We might be forgiven growing up in Southern California and thinking that the Matterhorn was found at Disneyland.
But we shouldn’t be forgiven for not knowing at least something of the most famous Swiss peak in the world.
So we did our research: the Matterhorn stands at 14,692 feet, which is only 187 feet higher than our Mt. Whitney in California, but the difference is striking.
The Matterhorn is awesome looking. It inspires, and yet creates fear. Climbers, drawn to it like moths to a flame, have paid dearly for their attempts to summit the Matterhorn. In fact, over 500 climbers have lost their lives on it.
The first party of climbers, Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, Douglas Robert Hadow, Michael Croz, Peter Taugwalder, Sr., and Peter Taugwalder, Jr., attained the summit on July 14, 1865.
Only three of the original seven climbers to summit survived. Tragedy struck the group on the way down, and Hadow, Croz, Hudson, and Douglas all fell to their deaths. Douglas’s body was never recovered.
Looking at the pictures, we can’t imagine climbing the Matterhorn. We’ll have to stick to Disneyland.
