Mount Capitalist
A complex mountain mass in the Pan-European range between Switzerland, Germany and Italy. This range of mountains offers climbers some of the finest rock climbing in Europe. Mount Capitalist has three spectacular and demanding faces up to the summit. A forth route up to the summit, Kuklin’s Ladder has a long unrelenting scramble climb over scree. At 3030m a false summit is reached and from this point the mountain becomes an altogether different beast, requiring a high degree of expertise and experience to reach the summit. It is by Kuklin’s Ladder on the south face of Mount Capitalist that makes the mountain accessible to most climbers. It is to be noted that the south face is deceiving as it has a reputation of claiming a disproportionate number of fatalities to the more severe principle faces of Mount Capitalist. It is not a mountain for novices.
‘You have to respect the mountain, you have to caress it; not climb it like you would climb the stairs in a Parisian brothel.’
(Charlotte Kuklin)
Mount Capitalist / Principle Expeditions
1865 Lazarus Scott (English) First Ascent. S.Face. William Scott, Henry B. Fairholme, Gordon McBride, Arthur Young, Richard Portwood. A catastrophic disaster. Three of the climbers killed.
1880 Karl Bauer(German) Marc Wiessner, Alfred Mann. First Ascent E.Face. Attempt abandoned after Wiessner is killed.
1881 Paul Herman (German) E.Face. Bad weather foiled attempt.
1881 A.Mann (German) Six climbers (including Mann) buried by avalanche. First ascent of W.Face.
1883 Charlotte Kuklin (Swiss) Hans Werner (Austrian) David Laurent (France) Paul Fontaine (Italy) First Ascent of N.Face. Laurent and Fontaine killed.
1884 C. Kuklin (Swiss) First Summit Assent N.Face.1885 Bauer (German) Summit Ascent E.Face.
1885 W. Birtwhistle (British) Summit ascent of W.Face. The expedition of eight mountaineers reach the summit. A calamity during the decent sees G. Hatherley, S. Lovegrove, I. Stretton-Downs, M. TooGood and H. Yarrington Killed.
1885 C Kuklin (Swiss) First Summit ascent of S.Face.
1885 C Kuklin (Swiss) First Solo Ascent on N.Face.
1886 E Frose (German) NE Pillar new assent route.
1889 K Brownlow (British) NW assent route. Known as ‘Brownlow’s Buttress’ (Team unable to follow Brownlow to the summit)
1891 B Spotswood (British) SE assent route Solo.
After 1881 various new routes on all sides of Mount Capitalist were recorded. To date there are three routes on the North Face, Four on the East Face and three on The West Face. All the major Summit assents and solo climbs had been achieved by the end of the 1800’s. In the early and mid 20th Century Mount Capitalist offered new challenges, not to Mountaineer’s but to rock-climbers. The mountain offers to this day dozens of routes to climbers.
Notable Routes
Brownlow’s Buttress NW- Face (1889) Ken Brownlow
Kips Gully NW- Face (1960) Kip Underwood
Angels Pillar E - Face (1972) Fritz Dorje
The gun E - Face (1976) Johann Ment II
Needle Corner SW- Face (1972) Indigo Belmar
Dancer’s cliffe SW- Face (1978) Paul Tompkiss
Headache SW- Face (1978) Paul Tompkiss
'Vultures Drop Heavy Roses' by Thomas Sinclair
‘Vultures Drop Heavy Roses’ is a poignant and significant historical account of the conquest of the 4080 m Mount Capitalist. Exquisitely researched and lavishly pictorial, ‘Vultures Drop Heavy Roses’ enchants and embraces the reader. The author Thomas Sinclair shoulders the Odyssey. Seduced by the complex shadow of the mountain, Sinclair traverses Europe’s collective history. Sinclair intelligently asserts the mountain’s physiological significance on European consciousness. Sinclair calls forth human tragedy, the Lazarus Scott expedition of 1865.
At the dawn of a new Century so the mountain continues to claim the lives of explorers. Thomas Sinclair retraces the footsteps of Charlotte Kuklin. He courageously gives rise to a summit attempt. Sinclair recites Kuklin while he climbs, ‘You have to respect the mountain, you have to caress it; not climb it like you would climb the stairs in a Parisian brothel.’ (Charlotte Kuklin 1885) As he stumbles he recalls Aubrey’s eulogy, ‘Our Lords Ministry’ narrated at the internment of William Scott ensuing the disastrous attempt in 1865.
From this mild Empire.
Somnus and Mor
Deliver our infant
in profound repose
to thy Lords Ministry.
As the wearied Ascend
the mountain of Elysium
the exercise of greater
realities are sought.
The proud creature gains measure.
Commission thee to everlasting
Peace and Tranquillity.
Thomas Augustin Aubrey - 1741-1832
‘Sinclair’s Odyssey is rich with adventure and incident.’
Peter Sheridan, Literary Press.
‘Written with compassion, Sinclair presents us with a universal and a tragic view. Of lives taken away obedient to the shadow of a mountain. The spirit of man remains, a triumph.’
Anthony Noble-Partridge. Alpine Club of Great Britain.
Sample text - Vultures Drop Heavy Roses
‘How are our mountains made?’ Asked the Hopi child to her grandfather. ‘Little Horse my dear child the mountains are not ours, we do not possess them, but I can tell you how they are made.’ Little horse sat upon the bare earth, she expectantly waited for her grandfather to reply. Little Horses grandfather paused; a magnificent juggernaut noisily wailed, hissed and zipped past them, a whole host of pneumatic rubber tires (far too many for the girl to count) hugged the tarmac road spitting out the dry dirt, the monster truck left in its wake a dust storm. ‘The mountains grew from points where the worlds six great continental plates collide and rub against each other; melted rock is pushed up through fissures in the earth's crust, it was a violent birth for the mountains. There followed by a time of serenity and the world was at peace, the mountains sank deeper into a liquid sleep.’ Little Horse beamed, ‘And then the animals came grandfather?’ (1)
The Vulture made her nest out of gathered stones and bound them together with the stuff that she had regurgitated out of her gullet. The Vultures task: the nest building...it continued for many weeks, she worked tirelessly adding to the nest other debris gathered from her foraging, bone and sun-dried human tissue. As she deposited each new rock upon her nest, it seemed to her that the very land in which she perched upon grew ever larger. As she patiently waited for a mate to appear she kept on building her nest. Her travels never took her far from the land, a land that increased in size as each new day dawned and as each night closed in around her. The Vulture surveyed her ever-expanding world and she saw that she was now perched upon a pinnacle of rock and when she looked down the cliff face; it stretched out far below her. The vulture took to the air once more to circle her realm and collect another rock from the land below. Whilst in flight she noticed that another pinnacle of rock began to appear above the waves. The Vulture took this to mean that another Vulture must be also building a nest close to her own. The Vulture returned to her nest to keep vigil, but no other vulture appeared, the adjacent rock continued to increase in size. One morning she flew out to the companion rock and landed upon its summit. The Vulture became conscious that a nest had not been under construction on this landmass. As she surveyed this newfound state she could make out two smooth, bleached oval stones, each stone took the outward appearance of an egg. Lodged in between them lay a seed head that in spite of everything still had attached the dry emaciated petals of a red wilted rose. The Vulture took hold of the seed head and flew back towards her home. The dry delicate petals of the rose fragmented, they became insignificant. The Vulture did not land upon her own nest; she circled and hovered above it, opened her beak and accurately dropped the seed head into her nest. The Vulture returned to the adjacent rock and picked up one of the two oval stones in her beak, she returned once more to her nest, placed the stone next to the seed head before settling down for the night. For some time the Vulture stared out seawards, finally she closed her eyes and fell into a stony sleep. (1.2)
03.01.1924
Mesdames et messieurs bienvenu et bonjour
Willkommener und guter Morgen Damen und Herren
Signore e signori di mattina benvenuta e buona
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome and good morning
`Ce s'appelle le `Mont Fiore' à l'Italien ; Les Français émulent ceci dans une tradition florale correspondante, dès lors retentir doux nommés, `Mont Romarin'. Aux Allemands c'est `UnKraunt Erdhug' ou monticule d'herbe de `' si vous souhaiteriez une traduction en anglais. À nous, le Suisse et à notre camarade Autrichiens nous connaissons notre montagne aimée comme `le bourgeon de montagne.
`Wird es `Mont Fiore' zum Italiener genannt; Die Franzosen emulieren dieses in einer entsprechenden Blumentradition, thenceforth das süsse Klingen Namens, `Mont Romarin'. Zu den Deutschen ist es `UnKraunt Erdhug' oder `Unkraut-Damm', wenn du für eine englische übersetzung wünschen würdest. Zu uns der Schweizer und zu unserem Gefährten Österreicher kennen wir unseren geliebten Berg als `die Gebirgsknospe.
`È denominato `Mont Fiore' all'italiano; I francesi emulano questo in una tradizione floreale corrispondente, thenceforth il sondaggio dolce nomi, `Mont Romarin'. Ai tedeschi è `UnKraunt Erdhug' o monticello dell'erbaccia del `' se desideraste per una traduzione in inglese. A noi, lo svizzero ed al nostro collega Austriaci conosciamo la nostra montagna cara come `il germoglio della montagna.
`This is called the “Fiore Mount” with the Italian; The French emulate this in a corresponding floral tradition, consequently to resound soft named, “Mount Rosemary”. To the Germans it is “UnKraunt Erdhug” or ‘grass monticule of’ if you would wish a translation in to English. To us, the people of Switzerland and with our Autrichiens comrades we know our mountain like `the bud of mountain. ...The translation at this moment is interrupted by the pleasant tones of a well-spoken English man, and a familiar voice to his audience. He began to interject during the radio broadcast. ‘I am Very sorry ladies and Gentlemen, the translation of the speech that you are currently listening to in English has I feel lost something in its translation. I shall endeavor to re translate for you word for word.’ He began.
‘It is called ‘Mont Fiore’ to the Italian’s; The French emulate this in a corresponding floral tradition, thenceforth the sweet sounding name, ‘Mont Romarin’. To the Germans it is ‘UnKraunt Erdhug’ or ‘Weed Mound’ if you would wish for an English Translation. To us, the Swiss and to our fellow Austrians we know our beloved mountain as ‘The Mountain Bud.’(2) Peter Snell broadcasting for the British Home Radio Company continued to re-translate the live broadcast to his listeners.
‘We live with the phantom of catastrophe; the horror of the 1914-1918 war. We are here to honor and to lament the fallen, to look to all our futures. We make a decree for all that is good, for all the honorable people of Europe and the world. Our genius is to bring to you a lasting symbol of unity, of goodwill and of hope. We now turn to a new epoch to commerce and to free trade among the good citizens of Europe. May prosperity come to you all in the name of alliance. On the behalf of the people of Switzerland and the National Council I name this Mountain, Mount Capitalist. May God always be with you.’(3)
The Council of State stepped firstly away from the microphone positioning him at the front of the stage; he beckoned to his fellow keynote speakers who represented the Naming Commission to join with him, the council of state began to clap his hands together, the speakers on the stage one by one joined in. The closing speech concluded to rapturous applause. The ceremony was held in Geneva on January 3rd 1924 before countless European heads of Government. On this day Europe had a new mountain range. The behemoth of history was to be vanquished and the authors of a bright new future took the first step upon the new European landscape, a landscape designed by politicians. This ceremony marked the birth of a newborn modern mountain and a fresh modern Europe. At 3.20pm Michele Zapelli and his team of European climbers struggled to the top of the new mountain to place the first unity flag (4) upon the summit. By 6.10pm in near darkness and in a severe snowstorm, Mount Capitalist officially took its first lives. The rose bud mountain’s change of name may have signified a new dawn for Europe and her people but for the mountain it changed nothing. Mount Capitalist had no respect for history and people alike, upon this mountain 4000 meters high history still continues to have no meaning.
Europe Under The Roman Empire
The first recorded text relating to Mount Capitalist dates from the era of Julius Caesar. This documents by name the foothills that surround the mountain, the Fiore Pass. The extent of the Roman Empire by 52 BC occupied all of Gallia what is now modern day France. The European provinces of Rome were protected by the course of The Danube and The Rhine. (5) These great rivers formed a natural border between Gallia and Germania. The Romans eventually enfiladed this nadir and under the Emperor Constantine (6) this line marked the point where the empire had reached its zenith. Germania Superior, south of the Danube and the Rhine was the site of many Roman Campaigns. Gaius Julius Caesar, governor of this Roman Province began to actuate conflicts in Gaul against the warring tribes across the region. This action brought Caesar into conflict with the Roman senate.
The Roman Empire was fuelled by ambition and conquest, the processes that made up the Roman Empire took centuries to formulate. The military legions through alteration and improvement used new methods of waging war upon the enemies of Rome. The advanced methods of Roman campaigning were matched by Roman discipline and it had been said that a good soldier should dread his officers far more than the enemy. This level of firmness and the docility within the legions was an aid to defeating the impetuous actions of the robust barbarians.
The safety and the honor of protecting the empire were in-trusted to the legions through the servitude and jurisprudence of the governors. It had been in the interest of the governors to undertake this task by registering and seeking political support and power in the provinces, with the senate and with funding for senators in Rome. The principle conquests of the Romans had been achieved under the Republic. The emperors were sanguine with preserving its dominions and consolidating its borders. The policy of the senate was one of defense rather than conquest. In defensive wars it was not uncommon for barbarian tribes to submit their differences to the arbitration of an emperor. Rome preserved peace by maintaining a constant preparation for war. Rome would site that justice was the regulator of Rome’s conduct in the policing of its empire. ‘Whosoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits’ wrote Seneca. The vanquished nations through obedience and finally union blended Rome into one great people. Natives were encouraged to apply open and profitable commerce and agriculture. For the once warring tribesmen recruitment into the Roman legions would eventually become a career move.
Traditionally, Roman legions while recruiting even in the most distant of Roman provinces were reputed to consist of Roman citizens. Caesar formed his cohort, the Alauda from Gaul’s and strangers. (7) Following victory and honor, Caesar would grant his legionnaire's citizenship of Rome.
The military legions fought their campaigns from the end of spring to the end of summer. With the extension of the empire by the time of Caesar all year round campaigning was required. This would mean that the campaigning soldiers could no longer return home to harvest their crops. The Roman legionaries therefore ‘settled’ by conquest in the new lands. If the Senate had decided on a policy of using the legions for defensive policing Caesar had a different agenda. Caesar could retain his legions in the occupied lands and keep them close to hand and loyal to him.
Caesar received reports that the Celtic Tribe, the Helvetti (8) were leaving their homes in what is now Switzerland. The Helvetti migrated, heading west into Roman Southern Gaul. Caesar claimed that the Helvetti numbering many tens of thousands of warriors would threaten the Roman Province of Gaul. Acting to further his own personal glory Caesar raced off to Geneva and at Geneva Caesar deflected the Helvetti and pursued them with five legions and some cavalry into the alpine passes. (9) This deport by Caesar was an illegal act for a governor to undertake and to lead his forces without the senate's permission beyond his province turned the Roman edict of defensive policing into an act of conquest and permanent occupation. As Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a river that no Roman general was ever allowed to cross for it was equal to treason against the Republic he uttered ‘Alea jacta est’, the die is cast. (10)
Caesar in his own commentaries recorded his campaigns in Gaul. With a great deal of histrionics Caesar addresses his legions before leading them into battle with the Helvetti. ‘You are fighting for the Republic, for Rome and for yourselves. Victory will bring you rich rewards of money and slaves. Be warned however that any deserter without exception shall be killed.’ (11)
Victory at the foot of Mont Alp Fiore, the word ‘Alp’ here refers to the lower hill pastures and the word ‘Mont’ originally means pass; was conclusive. After much ferocious fighting and savage rapine the remaining 130,000 Helvetti survivors surrendered. Caesar ordered the Helvetti to return to their lands.
‘In the alpine pastures at the foot of the mountain, Caesar gave tribute to the Gods. He crucified hundreds of Helvetii warriors. Out of admiration for their bravery in combat Caesar had their throats slit first.’ (12)
Plini The Elder in one of his seventeen volumes of surviving texts collectively called, ‘The Geographical Encyclopaedia Natural History’ (13) pays not only direct reference to the Fiore Pass, but in the commentary Plini evokes with the Fiore Pass the symbolising spirit of Julius Caesar.
'The accomplishment of Augustus laid firm foundation so that a people may be habituated by the comfort of peace and quiet. Rome’s frontiers remain relatively stable and the legions have contentment. In Rome all manor of obscenity and defiling pours forth from Nero. His unparalleled degeneracy towards his own species makes him an unworthy successor to Augustus. As Caligula before him, Nero’s perfume makes us all retch. The succulent and fragrant air of the Fiore Pass is the perfume of the Golden age of Rome.’ (14)
Plini had served for twelve years in the cavalry on the Rhine. (15) It was clear that for Plini the Fiore Pass had left a significant impression on him. The Fiore Pass would have been one of many important Roman supply and trade routes through the Pennine Alps.
Pliny’s concerns for the health of the Empire through his description of the Emperor Nero was not unjust. Since the death of the elderly Augustus, Rome was to be ruled by a series of Emperors baring the illustrious title Caesar. What was simply a family name is even today become synonymous with strong leadership and power. A series of emperors, tyrannical Tiberius, ‘Bootkins’ Caligula, the timid Claudius and the debauched Artist Nero all have cast a legendary stamp on the name Caesar.
The supply and trade routes were in part the arteries of Rome. (16) These arteries including the Fiore Pass would also deliver not only nourishment to Rome but also deliver some of the symptoms that would eventually lead to the decline and fall of the Empire. Rome herself would eventually become threatened by the increasing wealth and power that was held in her provinces and would lead to the restriction of trade across the empire.
By the era of Constantine, civil wars had been breaking out across the Roman provinces. ‘In the provinces of Rome’s once noble and loyal consuls now seek greater personal glory and power.’ (17) The chaos that now threatened Rome provided an opportunity for the Goths to carry out raids deep into the empire. The Goths were themselves facing severe pressure from the East by the antagonistic Huns. Rome began to hemorrhage and as pressure was applied to her borders, so the Western Empire began to crumble. The City of Rome itself could in countless ways only symbolise the fall of the Roman Empire.
The Fiore pass had been one of numerous routes that would carry barbarian hordes into Italy. "Break off all delays, Alaric. This very year thou shalt force the Alpine barrier of Italy; thou shalt penetrate to the city." (18) In 410 AD the Visigoths under Alaric I, his name meaning ‘everyone’s king’ was the first Germanic leader to take the city of Rome. Alaric originally desired to settle his people in the Roman Empire. Alaric first attempted to attack the Eastern Empire but had been unable to besiege Constantinople so thereafter he headed for Greece. Once in Greece his forces ravaged Attica but spared Athens whom capitulated at his presence, this saved the city from plunder. The eastern government sought to buy off Alaric appointed him magister militum per Illyricum, giving him the Roman command that he had desired, Alaric wanted to be welcomed into the bosom of Rome. This post gave him authority to be able to resupply his men from the imperial arsenals and Alaric turned his forces towards the west. After a first failed invasion against the City of Rome in 402AD, Alaric finally sacked the Rome on his second attempt in 408 AD. It is believed that Alaric’s sacking of the City was not catastrophic and the majority of the City was left intact with generous acts of clemency shown to the populace and the buildings. This single act however signifies the decline of imperial power in the west.
In AD 424 the 120 year old Attila of the Huns sacked the ancient capital, but left with in days leaving the city largely intact. (19) The Roman Empire was by the time of the sackings divided into two parts. The Eastern Empire whose Capital Constantinople was magnificent and the ancient capital Rome, which represented a diseased and remote past. (20) The Eastern Byzantine Empire would flourish for a further 1000 years.
‘Twelve vultures arduously perch upon the mountain. They grow restless and are disturbed by falling rocks. The vultures take to the sky and in the claws of each vulture are carried a stone. Shall an Empire lasting another twelve centuries ever be built from those foundations’? (21)
‘The Mountains Sleep for a thousand years and even their ancient names are forgotten. Lost in a veil of rock and ice, the sublime impenetrable hinterland of the Alps is reawakened to a new civilisation.’ (22)
Civilisations throughout the world in all likelihood-ascended mountains. Ancient texts that are discovered and deciphered will mention peoples who scaled mountains, but these valuable texts are rare finds. It would be hard to believe that civilisations from Patagonia to the Himalayas were remaining in the valleys and not searching high in the mountains for food and for minerals. Climbing mountains in the main was rare; there are notable ascents that have been documented. Philip of Macedonia scaled Mount Haemus in the Balkans in 181 BC. The Emperor Hadrian climbed Mount Etna in AD.130. In 1336 the poet Petrarch worked his way up Mont Ventoux. (23) In 1358 Boniface Rotario d’Asti with a triptych of the blessed Virgin strapped to his back climbed the mighty 3,538m Rochemelon in the Graian Alps. (24) Leonardo Da Vinci (25) climbed Mount Bo in the Pennine Alps in the Fifteenth Century.
If the aforementioned are notable examples of people who have scaled mountains, there are many anonymous mountain climbers who will remain unknown to us. They were driven to climb for the resources that could be farmed from the hillsides and mountains. The Chamois hunters for example would go to extraordinary lengths to sport both the Chamois and the mountain goat. Eventually some of these climbers would become the first mountain guides to lead organised excursions up the Alpine mountains. In the future the guides would also become the pathfinders for wealthy explorers who were in pursuit of conquering the highest mountains in Europe.
Trade routes through the Alps were trafficked to distribute merchandise and agricultural goods. The movements of both civilian and the military would exploit the full resources as they moved through the valleys. Several Alpine mountains were known to have an abundance of valuable Quartz crystals on them. The crystal hunters probably traversed many Alpine mountains in search of the quartz. It is likely however that some of the first people to scale mountains were the military for strategic purposes. Mountains in the main were not climbed for aesthetic, spiritual and for personal reasons until the rebirth of enlightenment in Europe, The Renaissance.
Bishop Payot born in Avignon, (26) France but resided in Germany wrote ‘The Walking Eagle’ in 1459. (27) This autobiographical work chronicles the Bishops journey into the Alps to fight the Devil who had taken the form of a dragon. Bishop Payot’s fight with the Devil was an exorcism of an altogether different beast. The twin tails of the dragon (28) were the La Vallee Blanche and the du Geant Glaciers and the Devil was Mont Blanc. Bishop Payot had the intentions of establishing a new monastery in the Alps. He hoped that somewhere in this most inhospitable area of Europe a new Eden was to be discovered. For his sins he suffered severe frostbite and had to have both his legs amputated to the knee. The fingers of his left hand also succumbed to amputation. This human being though humbled by the mountains had written a work that enabled the Alps not only to be re-discovered but also to be contemplated and thought about in entirely new ways. This new way of interpreting the world opened up for the first time the possibility of seeing the mountains aesthetic beauty. The awakening spirit of adventurer’s beckoned. This was the vivacity of the Renaissance.
Revolution!
By the latter half of the eighteenth century dramatic change engulfed Europe, it was the age of the industrial revolution. No more was it profoundly felt than in England. Up until this time, England was a land of small villages and hamlets. Almost everyone lived and worked on the land. The pace of life was slow and the pace of change barely perceptible. Technological advances transformed an entire nation. Industry and commerce promised to bring forth each day new wonders and new prosperity. In the ever expanding towns and cities the new found wealth by the growing middle classes had their spry appetites indulged by the availability of refinements that were once the exclusive of the aristocrat.
The newly wealthy urban middle classes soon began to pursue leisure activities, both in the crowded, smoky cities but also out in the country. The garden of earthly delights that was the pleasure for the industrialists was not the same garden that the majority of the British populace was living in. There had been concern amongst some of the enlightened middle classes that the industrialisation of a nation and the new morals, ethics and the virtues that were underpinned by good Christian principles were leading to less desirable social situations. In the Grand Courts of mainland Europe society was concerned with self-gratification. It was the age of enlightenment, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Philosophical discourse would have a profound effect on the cultivated minds of the professionals. Science to would also become instrument in the conquests of Europe’s mountains.
There were many fierce critics of contemporary social life. The French Philosopher and painter, Jean-Theodore Saussure was a passionate advocate of the cultivation of natural sentiments.
‘The evils of Europe are reflected in the perverse images we make of ourselves. The mirror reveals every possible perversion of antiquity without any of the genius. Let us look into our hearts and our minds to find the glory, the antique and then fire our imaginations with nature.’ (29)
Jean-Theodore Saussure in 1776 entered the central alpine region to climb and to contemplate. Saussure tripped in the Swiss town of Praborgne and there he lodged in the most basic of chalet accommodation for a single night. The following morning with a commanding view of the Matterhorn and with fair Easter weather, the Knight Errant Saussure set out to climb The 4165m Breithorn. The last recorded sighting of Jean-Theodore Saussure was by the Geologist, Theresa Machon who was to spend three eventful and significant weeks in the Alpine Village of Praborgne. ‘A village of some of the most inbred and rearward people I have ever encountered!’ ‘Time has passed these people by, they are as old as the rocks that surround them.’ ‘Praborgne is situated within a ravishing Alpine wilderness there remains traces of a unique indigenous culture, there is a great deal of poverty and illiteracy amongst the people, but a rich intellectual climate is flourishing.’ In time however Praborgne was to become one of the two principle climbing centers’ in the Alps. In the entries of her personal diary (30) Theresa Machon describes that by mid afternoon on the edge of the Toothed Glacier she had taken shelter during the ensuing snowstorm.
‘The vision I beheld, not fifty yards from my gaze was of a tall gentleman crossing the glacier. His head extending forward from his taught neck. He was battling against the storm. Although I could not decipher the delicate language that was coming forth from his open mouth, the gentleman was clearly screaming into the storm. Fearful of my own tenuous position, I too cursed this wretched storm. I called out, come! Come hither! I was sure he looked towards me yet his actions were adamantine. I could not go to aid this poor stricken fellow. He seemed ill equipped to be out here on the glacier and amongst the mountains. Is it credulous of me weather this figure with undulating arms was any longer sane enough to survive a night in the wilderness.’
‘The snow wrapped around me like a white envelope and in ever declining visibility I lost sight of the man. The dryness of the snow had a muffling effect on my senses. My will to survive the night was to bivouac here and stave off hypothermia and death.’ (31)
A weary and exhausted Theresa came down off the toothed glacier in the early hours of the following morning, finally reaching her alpine chalet at close to 5.30am. Theresa following several days’ recovery continued with her work from Praborgne. She left a week later to return to her address in Paris. It was very likely that no search party was ever sent out to look for Saussure. This was not uncommon as the Alpine hills were a harsh environment and with many strangers seeking adventure in the Alps; the community at that time neither understood nor had time for social responsibility. Jean-Theodore’s body was secreted from the glacier three years later. Theresa Machon moved to Praborgne in 1793, this was to establish an accommodation center for visiting geologists and naturalists who visited the area to undertake scientific studies in the Alps. Theresa Machon continued to undertake research herself whilst in the Alps; her expertise was in the field of Glacier Movement and no doubt influenced by the reappearance of Sassure at the foot of the Toothed Glacier. Theresa Machon’s informative knowledge and experience in the central Alps eventually lead her to become a much sought after mountain guide. Theresa was to become one of the few guides who would make a comfortable living from guiding the new wealthy bourgeois around the Alps.
Notes
1. Mary Coppertone. (Little Horse) ‘In the footsteps of my ancestors’ (1996) The Cape of Hope Press, USA.
1- 2 ‘The nest that became a mountain’ from the book ‘European Fables’ collected together by Martin of Gent. (1263 – 1310) Martin Raise was a Benedictine Monk who travelled throughout Europe collecting Folk Tales. Died in Gent of consumption and fever. It is not known where he was born.
2. Flower (It.) Rosemary (Fr.) an emblem of remembrance and assimilation of rose. Past of the word Rise. Used in Mount Capitalist naming ceremony, ‘Roses of Picardy’ Performed by ex service comrades from the Great War.
3. Transcript for radio broadcast 03.04.24 Speech given by the Swiss Culture secretary, Pierre Solon, 4th canton. – ‘The audience in the auditorium rise to their feet, infectious responses from them, what joy! Deter Scliff.
4. The Unity Flag carried to the summit. The design had upon it a bound rose motif. Legend attached to the rose is that the crown of thorns worn by Christ at his crucifixion was made out of rose briars.
5. Danube – the second longest of Europe’s rivers 2,820Km. Rises on the Eastern slopes of the Black Forest to enter the Black Sea in Romania. Rhine – 1,320 Km Rising in Switzerland and reaching the North Sea in the Netherlands.
6. Constantine the Great 274-337 AD. The first Christian emperor of Rome and founder of Constantinople. Acclaimed emperor in 306 AD in York, Britain. Constantinople is now known and referred to by its Turkish name Istanbul.
7. Gaul – Celtic speaking people who inhabited France and Belgium. United by a common druid priesthood religion. Gaul’s invade Italy BC400, sacked Rome. Settled in between the Alps and the Apennines – A district known as Lisalpine Gaul. Conquered by Rome in 225 BC. Caesar conquered the remaining Gaul’s up to the Rhine in 50-51 BC.
8. Helvetia – region corresponding to West Switzerland. 1st Century BC – 5th Century AD.
9. Gibbon. Pg17-31
10. Civil war results, the Rubicon separates Gaul from Italy. Pompey Caesar's rival is defeated at Parasalus, chased into Egypt. 48BC Pompey is murdered before reaching the shore.
11. The Commentaries – account by Caesar. His victory over King Pharsalus in Asia Minor was summarised as ‘ Veni, Vidi, Vici’ I came I saw I conquered. Final Victory came in 45BC in Spain. This establishes Caesar’s position in Rome. Caesar is awarded a ten-year dictatorship in 46BC. On 15th March 44 BC Caesar suspicious of a plot to assassinate him knowingly enters the senate house where he is stabbed to death at the foot of Pompey’s Statue.
12. Suetonius. (70-140 AD) The Lives Of The Caesar’s, 12 biographies from Julius Caesar to Domitian)
13. Fragments of Text discovered in the House of the Papyri at Herculaneum in 2000.Attributed to Plini
14 - 1 Gaius Plinus Secundus. (AD 23 -79)
14 - 2 AD 98-180 The Roman Empire under the Antonines was a happy period of more than fourscore years with prosperous conditions with in the Empire. The decline of the Empire after revolution is still felt by the nations of the world.
Burke Pg 279 Volume 1. The Antonines.
15. ‘The cavalry of the Empire are no longer composed of Rome’s noble youth.’ Plin.Hist. Natur XXXiii
16. I use the term Rome here to signify the whole of the Imperial Roman Empire.
17. The Histories. Paulius pg 217
18. The Roman poet Claudian
19.1 Halting at the walls of Rome. Attila makes a deal with Pope Leo I not to savage the Capital. Attila’s own forces were racked with disease. This will have contributed to Attila accepting Pope Leo’s vast tribute. Attila returns to Pannonia and vowed to return to Rome to conquer the capital the following year. On the night of his marriage to Ildico Attila dies, poison or divine intervention?
19.2 Pope Leo I was acting as ambassador to the Emperor Valentinian III 390-461AD
20. The Fall of Rome was in part due to malaria. The Vandals brought this into Italy from North Africa. Rome was surrounded by marshland. It is worth noting that the majority of Romans would have never visited Rome or could longer identify with her.
‘Natures Way’ Dr Sarah Mulvey. Black Dot Publications 2003. ISBN 0 –764115580 - 1
21. Anon 1453 AD – Vatican archive library
22. Bishop Payot. 1459 AD
23. Once he had moved up through the olive groves on to the naked limestone, a furious desire overcame him and he had to reach the summit. The life and Poetry of Petrarch, J.P. Sidewall. Bloomsbury Press 1946. Patrarch a devotee of Classical tradition. ‘il Canzoniere’ his combined book of sonnets was written in praise of idealised love, Laura a married woman who refused to become his mistress and who died of plague in 1348. Patarch was eager to restore the glories of Rome and wished to have the Papacy returned to Rome from Avignon. Patrarch commissioned a portrait of Laura, painted by Simone Martini 1284-1344. Laura is dressed in white drapery with a headband of acanthus leaves and fruit she reclines like Diana. Laura is in repose in an idyllic Arcadian landscape surrounded by mountains, (including Mount capitalist – the rose bud mountain) the eagle of Zeus and the lion of Nemea. Cat pg 231 Masterworks in the National Gallery. Alfred Wright.1947
24. A knight of Asti. Thought to be the first time an attempt had been made on a high Alpine peak. It was said that an earlier attempt in the early 11th century by a Benedictine Monk from Novalesa order tried but failed. A small chapel on the top of Rochemelon remains
25. It may be worth reading John Ringwood’s fascinating book, ‘Leonardo, The Dissecting of Nature’ Oxford Union Publishing. (2003) Ringwood claims that in the painting St Anne, the Virgin and the Infant Christ with a Lamb (Paris, Louvre) the mountains in the background were all mountains and peaks that Leonardo himself had either climbed or visited. Ringwood identifies both Mount Po and Mount Capitalist. (Just left of the tree and recognisable by the mountains twin summits. ‘ Leonardo spent twenty years in Milan, south of the Alps. If he wanted high mountaintops and valleys he had them. His drawings depicted the elementary forces of Nature at work. Unfolding with in his paintings great plains extend down to the seas and the horizon. If Leonardo takes liberty in reshaping his landscape, then his is Lord to do so.’ Pg 273.
26. Avignon. Provence France. A 13th Century cathedral and a palace was built 1334-42 for the residence of the Popes. Avignon was Papal property 1348-1791
27. Chronique de l'aigle de marche translated by Holroyd in 1964. Source - a French translation of Latin text in 1812. Payot was said to have lived to the age of 120 before he succumbed to peace in eternal rest.
28. Dragons occupy many legends in Alpine Folk and spiritual tales. See ‘Folk Tales of Europe’ Pietro Godesbury (1870)
29. Jean-Theodore Saussure. 1770 (Moral and Ethical rectitude)
30. Theresa Machon. 1776
31. A relation of Theresa later published these accounts of her visit to the Alps and to the Mount Capitalist region many years later. The book was called, ‘Mothers in White Coats.’ and published by Jenny Dupont in 1910.
‘How are our mountains made?’ Asked the Hopi child to her grandfather. ‘Little Horse my dear child the mountains are not ours, we do not possess them, but I can tell you how they are made.’ Little horse sat upon the bare earth, she expectantly waited for her grandfather to reply. Little Horses grandfather paused; a magnificent juggernaut noisily wailed, hissed and zipped past them, a whole host of pneumatic rubber tires (far too many for the girl to count) hugged the tarmac road spitting out the dry dirt, the monster truck left in its wake a dust storm. ‘The mountains grew from points where the worlds six great continental plates collide and rub against each other; melted rock is pushed up through fissures in the earth's crust, it was a violent birth for the mountains. There followed by a time of serenity and the world was at peace, the mountains sank deeper into a liquid sleep.’ Little Horse beamed, ‘And then the animals came grandfather?’ (1)
The Vulture made her nest out of gathered stones and bound them together with the stuff that she had regurgitated out of her gullet. The Vultures task: the nest building...it continued for many weeks, she worked tirelessly adding to the nest other debris gathered from her foraging, bone and sun-dried human tissue. As she deposited each new rock upon her nest, it seemed to her that the very land in which she perched upon grew ever larger. As she patiently waited for a mate to appear she kept on building her nest. Her travels never took her far from the land, a land that increased in size as each new day dawned and as each night closed in around her. The Vulture surveyed her ever-expanding world and she saw that she was now perched upon a pinnacle of rock and when she looked down the cliff face; it stretched out far below her. The vulture took to the air once more to circle her realm and collect another rock from the land below. Whilst in flight she noticed that another pinnacle of rock began to appear above the waves. The Vulture took this to mean that another Vulture must be also building a nest close to her own. The Vulture returned to her nest to keep vigil, but no other vulture appeared, the adjacent rock continued to increase in size. One morning she flew out to the companion rock and landed upon its summit. The Vulture became conscious that a nest had not been under construction on this landmass. As she surveyed this newfound state she could make out two smooth, bleached oval stones, each stone took the outward appearance of an egg. Lodged in between them lay a seed head that in spite of everything still had attached the dry emaciated petals of a red wilted rose. The Vulture took hold of the seed head and flew back towards her home. The dry delicate petals of the rose fragmented, they became insignificant. The Vulture did not land upon her own nest; she circled and hovered above it, opened her beak and accurately dropped the seed head into her nest. The Vulture returned to the adjacent rock and picked up one of the two oval stones in her beak, she returned once more to her nest, placed the stone next to the seed head before settling down for the night. For some time the Vulture stared out seawards, finally she closed her eyes and fell into a stony sleep. (1.2)
03.01.1924
Mesdames et messieurs bienvenu et bonjour
Willkommener und guter Morgen Damen und Herren
Signore e signori di mattina benvenuta e buona
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome and good morning
`Ce s'appelle le `Mont Fiore' à l'Italien ; Les Français émulent ceci dans une tradition florale correspondante, dès lors retentir doux nommés, `Mont Romarin'. Aux Allemands c'est `UnKraunt Erdhug' ou monticule d'herbe de `' si vous souhaiteriez une traduction en anglais. À nous, le Suisse et à notre camarade Autrichiens nous connaissons notre montagne aimée comme `le bourgeon de montagne.
`Wird es `Mont Fiore' zum Italiener genannt; Die Franzosen emulieren dieses in einer entsprechenden Blumentradition, thenceforth das süsse Klingen Namens, `Mont Romarin'. Zu den Deutschen ist es `UnKraunt Erdhug' oder `Unkraut-Damm', wenn du für eine englische übersetzung wünschen würdest. Zu uns der Schweizer und zu unserem Gefährten Österreicher kennen wir unseren geliebten Berg als `die Gebirgsknospe.
`È denominato `Mont Fiore' all'italiano; I francesi emulano questo in una tradizione floreale corrispondente, thenceforth il sondaggio dolce nomi, `Mont Romarin'. Ai tedeschi è `UnKraunt Erdhug' o monticello dell'erbaccia del `' se desideraste per una traduzione in inglese. A noi, lo svizzero ed al nostro collega Austriaci conosciamo la nostra montagna cara come `il germoglio della montagna.
`This is called the “Fiore Mount” with the Italian; The French emulate this in a corresponding floral tradition, consequently to resound soft named, “Mount Rosemary”. To the Germans it is “UnKraunt Erdhug” or ‘grass monticule of’ if you would wish a translation in to English. To us, the people of Switzerland and with our Autrichiens comrades we know our mountain like `the bud of mountain. ...The translation at this moment is interrupted by the pleasant tones of a well-spoken English man, and a familiar voice to his audience. He began to interject during the radio broadcast. ‘I am Very sorry ladies and Gentlemen, the translation of the speech that you are currently listening to in English has I feel lost something in its translation. I shall endeavor to re translate for you word for word.’ He began.
‘It is called ‘Mont Fiore’ to the Italian’s; The French emulate this in a corresponding floral tradition, thenceforth the sweet sounding name, ‘Mont Romarin’. To the Germans it is ‘UnKraunt Erdhug’ or ‘Weed Mound’ if you would wish for an English Translation. To us, the Swiss and to our fellow Austrians we know our beloved mountain as ‘The Mountain Bud.’(2) Peter Snell broadcasting for the British Home Radio Company continued to re-translate the live broadcast to his listeners.
‘We live with the phantom of catastrophe; the horror of the 1914-1918 war. We are here to honor and to lament the fallen, to look to all our futures. We make a decree for all that is good, for all the honorable people of Europe and the world. Our genius is to bring to you a lasting symbol of unity, of goodwill and of hope. We now turn to a new epoch to commerce and to free trade among the good citizens of Europe. May prosperity come to you all in the name of alliance. On the behalf of the people of Switzerland and the National Council I name this Mountain, Mount Capitalist. May God always be with you.’(3)
The Council of State stepped firstly away from the microphone positioning him at the front of the stage; he beckoned to his fellow keynote speakers who represented the Naming Commission to join with him, the council of state began to clap his hands together, the speakers on the stage one by one joined in. The closing speech concluded to rapturous applause. The ceremony was held in Geneva on January 3rd 1924 before countless European heads of Government. On this day Europe had a new mountain range. The behemoth of history was to be vanquished and the authors of a bright new future took the first step upon the new European landscape, a landscape designed by politicians. This ceremony marked the birth of a newborn modern mountain and a fresh modern Europe. At 3.20pm Michele Zapelli and his team of European climbers struggled to the top of the new mountain to place the first unity flag (4) upon the summit. By 6.10pm in near darkness and in a severe snowstorm, Mount Capitalist officially took its first lives. The rose bud mountain’s change of name may have signified a new dawn for Europe and her people but for the mountain it changed nothing. Mount Capitalist had no respect for history and people alike, upon this mountain 4000 meters high history still continues to have no meaning.
Europe Under The Roman Empire
The first recorded text relating to Mount Capitalist dates from the era of Julius Caesar. This documents by name the foothills that surround the mountain, the Fiore Pass. The extent of the Roman Empire by 52 BC occupied all of Gallia what is now modern day France. The European provinces of Rome were protected by the course of The Danube and The Rhine. (5) These great rivers formed a natural border between Gallia and Germania. The Romans eventually enfiladed this nadir and under the Emperor Constantine (6) this line marked the point where the empire had reached its zenith. Germania Superior, south of the Danube and the Rhine was the site of many Roman Campaigns. Gaius Julius Caesar, governor of this Roman Province began to actuate conflicts in Gaul against the warring tribes across the region. This action brought Caesar into conflict with the Roman senate.
The Roman Empire was fuelled by ambition and conquest, the processes that made up the Roman Empire took centuries to formulate. The military legions through alteration and improvement used new methods of waging war upon the enemies of Rome. The advanced methods of Roman campaigning were matched by Roman discipline and it had been said that a good soldier should dread his officers far more than the enemy. This level of firmness and the docility within the legions was an aid to defeating the impetuous actions of the robust barbarians.
The safety and the honor of protecting the empire were in-trusted to the legions through the servitude and jurisprudence of the governors. It had been in the interest of the governors to undertake this task by registering and seeking political support and power in the provinces, with the senate and with funding for senators in Rome. The principle conquests of the Romans had been achieved under the Republic. The emperors were sanguine with preserving its dominions and consolidating its borders. The policy of the senate was one of defense rather than conquest. In defensive wars it was not uncommon for barbarian tribes to submit their differences to the arbitration of an emperor. Rome preserved peace by maintaining a constant preparation for war. Rome would site that justice was the regulator of Rome’s conduct in the policing of its empire. ‘Whosoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits’ wrote Seneca. The vanquished nations through obedience and finally union blended Rome into one great people. Natives were encouraged to apply open and profitable commerce and agriculture. For the once warring tribesmen recruitment into the Roman legions would eventually become a career move.
Traditionally, Roman legions while recruiting even in the most distant of Roman provinces were reputed to consist of Roman citizens. Caesar formed his cohort, the Alauda from Gaul’s and strangers. (7) Following victory and honor, Caesar would grant his legionnaire's citizenship of Rome.
The military legions fought their campaigns from the end of spring to the end of summer. With the extension of the empire by the time of Caesar all year round campaigning was required. This would mean that the campaigning soldiers could no longer return home to harvest their crops. The Roman legionaries therefore ‘settled’ by conquest in the new lands. If the Senate had decided on a policy of using the legions for defensive policing Caesar had a different agenda. Caesar could retain his legions in the occupied lands and keep them close to hand and loyal to him.
Caesar received reports that the Celtic Tribe, the Helvetti (8) were leaving their homes in what is now Switzerland. The Helvetti migrated, heading west into Roman Southern Gaul. Caesar claimed that the Helvetti numbering many tens of thousands of warriors would threaten the Roman Province of Gaul. Acting to further his own personal glory Caesar raced off to Geneva and at Geneva Caesar deflected the Helvetti and pursued them with five legions and some cavalry into the alpine passes. (9) This deport by Caesar was an illegal act for a governor to undertake and to lead his forces without the senate's permission beyond his province turned the Roman edict of defensive policing into an act of conquest and permanent occupation. As Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a river that no Roman general was ever allowed to cross for it was equal to treason against the Republic he uttered ‘Alea jacta est’, the die is cast. (10)
Caesar in his own commentaries recorded his campaigns in Gaul. With a great deal of histrionics Caesar addresses his legions before leading them into battle with the Helvetti. ‘You are fighting for the Republic, for Rome and for yourselves. Victory will bring you rich rewards of money and slaves. Be warned however that any deserter without exception shall be killed.’ (11)
Victory at the foot of Mont Alp Fiore, the word ‘Alp’ here refers to the lower hill pastures and the word ‘Mont’ originally means pass; was conclusive. After much ferocious fighting and savage rapine the remaining 130,000 Helvetti survivors surrendered. Caesar ordered the Helvetti to return to their lands.
‘In the alpine pastures at the foot of the mountain, Caesar gave tribute to the Gods. He crucified hundreds of Helvetii warriors. Out of admiration for their bravery in combat Caesar had their throats slit first.’ (12)
Plini The Elder in one of his seventeen volumes of surviving texts collectively called, ‘The Geographical Encyclopaedia Natural History’ (13) pays not only direct reference to the Fiore Pass, but in the commentary Plini evokes with the Fiore Pass the symbolising spirit of Julius Caesar.
'The accomplishment of Augustus laid firm foundation so that a people may be habituated by the comfort of peace and quiet. Rome’s frontiers remain relatively stable and the legions have contentment. In Rome all manor of obscenity and defiling pours forth from Nero. His unparalleled degeneracy towards his own species makes him an unworthy successor to Augustus. As Caligula before him, Nero’s perfume makes us all retch. The succulent and fragrant air of the Fiore Pass is the perfume of the Golden age of Rome.’ (14)
Plini had served for twelve years in the cavalry on the Rhine. (15) It was clear that for Plini the Fiore Pass had left a significant impression on him. The Fiore Pass would have been one of many important Roman supply and trade routes through the Pennine Alps.
Pliny’s concerns for the health of the Empire through his description of the Emperor Nero was not unjust. Since the death of the elderly Augustus, Rome was to be ruled by a series of Emperors baring the illustrious title Caesar. What was simply a family name is even today become synonymous with strong leadership and power. A series of emperors, tyrannical Tiberius, ‘Bootkins’ Caligula, the timid Claudius and the debauched Artist Nero all have cast a legendary stamp on the name Caesar.
The supply and trade routes were in part the arteries of Rome. (16) These arteries including the Fiore Pass would also deliver not only nourishment to Rome but also deliver some of the symptoms that would eventually lead to the decline and fall of the Empire. Rome herself would eventually become threatened by the increasing wealth and power that was held in her provinces and would lead to the restriction of trade across the empire.
By the era of Constantine, civil wars had been breaking out across the Roman provinces. ‘In the provinces of Rome’s once noble and loyal consuls now seek greater personal glory and power.’ (17) The chaos that now threatened Rome provided an opportunity for the Goths to carry out raids deep into the empire. The Goths were themselves facing severe pressure from the East by the antagonistic Huns. Rome began to hemorrhage and as pressure was applied to her borders, so the Western Empire began to crumble. The City of Rome itself could in countless ways only symbolise the fall of the Roman Empire.
The Fiore pass had been one of numerous routes that would carry barbarian hordes into Italy. "Break off all delays, Alaric. This very year thou shalt force the Alpine barrier of Italy; thou shalt penetrate to the city." (18) In 410 AD the Visigoths under Alaric I, his name meaning ‘everyone’s king’ was the first Germanic leader to take the city of Rome. Alaric originally desired to settle his people in the Roman Empire. Alaric first attempted to attack the Eastern Empire but had been unable to besiege Constantinople so thereafter he headed for Greece. Once in Greece his forces ravaged Attica but spared Athens whom capitulated at his presence, this saved the city from plunder. The eastern government sought to buy off Alaric appointed him magister militum per Illyricum, giving him the Roman command that he had desired, Alaric wanted to be welcomed into the bosom of Rome. This post gave him authority to be able to resupply his men from the imperial arsenals and Alaric turned his forces towards the west. After a first failed invasion against the City of Rome in 402AD, Alaric finally sacked the Rome on his second attempt in 408 AD. It is believed that Alaric’s sacking of the City was not catastrophic and the majority of the City was left intact with generous acts of clemency shown to the populace and the buildings. This single act however signifies the decline of imperial power in the west.
In AD 424 the 120 year old Attila of the Huns sacked the ancient capital, but left with in days leaving the city largely intact. (19) The Roman Empire was by the time of the sackings divided into two parts. The Eastern Empire whose Capital Constantinople was magnificent and the ancient capital Rome, which represented a diseased and remote past. (20) The Eastern Byzantine Empire would flourish for a further 1000 years.
‘Twelve vultures arduously perch upon the mountain. They grow restless and are disturbed by falling rocks. The vultures take to the sky and in the claws of each vulture are carried a stone. Shall an Empire lasting another twelve centuries ever be built from those foundations’? (21)
‘The Mountains Sleep for a thousand years and even their ancient names are forgotten. Lost in a veil of rock and ice, the sublime impenetrable hinterland of the Alps is reawakened to a new civilisation.’ (22)
Civilisations throughout the world in all likelihood-ascended mountains. Ancient texts that are discovered and deciphered will mention peoples who scaled mountains, but these valuable texts are rare finds. It would be hard to believe that civilisations from Patagonia to the Himalayas were remaining in the valleys and not searching high in the mountains for food and for minerals. Climbing mountains in the main was rare; there are notable ascents that have been documented. Philip of Macedonia scaled Mount Haemus in the Balkans in 181 BC. The Emperor Hadrian climbed Mount Etna in AD.130. In 1336 the poet Petrarch worked his way up Mont Ventoux. (23) In 1358 Boniface Rotario d’Asti with a triptych of the blessed Virgin strapped to his back climbed the mighty 3,538m Rochemelon in the Graian Alps. (24) Leonardo Da Vinci (25) climbed Mount Bo in the Pennine Alps in the Fifteenth Century.
If the aforementioned are notable examples of people who have scaled mountains, there are many anonymous mountain climbers who will remain unknown to us. They were driven to climb for the resources that could be farmed from the hillsides and mountains. The Chamois hunters for example would go to extraordinary lengths to sport both the Chamois and the mountain goat. Eventually some of these climbers would become the first mountain guides to lead organised excursions up the Alpine mountains. In the future the guides would also become the pathfinders for wealthy explorers who were in pursuit of conquering the highest mountains in Europe.
Trade routes through the Alps were trafficked to distribute merchandise and agricultural goods. The movements of both civilian and the military would exploit the full resources as they moved through the valleys. Several Alpine mountains were known to have an abundance of valuable Quartz crystals on them. The crystal hunters probably traversed many Alpine mountains in search of the quartz. It is likely however that some of the first people to scale mountains were the military for strategic purposes. Mountains in the main were not climbed for aesthetic, spiritual and for personal reasons until the rebirth of enlightenment in Europe, The Renaissance.
Bishop Payot born in Avignon, (26) France but resided in Germany wrote ‘The Walking Eagle’ in 1459. (27) This autobiographical work chronicles the Bishops journey into the Alps to fight the Devil who had taken the form of a dragon. Bishop Payot’s fight with the Devil was an exorcism of an altogether different beast. The twin tails of the dragon (28) were the La Vallee Blanche and the du Geant Glaciers and the Devil was Mont Blanc. Bishop Payot had the intentions of establishing a new monastery in the Alps. He hoped that somewhere in this most inhospitable area of Europe a new Eden was to be discovered. For his sins he suffered severe frostbite and had to have both his legs amputated to the knee. The fingers of his left hand also succumbed to amputation. This human being though humbled by the mountains had written a work that enabled the Alps not only to be re-discovered but also to be contemplated and thought about in entirely new ways. This new way of interpreting the world opened up for the first time the possibility of seeing the mountains aesthetic beauty. The awakening spirit of adventurer’s beckoned. This was the vivacity of the Renaissance.
Revolution!
By the latter half of the eighteenth century dramatic change engulfed Europe, it was the age of the industrial revolution. No more was it profoundly felt than in England. Up until this time, England was a land of small villages and hamlets. Almost everyone lived and worked on the land. The pace of life was slow and the pace of change barely perceptible. Technological advances transformed an entire nation. Industry and commerce promised to bring forth each day new wonders and new prosperity. In the ever expanding towns and cities the new found wealth by the growing middle classes had their spry appetites indulged by the availability of refinements that were once the exclusive of the aristocrat.
The newly wealthy urban middle classes soon began to pursue leisure activities, both in the crowded, smoky cities but also out in the country. The garden of earthly delights that was the pleasure for the industrialists was not the same garden that the majority of the British populace was living in. There had been concern amongst some of the enlightened middle classes that the industrialisation of a nation and the new morals, ethics and the virtues that were underpinned by good Christian principles were leading to less desirable social situations. In the Grand Courts of mainland Europe society was concerned with self-gratification. It was the age of enlightenment, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Philosophical discourse would have a profound effect on the cultivated minds of the professionals. Science to would also become instrument in the conquests of Europe’s mountains.
There were many fierce critics of contemporary social life. The French Philosopher and painter, Jean-Theodore Saussure was a passionate advocate of the cultivation of natural sentiments.
‘The evils of Europe are reflected in the perverse images we make of ourselves. The mirror reveals every possible perversion of antiquity without any of the genius. Let us look into our hearts and our minds to find the glory, the antique and then fire our imaginations with nature.’ (29)
Jean-Theodore Saussure in 1776 entered the central alpine region to climb and to contemplate. Saussure tripped in the Swiss town of Praborgne and there he lodged in the most basic of chalet accommodation for a single night. The following morning with a commanding view of the Matterhorn and with fair Easter weather, the Knight Errant Saussure set out to climb The 4165m Breithorn. The last recorded sighting of Jean-Theodore Saussure was by the Geologist, Theresa Machon who was to spend three eventful and significant weeks in the Alpine Village of Praborgne. ‘A village of some of the most inbred and rearward people I have ever encountered!’ ‘Time has passed these people by, they are as old as the rocks that surround them.’ ‘Praborgne is situated within a ravishing Alpine wilderness there remains traces of a unique indigenous culture, there is a great deal of poverty and illiteracy amongst the people, but a rich intellectual climate is flourishing.’ In time however Praborgne was to become one of the two principle climbing centers’ in the Alps. In the entries of her personal diary (30) Theresa Machon describes that by mid afternoon on the edge of the Toothed Glacier she had taken shelter during the ensuing snowstorm.
‘The vision I beheld, not fifty yards from my gaze was of a tall gentleman crossing the glacier. His head extending forward from his taught neck. He was battling against the storm. Although I could not decipher the delicate language that was coming forth from his open mouth, the gentleman was clearly screaming into the storm. Fearful of my own tenuous position, I too cursed this wretched storm. I called out, come! Come hither! I was sure he looked towards me yet his actions were adamantine. I could not go to aid this poor stricken fellow. He seemed ill equipped to be out here on the glacier and amongst the mountains. Is it credulous of me weather this figure with undulating arms was any longer sane enough to survive a night in the wilderness.’
‘The snow wrapped around me like a white envelope and in ever declining visibility I lost sight of the man. The dryness of the snow had a muffling effect on my senses. My will to survive the night was to bivouac here and stave off hypothermia and death.’ (31)
A weary and exhausted Theresa came down off the toothed glacier in the early hours of the following morning, finally reaching her alpine chalet at close to 5.30am. Theresa following several days’ recovery continued with her work from Praborgne. She left a week later to return to her address in Paris. It was very likely that no search party was ever sent out to look for Saussure. This was not uncommon as the Alpine hills were a harsh environment and with many strangers seeking adventure in the Alps; the community at that time neither understood nor had time for social responsibility. Jean-Theodore’s body was secreted from the glacier three years later. Theresa Machon moved to Praborgne in 1793, this was to establish an accommodation center for visiting geologists and naturalists who visited the area to undertake scientific studies in the Alps. Theresa Machon continued to undertake research herself whilst in the Alps; her expertise was in the field of Glacier Movement and no doubt influenced by the reappearance of Sassure at the foot of the Toothed Glacier. Theresa Machon’s informative knowledge and experience in the central Alps eventually lead her to become a much sought after mountain guide. Theresa was to become one of the few guides who would make a comfortable living from guiding the new wealthy bourgeois around the Alps.
Notes
1. Mary Coppertone. (Little Horse) ‘In the footsteps of my ancestors’ (1996) The Cape of Hope Press, USA.
1- 2 ‘The nest that became a mountain’ from the book ‘European Fables’ collected together by Martin of Gent. (1263 – 1310) Martin Raise was a Benedictine Monk who travelled throughout Europe collecting Folk Tales. Died in Gent of consumption and fever. It is not known where he was born.
2. Flower (It.) Rosemary (Fr.) an emblem of remembrance and assimilation of rose. Past of the word Rise. Used in Mount Capitalist naming ceremony, ‘Roses of Picardy’ Performed by ex service comrades from the Great War.
3. Transcript for radio broadcast 03.04.24 Speech given by the Swiss Culture secretary, Pierre Solon, 4th canton. – ‘The audience in the auditorium rise to their feet, infectious responses from them, what joy! Deter Scliff.
4. The Unity Flag carried to the summit. The design had upon it a bound rose motif. Legend attached to the rose is that the crown of thorns worn by Christ at his crucifixion was made out of rose briars.
5. Danube – the second longest of Europe’s rivers 2,820Km. Rises on the Eastern slopes of the Black Forest to enter the Black Sea in Romania. Rhine – 1,320 Km Rising in Switzerland and reaching the North Sea in the Netherlands.
6. Constantine the Great 274-337 AD. The first Christian emperor of Rome and founder of Constantinople. Acclaimed emperor in 306 AD in York, Britain. Constantinople is now known and referred to by its Turkish name Istanbul.
7. Gaul – Celtic speaking people who inhabited France and Belgium. United by a common druid priesthood religion. Gaul’s invade Italy BC400, sacked Rome. Settled in between the Alps and the Apennines – A district known as Lisalpine Gaul. Conquered by Rome in 225 BC. Caesar conquered the remaining Gaul’s up to the Rhine in 50-51 BC.
8. Helvetia – region corresponding to West Switzerland. 1st Century BC – 5th Century AD.
9. Gibbon. Pg17-31
10. Civil war results, the Rubicon separates Gaul from Italy. Pompey Caesar's rival is defeated at Parasalus, chased into Egypt. 48BC Pompey is murdered before reaching the shore.
11. The Commentaries – account by Caesar. His victory over King Pharsalus in Asia Minor was summarised as ‘ Veni, Vidi, Vici’ I came I saw I conquered. Final Victory came in 45BC in Spain. This establishes Caesar’s position in Rome. Caesar is awarded a ten-year dictatorship in 46BC. On 15th March 44 BC Caesar suspicious of a plot to assassinate him knowingly enters the senate house where he is stabbed to death at the foot of Pompey’s Statue.
12. Suetonius. (70-140 AD) The Lives Of The Caesar’s, 12 biographies from Julius Caesar to Domitian)
13. Fragments of Text discovered in the House of the Papyri at Herculaneum in 2000.Attributed to Plini
14 - 1 Gaius Plinus Secundus. (AD 23 -79)
14 - 2 AD 98-180 The Roman Empire under the Antonines was a happy period of more than fourscore years with prosperous conditions with in the Empire. The decline of the Empire after revolution is still felt by the nations of the world.
Burke Pg 279 Volume 1. The Antonines.
15. ‘The cavalry of the Empire are no longer composed of Rome’s noble youth.’ Plin.Hist. Natur XXXiii
16. I use the term Rome here to signify the whole of the Imperial Roman Empire.
17. The Histories. Paulius pg 217
18. The Roman poet Claudian
19.1 Halting at the walls of Rome. Attila makes a deal with Pope Leo I not to savage the Capital. Attila’s own forces were racked with disease. This will have contributed to Attila accepting Pope Leo’s vast tribute. Attila returns to Pannonia and vowed to return to Rome to conquer the capital the following year. On the night of his marriage to Ildico Attila dies, poison or divine intervention?
19.2 Pope Leo I was acting as ambassador to the Emperor Valentinian III 390-461AD
20. The Fall of Rome was in part due to malaria. The Vandals brought this into Italy from North Africa. Rome was surrounded by marshland. It is worth noting that the majority of Romans would have never visited Rome or could longer identify with her.
‘Natures Way’ Dr Sarah Mulvey. Black Dot Publications 2003. ISBN 0 –764115580 - 1
21. Anon 1453 AD – Vatican archive library
22. Bishop Payot. 1459 AD
23. Once he had moved up through the olive groves on to the naked limestone, a furious desire overcame him and he had to reach the summit. The life and Poetry of Petrarch, J.P. Sidewall. Bloomsbury Press 1946. Patrarch a devotee of Classical tradition. ‘il Canzoniere’ his combined book of sonnets was written in praise of idealised love, Laura a married woman who refused to become his mistress and who died of plague in 1348. Patarch was eager to restore the glories of Rome and wished to have the Papacy returned to Rome from Avignon. Patrarch commissioned a portrait of Laura, painted by Simone Martini 1284-1344. Laura is dressed in white drapery with a headband of acanthus leaves and fruit she reclines like Diana. Laura is in repose in an idyllic Arcadian landscape surrounded by mountains, (including Mount capitalist – the rose bud mountain) the eagle of Zeus and the lion of Nemea. Cat pg 231 Masterworks in the National Gallery. Alfred Wright.1947
24. A knight of Asti. Thought to be the first time an attempt had been made on a high Alpine peak. It was said that an earlier attempt in the early 11th century by a Benedictine Monk from Novalesa order tried but failed. A small chapel on the top of Rochemelon remains
25. It may be worth reading John Ringwood’s fascinating book, ‘Leonardo, The Dissecting of Nature’ Oxford Union Publishing. (2003) Ringwood claims that in the painting St Anne, the Virgin and the Infant Christ with a Lamb (Paris, Louvre) the mountains in the background were all mountains and peaks that Leonardo himself had either climbed or visited. Ringwood identifies both Mount Po and Mount Capitalist. (Just left of the tree and recognisable by the mountains twin summits. ‘ Leonardo spent twenty years in Milan, south of the Alps. If he wanted high mountaintops and valleys he had them. His drawings depicted the elementary forces of Nature at work. Unfolding with in his paintings great plains extend down to the seas and the horizon. If Leonardo takes liberty in reshaping his landscape, then his is Lord to do so.’ Pg 273.
26. Avignon. Provence France. A 13th Century cathedral and a palace was built 1334-42 for the residence of the Popes. Avignon was Papal property 1348-1791
27. Chronique de l'aigle de marche translated by Holroyd in 1964. Source - a French translation of Latin text in 1812. Payot was said to have lived to the age of 120 before he succumbed to peace in eternal rest.
28. Dragons occupy many legends in Alpine Folk and spiritual tales. See ‘Folk Tales of Europe’ Pietro Godesbury (1870)
29. Jean-Theodore Saussure. 1770 (Moral and Ethical rectitude)
30. Theresa Machon. 1776
31. A relation of Theresa later published these accounts of her visit to the Alps and to the Mount Capitalist region many years later. The book was called, ‘Mothers in White Coats.’ and published by Jenny Dupont in 1910.
2010 / Reflections on a walking trip
Many years ago I and two other colleagues undertook a walk up Goatfell on the Isle of Arran, we had not chosen the easy route (Brodick Castle about 5 km in length) but a more steep and arduous climb (possibly a north eastern route). We had made the walk even lengthier by starting from a point which took us up an adjoining hill...this added extra time and pushed our own endurances a little...as we neared the end of the climb the three of us began to take distinctly different routes to the top, in my case I was confronted by (and began grappling with) two huge boulders in front of me. I looked down below me...there was little rock beneath my feet, I focused on the sheer drop below...I was on a ledge... At that moment one of my two colleagues’ called for ‘Help’ and shouted out more words to the effect that that he was stuck...not fearing my own position I quickly overcame the obstacles and went to his aid...upon reaching him (reaching him at a higher level) it was simply a matter of helping him navigate his way out of the situation. Within minutes we continued our assent meeting up with the third member of the party (he had also heard the call from our college and was on his way to help). Upon reaching the summit we were a little fatigued (not just from the walk but from the rest of the holiday...too many late nights and atrocious weather...losing two of our three tents to storm damage). The only other people we had seen that day were to be a couple on top of the mountain...the man, dressed in a morning suit could be seen taking pictures of the woman...we continued to approach the trig point and the cairn (marking the highest part of the mountain). The woman was dressed in a full length coat...we remained unseen by the couple as we continued to walk upwards......the next thing we witnessed was the woman unbuttoning her coat... the coat opened as she raised her arms above her and danced and spun around like a whirling dervish... underneath she was supporting nothing but scanty panties, suspenders and some fishnet stockings...at some point she noticed us (as you would if you took in a full 360 degree turn) still journeying up the mountain...rapidly she stopped dancing, wrapping her coat around her...the couple promptly departed. We reached the top...we surveyed our surroundings and naturally talked about the encounter just witnessed as we looked towards the direction of the couple...we saw them skipping down the path...hand in hand...how effortless the ‘easy route’ is.
Several years later I read a little more about Goatfell and wondered if my encounter could have possibly been with Cìoch na h-Òighe (the Young Maiden's Breast)?
Many years ago I and two other colleagues undertook a walk up Goatfell on the Isle of Arran, we had not chosen the easy route (Brodick Castle about 5 km in length) but a more steep and arduous climb (possibly a north eastern route). We had made the walk even lengthier by starting from a point which took us up an adjoining hill...this added extra time and pushed our own endurances a little...as we neared the end of the climb the three of us began to take distinctly different routes to the top, in my case I was confronted by (and began grappling with) two huge boulders in front of me. I looked down below me...there was little rock beneath my feet, I focused on the sheer drop below...I was on a ledge... At that moment one of my two colleagues’ called for ‘Help’ and shouted out more words to the effect that that he was stuck...not fearing my own position I quickly overcame the obstacles and went to his aid...upon reaching him (reaching him at a higher level) it was simply a matter of helping him navigate his way out of the situation. Within minutes we continued our assent meeting up with the third member of the party (he had also heard the call from our college and was on his way to help). Upon reaching the summit we were a little fatigued (not just from the walk but from the rest of the holiday...too many late nights and atrocious weather...losing two of our three tents to storm damage). The only other people we had seen that day were to be a couple on top of the mountain...the man, dressed in a morning suit could be seen taking pictures of the woman...we continued to approach the trig point and the cairn (marking the highest part of the mountain). The woman was dressed in a full length coat...we remained unseen by the couple as we continued to walk upwards......the next thing we witnessed was the woman unbuttoning her coat... the coat opened as she raised her arms above her and danced and spun around like a whirling dervish... underneath she was supporting nothing but scanty panties, suspenders and some fishnet stockings...at some point she noticed us (as you would if you took in a full 360 degree turn) still journeying up the mountain...rapidly she stopped dancing, wrapping her coat around her...the couple promptly departed. We reached the top...we surveyed our surroundings and naturally talked about the encounter just witnessed as we looked towards the direction of the couple...we saw them skipping down the path...hand in hand...how effortless the ‘easy route’ is.
Several years later I read a little more about Goatfell and wondered if my encounter could have possibly been with Cìoch na h-Òighe (the Young Maiden's Breast)?