The Next Great Randisi Thread. Matterhorn History. HA HA !!!

The north face, before it was climbed in 1931, was one of the last great big wall problems in the Alps. To succeed on the north face, good climbing and ice-climbing technique and route-finding ability were required. Unexpectedly it was first climbed by the brothers Franz and Toni Schmid on July 31–August 1, 1931. They reached the summit at the end of the second day, after a night of bivouack. Because they had kept their plans secret, their ascent was a complete surprise. In addition, the two brothers had travelled by bicycle from Munich and after their successful ascent they cycled back home again.[35] The first winter ascent of the north face was made by Hilti von Allmen and Paul Etter on February 3–4, 1962.[16] Its first solo ascent was made in five hours by Dieter Marchart on July 22, 1959.[16] Walter Bonatti climbed the "North Face Direct" solo on February 18–22, 1965.[16]

After Bonatti's climb, the best alpinists were still preoccupied with one last great problem: the "Zmutt Nose", an overhang lying on the right-hand side of the north face. In July 1969 two Italians, Alessandro Gogna and Leo Cerruti, attempted to solve the problem. It took them four days to figure out the unusual overhangs, avoiding however its steepest part. In July 1981 the Swiss Michel Piola and Pierre-Alain Steiner surmounted the Zmutt Nose by following a direct route, the Piola-Steiner.[30][36]

Some day it must be. Every mountaineer will understand me: Whenever you touch the topic of mountaineering in a discussion with the (so-to-say average) non-mountaineer, you end up in the question "Well, if you're a mountaineer, did you make the Matterhorn ?" Further in the east it might be Watzmann or Grossglockner, but in the end everything will reduce to Matterhorn.

The mountain derives its name from the German words Matte, meaning "meadow", and Horn, which means "peak". The migration of the name "meadow" from the lower part of the countryside to the peak is common in the Alps.

In Sebastian Münster's Cosmography, published in 1543, the name of Matter is given to the Theodul Pass, and this seems to be the origin of the present German name of the mountain. On Münster's topographical chart this group is marked under the names of Augstalberg ("Aosta mountain") and Mons Silvius. An hypothesis of Josias Simler (De Alpibus Commentarius, 1574) on the etymology of the name of Mons Silvius was readopted by T. G. Farinetti:[8] "Silvius was probably a Roman leader who sojourned with his legions in the land of the Salassi and the Seduni, and perhaps crossed the Theodul Pass between these two places. This Silvius may have been that same Servius Galba whom Caesar charged with the opening up of the Alpine passes, which from that time onward traders have been wont to cross with great danger and grave difficulty.[9] Servius Galba, in order to carry out Caesar's orders, came with his legions from Allobrogi (Savoy) to Octodurum (Martigny) in the Valais, and pitched his camp there. The passes which he had orders to open from there could be no other than the St. Bernard, the Simplon, the Theodul, and the Moro; it therefore seems likely that the name of Servius, whence Silvius and later Servin, or Cervin, was given in his honour to the famous pyramid." It is not exactly known at what period the new name of Servin, or Cervin, replaced the old, from which it seems to be derived.[10]

The Matterhorn is also named Gran Becca by the Valdôtains[11] and Horu by the local Walliser German speaking people.[12]

The Matterhorn is an isolated mountain. Because of its position on the main Alpine watershed and its great height, the Matterhorn is exposed to rapid weather changes. In addition the steep faces of the mountain and its isolated location make it prone to banner clouds formation with the air flowing around and creating vortices, conducting condensation of the air on the lee side.