Josef Knubel (2 March 1881 – 31 May 1961) was a Swiss mountaineer and mountain guide. He made many first ascents and other climbs in the Alps during his career. He is best known for his ascents as a guide for Geoffrey Winthrop Young.

Early life and family

Josef Knubel was born in 1881 at

St. Niklaus :''See Saint Nicholas (disambiguation) for disambiguation.'' St. Niklaus (french: Saint-Nicolas) is a village and a municipality in the Mattertal, part of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History St. Niklaus is first ...

, Switzerland. His father was Peter Knubel , a mountain guide and carpenter; the Knubel family were collectively well-known for their mountaineering skills.

Mountaineering career

Knubel began climbing mountains at a young age, and climbed the Matterhorn for the first time in 1896, at fifteen years old, with his father and a client. His first major client was Oliver Perry-Smith, an American climber who hired Knubel to guide him through the Alps in 1903; together, they ascended the Matterhorn, Wellenkuppe, Zinalrothorn, Weisshorn, Lyskamm, Ober Gabelhorn,

Dent Blanche The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. Naming The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby D ...

, and Täschhorn. Knubel became an official mountain guide in 1904 upon receiving his guide's licence, while continuing to work as a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

and

tree feller An arborist, tree surgeon, or (less commonly) arboriculturist, is a professional in the practice of arboriculture, which is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants in dendrolo ...

. His mountaineering skills were noticed by British climber Geoffrey Winthrop Young, who hired Knubel as his guide. From 1906 to 1914, Young and Knubel climbed together each summer, making a number of first ascents together, including the Täschhorn's south face, the Weisshorn's southeast and northeast faces, the

Rimpfischhorn The Rimpfischhorn (4,199 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps of Switzerland. The first ascent of the mountain was by Leslie Stephen and Robert Living with guides Melchior Anderegg and Johann Zumtaugwald on 9 September 1859. Their route of asc ...

and Zinalrothorn's east faces, the Gspaltenhorn's west face, Grandes Jorasses' west ridge, and Mont Brouillard. The route the two mapped out to reach the summit of Aiguille du Plan in 1907 is still the route used by most alpine climbers today. On Young's first ascent of the east face of the Aiguille du Grépon with several other climbers and Knubel and Henri Brocherel as guides in 1911, Knubel used an ice axe instead of a

piton A piton (; also called ''pin'' or ''peg'') in climbing is a metal spike (usually steel) that is driven into a crack or seam in the climbing surface using a climbing hammer, and which acts as an anchor for protecting the climber against the ...

to clear an overhang; the spot was thereafter known as "The Knubel Crack". Knubel was taught to ski by Arnold Lunn and later began to use skis while traversing mountain ranges. In February 1920, Knubel and Marcel Kurz, using skis, made the first winter ascents of the Wellenkuppe, Ober Gabelhorn, Schallihorn, and Täschhorn. He became an authorised ski-guide in 1925. Throughout his career, he made over 800 ascents of Alpine peaks higher than ("

four-thousander A four-thousander is a mountain summit that is at least 4,000 metres above sea level. Because the highest peaks in Europe fall into this category, the summits of four-thousanders are popular in Europe with climbers and mountaineers as climbing goa ...

s") and led around 120 clients.

Later life and death

Knubel was forced to end his climbing career by a knee injury sustained while climbing the

Ortler Ortler (; it, Ortles ) is, at above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Ty ...

. He died at Visp on 31 May 1961 after undergoing abdominal surgery—related to an episode of appendicitis earlier in his life—and was buried at his hometown of St. Niklaus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knubel, Josef 1881 births 1961 deaths Swiss mountain climbers Alpine guides People from Visp (district) Sportspeople from Valais