The Day The Rope Broke

The Tragic Story of the First Ascent of the Matterhorn

THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE MATTERHORN in July 1865 is one of the key events in
the history of mountaineering. It was the climax of five years struggle by the
English mountaineer Edward Whymper in competition with Jean Antonie-Carrel,
the Italian mountain guide who had grown up in the mountain’s shadow. It also
produced one of most famous mountaineering accidents of the nineteenth century
and it brought to an end what has come to be known as the ‹Golden Age of
Alpine climbing›.

‹The Day the Rope Broke› is the story of the events leading up to this
remarkable ascent and its terrible aftermath. It was first published in 1965
to mark the centenary of the first ascent.