WikiPortallus: Matterhorn.html

Although not the highest mountain in Switzerland, the Matterhorn is considered as an iconic emblem of the region of the Swiss Alps.

Altitude

The Matterhorn has two distinct summits, both situated on a 100 m long rocky ridge, the Swiss summit (4,477.5 m) on the east and the Italian summit (4,476.4 m) on the west. Their names originated from the first ascents not for geographic reasons as they are both located on the border.

A recent survey (1999) using the Global Positioning System technology was made³, allowing to know the height of the Matterhorn with centimetre accuracy and it changes to be tracked. The result was 4,477.54 metres (14,690 ft).

The part of the Alps in which the Matterhorn is located, still continues to rise at faster rate than erosion, because of plate tectonics.

Naming

The mountain derives its name from the German words Matte, meaning meadow, and Horn, which means peak.⁴ The Italian and French names come from Mons Silvinus from the Latin word silva, meaning forest. The changing of the first letter s to c is attributed to Horace Bénédict de Saussure, believing that the word was related to cerf (deer).

Geography

The Matterhorn has a pyramidal shape with four faces facing the four compass points: the north and east faces overlook, respectively, the Zmutt Valley and Gornergrat ridge in Switzerland, the south face (the only one south of the Swiss-Italian border) fronts the resort town of Breuil-Cervinia, and the west face looks towards the mountain of Dent d'Hérens which straddles the border. The north and south faces meet at the summit to form a short east-west ridge.

The faces are steep, and only small patches of snow and ice cling to them; regular avalanches send the snow down to accumulate on the glaciers at the base of each face. The larger is the Zmutt Glacier on the west. The Hörnli ridge of the northeast (the center ridge in the view from Zermatt) is the usual climbing route.

The most famous faces are the east and north ones, visble from Zermatt. The first one, having a height of 1,000 metres, presents high risks of falling rocks, making its ascent dangerous. The second one, with a height of 1,200 metres, is one of the most dangerous north faces in the Alps, in particular for the risk of landslides and storms. The south face, which has a height of 1,350 metres, is a side offering many different routes. Finally, the west face, which is the highest with 1,400 metres, is the subject of fewer attempts of ascent.

The four main ridges separating the four faces are also the main climbing routes. The easiest, the Hörnli ridge (Hörnligrat), lies between the east and north faces, facing the town of Zermatt. Further on west lies the Zmutt ridge (Zmuttgrat), between the north and west sides. The Lion ridge (Cresta del Leone), lying between the south and west faces is the Italian normal route and goes through the Pic Tyndall. Finally the south side is separated from the east side by the Furggen ridge (Furggengrat), the most difficult one.

Geology

Tourism

The Matterhorn is probably one of the best known mountains in the world and its north-east view is much photographed. Thus many tourist facilities were built in order to make more accessible the summits in the area. The Gornergrat railway was the first to be inaugurated in 1898. Other areas served by cable car are the Unterrothorn and the 3,883 m high Klein Matterhorn. The 3,260 m high Hörnli Hut, which is the start of the normal route, is easily accessible from Schwarzsee and is also frequented by hikers.

The recently opened Matterhorn Museum in Zermatt relates the history of mountaineering in the region.

Climbing

The Matterhorn was one of the last of the main Alpine mountains to be ascended, not because of its technical difficulty, but because of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers. The first serious attempts began around 1857, mostly from the Italian side; but despite appearances, the southern routes are harder, and parties repeatedly found themselves having to turn back. However, on July 14, 1865, in what is considered the last ascent of the golden age of alpinism, the party of Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, Douglas Robert Hadow, Michel Croz and the two Peter Taugwalders (father and son) was able to reach the summit by an ascent of the Hörnli ridge in Switzerland. Upon descent, Hadow, Croz, Hudson and Douglas fell to their deaths on the Matterhorn Glacier, and all but Douglas (whose body was never found) are buried in the Zermatt churchyard.

First ascent

In July, 12 1865 after having been turned down by the Italian guide Jean-Antoine Carrel (who wanted to climb the Matterhorn from the Italian side), Edward Whymper, Lord Francis Douglas (English met on the road) and Peter Taugwalder decided to hire the guide Peter Taugwalder (father). Arrived at the Monte Rosa Hotel, they met the Reverend Charles Hudson and his young inexperimented companion, Douglas Robert Hadow who hired the French guide Michel Croz to try the first ascent. The two groups decided to join their forces and to try the ascent on the Hörnli ridge. On 14 July the group of seven people finally reached the summit, at around 13:40. Precisely in this moment Jean-Antoine Carrel with his party was also about to reach the summit from the Lion ridge. But after having seen that his rival Wyhper won the race, he renounced and went back to Breuil. After the exhilaration of the victory, Whymper and party descended the same ridge, but shortly after, the inexperimented Hadow slipped and led Douglas, Hudson and Croz with him. Luckily, the rope broke, allowing Whyper, Taugwalder and son to survive the accident. Edward Whymper did not do any more major first ascent after this tragedy.

Other ascents

Three days later on July 17, the mountain was ascended from the Italian side by a party led by Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich. Julius Elliott made the second ascent from the Zermatt side three years later in 1868, and later that year the party of John Tyndall, J. J. Maquignaz, and J. P. Maquignaz was the first to traverse the summit. In 1871, Lucy Walker became the first woman to stand on top of the mountain, followed a few weeks later by her rival Meta Brevoort. The Zmutt ridge was first ascended by Albert F. Mummery, Alexander Burgener, J. Petrus and A. Gentinetta on September 3, 1879; one hour after they reached the summit,⁵ another party reached it having made the first ascent of the west face. This party comprised William Penhall and guides, who had failed on the Zmutt ridge in the previous days.⁶ It wasn't until July 31, 1931 – August 1, 1931 that the north face route was first ascended by Franz and Toni Schmid.

Climbing Routes

Today, all ridges and faces of the Matterhorn have been ascended in all seasons, and mountain guides take a large number of people up the northeast Hörnli route each summer. By modern standards, the climb is fairly difficult (AD Difficulty rating), but not hard for skilled mountaineers. There are fixed ropes on parts of the route to help. Still, several climbers die each year due to a number of factors including the scale of the climb and its inherent dangers, inexperience, falling rocks, and overcrowded routes.

The usual pattern of ascent is to take the Schwarzsee cable car up from Zermatt, hike up to the Hörnli Hut (elev. 3,260 m/10,695 ft), a large stone building at the base of the main ridge, and spend the night. The next day, climbers rise at 3:30 am so as to reach the summit and descend before the regular afternoon clouds and storms come in. The Solvay Hut located on the ridge at 4,003 m can be use only in a case of emergency.

Other routes on the mountain include the Italian ridge (D Difficulty rating), the Zmutt ridge (D Difficulty rating) and the north face route, one of the six great north faces of the Alps (TD+ Difficulty rating).

Ridges

Cultural references

Other 'Matterhorns'

Many other prominent mountains around the world are nicknamed the 'Matterhorn' of their respective countries or mountain ranges.¹⁰ Examples include:

Panorama

Matterhorn.html

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