The Day the Rope Broke: The Tragic Story of the First Ascent of the Matterhorn

by Ronald William Clark

The first ascent of the Matterhorn in July 1865 is one of the key events in the history of mountaineering. This title tells the story of the events leading up to this remarkable ascent and its terrible aftermath.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Ronald William Clark was a British author of biography, fiction and non-fiction. He was educated King's College School. In 1933, he embarked on a career as a journalist, and served as a war correspondent during the Second World War after being turned down for military service on medical grounds. As a war correspondent, Clark landed on Juno Beach with the Canadians on D-Day. He followed the war until the end, and remained in Germany to report on the major War Crimes trials. After his return to Britain he embarked upon a career as an author.

Reviews

[Stu Morse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of the successful yet tragic first ascent of the Matterhorn. Signaled the end of 'the Golden Age' and the beginning of the modern age of mountaineering. A must for any armchair alpinist like myself. The writing is a bit dated as it was published in 1965, and the book would have been much more enjoyable with the addition of several maps of the larger area as many locations noted are unfamiliar to most readers. Plus... a detailed illustration of the Swiss face tracking the ascent route as well as the descent route noting where the accident happened.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendid account of the the characters and period when mountaineering was seen as being in it ‘Golden Age’ The recounting of the period in July 1865 when the Matterhorn was summited for the first time and the decent which saw the loss of four of the seven climbers is dealt with in as impartial manner as can be expected after such a long period. It is certainly not judgemental or exploitative of the information available about the accident. Written in quite and exciting manner.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times it was hard to follow all the characters and the structure of the book and its timeline were not very intuitive in the beginning. However, In the end I appreciated the authors narrative voice, opinions, and open ended questions he raised about the Matterhorn incident and mountaineering in general. It was a quick read and a great story.

[Kathleen]

(Tom)