The Matterhorn was one of the last great Alpine peaks to be climbed, and Whymper had tried it seven times. His party reached the summit by the Hörnli ridge at about 1:40 p.m., just ahead of an Italian team climbing the other side. On the way down, the inexperienced Douglas Hadow slipped and pulled Michel Croz, Charles Hudson and Lord Francis Douglas off the mountain. The rope between them and the others snapped. The disaster ended what has been called the golden age of alpinism.
Whymper, a 25-year-old English engraver, had been racing Jean-Antoine Carrel, an Italian guide, for years to climb the mountain first. In July 1865 he formed a party at short notice in Zermatt: the Chamonix guide Michel Croz, the Reverend Charles Hudson, his 19-year-old companion Douglas Hadow, the young Lord Francis Douglas, and two local guides, Peter Taugwalder and his son.
They set out on July 13 and camped on the ridge. The next morning they found the route easier than expected and reached the summit at about 1:40 p.m. Seeing Carrel's party below on the Italian side, they shouted and rolled rocks down to announce their success.
During the descent, roped together, Hadow slipped and struck Croz. The two, with Hudson and Douglas, were dragged off the north face. The rope between Douglas and the elder Taugwalder broke, saving Whymper and the Taugwalders. Three of the bodies were later recovered; Douglas's was never found. An inquiry cleared the survivors, but rumours that the rope had been cut dogged the Taugwalders. The broken rope is displayed in Zermatt's Matterhorn Museum.
Key people: Edward Whymper, Michel Croz, Lord Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson