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Matterhorn

[mat-er-hawrn]

Matterhorn, Fr. Mont Cervin, Ital. Monte Cervino, peak, c.14,700 ft (4,480 m) high, in the Pennine Alps, on the Swiss-Italian border, near Zermatt. Its distinctive pyramidal peak was formed by the enlargement of several cirques. It was first scaled in 1865 by Edward Whymper, the English mountaineer. The nearby Matterjoch or Théodule, a pass (alt. 10,800 ft/3,292 m), links Italy with Switzerland.

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Matterhorn

French Mont Cervin Italian Monte Cervino

The Matterhorn overlooking an Alpine valley.

Mountain in the Alps, on the border between Italy and Switzerland. Rising to 14,692 ft (4,478 m), it appears from the Swiss side to be an isolated peak, but it is actually the end of a ridge. The Italian slope is more difficult to climb than the Swiss slope. It was first scaled on July 14, 1865, by British explorer Edward Whymper, who ascended the Swiss side. Three days later Giovanni A. Carrel led an Italian group in the first ascent from the Italian side.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Matterhorn

"Cervino" redirects here. For the Italian town, see Cervino (CE). For other uses, see Matterhorn (disambiguation).

The Matterhorn (German), Cervino (Italian) or Cervin (French), is perhaps the most familiar mountain in the European Alps. On the border between Switzerland and Italy, it towers over the Swiss village of Zermatt and the Italian village Breuil-Cervinia in the Val Tournanche. The mountain derives its Italian name from the Latin words "Cervus" and "-inus", meaning "place of Cervus", its German name from the German words Matte, meaning meadow, and Horn, which means peak.

The Matterhorn has four faces which face the four compass points: the north and east faces overlook, respectively, the Zmutt Valley and Gornergrat ridge in Switzerland, the south face fronts the resort town of Breuil-Cervinia in Italy, and the west face looks towards the mountain of Dent d'Hérens which straddles the Swiss-Italian border. The north and south faces meet at the summit to form a short east-west ridge. The faces are steep, and only small patches of snow and ice cling to them; regular avalanches send the snow down to accumulate on the glaciers at the base of each face. The Hörnli ridge of the northeast (the center ridge in the view from Zermatt) is the usual climbing route.

Climbing

The Matterhorn was one of the last of the main Alpine mountains to be ascended, not because of its technical difficulty, but because of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers. The first serious attempts began around 1857, mostly from the Italian side; but despite appearances, the southern routes are harder, and parties repeatedly found themselves having to turn back. However, on July 14, 1865, in what is considered the last ascent of the golden age of alpinism, the party of Edward Whymper, Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas, Douglas Robert Hadow, Michel Croz and the two Peter Taugwalders (father and son) was able to reach the summit by an ascent of the Hörnli ridge in Switzerland. Upon descent, Hadow, Croz, Hudson and Douglas fell to their deaths on the Matterhorn Glacier, and all but Douglas (whose body was never found) are buried in the Zermatt churchyard. Three days later on July 17, the mountain was ascended from the Italian side by a party led by Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich. Julius Elliott made the second ascent from the Zermatt side three years later in 1868, and later that year the party of John Tyndall, J. J. Maquignaz, and J. P. Maquignaz was the first to traverse the summit. In 1871, Lucy Walker became the first woman to stand on top of the mountain, followed a few weeks later by her rival Meta Brevoort. The Zmutt ridge was first ascended by Albert F. Mummery, Alexander Burgener, J. Petrus and A. Gentinetta on September 3, 1879; one hour after they reached the summit, another party reached it having made the first ascent of the west face. This party comprised William Penhall and guides, who had failed on the Zmutt ridge in the previous days. It wasn't until July 31, 1931 – August 1, 1931 that the north face route was first ascended by Franz and Toni Schmid.

Today, all ridges and faces of the Matterhorn have been ascended in all seasons, and mountain guides take a large number of people up the northeast Hörnli route each summer. By modern standards, the climb is fairly difficult (AD Difficulty rating), but not hard for skilled mountaineers. There are fixed ropes on parts of the route to help. Still, several climbers die each year due to a number of factors including the scale of the climb and its inherent dangers, inexperience, falling rocks, and overcrowded routes.

The usual pattern of ascent is to take the Schwarzsee cable car up from Zermatt, hike up to the Hörnli-hütte (elev. 3,260 m/10,695 ft), a large stone building at the base of the main ridge, and spend the night. The next day, climbers rise at 3:30 am so as to reach the summit and descend before the regular afternoon clouds and storms come in. Other routes on the mountain include the Italian ridge (D Difficulty rating), the Zmutt ridge (D Difficulty rating) and the north face route, one of the six great north faces of the Alps (TD+ Difficulty rating).

Cultural references

*Parascotopetl, the fictional 'Matterhorn of the Andes', appears in H. G. Wells's short story "The Country of the Blind" (1904).

*In the 1957 Warner Brothers animated short Piker's Peak, Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam try to beat each other to the summit of the Schmatterhorn, towering high above a fictional Swiss village, with the winner to receive 50,000 "cronkites". Warner's 1961 cartoon A Scent of the Matterhorn has Pepe Le Pew chasing a female cat (whom he mistakes for a skunk) through the Alps.

*A miniature imitation of the Matterhorn featuring a bobsled ride is one of the attractions at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Matterhorn Bobsleds opened in 1959 as the world's first tubular steel coaster and partially encloses a 1/100 scale replica (147 feet in height) of the mountain.

*The peak is featured prominently in the popular 1974 Japanese anime version of Heidi. This attracts thousands of Japanese tourists to the area every year.

*In an episode of the television show The Simpsons Homer Simpson climbs the highest mountain in Springfield known as the Murderhorn, an obvious play off the Matterhorn.

*The 'Mini Matterhorn' is the unofficial name of a 75-cm piece of Martian rock immediately east-southeast of the Mars Pathfinder lander.

*The individual pieces of the chocolate bar Toblerone are claimed by its maker Kraft, to be formed in the likeness of the Matterhorn.

Other 'Matterhorns'

Many other prominent mountains around the world are nicknamed the 'Matterhorn' of their respective countries or mountain ranges. Examples include:

*Ama Dablam ('the Matterhorn of the Himalaya')

*Cimon della Pala ('the Matterhorn of the Dolomites')

*Clach Glas ('the Matterhorn of Skye').

*Cnicht ('the Matterhorn of Wales')

*Dabajian Mountain ('the Matterhorn of Taiwan')

*Innerdalstårnet ('the Matterhorn of Norway')

*Kajaqiao ('the Matterhorn of China')

*Kurtbashitsa ('the Matterhorn of Bulgaria')

*Machapuchare ('the Matterhorn of Nepal')

*Mount Aspiring in New Zealand ('the Matterhorn of the South')

*Mount Assiniboine ('the Matterhorn of North America')

*Mount Yari ('the Matterhorn of Japan')

*Olomana ('the Matterhorn of Oahu')

*Roseberry Topping ('the Matterhorn of the Moors')

*Shivling ('the Matterhorn of India')

*Sloan Peak ('the Matterhorn of the Cascades')

*Spitzkoppe ('the Matterhorn of Namibia')

*Ushba ('the Matterhorn of the Caucasus')

Matterhorn Peak in California's Sierra Nevada range and Matterhorn Peak in Colorado's San Juan Mountains are other notable mountains with this name.
An outcrop on Grey Friar in the Lake District in England is known as the 'Matterhorn Rock'.