Albert F. Mummery
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Albert Frederick Mummery (1855–1895), was a highly respected British mountaineer.
He is best remembered for his pioneering climbs in the Alps. Initially he climbed with Alpine guides, but with his companions William Cecil Slingsby and J. Norman Collie was part of the movement, initiated by such climbers as Charles Hudson, that revolutionised Alpinism by the practice of guideless climbing.
He put up a string of remarkable first ascents, most notably the Aiguille du Grépon and the Dent du Requin. He was also one of the first to realise that style in mountaineering was important: it wasn't getting to the top that mattered, it was how you did it. Mummery therefore went up the Matterhorn by the Zmutt ridge and Furggen ridge — the "ordinary" way up the Hörnli ridge was too easy for him.
In 1894, he led his friend, the young Duke of the Abruzzi, to the top of the Matterhorn by the same route.
In 1895, Collie, Hastings and Mummery were the first climbers to attempt a Himalayan 8000 m peak, Nanga Parbat. They were years ahead of the time, and the mountain claimed the first of its many victims: Mummery and two Ghurkas, Ragobir and Goman Singh were killed by an avalanche and never seen again. The story of this disastrous expedition is told in Collie's book From the Himalaya to Skye.
Mummery left behind him a legacy not only of great climbs, but also his book My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus, one of mountaineering literature's all-time classics.
[edit] References
- Collie, Norman, From the Himalaya to Skye, Rockbuy Limited. ISBN 1-904466-08-7
- Mummery, A. F., My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus, Rockbuy Limited. ISBN 1-904466-09-5
