On July 14, 1865, a team of seven mountaineers, led by Englishman Edward Whymper, became the first to reach the summit of the Matterhorn, near Zermatt. On the descent, the young, inexperienced mountaineer Douglas Hadow slipped, dragging four colleagues to their deaths. Edward Whymper and two Zermatt mountain guides survived thanks to a broken rope. Reproduction of the lithograph by Gustave Doré (1832-1883).
KEYSTONE/Matthias Taugwalder
A mountain guide on the lower Grindelwald glacier, taken between 1885 and 1890. (Keystone)
Keystone / Anonymous
On August 17-18, 2002, two Swiss mountaineers climbed the north face of the Eiger using old-style climbing equipment. Filmed by Swiss television, they recreated the climb by the German Anderl Heckmair and Austrian Heinrich Harrer in 1938.
Keystone / Thomas Ulrich
On route to the Gornergrat, canton Valais. A wood engraving from the late 19th century (KEYSTONE/INTERFOTO/Sammlung Rauch)
Keystone / Sammlung Rauch
The mountaineers Heinrich Harrer, Ludwig "Wiggerl" Voerg, Andreas Heckmair and Fritz Kasparek, from left to right, pose for a picture on July 24, 1938, after the first successful ascent of the north face of the Eiger, near Grindelwald in the Bernese Oberland (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV)
Keystone / Str
Climbing boots, ropes and other equipment belonging to the mountaineers who first climbed the north face of the Eiger near Grindelwald, Switzerland in July 1938. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV)
Keystone / Str
Italian climber Walter Bonatti prepares the rucksacks and equipment ahead of the climb of north face of the Eiger in 1963. (Mondadori Portfolio/giorgio Lotti)
Mondadori Portfolio/giorgio Lotti
Mountain guides Erhard Loretan, left, and Andre Georges, right, pose on a glacier in the Bernese Oberland on February 27, 1986, after announcing their intention to climb 37 Swiss peaks in 25 days. (Keystone)
Keystone / Str
Mountaineers Stephan Siegrist and Michal Pitelka at the top of the Eiger in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. On 17 and 18 August 2002, they climbed the peak using old-style equipment. (KEYSTONE/VISUAL IMPACT/Thomas Ulrich)
Keystone / Thomas Ulrich
Tourists in front of the Matterhorn, Zermatt, in 1990. (KEYSTONE/Martin Ruetschi)
Keystone / Martin Ruetschi
Hikers and sun-seekers relax at the Diavolezza viewpoint at 3,000 metres, above the Val Bernina in Graubünden on July 22, 2003 (KEYSTONE/Arno Balzarini)
Keystone / Arno Balzarini
Hikers walk toward the Matterhorn in Zermatt on July 19, 2014.(KEYSTONE/Anthony Anex)
Keystone / Anthony Anex
On January 14, 2015, Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck climbed the north face of the Eiger solo via the Heckmair Route in a record time of 2 hours 23 minutes. (KEYSTONE/Robert Boesch)
Keystone / Robert Boesch
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