In reply to Ronald Turnbull:
Check the paragraph titled, Matterhorn 1865 Ronald 2nd para, 3 line down should obviously read 1865.
I have read extracts from Whymper's Scrambles and enjoyed it enormously. There is one paragraph that details the trouble one of the guides? has crossing a crevasse as the leading guide just glissades straight over the drop, his speed enough to carry him over. But the other guide dithers and trembles, and the others delight in his discomfort and eventual inelegant landing when he eventually summons up courage to make the leap.
But Whymper's 1865 season was an astounding achievement for the time, and not a bad season even today.
Post edited at 13:06