Aiguille Verte and Petit Dru (r.)

If there really is such a thing as a “Golden Year” of climbing in the Alps, it was 1865: More than sixty important first ascents were made on the highest mountains of France, Switzerland and Austria. The most spectacular was certainly that of the Matterhorn on 14 July. But Jungfrau, Wetterhorn, Breithorn, Ortler and Piz Buin were also first climbed in 1865 – and the Aiguille Verte, today exactly 150 years ago. On 29 June 1865, just after 10 a.m., the Briton Edward Whymper, the Swiss mountain guide Christian Almer from Grindelwald and his colleague Franz Biner from Zermatt reached  the 4122-meter-high summit in the Mont Blanc range. The first ascent of the “Green Needle” was one of the most coveted alpine goals of those days.

Insider tip: From Southeast

Contemporary illustration of the first ascent

“We arrived three quarters of an hour before the time we had told them, when below, to look up”, Whymper wrote later. “Probably, at the moment no one was looking, as they had not the slightest belief that we should succeed better than our predecessors. This did not trouble us much.” The trio’s secret to success was to ascend on the southeastern slopes of the mountain, facing away Chamonix. “It is somewhat surprising that scarcely any one made a serious attempt to ascend from that direction”, Whymper was astonished.

First ascents in a row

Michel Croz, drawn by Edward Whymper

On 16 June, just about two weeks earlier, the three mountaineers, along with the French mountain guide Michel Croz from Chamonix, had already first climbed the 3962-meter-high Grand Cornier in Valais. On 24 June, this roped party reached, for the first time too, a 4184-meter-high minor summit (Pointe Whymper) of the Grandes Jorasses. The main summit (Pointe Walker), which is 24 meters higher, was first climbed three years later.

Course insults

The local guide Croz, with whom Whymper was regularly climbing, was unable to join the first ascent of the Aiguille Verte, because he had to wait for a client in Chamonix. An outcry went through the local guides, when they heard that a British mountaineer, guided by two Swiss, had managed to scale the coveted mountain. Whymper and Co. were subjected to course insults. The guides of Chamonix were questioning the summit success. One of the ringleaders was even arrested.
The dust settled, when Michel Croz made the second ascent of the Aiguille Verte on 5 July 1865, on a new challenging route, the Moine Ridge. Croz guided among others the Englishman Charles Hudson. Nine days later, both were also among the first ascenders of the Matterhorn, but did not survive the coup. More about this later.

Rescue in Everest Base Camp

My heart is heavy. My thoughts are with the people in Nepal – and also with the climbers on Mount Everest. After the devastating earthquake on Saturday, the death toll is rising continuously. Meanwhile, it’s more than 2,000 across the country. And also from the base camp on the Nepalese side of Everest more and more victims are reported. As reported before, yesterday’s earthquake had triggered a huge avalanche from the seven-thousander Pumori vis-a-vis Everest that had hit the Base Camp at 5,300 meters. Today, the area was shaken by ​​strong aftershocks of magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale. “Another three small avalanches. All good. Pfiu!!!” Romanian climber Alex Gavan tweeted. German mountaineer Ralf Dujmovits told me via satellite telephone that a very strong aftershock was also felt on the Tibetan north side: “But everything’s okay. The Sherpas told me that yesterday’s earthquake triggered an avalanche at the North Col. However, no one was hurt.”

At least 17 dead recovered

Trail of devastation

Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association NMA told Reuters that at least 17 bodies were recovered and more than 60 injured climbers were rescued on the Nepalese south side of Everest. More than 20 injured were flown by helicopter to Pheriche, a small village at 4,371 meters where the Himalayan Rescue Association has been running a small clinic for many years. The doctors in Pheriche are unlikely prepared for such a large number of injured climbers. But a further transport to the capital Kathmandu currently makes little sense because the hospitals there are overcrowded.

Icefall route “relatively intact”

The route through the Khumbu Icefall which is secured with aluminum ladders and fixed ropes had been destroyed in parts by the quake. Therefore more than 100 climbers had to stay overnight in Camp 1 and 2 above 6000 meters. Some of them were flown down by helicopter.  Meanwhile, other climbers were able to descend through the icefall. A member of the US expedition organizer Mountain Trip reported that the route was “relatively intact”. He said, that also in the high camps were a few injured climbers, which would now be brought down. Others suffered from altitude sickness. Mountaineers in Base Camp spoke of at least 20 dead, many climbers were still missing. Three victims from the USA have been named: an expedition doctor, a cameraman and a mountaineer, who was a Google executive.

One tragedy among very many

Kathmandu, the day after

Even with the now recovered 17 dead, yesterday’s avalanche is the worst disaster in the history of Everest climbing. Last year, 16 Nepalese climbers were killed in an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall. In respect of more than 2,000 earthquake victims throughout Nepal yesterday’s avalanche on Everest is one tragedy among very, very many.

Update 13.15: An official of the Nepalese Tourism Ministry said that at least 22 bodies have been recovered in the Everest region, 17 in Base camp, five below. More than 200 people were missing in the region.

Chris Bonington

„This award for my live achievements means a lot to me“, said Sir Chris Bonington visibly touched. „It honours not only me but also my peers and fellow mountaineers.“ On Saturday evening in Courmayeur, the 80-year-old British mountaineering legend will be awarded the „Piolet d’Or Career 2015“ for all his outstanding performances as climber and expedition leader that has been inspiring the following generations of extreme mountaineers. The previous evening in Chamonix, Boningtons achievements were presented, by himself and by his former British climbing mates Doug Scott (who got the Piolet d’Or Career in 2011) and Paul „Tut“ Braithwaite.

Real teamwork

Chris Bonington made many first ascents in UK, in the Alps, in Patagonia, in the Himalayas and in Karakoram, such as those of Annapurna II (7,937 m, in 1960) and Nuptse (7,861m, in 1961) in Nepal – or the first ascent of Ogre (7,286 m, in 1977) in Pakistan. His climbing mate then was Doug Scott. „On the last pitch, Doug had to climb a great granit eblock. It was probably the hardest climb that was even done in high mountains“, Bonington remembered. On their way back down Scott fell and broke both ankles. It took them and two other team members, who had climbed up to support them, five days to reach the base camp, by the way without food. „Doug crawled all the way back down“, said Chris. „We survived because we remained together as a team.“

Doug: „I was a lucky man“

Bonington and Scott, earlier and now

Two years ago, in 1975, Bonington had led an successful expedition to the Southwest Face of Mount Everest. Doug Scott and Dougal Haston succeeded in reaching the summit on the first route through the extremely difficult and dangerous wall. „I could not be in better care“, Doug said about Chris, the leader of the expedition. And looking back to all their joint climbs Scott resumed: „I was a lucky man to share those climbs with him.“ Tut Braithwaite, another member of the successful Everest Southwest Face expedition, called Bonington a „great ambassador for what we all do“. Not only in the past, but in the present too.

A traverse and two new routes

Such as the climbers of the three teams that were nominated for this year’s Piolets d’Or, the „Oscar for mountaineers“. Their achievements were also presented during the evening in Chamonix: The Americans Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold (who could not come to France due to other commitments) succeeded in completing the full traverse of the Fitz Roy range in Patagonia, over seven summits with a total of 4,000 meters of ascent, within five days.

The Russians Aleksander Gukov and Aleksey Lonchinsky were chosen for their new route through the South Face of 6,618-meter-high Thamserku in Nepal. They had six bivouacs in the wall during their ascent and another on descent on a different route.

[See image gallery at blogs.dw.com]

The third team that was nominated for the Piolets d’Or, the Golden Ice Axe, comes from Slovenia: Marko Prezelj, Ales Cesen and Luka Lindic were the first who climbed the steep North Face of 6,657-meter-high Hagshu in Northern India. In 1991, Prezelj and his compatriot Andrej Stremfelj had received the first Piolet d’Or ever, for their climbing of the South Face of the eight-thousander Kangchenjunga in Nepal. Later Prezelj had criticized those responsible for the Piolet d’Or. And he is still sceptical: „I think it’s impossible to judge love and passion in the mountains“, the 50-year-old said in Chamonix.