbed the Wetterhorn and the Mönchsjoch his confidence is high and he is looking for a guide to make what he hopes to be a First Ascent of the Obergabelhorn. The name of a strong man, highly experienced on Monte Rosa, has been suggested – Peter Taugwalder Vater.

At 15.00, Whymper set out from Chamonix with Almer, Biner and a porter to carry camping equipment and provisions. The Mer de Glace was dripping gently in the afternoon sunshine as they crossed to the Couvercle where they pitched the tent. This will give them a good start on the Aiguille Verte early tomorrow morning. At 4,122m, the mountain has repulsed many previous attempts to reach its summit. Last year, Whymper spent some time with Adams Reilly studying possible climbing routes and there is a couloir on the south side of the mountain that he believes has potential.

While it was still dark, Whymper and his guides left the tent perched at the foot of the massive Aiguille Verte. The way up the couloir was tough. When it became hard and icy towards the top they abandoned that route for rocks that led to a snowy arête. Soon after they were the first men to reach summit of Chamonix’s proudest mountain, the Aiguille Verte. Even with his experience of reaching the tops of some of the highest mountains in Europe, Whymper was deeply impressed by the magnificence of the view. The appreciation of the natural beauty stretching out before his eyes as they lunched on the peak was, however, marred by a tourist sounding a horn way below. Even though the horn was in celebration of the ascent after tourists had spotted the men on the summit through powerful telescopes, Whymper was not impressed by the raucous sound defiling the still mountain air.

But the intention to overnight again at the tent has been thwarted. On their return to the Couvercle, they found that the porter they had hired in Chamonix had eaten, and drunk, all the provisions. His punishment is to carry every piece of equipment back down over the Mer de Glace to Chamonix, where canons already fire in celebration of a magnificent First Ascent.

The day after Whymper’s achievement of the First Ascent of the Aiguille Verte, the weather in Chamonix is gloomy and so is the pervading mood. On his return to the hotel, Whymper was cheered as a returning hero and toasted with Champagne by his fellow climbers. But, at the same time, a nasty squabble broke out on the streets. The Chamonix guides accused Almer from Grindelwald and Biner from Zermatt of fabricating their success on the Aiguille Verte. No local on the First Ascent of their mountain? With a Compagnie des Guides set up back in 1821, managing guiding work almost as a monopoly, Chamonix operated rather differently to the other Alpine centres of the 1860s. Almer and Biner, or the German Guides as the Chamonards call the outsiders, were quick to defend their achievement. Without the intervention of the gendarmes the situation could have turned very ugly.

Today, Whymper was asked if he wanted to press charges against the presumed ringleader, a local guide by the name Zachary Cachat. He declined and Cachat has been released – in fact, Cachat is a guide well known among English mountaineers, considered one of the best and of a most amenable personality.

There are many members of the climbing fraternity in Chamonix, but the mountains are closed by a blanket of thick cloud.

Fine weather has not yet returned and it has been a quiet day for all the climbers. Thomas Kennedy and Edward Whymper took a stroll together above Chamonix, and it is assumed that the Aiguille Verte was the subject of discussion. After Whymper’s achievement of the First Ascent a couple of days ago, Kennedy is keen to make the Second Ascent once his climbing companion, Charles Hudson, gets into town. Whymper is planning his next moves, and they will take him back over the ridge to Courmayeur and then towards Breuil and the Matterhorn. The route, however, holds some opportunities for new adventures on the way.

Charles Hudson arrived in Chamonix today but without John Birkbeck whom illness has forced to return to England. Birkbeck has passed on the engagement with Michel Croz to Hudson. So it looks as though Croz will have the opportunity to tackle again both the Aiguille Verte and the Matterhorn, as they are on Hudson’s list of targets for this summer.

Edward Whymper is spending tonight up at the Montenvers, Couttet’s hotel spectacularly situated looking over the Mer de Glace. Then he will be ready to try a new pass for the crossing to Courmayeur tomorrow. This evening at the hotel he made the acquaintance of Arthur Girdlestone, a young, mountaineering English clergyman. Girdlestone is also en route for Courmayeur, but is opting to make the traditional crossing over the Col du Géant. This will provide a good measure by which to judge Whymper’s new pass. If he makes it.

An hour later than intended, at 4am, Whymper, with his guides Almer and Biner, left the Montanvert above Chamonix. Boosted by high confidence and excellent teamwork, their pace over the new pass, that Whymper calls the Col de Talèfre, was staggering. In spite of some troubles with moraines on the descent, they made it to Courmayeur by 5pm. There is still no sign of Girdlestone’s party, who left the Montenvers at the same time as Whymper.

Another mountaineering clergyman, Joseph McCormick, is on a journey that will be a bold test of endurance. McCormick holds a temporary chaplaincy in Grindelwald, but is determined to be able to accompany his friends Kennedy and Hudson on their attempt on the Aiguille Verte. After Sunday services were completed yesterday, he set out at midnight and reached Martigny this evening. Now he has hired a guide to accompany him on an overnight march to Argentière for the arranged meeting tomorrow morning. Even by the extraordinary standards of these Victorian climbers, this will be an epic walk of nearly 100 miles in a day and a night.

Joseph McCormick’s journey turned into a veritable marathon. After his overnight march from Martigny, he reached Argentière this morning only to find a note from Hudson to let him know that the party had decided to organise themselves at Chamonix and set out for their attempt on the Aiguille Verte from there. So he walked down to Chamonix, almost 10 kilometres, and arrived 20 minutes late. They had gone! He set off in pursuit and caught up when their pace slowed as they crossed the crevasses and ice bridges of the Mer de Glace. However, his effort was in vain. They reached a point where the party would split. The non-mountaineering group would return to Chamonix while the climbers, Kennedy, Hudson and Hodgkinson, with their guides, would battle on up the formidable mountain. Acute exhaustion from thirty hours of travelling, much of it on foot, forced McCormick to join Mrs Kennedy, Hadow and Campbell and he is back with them in the village.

Edward Whymper and Arthur Girdlestone are now in Aosta having taken the coach ride together from Courmayeur.

This morning, a Second Ascent of the Aiguille Verte was accomplished! It was a slightly unusual party to reach the summit. English climbers Kennedy, Hudson and Hodgkinson, with guides Michel Croz from Chamonix and Peter Perren from Zermatt, were accompanied all the way by Kennedy’s dog. The route they chose, under Croz’ guidance, was slightly different to that taken by Whymper, Almer and Biner, 6 days ago. Now called the “arête du Moine” it is still a severe test of rock climbing skill.

Tonight, young Lord Francis Douglas is in Zinal. He left Zermatt this morning with high hopes that he will make a first ascent of the Obergabelhorn. Travelling with him from Zermatt is his first guide – Peter Taugwalder Vater. This will be the third attempt the pair have made on that mountain over the past week. In Zinal this afternoon, Lord Francis hired a second guide, Joseph Viannin.

The night for Whymper, Almer and Biner will be spent on foul smelling hay at the chalets at Chanrion. This will, however, allow them the early start needed in the morning to attempt another unclimbed peak en route to Breuil.

In the early hours, a group of Italian mountain guides left Breuil for an attempt on their Monte Cervino, the as yet unclaimed Matterhorn. Led by Jean-Antoine Carrel, a stone-mason from Val Tournenche well known for inspiring feats of mountaineering, the group has no clients. Several of Whymper’s previous attempts on the Matterhorn were undertaken with Carrel. But Carrel is now working towards the goal of making a first ascent of the Cervino from Italy, and has the blessing, and finance, of the newly formed Italian Alpine Club. The weather, however, is atrocious, the attempt was repelled at the Col de Lion and they are heading towards home in the valley.

Also early this morning, Whymper and his guides left their primitive accommodation in the chalets at Chanrion. By 9.15 they had reached the summit of the previously unclimbed Ruinette which, at 3,875m, is an ascent that Whymper likens to a walk.

The crossing of the great Otemma glacier almost ended in tragedy when a crevasse opened under Almer’s feet and would have devoured him was he not roped to his companions. Tonight they sleep at the slightly more comfortable chalets at Prarayer in the Valpelline.

The inn on the rocks below the Galerie des Bossons is the overnight accommodation for Hudson and Kennedy and their large party. They are ready for an ascent of Mont Blanc tomorrow.

Whymper arrived in Breuil this afternoon, but Almer and Biner are still adamant that the Matterhorn should not be tried again. So he sought out Carrel, found that the Italian has some days available and hired him. It is with regret that he discharged Almer and Biner, but his heart is now set on the Matterhorn and Carrel is the guide for the job.

Hudson and Kennedy are back in Chamonix after a successful ascent of Mont Blanc. Having missed out on the Aiguille Verte, McCormick, recovered from his exertions, joined the party. Douglas Hadow, who was not included on the Aiguille Verte expedition due to his lack of experience, was delighted to climb this mountain and to reach the summit. As the sun softened the snow on the descent, he struggled with technique and the party split up, allowing Peter Perren to assist the young man. But Hadow’s fitness and strength held up well and he made good time.

Francis Douglas is very lucky to be safely back in Zermatt. It so nearly was otherwise. The first ascent of the Obergabelhorn was not to be his. Horace Walker and Adolphus Moore, with their guide Jakob Anderegg, claimed that trophy yesterday, but Douglas still achieved the second today with guides Peter Taugwalder Senior and Joseph Viannin. Then, at the summit, somehow he and Taugwalder chose to sit and enjoy lunch on what was a snow cornice. Under their weight it cracked and broke. They would both have fallen to certain death had they not been roped still to Viannin, who had backed away to retrieve part of their picnic. Lord Francis must be deeply relieved to be back at the Hotel Mont Cervin where he is writing an article for the Alpine Journal full of praise for the guiding of Peter Taugwalder.

Charles Hudson’s plans for the summer are disintegrating as his companions fall off the planned path. He lost Birkbeck to illness and now business is calling Kennedy back to England. McCormick is returning to Grindelwald for his last Sunday obligations there - but they will meet in Visp on Tuesday, travel up to Zermatt and be ready for that Matterhorn. And they do have Michel Croz as guide. In the meantime, Hudson will spend some days in Chamonix in the company of Campbell and Hadow.

Poor weather in Breuil is preventing any climbing, and Whymper is making preparations for a Matterhorn attempt with Carrel as soon as it clears. But he is unaware of the arrival of Felice Giordano, a founding member of the Italian Alpine Club. The Club is already working with and funding Carrel to conquer the Matterhorn for Italy. Carrel is a patriot, his obligations are clear!

Whymper’s and Carrel’s paths crossed today as Whymper was walking the 28 kilometres down to Chatillon to procure medicines for an ailing Arthur Girdlestone. Carrel explained that he is engaged by a prominent Italian family from Wednesday. He is bound to honour that engagement, whatever opportunities arise over the next days, which will be limited anyway due to the inclement weather. Whymper muses while walking. It does seem odd that Carrel would choose to guide ladies on a stroll rather than attempting the Matterhorn, but such a level of loyalty is expected of a good guide. By the evening, Whymper and Carrel are tucked away with jugs of wine in the Inn at Val Tournenche, laughing as they recall the adventures that have come their way on their climbs together over the past years.

Lord Francis Douglas is in Zermatt, packing his bags at the Hotel Mont Cervin, hoping to make use of the few days that remain before he returns home to Scotland for his brother’s 21^st birthday. But, having paid off Peter Taugwalder for the many days spent trying to find a way up the Gabelhorn, he is almost out of cash.

As Whymper returned to the hotel at Breuil this morning he was spotted by Signor Giordano, who is in fact the “family of distinction” that Carrel had invented. Carrel is going to make a way for Giordano to reach the summit of the Matterhorn, for Italy! Aware that Whymper is also hoping to claim a Matterhorn First Ascent this summer, Giordano is hiding in his room, endeavouring to keep his rival unaware of Italian strategy. The mountain is swathed in cloud, and the heavy rain in the village will be snow just a little higher. No one is going up there yet.

Lord Francis Douglas is at the Riffelhaus. Maybe he has time to make the crossing over the Théodule Pass to Breuil, then to get back to Zermatt, retrieve his packed luggage from the Mont Cervin and start the journey home. The weather is starting to make it look unlikely.

Tonight, Charles Hudson is in Martigny. He travelled from Chamonix with Hadow and Campbell, guides Croz and Perren and a convoy of porters carrying a vast amount of equipment. Croz has proudly procured a blue Savoyard smock that he will wear to represent his home valley as the journey takes him into the Valais.

A milky sunshine filtered through the clouds this morning, whispering a change in the weather. Carrel sensed the shift and, in the night, gathered together fellow guides and porters to start moving equipment, upwards.

Down in Visp, the weather is surly, preventing McCormick from arriving on time for the pre-arranged meeting with Hudson. His friend decided not to wait but to start up the track towards Zermatt, to arrive in the village tomorrow.

When Carrel’s move was revealed by Girdlestone, who spotted the Italian on his way up the mountain, Whymper was totally taken by surprise. But respect for Carrel as a true mountaineer made him more frustrated than bitter when he found himself stuck at Breuil. In spite of his efforts, no porters or guides can be found – it seems they are all up the mountain with Carrel or have other, more pressing, engagements.

Then the first party for days to venture across the Pass appeared – Lord Francis. He took advantage of the lightening sky to cross the Théodule, bringing with him as porter his former guide’s son – young Joseph Taugwalder. Whymper and Lord Francis quickly found they enjoy each other’s company and that they share an interest in the Matterhorn, even if Lord Francis might have next year more in mind than this. But Whymper’s enthusiasm was infectious, Lord Francis fell in with the plan to cross back to Zermatt and to make an attempt from there without delay. And he does know of a good guide who is available – Peter Taugwalder Father. Whymper would have set out immediately, even if it would mean crossing in the dark, except for a storm sweeping over the mountains and allowing them to stay in comfortable beds in Breuil tonight.

Whymper, Lord Francis and Arthur Girdlestone made the crossing this morning over a damp and murky Théodule Pass. First stop was at the Schwarzsee to stow equipment – tent, provisions and lots of rope – by the Chapel on the shore of the lake. In Zermatt they paid a visit to the Taugwalder home. Peter Senior agreed, readily it seems, to act as guide for an attempt on the Matterhorn, that mountain so many of his Zermatt peers believe to be unassailable. He would take charge of employing the necessary porters.

It is evening and diners are gathering at Herr Seiler’s table d’hôte at the Hotel Monte Rosa. Whymper, Lord Douglas and Girdlestone are discussing Matterhorn strategy, although Girdlestone, recently unwell (as well as maybe feeling himself to lack the necessary experience), has opted out of participating. Then in walk Charles Hudson and Douglas Hadow, having been for an afternoon stroll to gaze upon the Matterhorn as it started to show those proud cliffs through shifting clouds.

Two conversations about the Matterhorn are merging into one. What are they planning? It has not, as yet, been decided.

Before dawn this morning, eight men strode through the streets of Zermatt. Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas and Douglas Hadow are the tourists hoping to reach the summit of the Matterhorn, with guides Michel Croz and Peter Taugwalder. Taugwalder’s sons, Peter and Joseph, go along as porters.

The meeting at the Monte Rosa last night grew quickly into a joint advance on the Matterhorn. Whymper’s admiration for Hudson, several years his senior and carrying a high reputation among mountaineers, and the opportunity to climb again with Michel Croz, seemed to win him over. His sense of urgency, now that the Italians are already on the mountain, must have impressed Hudson, who (yet again) decided to depart without waiting for McCormick. Why he included Hadow (who had been left out of the Aiguille Verte expedition) and why he left behind the equipment he had brought to Zermatt for the Matterhorn attempt, will remain a mystery.

Under a sky washed clean and bright by recent storms, the way up the Hörnli Ridge presented no great problem. Climbing was slow and steady, Whymper and Hudson sharing decisions. By midday, they reached a high ledge, and prepared a camp for the night. Croz and Young Peter climbed higher, to assess what tomorrow might hold when they will push for the top. Their return was jubilant, confident that their route to the summit is entirely, and quite remarkably, feasible.

Now, as the shadow of the Matterhorn starts to fall across the village of Zermatt below, a fire is lit on that high ledge and Alpine songs ring against the rocks. On the other side of the mountain whose legend of invincibility is looking close to being overthrown, Carrel and his colleagues huddle in a half buried tent, soft snow seriously impeding progress.

The day when victory turned into disaster.

The first men to reach the summit of the Matterhorn were Michel Croz and Edward Whymper. They freed themselves from the rope that tied seven together and sped up the snow slope to the peak. Until then, the pace had been slow, due to the size of the party and the inexperience of Douglas Hadow, athletic and brave but on his first ever real rock climb. Soon after, seven men were on the top of the mountain – their number included Peter Taugwalder Junior, elevated that morning from porter to guide. They saw the Italians descending towards Brueil and knew that they had won. The hour on the top of the Matterhorn might have been the last time any of them was truly happy.

The order for the descent – 1^st Croz, helping Hadow with footholds; then Hudson, confident and sure-footed as the guides; then Lord Francis, whose nimbleness was proved on the Gabelhorn; Peter Senior, strong and sturdy. Whymper and Peter Junior, bringing up the rear, roped on a little later after pausing to leave the victors’ names in a bottle. Then they reached the difficult overhang.

None of the three who survived had a clear view of exactly what happened, but in an instant one man after another was falling. Peter Taugwalder Father held onto a rock with all the strength he could muster, the rope connecting him to Lord Francis broke and four disappeared down the vast cliff.

Edward Whymper and the two Taugwalders were left clinging to the side of the mountain. After a fragment of time that must have felt like torture, they are recovered enough from the shock to move and they start a slow descent. A discussion about remuneration for the expedition chafes emotions already raw from trauma. Relations between Whymper and the Taugwalders turn sour. But soon darkness will mask the descent. Surely they will have to spend the night on the mountain.

Soon after 10am this morning, Herr Seiler of the Monte Rosa hotel was informing the authorities of yesterday’s tragedy. He had followed Whymper as the stricken young climber went straight to his room on his return from the mountain and learnt first hand what had happened. Action was taken quickly and soon a party of twenty men was marching towards the Zmutt glacier, to search for bodies or maybe even survivors.

It has been hard today for Whymper to find anyone, apart from the Seilers, to turn to. Girdlestone was off climbing Monte Rosa. Whymper barely knew McCormick but heard that a close friend of Hudson arrived this morning. So he sent a message up to McCormick who, believing Hudson to be returning after his victory on the Matterhorn, had gone for an excursion up the Gornergrat. The sad news of his friend’s fatal accident brought McCormick quickly down to the village.

The search party returned with the news that, from the Hohlicht, they could see three bodies strung out on the glacier. It was too dangerous in the afternoon to venture further. Whymper and McCormick are now trying to gather volunteers for a party to leave in the night before the sun warms the séracs, but it’s looking like a hard task.

In Breuil, festivities began when men were spotted yesterday on the summit of their Monte Cervino, but now Carrel has returned to town. They are no longer celebrating, they know that the Englishmen who went up the Swiss side made it. They do not yet know about the tragedy of the descent.

It was still dark of night when the 2^nd search party, organised by Whymper and McCormick but without the blessing of the authorities, set out. Zermatters were forbidden from going anywhere until after early Mass had been heard so Whymper and McCormick put together a party of other English climbers and guides from Saas, Sankt Niklaus and Chamonix.

By daylight they were on the glacier. They found three corpses, battered and horribly maimed. Michel Croz, Douglas Hadow and Charles Hudson. Of Lord Francis Douglas there was no sign, except for a few personal belongings. Items to pass to the relatives of the deceased were removed. These included Hudson’s watch, stopped at 3.45pm, and Croz’ crucifix which had become lodged in his jaw. After burying the bodies in the snow and saying a prayer from Hudson’s prayer book, found intact in his pocket, the party returned to Zermatt. Reports from all participants confirm that it was a scene of carnage.

This morning, after Mass in Breuil, Carrel set out for another attempt to conquer the Matterhorn. His team is made up of local men – the Abbé Gorret, Jean Baptiste Bich and Jean Augustin Meynet. This time they are going to climb properly, with no thought of taking lesser mountaineers to the top.

Back in Zermatt, rumours are starting to germinate. Where the seed of an idea that Peter Taugwalder Senior cut the rope between himself and Lord Francis Douglas was first planted is not clear, but it took root and quickly grew. He is strongly denying the accusation, showing his wounds around town – ‘this is how hard I tried to hold on!’

Speculation about the circumstances around the tragedy on the Matterhorn is flying beyond the confines of the remote village. Whymper is under pressure to make public a clear report of what happened. Together with McCormick, he wrote today a simple account of the accident, which McCormick will send to The Times. Sparse in detail, its purpose is to calm the wilder claims without bringing extra distress to the relatives of the deceased. Whymper hopes it will be enough.

An official Enquiry has been called, to be presided over by Herr Joseph Clemenz in his role as President of the Council of the district of Valais. He also owns and manages the Hotel Mont Cervin. No date has been set.

The second ascent of the Matterhorn was accomplished early this afternoon, this time from Italy. It was Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean Baptiste Bich who stood on the summit and planted the Italian flag next to Whymper’s cairn. Tonight, they will again sleep in their tent high on the mountain. News of the fatal accident reached Breuil today and the ears of Adams-Reilly who arrived there recently from Macugnaga. He will cross the Théodule in haste tomorrow to be of help to his friend.

A detailed report of the accident was published in the Journal de Genève today, but it mixes up Douglas Haddo (sic) and Francis Douglas, and claims that Lord Francis made the fatal slip.

At midday, Carrel and his team arrived safely back in Breuil, where festivities with bonfires and songs will continue into the evening. Sr Giordano is deeply disappointed not to have been the first “Monsieur” to have reached the summit from Italy.

This afternoon a document arrived at the Monte Rosa addressed to Edward Whymper. They are the questions he will be asked at the Enquiry and he has been requested to submit his answers in advance. The questions are in German, Whymper will answer in French. It is fortunate that among the English climbers gathered in Zermatt there is a group of Masters from Rugby School. Vecqueray is fluent in all 3 languages and is spending some time with Whymper. It seems that Whymper might also be asked to prepare some questions for Peter Taugwalder Father.

Der Bund, one of the leading Swiss daily newspapers, carried a report this morning about the fatalities on the Matterhorn. It attributed the slip to ‘the Englishman immediately behind the leading guide’, clearly Hadow although without knowledge of the name. The article claims that Hudson was President of the Alpine Club, which he wasn’t.

The mountains around Zermatt have claimed another victim. William Knyvet Wilson, staying up at the Riffelhaus, went for a stroll last night after dinner. His body was found this morning at the foot of the Riffelhorn.

Questions around town have picked up on the use of a thinner rope between Taugwalder Senior and Lord Francis. The men who found the corpses on the glacier were not Zermatters, but they are sure to have been asked what they saw. The state of the rope is becoming common knowledge, theories about why it was used igniting. Maybe the Enquiry will shed some light.

A third party is being organised with instructions to retrieve the bodies so they might receive proper burial. It will depart this evening, led by Joseph Welschen, President of the Commune. The 21 men include Peter Taugwalder Junior who made it to the top of the Matterhorn, and his brother Joseph, who acted as porter on the expedition. The task will be tough, emotionally as well as physically. Those who carry the corpses back are being allowed a good amount of the wine provided by Mathias Zumtaugwald.

Today is the 21^st birthday of John Sholto, Marquess of Queensberry. His younger brother, Lord Francis, would be home in Scotland for the celebration had he not decided to participate in the Matterhorn ascent. Now preparations for the party have been halted and the grief stricken Marquess is taking it on himself to travel to Zermatt.

The bodies of Michel Croz, Charles Hudson and Douglas Hadow were carried back to Zermatt and will be buried tomorrow. Edward Whymper has paid the Curé 20 francs to ensure that Croz receives a decent burial. The Official Enquiry into the deaths of the victims will start after the funerals. Peter Taugwalder Junior will not be called, as he has been given leave to depart for Chamonix where he has a guiding engagement to fulfil.

Whymper, in framing the questions he has been asked to provide for the Enquiry to put to Peter Taugwalder, is concerned with the choice of rope. Why was that particular rope used between Lord Francis Douglas and Peter Taugwalder Senior? He hopes that, if this question is answered clearly, Taugwalder will exonerate himself from the gossip that implicates foul play. Of what Taugwalder himself is thinking or having to deal with, we know very little. He is a man of few words, and it would be unusual for a mountain community of the time to create and pass on written records. But he had travelled for some weeks with Lord Francis Douglas, and the young man wrote positively about the guide a few days before he died. It is to be expected that Taugwalder mourned his loss.

The funerals were quiet affairs. First a Catholic service for Croz and, an hour later, an Anglican version for Hudson, Hadow and Knyvet Wilson. The process at the Enquiry, which began at 2pm, was, it seems, similarly subdued…

First called was Edward Whymper. The records indicate that Clemenz read out the questions sent to Whymper in advance, to which Whymper recited his pre-prepared answers. To that asking how ‘the unfortunate catastrophe’ came about, Whymper provided a detailed description of Hadow’s slip as Croz himself was taking a step, the weight of the two falling pulling Hudson and Lord Francis off the rock face, the 3 at the rear having sufficient time to hold on tight and the rope between Lord Francis and Taugwalder father breaking. He was not asked to clarify or amplify any part of this description, and nothing about the rope.

Next was Peter Taugwalder Father. His questions were primarily those prepared by Whymper, with a few alterations and distortions in the German translations. Where he might have had the opportunity to explain his choice of rope, about which the wave of supposition has been gathering force, his ambiguous answer was left hanging. But he testified that he believed the rope to be strong enough. If not, he would have rejected it.

Finally, Franz Andenmatten was called to answer some questions about the search party that found the bodies, which he had accompanied the Sunday after the accident. Then the Enquiry, for today, was closed.

The Court summoned Alexander Lochmatter, who also accompanied the search party organised by Whymper and McCormick, and questioned him on the discovery of the bodies and absence of the remains of Lord Francis Douglas.

In the afternoon, inventories of the belongings of the deceased were drawn up and signed for and Whymper given leave to depart Zermatt. He settled Lord Francis’ outstanding bills at the Mont Cervin and Monte Rosa, left 100 francs with Adams Reilly for Croz’ family, paid the bill to the Taugwalders then walked down to Visp.

Jean-Baptiste Croz, Michel’s brother, has just now arrived at Zermatt to collect whatever personal belongings might have been recovered and pay his respects at the grave. His grief is frightening. He picked up very quickly on the rumours about foul play on the Matterhorn, the accusations that Peter Taugwalder Senior somehow cut the rope. This accusations will soon reach Chamonix.

This morning the Court recalled Peter Taugwalder Senior. They had some more questions for him…

He was asked about the timing of events, the composition of the party, and about an inconsistency from the first session concerning the order in which the victims fell.

The panel also wanted to know who supplied the rope that broke. Taugwalder answered in his characteristically blunt manner, without elucidation. He was not asked to expand on further issues about the rope.

Around Zermatt, however, and beyond, suspicions about murderous rope cutting, about malevolent or forced choices of weak rope, about a profusion of nefarious acts, are discussed and shared around. They fester.

By this evening, Whymper has reached Kandersteg, on foot, where he rests for a night before continuing his homeward journey.

The Marquess of Queensberry, Lord Francis Douglas’ brother, and Henry Hadow, Douglas Hadow’s uncle, arrived in Zermatt today. Edward Whymper has reached Interlaken on his homeward journey.

From Interlaken, Whymper sent today a letter to von Fellenberg, the secretary of the Swiss Alpine Club. It is to be translated into German and French and then forwarded to the editors of Der Bund and the Journal de Genève. Whymper hopes that an account of the tragedy on the Matterhorn might be published that will clear up the torrent of supposition flooding the public imagination.

It is summer, von Fellenberg is away in the mountains. It will be some time before Whymper’s letter receives attention from the Swiss newspapers.

Today, Whymper is travelling to London via Bern, Neuchâtel and Paris. Tomorrow he will be at his father’s home in Haslemere where he will be deluged by correspondence with insistent questions about the accident on the Matterhorn. He will read strident arguments in the Press denouncing the brutal stupidity of climbing mountains, the activity that he had grown to love. The exuberance he carried with him as he sailed from England just over 6 weeks ago was left behind at the foot of the Matterhorn, with the bodies of the comrades he saw fall to their deaths.

The committee of enquiry for the district of Visp made up of the examining magistrate Josef-Anton Clemenz and recorder C. Clemenz, both living in Visp, have reached the following decision that there are no grounds for prosecution with the enquiry officially conducted into the accident that occurred on the ascent of the Matterhorn.

Facts
…. Whilst crossing this dangerous place Mr Hadow slipped and in his fall knocked over the guide Croz. This double weight dragged down Mr Hudson as well and after him Lord Douglas. The few instants that this lasted gave those at the rear time to secure firm foothold, so firmly indeed that the rope between L. Douglas and Taugwalder father broke in two….

Considering:

1. that guilt attaches to no one on the above facts
2. that Mr Hadow was the cause of the accident that on the facts of the case set out above no one can be accused of a fault or of a crime it is decided there is to be no sequel to the foregoing enquiry, but a decision of no grounds for prosecution with an order that the Treasury bear the costs