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The first ascent of the Matterhorn was made by mountaineers led by Edward Whymper on 14th July 1865.
It was a very difficult mountain to climb. Nobody had ever climbed it before. The ascent was a
successbut the descent was a disaster. Here is Edward Whympers story of the climb.

I first visited the
Matterhorn in 1860
when I was 20 years
old. I went there to
draw the mountains
but I soon wanted to
climb them.

In the summer of
1865, I decided to
climb the
Matterhorn. Nobody
had ever climbed it.
One day I met another Englishman, Lord
Douglas. He also wanted to climb the Matterhorn.
In a nearby town, Zermatt, we found a guide,
Peter Taugwalder, and three more mountaineers:
Michel Croz, Charles Hudson
and Douglas Hadow.

We left Zermatt on 13
th
July at
5.30am. After 2 hours, we
reached the bottom of the
mountain. Then we started to
climb. By twelve o'clock we had
reached a height of 3,400
metres and we set up a camp.

In the morning of the 14
th
July,
we started to climb to the top.
Soon we could see the East
face of the peak. It rose before
us for 1000 metres. It was like
a giant staircase. We climbed it
without ropes because it was
not a difficult climb. By half
past six in the morning we had reached 4000
metres and we had a short break. Then we
climbed for three more hours and rested. Now the
climb got harder. Hadow needed lots of help but
soon we saw the top of the Matterhorn. There
was just 100 metres of snow to walk through. I
wanted to get there first so I started to run. Croz
raced me to the top. We got there together. At
1.40pm the world was at our feet and the
Matterhorn was conquered.

We stayed at the top for an hour, then we slowly
began the descent on a rope. We moved slowly.
Only one man moved at a time. An hour from the
summit, disaster struck. Hadow slipped and fell
on Croz, who was in front of him.
Croz was knocked over and they
both fell, and pulled down Hudson
and Douglas after them. I think all
of them were holding on to the
rope, so Taugwalder and I held
firmly on to the rocks and the rope.
We felt the weight of the four men
on the rope, but suddenly the rope
broke. I saw the four men slide
down the slope, their hands and
feet desperately trying to grab the
rocks. I saw Douglas and Hudson
disappear over the edge of a cliff. I
think I saw Croz holding Hadow for
a second or two before they too
went over the edge. All four fell
hundreds of metres.

Taugwalder and I continued to climb down. We
reached the bottom of the east face of the
mountain at 6pm and began to search for the
other men. We called out their names but found
nothing. We climbed down further and at 9pm
made camp for the night.

The following day we searched for the four men.
At around 9am we found the bodies of Croz,
Hadow and Hudson. But we never found Douglas.
All we found were his gloves, belt and a boot.