Matterhorn

"Cervino" redirects here. For the Italian town, see Cervino (CE). For other uses, see Matterhorn (disambiguation).

Matterhorn - Cervino
The Matterhorn
Matterhorn - Cervino
Elevation	4,478 metres (14,692 ft)
Location	Italy /  Switzerland
Range	Pennine Alps
Prominence	1,029 m (3,376 ft)[1]
Coordinates	45°58′35″N 7°39′30″E / 45.97639°N 7.65833°E / 45.97639; 7.65833Coordinates: 45°58′35″N 7°39′30″E / 45.97639°N 7.65833°E / 45.97639; 7.65833
Topo map	Swisstopo 1347 Matterhorn
First ascent	14 July 1865 by Edward Whymper and party
Easiest route	Hörnli ridge (AD, rock/mixed climb)

The Matterhorn (German), Cervino (Italian) or Cervin (French), is a mountain in the Pennine Alps. With its 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high summit, lying on the border between Switzerland and Italy, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps^[2] and its 1,200 metres (3,937 ft) north face is one of the Great north faces of the Alps. It is one of the deadliest peaks in the Alps: from 1865 – when it was first climbed – to 1995, 500 alpinists died on it.^[3] The mountain overlooks the town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais to north-east and Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south.

The Matterhorn is an iconic emblem of the Swiss Alps and the Alps in general. Its first and tragic ascent by Edward Whymper and party marked the end of the Golden age of alpinism.

Height

Typical banner cloud formation on the Matterhorn

The Matterhorn has two distinct summits, both situated on a 100-metre-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.

In August 1792, the Genevese geologist and explorer Horace Bénédict de Saussure made the first measurement of the altitude of the Matterhorn, using a 50-footlong chain spread out on the Theodul glacier and a sextant. He calculated a height of 4,501.7 metres.^[4]

A recent survey (1999) using Global Positioning System technology has been made^[5], allowing the height of the Matterhorn to be measured to within one centimetre accuracy, and its changes to be tracked. The result was 4,477.54 metres (14,690 ft).

The particularly steep faces of the mountain and its isolated location make it prone to banner clouds formation with the air flowing around and creating vortices, conducting condensation of the air on the lee side.

Naming

The mountain derives its name from the German words Matte, meaning meadow, and Horn, which means peak. The migration of the name meadow from the lower part of the countryside to the peak is common in the Alps. The Italian and French names (Cervino and Cervin) come from Mons Silvinus from the Latin word silva, meaning forest (with again the migration of the name from the lower part to the peak). The changing of the first letter s to c is attributed to Horace Bénédict de Saussure, who thought that the word was related to a deer (French: cerf). ^[6]

Geography

The Matterhorn and Dent d'Hérens seen from Tête Blanche

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.

East face of the Matterhorn reflected in the Riffelsee lake

The Matterhorn's 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 largest of which is the Zmutt Glacier to the west. The Hörnli ridge of the northeast (the central ridge in the view from Zermatt) is the usual climbing route.

The Matterhorn seen from the Zmutt valley

Well-known faces are the east and north, visible from Zermatt. The east face is 1,000 metres high and, because it is "a long, monotonous slope of rotten rocks",^[7] presents a high risk of rockfall, making its ascent dangerous. The north face is 1,200 metres high and is one of the most dangerous north faces in the Alps, in particular for its risk of rockfall and storms. The south face is 1,350 metres high and offers many different routes. The west face, the highest at 1,400 metres, has the fewest ascent routes.

The four main ridges separating the four faces are the main climbing routes. The least difficult technical climb, the Hörnli ridge (Hörnligrat), lies between the east and north faces, facing the town of Zermatt. To its west lies the Zmutt ridge (Zmuttgrat), between the north and west faces; this is, according to Collomb, "the classic route up the mountain, its longest ridge, also the most disjointed."^[7] The Lion ridge (Cresta del Leone), lying between the south and west faces is the Italian normal route and goes across Pic Tyndall; Collomb comments, "A superb rock ridge, the shortest on the mountain, now draped with many fixed ropes, but a far superior climb compared with the Hörnli."^[7] Finally the south side is separated from the east side by the Furggen ridge (Furggengrat), according to Collomb "the hardest of the ridges [...] the ridge still has an awesome reputation but is not too difficult in good conditions by the indirect finish".^[7]

View on the south face and the ridge between Italy (left) and Switzerland (right)

The border between Italy and Switzerland is the main Alpine watershed, separating the drainage basin on the Rhone on the north (Mediterranean Sea) and the Po River on the south (Adriatic Sea). The Theodul Pass, located between the Matterhorn and Klein Matterhorn, at 3,300 metres, is the lowest passage between the Valtournenche and the Mattertal. The pass was used as a crossover and trade route for the Romans and the Romanised Celts between 100 BC and 400 AC.^[8]

While the Matterhorn is the culminating point of the Valtournenche on the south, it is only one of the many 4000 metres summits of the Mattertal valley on the north, among which the Weisshorn (4505 m), Dom (4545 m), Lyskamm (4527 m) and the second highest in the Alps: Monte Rosa (4634 m). The whole range of mountains forming a crown of summits around Zermatt. The deeply glaciated region between the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa is listed in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments.

Geology

Apart from the base of the mountain, the Matterhorn is composed of gneiss belonging to the Dent Blanche klippe, an isolated part of the Austroalpine nappes, lying over the Penninic nappes. The Austroalpine nappes are part of the Apulian plate, a small continent which broke up from Africa before the Alpine orogeny. For this reason the Matterhorn has been popularized as an African mountain. The Austroalpine nappes are mostly common in the Eastern Alps.

The Swiss explorer and geologist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, inspired by the view of the Matterhorn, anticipated the modern theories of geology:

"What power must have been required to shatter and to sweep away the missing parts of this pyramid; for we do not see it surrounded by heaps of fragments; one only sees other peaks - themselves rooted to the ground - whose sides, equally rent, indicate an immense mass of débris, of which we do not see any trace in the neighbourhood. Doubtless this is that débris which, in the form of pebbles, boulders, and sand, fills our valleys and our plains."^[9]

Formation

Different layers of rock can be seen: the lower part is sedimentary rocks (yellow); the middle part is greenschists from the oceanic crust. The peak itself (above the seracs) is gneisses from the African continent.

The formation of the Matterhorn (and the whole Alpine range) started with the break-up of the Pangaea continent 200 million years ago into Laurasia (containing Europe) and Gondwana (containing Africa). While the rocks constituting the nearby Monte Rosa remained in Laurasia, the rocks constituting the Matterhorn found themselves in Gondwana, separated by the newly formed Tethys Ocean.

100 million years ago the extension of the Tethys Ocean stopped and the Apulian plate broke from Gondwana and moved toward the European continent. This resulted in the closure of the western Tethys by subduction under the Apulian plate (with the Piemont-Liguria Ocean first and Valais Ocean later). The subduction of the oceanic crust left traces still visible today at the base of the Matterhorn (accretionary prism). The orogeny itself began after the end of the oceanic subduction when the European continental crust collided with the Apulian continent, resulting in the formation of nappes. The Matterhorn acquired its characteristic pyramidal shape in much more recent times as it was caused by natural erosion over the past million years. At the beginning of alpine orogeny, the Matterhorn was only a rounded mountain like a hill. Because its height is above the snowline, its flanks are covered by ice, resulting from the accumulation and compaction of snow. During the warmer period of summer, part of the ice melts and seeps into the bedrock. When it freezes again, it fractures pieces of rock because of its dilatation (Freeze Thaw), forming a cirque. Four cirques led to the shape of the mountain.

Rocks

Most of the base of the mountain lies in the Tsaté nappe, a remnant of the Piedmont-Liguria oceanic crust (Ophiolites) and its sedimentary rocks^[10]. Up to 3,400 metres the mountain is composed of successive layers of ophiolites and sedimentary rocks. From 3,400 metres to the top, the rocks are gneisses from the Dent Blanche nappe (Austroalpine nappes). They are divided into the Arolla series (below 4,200 m) and the Valpelline zone (the summit)^[11]. Other mountains in the region (Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn, Dent Blanche, Mont Collon) also belong to the Dent Blanche nappe.

Tourism

Since the eighteenth century the Alps have attracted more and more people and fascinated generations of explorers and climbers. The Matterhorn remained relatively little known until 1865, but the successful ascent followed by the tragic accident of the expedition led by Edward Whymper caused a rush on the mountains surrounding Zermatt.

View from the train to the Gornergrat

The construction of the railway linking the village of Zermatt from the town of Visp started in 1888. The first train reached Zermatt on July 18, 1891 and the entire line was electrified in 1930.^[12] Since 1930 the village is directly connected to St. Moritz by the Glacier Express panoramic train. However there is no connection with the village of Cervinia on the Italian side. Travellers have to hire mountain guides to cross the 3,300 metres high glaciated Theodul Pass, separating the two resorts. The town of Zermatt remains completely car-free and can be reached by train only.

Rail and cable-car facilities have been built to make some of the summits in the area more accessible. The Gornergrat railway, reaching a record altitude of 3,100 metres, was inaugurated in 1898. Areas served by cable car are the Unterrothorn and the Klein Matterhorn (Little Matterhorn) (3,883 m, highest transportation system in Europe). The Hörnli Hut (3,260 m), which is the start of the normal route via the Hörnli ridge, is easily accessible from Schwarzsee (2,600 m) and is also frequented by hikers. Both resorts of Zermatt and Cervinia function as ski resort all year round and are connected by skilifts over the Theodul Pass. A cable car running from Testa Grigia to Klein Matterhorn is currently planned for 2014. It will finally provide a link between the Swiss and Italian side of the Matterhorn.^[13]

The Matterhorn Museum relates the general history of the region from alpinism to tourism. In the museum, which is in the form of a reconstituted mountain village, the visitors can relive the first and tragic ascent of the Matterhorn and see the objects having belonged to the protagonists.

Climbing history

Portrait of Edward Whymper at the Monte Rosa Hotel

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.

Before the first ascent

In the summer of 1860, Edward Whymper came across the Matterhorn for the first time. He was an English artist and engraver who had been hired by a London publisher to make sketches of the mountains in the region of Zermatt. Although the unclimbed Matterhorn had a mixed reputation among British mountaineers, it fascinated Whymper. Whymper's first attempt was in 1861, from the village of Breuil on the south side. He was at the beginning of the climb, with a Swiss guide, when he met Jean-Antoine Carrel and his uncle. Carrel was an Italian guide from Breuil who had already made several attempts on the mountain. The two parties camped together at the base of the peak. Carrel and his uncle woke up early and decided to continue the ascent without Whymper and his guide. Discovering that they had been left, Whymper and his guide tried to race Carrel up the mountain, but neither party met with success.

In 1862 Whymper made further attempts, still from the south side, on the Lion ridge (or Italian ridge), where the route seemed easier than the Hörnli ridge (the normal route today). On his own he reached above 4,000 metres, but was injured on his way down to Breuil. He soon returned to the mountain with a local guide and went higher, but the Matterhorn still remained unclimbed.

The Rifugio Carrel (3,830 m) on the Lion ridge

Whymper returned to Breuil in 1863, persuading Carrel to join forces with him and try the mountain once more via the Italian ridge. On this attempt a storm, however, soon developed and they were stuck halfway to the summit. They remained there for 26 hours in their tent before giving up. Whymper did not try any more attempts for two years.

In the decisive year 1865, Whymper returned with new plans, deciding to attack the Matterhorn via its south face instead of the Italian ridge. On June 21, Whymper began his ascent with Swiss guides, but halfway up they experienced severe rockfall; although nobody was injured, they decided to give up the ascent. This was Whymper's seventh attempt.

During the following weeks, Whymper spent his time climbing other mountains in the area with his guides, before going back to Breuil on July 7. Meanwhile the Italian Alpine Club was founded and its leader, Felice Giordano, hired Carrel to make the first ascent of Matterhorn, before any foreigner could succeed. He feared the arrival of Whymper, now a rival to Carrel, and wrote to the latter:

"I have tried to keep everything secret, but that fellow whose life seems to depend on the Matterhorn is here, suspiciously prying into everything. I have taken all the best men away from him; and yet he is so enamored of the mountain that he may go with others...He is here in the hotel and I try to avoid speaking to him."

Just as he did two years before, Whymper asked Carrel to be his guide, but Carrel declined; he was also unsuccessful in hiring other local guides from Breuil. When Whymper discovered Giordano and Carrel's plan, he left Breuil and crossed the Theodul Pass to Zermatt to hire local guides. He encountered Lord Francis Douglas, another English mountaineer, who also wanted to climb the Matterhorn. They arrived later in Zermatt in the Monte Rosa Hotel, where they met two other British climbers — the Reverend Charles Hudson and his young and inexperienced companion, Douglas Robert Hadow — who had hired the French guide Michel Croz to try to make the first ascent. These two groups decided to join forces and try the ascent of the Hörnli ridge. They hired another two local guides, Peter Taugwalder, father and son.

The first ascent

Whymper and party left Zermatt early in the morning of July 13, heading to the foot of the Hörnli ridge, which they reached 6 hours later (approximately where the Hörnli Hut is situated today). Meanwhile Carrel and six other Italian guides also began their ascent of the Italian ridge.

Despite its appearance, Whymper wrote that the Hörnli ridge was much easier to climb than the Italian ridge:

"We were now fairly upon the mountain, and were astonished to find that places which from the Riffel, or even from the Furggen Glacier, looked entirely impracticable, were so easy that we could run about."^[14]

The first ascent of the Matterhorn, by Gustave Doré

After having camped for the night, Whymper and party started on the ridge. According to Whymper:

"The whole of this great slope was now revealed, rising for 3,000 feet like a huge natural staircase. Some parts were more, and others were less, easy; but we were not once brought to a halt by any serious impediment, for when an obstruction was met in front it could always be turned to the right or left. For the greater part of the way there was, indeed, no occasion for the rope, and sometimes Hudson led, sometimes myself. At 6.20 we had attained a height of 12,800 feet and halted for half an hour; we then continued the ascent without a break until 9.55, when we stopped for fifty minutes, at a height of 14,000 feet."^[14]

When the party came close to the summit, they had to leave the ridge for the north face because "[the ridge] was usually more rotten and steep, and always more difficult than the face".^[14] At this point of the ascent Whymper wrote that the less experienced Hadow "required continual assistance".^[14] Having overcome these difficulties the group finally arrived in the summit area, with Croz and Whymper reaching the top first.

"The slope eased off, and Croz and I, dashing away, ran a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a dead heat. At 1.40 p.m. the world was at our feet, and the Matterhorn was conquered. Hurrah! Not a footstep could be seen."^[14]

Precisely at this moment, Carrel and party were approximatively 400 metres below, still dealing with the most difficult parts of the Italian ridge. When seeing his rival on the summit, Carrel and party gave up on their attempt and went back to Breuil.

The Matterhorn tragedy, by Gustave Doré

After having built a cairn, Whymper and party stayed an hour on the summit. Then they began their descent of the Hörnli ridge. Croz descended first, then Hadow, Hudson and Douglas, Taugwalder father, Whymper with Taugwalder son coming last. They climbed down with great care, only one man moving at a time.

Whymper wrote: "As far as I know, at the moment of the accident no one was actually moving. I cannot speak with certainty, neither can the Taugwalders, because the two leading men were partially hidden from our sight by an intervening mass of rock. Poor Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow greater security was absolutely taking hold of his legs and putting his feet, one by one, into their proper positions. From the movements of their shoulders it is my belief that Croz, having done as I have said, was in the act of turning round to go down a step or two himself; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, fell on him, and knocked him over."^[15]

The weight of the falling men pulled Hudson and Douglas from their holds and dragged them down the north face. Taugwalder, father and son, and Whymper were left alive when the rope linking Douglas to Taugwalder father broke. They were stunned by the accident and for a time could not move until Taugwalder son descended to enable them to advance. When they were together Whymper asked to see the broken rope and saw that it had been employed by mistake as it was the weakest and oldest of the three ropes they had brought. They frequently looked, but in vain, for traces of their fallen companions. They continued their descent, including an hour in the dark, until 9.30pm when a resting place was found. At daybreak the descent was resumed and the group finally reached Zermatt, where a search of the victims was quickly organized. The bodies of Croz, Hadow and Hudson were found on the Matterhorn Glacier, but the body of Douglas was never found. Although Taugwalder's father was accused of cutting the rope to save himself and his son, the official inquest found no proof for this.

Other first ascents

Ridges

On the Hörnli ridge

Three days after Whymper's ascent, the mountain was ascended from the Italian side via an indirect route by Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich on July 17, 1865.^[7] The first direct ascent of the Italian ridge as it is climbed today was by J. J. and J. P. Maquignaz on September 13, 1867.^[7] Julius Elliott made the second ascent via the Hörnli ridge in 1868, and later that year the party of John Tyndall, J. J. and J. P. Maquignaz was the first to traverse the summit by way of the Hörnli and Italian ridges.^[7] On August 22, 1871, while wearing a white print dress, Lucy Walker became the first woman to reach the summit of the Matterhorn,^[16] followed a few weeks later by her rival Meta Brevoort. The first winter ascent of the Hörnli ridge was by Vittorio Sella with guides J. A. Carrel, J. B. Carrel and L. Carrel on March 17, 1882,^[7] and its first solo ascent was made by W. Paulcke in 1898.^[7] The first winter solo ascent of the Hörnli ridge was by G. Gervasutti in 1936.^[7]

The summit

The Zmutt ridge was first climbed by Albert F. Mummery, Alex­ander Burgener, J. Petrus and A. Gentinetta on September 3, 1879. Its first solo ascent was made by Hans Pfann in 1906,^[7] and the first winter ascent was made by H. Masson and E. Petrig on March 25, 1948.^[7] The last of the Matterhorn's four ridges to be ascended, the Furggen ridge was first climbed by M. Piacenza with guides J. J. Carrel and J. Gaspard on September 9, 1911.^[7]

On August 20, 1992 Italian alpinist Hans Kammerlander and Swiss alpine guide Diego Wellig climbed the Matterhorn four times in just 23 hours and 26 minutes. The route they followed was: Zmutt ridge–summit–Hörnli ridge (descent)–Furggen ridge–summit–Lion ridge (descent)–Lion ridge–summit–Hörnli ridge (descent)–Hörnli ridge–summit–Hörnli Hut (descent).^[17] Their itinerary has not been repeated.

Faces

William Penhall and guides made the first ascent of the west face one hour after Mummery and party's first ascent of the Zmutt ridge on September 3, 1879.^[18][19]

The north face

The north face, before it has been conquered in 1931, was one of the last great big wall problems in the Alps. To succeed on the north face, good climbing and ice-climbing technique and route-finding ability was required. Unexpectedly it was first climbed by the brothers Franz and Toni Schmid on July 31–August 1, 1931. They reached the summit at the end of the second day, after a night of bivouack. Because they had kept their plans secret, their ascent was a complete surprise. In addition, the two brothers had travelled by bicycle from Munich and after their successful ascent they cycled back home again.^[20] The first winter ascent of the north face was made by Hilti von Allmen and Paul Etter on February 3–4, 1962.^[7] Its first solo ascent was made in five hours by Dieter Marchart on July 22, 1959.^[7] Walter Bonatti climbed the "North Face Direct" solo on February 18–22, 1965.^[7]

The first ascent of the south face was made by E. Benedetti with guides L. Carrel and M. Bich on October 15, 1931,^[7] and the first complete ascent of the east face was made by E. Benedetti and G. Mazzotti with guides L. and L. Carrel, M. Bich and A. Gaspard on September 18–19, 1932.^[7]

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.

On the way to the Hörnli Hut

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 (10,700 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 (13,130 ft) can be used only in a case of emergency.

Other routes on the mountain include the Italian (Lion) ridge (AD 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).

The table below gives an overview of the different routes and climbing grades:

Cultural references

• Murder On The Matterhorn by "Glyn Carr" (nom-de-plume of noted climbing writer Showell Styles) is a 1951 detective novel.
• James Ramsey Ullman offers a fictional retelling of the original ascent of the Matterhorn (renamed the Citadel in the novel) in Banner in the Sky, a 1955 Newberry Honor Book.
• In the 1957 Warner Brothers animated short Piker's Peak, Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam try to beat each other to the summit of the Schmatterhorn, towering high above a fictional Swiss village, with the winner to receive 50,000 "cronkites". Warner's 1961 cartoon A Scent of the Matterhorn has Pepe Le Pew chasing a female cat (whom he mistakes for a skunk) through the Alps.
• A miniature imitation of the Matterhorn featuring a bobsled ride is one of the attractions at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Matterhorn Bobsleds opened in 1959 as the world's first tubular steel coaster and partially encloses a 1/100 scale replica (147 feet in height) of the mountain.

Mini Matterhorn

• The 'Mini Matterhorn' is the unofficial name of a 75-cm piece of Martian rock immediately east-southeast of the Mars Pathfinder lander.^[21]
• The individual pieces of the chocolate bar Toblerone are claimed by its maker Kraft to be formed in the likeness of the Matterhorn.^[22]
• The Operation Matterhorn was a military operations plan of the United States Army Air Forces in World War II.
• Matterhorn Peak, California is climbed by three characters from Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums" (1958).
• A song called "Matterhorn" performed by the Country Gentlemen features on the "Rough Guide to Bluegrass" album.

Other 'Matterhorns'

Many other prominent mountains around the world are nicknamed the 'Matterhorn' of their respective countries or mountain ranges.^[23] Examples include:

The Matterhorn on a 2004 Swiss commemorative coin

• Ama Dablam ('the Matterhorn of the Himalaya')
• Cimon della Pala ('the Matterhorn of the Dolomites')
• Clach Glas ('the Matterhorn of Skye').
• Cnicht ('the Matterhorn of Wales')
• Dabajian Mountain ('the Matterhorn of Taiwan')
• Innerdalstårnet ('the Matterhorn of Norway')
• Kajaqiao ('the Matterhorn of China')
• Kurtbashitsa ('the Matterhorn of Bulgaria')
• Machapuchare ('the Matterhorn of Nepal')
• Mount Aspiring/Tititea in New Zealand ('the Matterhorn of the South')
• Mount Assiniboine ('the Matterhorn of North America')
• Mount Yari ('the Matterhorn of Japan')
• Olomana ('the Matterhorn of Oahu')
• Pfeifferhorn ('the Little Matterhorn of Utah's Wasatch Mountains')
• Roseberry Topping ('the Matterhorn of the Moors')
• Shivling ('the Matterhorn of India')
• Sloan Peak ('the Matterhorn of the Cascades')
• Spitzkoppe ('the Matterhorn of Namibia')
• Tinzenhorn ('the Matterhorn of Davos')
• Ushba ('the Matterhorn of the Caucasus')

• Matterhorn Peak 12,264 feet (3,738 m) in California's Sierra Nevada range, Matterhorn 10,838 feet (3,303 m) in Nevada's Jarbidge Mountains, Matterhorn Peak 9,826 feet (2,995 m) in Oregon's Wallowa Range, and Matterhorn Peak 13,590 ft (4,142 m) in Colorado's San Juan Mountains are other notable mountains with this name.
• An outcrop on Grey Friar in the Lake District in England is known as the 'Matterhorn Rock'.

Panorama

View from Schwarzsee. From left to right: Dufourspitze, Liskamm, Breithorn, Klein Matterhorn, Theodul Pass, and Matterhorn

See also

• The Mountain Calls (film)
• Haute Route

Bibliography

• Charles Gos, Le Cervin (Attinger, 1948)
• Yvan Hostettler, Matterhorn: Alpine Top Model (Olizane Edition, Geneva, 2006). The use of the Matterhorn in advertisement, publicity, movies, painting and arts^[24]
• R. L. G. Irving, Ten Great Mountains (London, J. M. Dent & Sons, 1940)^[25]
• Beat P. Truffler, The History of the Matterhorn: First Ascents, Projects and Adventures, 4th ed., (Aroleit-Verlag, Zurich, 1998). ISBN 3-905097-14-1. Translation of Die Geschichte des Matterhorns from the German by Mirjam Steinmann
• Edward Whymper, Scrambles Amongst the Alps (1871)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matterhorn

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Matterhorn

Wikinews has related news: Matterhorn

• Matterhorn on Summitpost
• Landscape Artist Attempts to Climb Matterhorn (detailed story of the first ascent)
• Alpinist Magazine Mountain Profile - Issue 16
• Chronology of climbs - in German
• Matterhorn on 4000er.de
• Cervino Webcams - in English, Italian , German, French, Spanish
• Matterhorn Webcams
• PeakWare info on Cervino-Matterhorn
• La conquête du Cervin, Pierre Staelen
• Photo gallery dedicated to Matterhorn-Cervino and surrounding nature (English)
• Virtual ascent of the Hörnli Ridge with 360 degree panoramas
• Walt Disney and Zermatt