The story of this place
The 4,478-metre Matterhorn was the last great Alpine summit to be climbed. On 14 July 1865 Edward Whymper led a party of seven to the top after years of failed attempts—but disaster struck on the descent when a rope snapped, and four climbers, including Lord Francis Douglas whose body was never found, plunged 1,200 metres to their deaths. The tragedy shocked Victorian Britain and Queen Victoria herself. The catastrophe made the Matterhorn the most famous mountain in the world and marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. Its pyramid still looms over Zermatt.