Schreckhorn - the Peak of Terror
The young English Rev. Julius Marshall Elliott was the first, after Whympers party in 1865, to climb the Matterhorn by the Hörnli Ridge. Together with the Zermatt guide Franz Biener he had spent four summers in the Alps making his name also climbing Mont Blanc, Dom and Weisshorn. In the Berner Oberland he already had ascended several 4000 meter peaks when on Monday 26 of July in 1869 he and Biener made preparations outside the Hotel Adler in Grindelwald. Together with the porter Joseph Lauber they had the 4078 meter high Schreckhorn in mind. The Schreckhorn, translated The Peak of Terror, climbed for the first time in 1861, had a reputation to live up to its name.
A second party which also included an English Reverend by the name of P. W. Phipps and his guide Peter Baumann had the same goal. The two groups spent the night at Kastenstein and joined forces up to the steep Schreck Couloir to the Schrecksattel at 3914 m being the low point between the Schreckhorn and the Lauteraarhorn.
Adopting an over-confident attitude Elliott refused the offer of Biener’s rope. Elliott was first in line up the ridge, now called Elliotts-Wängli after his name, leading to the summit. At one point he tried to jump from snow covered ground over to a rock but lost his footing. Several version of what happened exist, the most dramatic telling of how Biener caught his arm when he fell. Holding him long seconds before he had to give up only seeing how Elliott disappeared into the abyss of the North-East face. He fell several hundred meters to his death down to the Lauteraar Glacier. His body was recovered two days later, not without difficulty. Elliot was buried outside the Grindelwald church where his headstone can be found today.
A second party which also included an English Reverend by the name of P. W. Phipps and his guide Peter Baumann had the same goal. The two groups spent the night at Kastenstein and joined forces up to the steep Schreck Couloir to the Schrecksattel at 3914 m being the low point between the Schreckhorn and the Lauteraarhorn.
Adopting an over-confident attitude Elliott refused the offer of Biener’s rope. Elliott was first in line up the ridge, now called Elliotts-Wängli after his name, leading to the summit. At one point he tried to jump from snow covered ground over to a rock but lost his footing. Several version of what happened exist, the most dramatic telling of how Biener caught his arm when he fell. Holding him long seconds before he had to give up only seeing how Elliott disappeared into the abyss of the North-East face. He fell several hundred meters to his death down to the Lauteraar Glacier. His body was recovered two days later, not without difficulty. Elliot was buried outside the Grindelwald church where his headstone can be found today.