Horace Walker

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Horace Walker (sitting, 3rd from left), Lucy Walker (standing, 3rd from left), A. W. Moore (sitting, 2nd from right) and Melchior Anderegg (standing, far right) The Walker Family.jpg
Horace Walker (sitting, 3rd from left), Lucy Walker (standing, 3rd from left), A. W. Moore (sitting, 2nd from right) and Melchior Anderegg (standing, far right)

Horace Walker (1838–1908) was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Mount Elbrus mountain

Mount Elbrus is a dormant volcano in the Caucasus Mountains in Southern Russia, near the border with Georgia. It could be considered the highest mountain in Europe, notwithstanding that Caucasus mountains are at the intersection of Europe and Asia, and it is the tenth most prominent peak in the world.

Grandes Jorasses mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Alps

The Grandes Jorasses is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy.

Contents

Alpinism

Born in 1838, Walker was the son of Liverpool lead merchant and mountaineer Francis Walker (1808–1872) and brother of Lucy Walker (1836–1916), the first woman to climb the Matterhorn. [1]

Lucy Walker (climber) English climber

Lucy Walker (1836–1916) was a British mountaineer and the first woman to climb the Matterhorn.

Matterhorn mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy

The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetrical pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone/Lion, and Zmutt ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the north-east and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, and a trade route since the Roman Era.

Walker was President of the Alpine Club in 1891-1893.

The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and is the world's first mountaineering club. It is the only UK-based mountaineering club catering for those who climb in the Alps and the Greater Ranges of the world's mountains.

Commemoration

The Horace Walker glacier and Horace Walker hut in the Southern Alps of New Zealand are named after him.

New Zealand Country in Oceania

New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

In commemoration of his first ascent of the Grandes Jorasses on 30 June 1868, Walker gives his name to Pointe Walker (4,208 m), the highest summit of the mountain; this lends its name to the Walker Spur, the most well-known buttress on the north face and one of the great north faces of the Alps.

Great north faces of the Alps

In mountaineering, the six great north faces of the Alps are known for their difficulty and great height. A face is "a vertical or sloping side of a mountain or cliff."

First ascents

Barre des Écrins mountain in the French Alps

The Barre des Écrins is a mountain in the French Alps with a peak at 4102m altitude. It is the highest peak of the Massif des Écrins and the Dauphiné Alps and the most southerly alpine peak in Europe that is higher than 4,000 m. It is the only 4,000 m mountain in France that lies outside the Mont Blanc Massif. Before the annexation of Savoy in 1860 it was the highest mountain in France.

Adolphus Warburton Moore British climber

Adolphus Warburton Moore (1841–1887) was a British civil servant and mountaineer.

Edward Whymper British mountaineer

Edward Whymper was an English mountaineer, explorer, illustrator, and author best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. Four members of his climbing party were killed during the descent. Whymper also made important first ascents on the Mont Blanc massif and in the Pennine Alps, Chimborazo in South America, and the Canadian Rockies. His exploration of Greenland contributed an important advance to Arctic exploration. Whymper wrote several books on mountaineering, including Scrambles Amongst the Alps.

The Grandes Jorasses. Pointe Walker is the highest summit, at the top of the Walker Spur (the first major buttress from the left) GrandesJorasses.jpg
The Grandes Jorasses. Pointe Walker is the highest summit, at the top of the Walker Spur (the first major buttress from the left)

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References