Saturday June 10^th

The mountaineering season of 1865 is open! How many unclimbed peaks will be conquered? Chamonix’s Aiguille Verte? Zermatt’s Matterhorn?

Sea breezes over the channel as the White Cliffs fade. Edward Whymper is leaving England for an ambitious summer of climbing

Usual questions from French customs about climbing paraphernalia. They believe that if you have ladders and ropes you must be a burglar

First stop, Paris. Whymper passes the evening alone. Many climbers’ eyes are turning to the Matterhorn this year, but he has a head start

Sunday June 11^th

A letter at Whymper’s house. His friend Adams-Reilly warning that Hudson, Kennedy & Birkbeck also plan a Matterhorn assault. It lies unread

Whymper arrives Lauterbrunnen. After months planning ascents he’s excited to get started & he has a great team of guides ready to go

Monday June 12^th

Whymper meets guide Christian Almer from Grindelwald. They set out to scout the route the party will take the next day.

Evening resting in Lauterbrunnen with maps and sketches. Whymper is keen to see how far his technical skill at route planning has developed

Tuesday June 13^th

Whymper and Rev Hawker join their teams for an inspection day, checking out new passes from Lauterbrunnen.

Whymper & Almer abort their attempt on a new pass to the Concordiaplatz & Eggishorn. You have to know when to turn back

Wednesday June 14^th

The journey begins for real. Whymper has planned to the utmost detail the routes to be taken & their technical demands

Whymper and Almer cross the Petersgrat. Cold beer on the descent from a village Curé is very welcome.

Turtmann. Meet with Michel Croz & Franz Biner. The invincible team! Whymper planned the routes, the guides are in charge of executing them

Thursday June 15^th

Tomorrow Whymper wants to attempt a 1st ascent of the 3,962m Grand Cornier, so today they walk across Forcletta to Zinal

Even from seven miles distance, the forbidding north face of unclimbed Grand Cornier looks inaccessible. A different route must be found

Arrive Zinal – hotel guest book has an entry by Moore celebrating conquest of Grand Cornier – with Franz Biner as a guide!

Whymper has established that Moore failed to reach the summit last year, so he does have a chance at a first ascent

Friday June 16^th

Whymper with Almer, Croz and Biner have made 1st ascent of Grand Cornier. It was snow slope all the way from the glacier.

Whymper’s plan to overnight at Abricolla is scuppered. The hamlet is abandoned, the inn a burnt out shell

Croz and Biner have opted for the 6 mile tramp to Evolène, in search of food & drink & comfort, commanded by Whymper to return by 4am

Whymper shares his delicacies of food and wine with Almer to ward off the cold night on the wooden planks of the half burnt chalet.

Saturday June 17^th

Croz and Biner arrive back to Abricolla. The four set off immediately to cross the Col d’Herens. Destination – Zermatt.

Whymper proposes changing course to attempt Dent Blanche. Would not be 1st, Kennedy was that, but 2nd up a difficult mountain is motivation

On the challenging face of Dent Blanche wind & cold are atrocious. Wine is finished. Croz declares, Ma foi, we will spend the night & perish

Thomas Kennedy, his wife and their dog arrive in Zermatt. He is determined that this is the year he will finally conquer the Matterhorn

Whymper, Croz, Almer & Biner are 2nd to reach the summit of the 4,357m Dent Blanche. Beards frozen, fingers raw, they start the descent

Whymper and his men have no choice but to return for another night at the dilapidated Abricolla chalet

Sunday June 18^th

Whymper wants an early start if they’re to make it to Zermatt. But Biner had to go to Evolène for Mass. Promises to return with food & drink

Biner reaches Abricolla 2 hours late with wine but no food. They set off again to cross the Col d’Herens. Destination – Zermatt!

Snowing hard on the Col d’Herens. Whymper’s team seem to be going round and round in circles rather than making progress towards Zermatt

Still circling in fog on the Col d’Herens. Can’t continue. Darkness is falling, they must speed down to sleep again at Abricolla, supperless

Monday June 19^th

Whymper with Croz, Almer & Biner leave Abricolla for the 3rd time to cross the Col d’Herens. Destination – Zermatt!

Whymper arrives Zermatt. Bad tempers soothed by an excellent welcome from Seiler at Monte Rosa Hotel, Whymper’s 2nd home

Whymper & Kennedy swap stories about the Dent Blanche climb. It transpires that Whymper’s was not a 2nd ascent, merely a 3rd

In the sociable dining room at the Monte Rosa Whymper hooks up with young Richard Glover to cross the Théodule tomorrow

Tuesday June 20^th

Whymper leaves Zermatt for a shot at the Matterhorn from Breuil. But he must act fast as Croz is engaged in Chamonix on the 27th

Diversion up Théodulhorn to spot a new route up that might persuade Almer & Biner from their reluctance to climb the Matterhorn

Glover has slipped in a crevasse! Lucky for him that Whymper insisted they rope up on the glacier, in spite of Croz’ objections

Favre, innkeeper at Giomein, is ordered to get together supplies for an assault on the Matterhorn.

Whymper has hired Luc Meynet as porter for the Matterhorn attack, ignoring the Swiss guides’ objections to the hunchback’s personal hygiene

Wednesday June 21^st

Whymper with Croz, Almer, Biner & little Luc set off from Breuil to climb the Matterhorn from Italy

Whymper & team are struggling with the route. A steep couloir hurled rocks at them & finally beat even Whymper’s determination to continue

Plans changed & they tried to reach the Hörnli by Whymper’s route from 1863. But the glacier has shrunk, the way was impossible

Biner & Almer are becoming discouraged. Almer to Whymper ‘Why don’t you try to go up a mountain which can be ascended?’

Whymper is back in Breuil. When snow began to fall, he gave up on this, his 8th attempt to reach the summit of the Matterhorn

Thursday June 22^nd

Whymper’s team has left Val Tournanche to travel towards the Mont Blanc region & the lure of the unclimbed Aiguille Verte

Whymper is at Bertolini’s hotel, Courmayeur. He with Biner & Croz took a carriage to Aosta while Almer decided to run part of the way

Friday June 23^rd

Today Whymper is taking the team on a reconnaissance. He wants to take a look at that great wall of mountain, the Grandes Jorasses

Whymper & guides are back in Courmayeur having spotted what they sought – a new & maybe quicker route to Chamonix

Saturday June 24^th

Whymper reached 4,184m, almost the highest point on the summit ridge but then clouds closed in and a return to Courmayeur agreed

Whymper’s team back in Bertolini’s excellent hotel, having survived an involuntary glissade that almost swept them away in an avalanche

Sunday June 25^th

Whymper rises late in Courmayeur. Attends Church service in the hotel with a congregation of parsons, their wives and their daughters

Kennedy, his wife and his dog leave Zermatt to travel towards Chamonix & the Aiguille Verte. Overnight at Monte Rosa, St Niklaus

Lord Francis Douglas, travelling towards Zermatt with guide Peter Inabit, overnights at Monte Rosa, St Niklaus

It’s time for Whymper to get some sleep to start in a couple of hours to climb to the Col Dolent AND get down the other side to Argentière

Monday June 26^th

Hudson & Birkbeck leave London. They carry the ladder and wire rope Hudson has in mind to overcome the tricky bits on the Matterhorn

Whymper & team are on the Col Dolent, facing an icy couloir, steeper than 50°, that disappears at least 300m down to the glacier below

The way down the Mont Dolent couloir is a tortuous descent on the north side, cutting steps all way in bare ice & ingenious rope work

After 7 hours, Whymper, Croz, Almer & Biner have made it to the Argentière glacier! Superlative skills in mountaineering & teamwork!

Whymper at the bar in Chamonix hotel. Orders a St Peray. Orders Champagne. Orders beer. Sleeps in his chair

Tuesday June 27^th

Charles Hudson’s plans for the summer change. In Geneva, Birkbeck has fallen ill & must go back to England but Hudson continues to the Alps

From today, Michel Croz is engaged to work for John Birkbeck, so he takes his leave of Whymper to wait for his new client

After yesterday’s spectacular traverse of the Col Dolent, Whymper is taking is easy and mainly drinking beer at the Montanvert

Lord Francis arrives at the Mont Cervin, Zermatt. Having succesfully summited the Wetterhorn & the Mönchsjoch his eye is on the Obergabelhorn

Wednesday June 28^th

In Zermatt, Lord Francis engages Old Peter Taugwalder who he’s heard of as a solid guide with much experience on Monte Rosa

Whymper, Almer, Biner & porter carrying camping gear leave Chamonix, cross a dripping Mer de Glace ready for the Aiguille Verte tomorrow

Thursday June 29^th

An extraordinary achievement! Edward Whymper & his guides Almer & Biner are the 1st to summit the 4,122m Aiguille Verte!

The stormy descent of the Aiguille Verte was slow, but reaching the tent, Whymper finds the porter has eaten all the supplies

3 victorious mountaineers & one exhausted, perspiring porter – his punishment for gluttony was to carry everything back - arrive Argentière

Rapturous reception for Whymper in the Chamonix hotel – heaps of friends, Glover, Kennedy and his dog – Congratulations! Champagne!

In the streets of Chamonix, gendarmes break up a scuffle between local guides & two outsiders, Almer from Grindelwald & Biner from Zermatt

Friday June 30^th

Dreary weather in the Alps & aching heads from last night’s celebration of Whymper’s 1st ascent of the Aiguille Verte. Nobody is climbing

Saturday 1^st July

Kennedy is planning to get his party together & be 2nd up Aiguille Verte. He takes a stroll with Whymper to learn about its challenges

In Chamonix, Whymper, Almer & Biner are busy planning a new route that will be the quickest back over to Courmayeur

Sunday 2^nd July

Charles Hudson arrives in Chamonix. He is travelling with 2 newcomers to the mountains, pupil A.J. Campbell & former pupil Douglas Hadow

Hudson, who has ambitious plans, now has Michel Croz as his chief guide. When Birkbeck had to go home, he passed on Croz’ services to Hudson

Monday 3^rd July

Whymper’s party has reached the top of a new pass over the Mont Blanc massif, that Whymper names the Col de Talèfre

The crack team of Whymper with Almer & Biner have made it to Courmayeur, at only 10 hours from Chamonix this must be a record!

Tuesday 4^th July

Hudson, Kennedy (& his dog) & young Hodgkinson are setting off to try for a 2nd ascent of the Aiguille Verte, after Whymper’s 1st 5 days ago

Edward Whymper is in Aosta. After a spectacular 1st ascent of the Aiguille Verte his confidence is high & the Matterhorn maybe within reach

Wednesday 5^th July

Hudson, Hodgkinson, Kennedy & his dog, with guides Michel Croz & Zermatter Peter Perren, have achieved the 2nd ascent of the Aiguille Verte

Lord Francis leaves Zermatt with Old Peter Taugwalder, heading for Zinal from where they will have a shot at being 1st up the Obergabelhorn

Thursday 6^th July

Val Tournanche. Local guides, Carrels Jean-Antoine & Cesar, Gorret & Maquignaz, are striding out on a misty dawn towards the Matterhorn

Whymper and his team have made yet another 1st ascent, the Ruinette, at 3,785m the highest summit between the Grand Combin and the Dent Blanche

Lord Francis & guides, crossing the Triftjoch, spy men on the summit of the Obergabelhorn. The 1st ascent will not be theirs

The weather on the Matterhorn is abysmal. Jean Antoine Carrel and team are turned back from the Col de Lion

Christian Almer almost lost his life down a crevasse. The snow gave way & Whymper followed. Luckily they were roped up & Biner held fast

Hudson, McCormick, the Kennedys, Hadow & Campbell with Croz & Perren overnight at the inn below Galerie des Bossons. Mont Blanc tomorrow!

Friday 7^th July

Hudson’s party have reached the summit of Mont Blanc, the pace was impressive, Hadow the novice has shown great strength

Whymper is bound for Breuil, his heart set on the Matterhorn. “Anything but the Matterhorn, dear Sir, anything!” Almer pleads.

Lord Francis Douglas with guides Peter Taugwalder & Joseph Viannin reached the summit of the Obergabelhorn from Zinal

Kennedy has been obliged by the needs of his business to return to England. His plans to summit the Matterhorn will have to wait

In Val Tournanche Carrel has agreed that he will attempt the Matterhorn with Whymper, who then discharged Almer & Biner

It’s miraculous that Lord Francis & Taugwalder are alive. A cornice broke on the Gabelhorn. Saved by the rope that attached them to Viannin!

In Chamonix, Hudson bids farewell to McCormick with arrangements to meet in Visp on the 11th thence to Zermatt & the Matterhorn!

Saturday 8^th July

Dark clouds hang heavily over Breuil. Whymper is busy with preparations for a Matterhorn attempt that might at last succeed – with Carrel!

In Breuil a caravan of mules & porters bearing climbing equipment arrives with Felice Giordano, a founding member of the Italian Alpine Club

Under grey skies in Zermatt, Lord Francis is looking to fill the days before he must return home for his brother’s 21st birthday

Carrel meets Giordano. This is an engagement prior to that made with Whymper, for an all-Italian attempt on the Matterhorn

Sunday 9^th July

To extricate himself from the engagement to go for the Matterhorn with Whymper Carrel invents a story about a family of distinction

Lord Francis plans a couple of days at Riffelhaus. The weather is not encouraging, he has to leave the alps soon & he’s almost out of cash

Whymper accepted Carrel’s story. They are in the inn at Val Tournenche, sharing wine and laughter at past exploits together in the mountains

Monday 10^th July

Lord Francis hopes to cross to Breuil, then tomorrow collect his packed bags from the Mont Cervin & head home. Weather keeps him at Riffel

Hudson leaves Chamonix with Hadow & Campbell, Croz & Perren, & porters carrying a trunk, precipice ladder & wire rope. Matterhorn prepared!

Whymper spends a quiet evening in Breuil, thankful at least that the abominable weather prevents anyone attempting that mountain for now

Carrel sniffs the air, he senses a change in the weather & starts moving equipment up the mountain as a few stars prick through the clouds

Tuesday 11^th July

A gap in the clouds! Lord Francis wants to get in a quick reconnaissance over the Théodule & employs Peter Taugwalder’s son Joseph as porter

As a recaltricant sun tries to shine over Breuil, Whymper spots Carrel & his team up the mountain, starting their Matterhorn attack

Whymper is searching Breuil for guides or porters for the crossing to Zermatt, but they are all either with Carrel or hunting marmottes!

At Visp, Hudson finds no McCormick, who is delayed by bad weather, so he decides to continue to St Niklaus

Lord Francis has arrived in Breuil. He is delighted to meet Whymper, whose exploits he has heard tell of & can learn from

Whymper is finding Lord Francis an exceedingly amiable & talented young man. Sunny afternoon conversation has turned to the Matterhorn

Carrel & the Italians are spending an atrocious night in the tent on the rocky ledge he & Whymper had found in 1862

Whymper & Lord Francis have teamed up! Tomorrow they cross to Zermatt, engage Lord Francis’ guide Peter Taugwalder & attack the Matterhorn

Wednesday 12^th July

Whymper with Lord Francis are leaving Breuil, cold & wet, heavily laden with tent, blankets & a lot of rope

Hudson arrives in Zermatt. Poor weather means he will wait until McCormick joins for real climbing. Takes a look up Hörnli with young Hadow

Whymper has stowed equipment at the Schwarzsee & organised his ropes behind the Chapel of Mary of the Snow. Ready for tomorrow!

The dining room at the Monte Rosa. Everyone is talking about the Matterhorn! Whymper & Lord Francis 1st & then Hudson & Hadow turned up

The 2 teams have joined forces, will share guides Michel Croz and Peter Taugwalder & attempt the Matterhorn from Switzerland! Tomorrow!

On a storm swathed Matterhorn, Carrel & friends are confined to their tent

Thursday 13^th July

Zermatt is lit by clean golden sun as 8 men leave town – Whymper, Lord Francis, Hudson, Hadow, Croz, Peter Taugwalder & sons Peter & Joseph

The pace is leisurely, they are at Schwarzsee to breakfast & retrieve Whymper’s supplies. Hudson & Whymper are deciding together on plans

Carrel & the Italians are struggling out of their tent on the Breuil side – it has been semi buried by yesterday’s snow fall

The way up the Hörnli is mainly easy going, a few places where an axe is necessary, they round some ledges to the Eastern face

The tent is pitched on a sunny ledge. Croz & Taugwalder’s older son Peter are sent to make an assessment of the unknown passage above

Croz & Young Peter return. The way above is easy, easy! We could have reached the summit today & got back. Tomorrow bodes well!!

The Carrels have returned to their tent. They managed hardly any distance above it, they can’t cut steps through the deep, new snow

The setting sun fills the sky with a pink glow that betokens a fine morning. Men’s voices lifted in song echo around the darkening mountains

Friday 14^th July

The summit bound party on the Matterhorn started before daybreak & it included Young Peter, overjoyed to go along as a guide

The pace on the Matterhorn is slow & cautious but the rocks make a giant staircase & not are yet so challenging as to require roping up

They meet a tough, steeper section, fewer handholds, glazed with ice, Croz takes the lead & they rope together

The steep section cleared, they manoeuver horizontally, ascend, take a stride round a tricky corner. There is now only snow to the summit

Whymper & Croz release themselves from the rope to race to the summit & become the 1st men to reach the top of the Matterhorn!!!

All 7 have reached the top, the sun is smiling, the tent pole is planted & Croz removes his precious blue smock to be their triumphal flag

They have reached the tricky bit of the descent so rope together. Croz, then Hadow, Hudson, Lord Francis, Old Peter, Whymper, Young Peter

In Zermatt, young Friedrich Taugwalder, watching the mountain intently, calls – an avalanche, look, an avalanche on the Matterhorn!

Only three men now cling to the rock. Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow & Michel Croz fell to certain death, then the rope broke

Whymper & Taugwalders father & son, sick with shock, have reached the safety of the snow. Relations in the aftermath of trauma are strained

Carrel & his friends retreat to their tent for yet another night, knowing they were beaten to the top of the Matterhorn

Darkness. There is no choice for Whymper & the Taugwalders but to wait on a rocky ledge until tomorrow’s dawn lights a way down

Saturday 15^th July

3 men are coming down off the Matterhorn but not together as brothers in the face of tragedy. Mutual understanding has died with the victims

Zermatt. Alexander Seiler at the Monte Rosa hotel is the 1st to know of the tragedy. Then the door to Whymper’s room closed

It is official – 4 men fell to their deaths on the descent of the Matterhorn. Herr Welschen, President of the Commune, has taken charge

A search party has been called. 20 men receive 6 francs each & a share in 13 bottles of wine, to scale the heights & look for bodies

The searchers have returned. The glacier was too dangerous but from the slopes of Hohlicht they spied 3 bodies

Through the darkened streets of Zermatt rumours of foul play start to flutter like leaves blown by the wind & quickly escalate

Sunday 16^th July

A 2nd search party went this morning before daylight to reach the glacier before the sun makes it too dangerous, organised by Whymper

Carrel has set out from Breuil to make another attempt on the Matterhorn but without the intention to take his rich patrons to the top

The search party has returned. They saw a scene of devastation & carnage, 3 maimed bodies but no sign of Lord Francis except for his boot

Old Peter Taugwalder is denying the rumours that have set Zermatt alight, that there was no accident, the rope did not break, it was cut!

Monday 17^th July

Herr Clemenz from Visp, President of the Council & owner of the Mont Cervin Hotel, has been appointed to lead the Official Enquiry

The authorities have impounded the personal possessions taken from the corpses & instructed Whymper to stay in Zermatt pending the Enquiry

Whymper has passed pieces of broken rope to Herr Clemenz. They show that the connection between Lord Francis & Old Peter was the thinnest

J-A Carrel & J-B Bich make the 1st successful ascent of the Monte Cervino from Italy. Celebrations in Val Tournanche

The rumours about Old Peter Taugwalder & the rope cutting have come to Whymper’s ears. He insists that would have been impossible

Tuesday 18^th July

The weather has changed, the wind blows, the sky is grey. No Enquiry has yet been called, allowing supposition to take the place of fact

A list of questions has been delivered to Whymper’s room, those the Enquiry intends to ask him, although a date for when is not yet set

A teacher from Rugby school has visited Whymper to help translate the questions from German to English & the answers into French

Whymper is pleased to be asked to formulate questions for Old Peter Taugwalder. He frames them so Old Peter can explain his choice of rope

Wednesday 19^th July

Old Peter Taugwalder has his questions. His cousin Judge Alois Julen is around so it looks like he’s getting some help to answer them

Another English climber’s death – the body of William Knyvet Wilson, a Master at Rugby, has been found at the foot of the Riffelhorn

The question of why Old Peter tied to Lord Francis by the thinnest rope has entered the almost slanderous debate about the incident

A party of 21 men camp in chalets along the path to the glacier, sent to recover the bodies of those who perished on the Matterhorn

Thursday 20^th July

The bodies of Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow & Michel Croz have been carried back to town. They will be buried in Zermatt tomorrow

Young Peter Taugwalder is given leave to depart Zermatt as he has an engagement with a client in Chamonix

Whymper has paid the Curé so that he will bury Croz & has settled Lord Francis’ outstanding bill at the Mont Cervin

Friday 21^st July

The funerals, 1st of Michel Croz, then of Hudson, Hadow & Knyvet Wilson, have been held at the Church of Zermatt

The Official Enquiry into the tragedy on the descent of the Matterhorn starts in the Mont Cervin, with the aim to find if anyone was to blame

Whymper gave his evidence. He explained how Hadow slipped, knocking off Croz, dragging down Hudson & Lord Douglas. Then the rope broke

Old Peter Taugwalder gave his evidence, all the questions but one being from Whymper’s list. He said he believed the rope was strong enough

Franz Andenmatten from Almagell, who led the party organised by Whymper that found the bodies, was called to give evidence

Whymper has paid Old Peter the sum he believes is due to both Taugwalders for the Matterhorn ascent, including a Bonnemain

Saturday 22^nd July

Alexander Lochmatter from St Niklaus, who accompanied the party that found the bodies, was called to give evidence

The Court has organised inventories of the belongings of the deceased, things are drawing to a close

Edward Whymper has been given leave to depart Zermatt, with a promise from Clemenz that he will receive a copy of the proceedings

Sunday 23^rd July

Old Peter Taugwalder is recalled. He is asked about the composition of the parties, who supplied the rope & the details that led to the slip

Monday 24^th July

The Verdict – the accident was the result of Hadow’s slip. Guilt attaches to no one. There are no grounds for prosecution