Alexander Burgener Alexander Burgener (10 January 1845,

Saas Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

– 8 July 1910, near the Berglihütte) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

and the

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

ionist of many

mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

and new routes in the western

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

during the

silver age of alpinism The silver age of alpinism is the name given in the United Kingdom to the era in mountaineering that began after Edward Whymper and party's ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 and ended with W. W. Graham and party's ascent of the Dent du Géant in ...

. Together with Albert Mummery, he made the first ascent of the Zmuttgrat on the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

on 3 September 1879, and of the Grands Charmoz (1880) and the Aiguille du Grépon in the

Mont Blanc Massif The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...

(5 August 1881). With another British alpinist,

Clinton Thomas Dent Clinton Thomas Dent FRCS (7 December 1850 – 26 August 1912) was an English surgeon, author and mountaineer. Early life The fourth surviving son of Thomas Dent, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. Alpinism Alongsi ...

, he made the first ascent of the

Lenzspitze The Lenzspitze is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. It is the southernmost peak on the Nadelgrat, a high-level ridge running roughly north–south, north of Dom in the Mischabel range, above the resort of Saas Fee to the east, ...

(August 1870) and the Grand Dru (12 September 1878), He was killed by an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

on 8 July 1910 near the Berglihütte in the

Bernese Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=BerneseAlps.jpg , photo_caption=The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau , country= Switzerland , subdivision1_type=Cantons , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders_on= , l ...

. Six other climbers died in the avalanche, including Burgener's son Adolf. Another son, Alexander, lost an eye in the incident.

First ascents

, 1870 * Portjengrat, 1871 * Grand Dru, 1878 *Zmutt ridge of the

, 1879 *Traverse of the Col du Lion, 1880 * Grands Charmoz, 1880 *Charpoua face of the

Aiguille Verte The Aiguille Verte (; ), which is French for "Green Needle", is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It was first climbed on 29 June 1865 by Edward Whymper, Christian Almer and Franz Biner, a fortnight before the fateful firs ...

, 1881 *

Aiguille du Grépon The Aiguille du Grépon (literally the ''Needle of Grépon''), informally known as The Grepon, is a mountain in the Mont Blanc Massif in Haute-Savoie, France. The Grepon has a Southern (3,482 m) and Northern (3,478 m) peak, which are the highest p ...

, 1881 *Frontier ridge of

Mont Maudit Mont Maudit (4,465 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in France and Italy. The French name literally means "Cursed Mountain". Until the end of the 18th century, Mont Blanc and its satellite peaks were collectively known in French as the '' ...

, 1887 *Teufelsgrat of

Täschhorn The Täschhorn (4,491 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland, lying south of the Dom within the Mischabel range. The first ascent of the mountain was by John Llewelyn Davies and J. W. Hayward with guides Stefan and Johann Zumtau ...

, 1887

Bibliography

*viz., ''Alexander Burgener, King of the Mountain Guides'' *

Notes

External links

* 1845 births 1910 deaths Alpine guides Deaths in avalanches Mountaineering deaths Natural disaster deaths in Switzerland Swiss mountain climbers {{Switzerland-bio-stub