Mountaineering / by claude Wilson ; with illustrations by Ellis Carr.

Wilson, Claude, 1860-1937.

Date:: 1893

Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mountaineering / by claude Wilson ; with illustrations by Ellis Carr. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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to have lunched, is still to be seen, though daily passed unheeded by crowds of tourists. The effects of this excursion to Chamounix were marvellous; and to it may be traced, directly or indirectly, the rise and growth of modern mountaineering. Martel followed, in 1742; then came De Saussure, scientist and explorer; Bourrit, the .first artist of the mountains; the de Lucs, mountaineers pure and simple; and Jacques Balmat, the guide who, in 1786, was the first to reach the summit of Mont Blanc. The flame that had been kindled spread, and mountaineers arose in many districts. Mont Velan was ascended by the Prior of the Great St. Bernard, in 1779; the Col du Geant was crossed by Bourrit in 1787 ; the Jungfrau was climbed in 1811 : and the Finsteraarhorn in 1812. During the first half of the present century several high passes were traversed, a few more peaks ascended, and a series of ascents of Mont Blanc were effected, most of which have been described in special monographs. The last of this class was the renowned ascent by Albert Smith, in 1851, and three years later Mr. Justice Wills, then a rising barrister, inaugurated a new era by climbing the Wetterhorn from Grindelwald. In the winter of 1857-8, the Alpine Club was founded. Messrs. William and C. E. Mathews, with Messrs. E. S. Kennedy, Chas. Hudson, T. W. Hinchcliff, Alfred Wills, and John Ball, may be named as among those who had more or less share in the formation of the Club—an in- stitution which quickly made headway, and which had on its roll, within a year of its inception, nearly a hundred members. How mountaineering has developed since then may be faintly indicated by mentioning that, at the present day, all the important peaks in the Alps have been climbed, many