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On the Matterhorn 🏔
Some history
The Cervino - Matterhorn, in German - is a mountain of
4478 meters on the border between Valle d'Aosta
and Switzerland: it is the sixth highest peak in the Alps, if you do not
count the satellites of the Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa massifs, and it is
among the most recognizable and famous mountains in the world
(aesthetically it is practically perfect: they have also rebuilt it at
Disneyland).
For a long time it was considered impossible to climb, and
the inhabitants of the surrounding villages had invented a large number
of frightening legends about it. In the so-called "conquest phase" of
mountaineering, the one in which the goal was to be the first to reach a
summit never climbed by anyone, the Matterhorn was left last because of
its difficulty.
In Zermatt on the trail of the myth
In various places in Zermatt there are memorials in memory of the first ascent and the tragic misfortune:
- Matterhorn Museum: the original (torn) rope of the first ascent and much more;
- Memorial stone for the two Peter Taugwalder, father and son, and Michel-Auguste Croz in the Alpinists' cemetery;
- Hotel Monte Rosa: commemorative plaque and guided tours;
- Documentary "Whympers Weg aufs Matterhorn" [Whymper's path to / on the Matterhorn] at the Vernissage cinema (in German, French and English);
- Guided tours in the village;
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