William Cecil Slingsby

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Cecil Slingsby (1849-1929) was an English mountain climber and alpine explorer.

Slingsby first visited Norway in 1872 and fell in love with the country. He has been called the discoverer of the Norwegian mountains, and the father of Norwegian mountaineering (insofar as he seems to be the first who actively pursued climbing in Norway and was the first person on several mountains). His crossing of the 1,550m high (5,800 feet) Keiser Pass, Norway, on skis in 1880 also helped inspire the sport of ski mountaineering.

Slingsby is perhaps most famous for being the first on "Storen", or Store Skagastølstind (2405m) in 1876, the third highest mountain in Norway. It was considered impossible to climb then, but Slingsby defied popular notion and climbed the mountain, for the last part alone.

He also spoke and wrote strongly about several other mountains for example Slogen. His classic book on climbing in Norway, Norway: the Northern Playground, was first published in 1904 and republished in 1941. A new edition was released in 2003, ISBN 1-904466-07-9. It is worth reading for those mountaineering in Norway, even today.