Edward Whymper: Climbing Quote of the Week

Edward Whymper, an English mountaineer and artist born in 1840, received a commission in 1860 to travel to the Alps and make a series of alpine sketches and wood engravings. While there, Whymper began climbing, learning current mountaineering techniques and making some notable ascents. In 1861 he climbed Mont Pelvoux and in 1864 Barre des Écrins, at that time the highest point in France and a difficult ascent. His travels, however, took him to Switzerland where he became obsessed with its most beautiful mountain, the unclimbed 14,692-foot (4,478 meters) Matterhorn, a stunning pyramidal-shaped peak on the Swiss-Italian border.

Whymper made eight attempts on the Matterhorn before succeeding on July 14, 1865 with Lord Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, and three guides—Michel Croz, and the father-son team of Peter and Peter Taugwalder. The seven climbers successfully ascended the great peak and spent a happy hour on top before beginning the descent. Tragedy, however, struck just below the top when the inexperienced Hadow lost his footing and knocked Croz off backwards. The two tumbled down and when the rope came taut pulled Hudson and Douglas with them down a 4,000-foot-high face. The rope connecting the bottom four climbers to the upper three broke on a rock edge as it was held by the elder Taugwalder. This tragedy haunted Whymper until his death in 1911.

This quote comes from the conclusion of Edward Whymper’s classic mountaineering book Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the Years 1860-69, published in 1870. The book, essential reading for any serious climber, is perhaps the best of all the Victorian-age climbing books. It tells the exciting tale of Whymper’s adventures and climbs and, of course, the great tragedy on the Matterhorn; delves into what was then the new science of geology with its observations about glaciers and their effects on the landscape; and is illustrated with Whymper’s excellent drawings and engravings.

“We who go mountain-scrambling have constantly set before us the superiority of fixed purpose or perseverance to brute force. We know that each height, each step, must be gained by patient, laborious toil, and that wishing cannot take the place of working; we know the benefits of mutual aid; that many a difficulty must be encountered, and many an obstacle must be grappled with or turned, but we know that where there’s a will there’s a way: and we come back to our daily occupations better fitted to fight the battle of life, and to overcome the impediments which obstruct our paths, strengthened and cheered by the recollection of past labours, and by the memories of victories gained in other fields.”

Check out the Matterhorn Webcam at Zermatt, Switzerland.

Photo left: Edward Whymper in 1910, the year of his death at age 70.
Photo courtesy Royal Alpine Club

Buy Edward Wympher’s books:
Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the Years 1860-69 The classic climbing book from the Victorian age. It recounts Whymper's adventures in the Alps during the 1860s.
Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator Tales from Edward Wympher’s adventures and mountain ascents in Ecuador and South America.