Melchior Anderegg (28 March 1828 – 8 December 1914), from Zaun, Meiringen, 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 Internati ...

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 ascensionist of many prominent

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 t ...

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, ...

during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. His clients were mostly British, the most famous of whom was Leslie Stephen, the writer, critic and mountaineer; Anderegg also climbed extensively with members of the Walker family, including Horace Walker and Lucy Walker, and with Florence Crauford Grove. His cousin

Jakob Anderegg Jakob Anderegg (11 March 1829, in Oberwil im Simmental – 17 September 1878, in Meiringen) was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascensionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpini ...

was also a well-known guide.

Alpine guide

First ascents by Melchior Anderegg *

Wildstrubel The Wildstrubel () is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the border between the Swiss cantons of Bern and Valais. It forms a large glaciated massif, about 15 km wide, extending between the Rawil Pass and the Gemmi Pass. Along with the Muverans ...

, 3,243 m (

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= , ...

), 11 September 1858 * Rimpfischhorn, 4,199 m (

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ...

), 9 September 1859 * Alphubel, 4,206 m (Pennine Alps), 9 August 1860 * Blüemlisalphorn, 3,664 m (Bernese Alps), 27 August 1860 * Monte Disgrazia, 3,678 m ( Bregaglia Range), 23 August 1862 * Dent d'Hérens, 4,171 m (Pennine Alps), 12 August 1863 * Parrotspitze, 4,432 m (Pennine Alps), 16 August 1863 * Balmhorn, 3,698 m (Bernese Alps), 21 July 1864 * Zinalrothorn, 4,221 m (Pennine Alps), 22 August 1864 *

Grandes Jorasses The Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy. The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by Ho ...

, 4,208 m (

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 ...

), 30 June 1868 Other noteworthy climbs by Melchior Anderegg *

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

, 4,809 m, via the ''Bosses du Dromedaire'' (1859) *

via the Dôme du Goûter (1861) *Solo reconnaissance up the Zmuttgrat of 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 th ...

(Pennine Alps) (1863) *

via the Brenva face (1865) *Winter traverse of the

Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and th ...

, 4,273 m (Bernese Alps) (1866) * Civetta, 3,220 m (

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

) (1867) *Winter ascent of the Plattenhörner (1869) *First winter ascent of the Galenstock, 3,586 m ( Urner Alps) (1877)

Wood carver

Anderegg was also a professional

wood carver Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

and owned a shop in

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO ...

that sold his carvings (of bears, groups of chamois, and eagles, amongst other subjects), as well as 'Photographs of all the great peaks around Zermatt', alpenstocks, snow spectacles ('blue, green, and neutral tint') and Whymper's guides. 160px, Portrait of Melchior Anderegg at sixty-eight (from a photograph by C. Myles Mathews)

References

External links

Photograph of Melchior Anderegg with Leslie and Julia Stephen, 1889
1828 births 1914 deaths Alpine guides People from Interlaken-Oberhasli District Swiss mountain climbers {{climbingbio-stub