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As scientific discovery made the impossible possible, many Europeans were gripped by the desire to explore the world. Expeditions made to all corners of the world became the stuff of legends and upper-class Europeans picked up a sport to match the times: mountaineering. But one summit remained unclaimed in the Alps and Edward Whymper was determined to be the man to conquer it. He gathered a team of Lord Francis Douglas, Michel Croz, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow and guides Old Peter and Young Peter Taugwalder to ascend the Matterhorn. But triumph and tragedy oft go hand in hand.
Edward Whymper paved the way for mountaineers to start climbing the Matterhorn and while you would be right in assuming that mountaineering was a boys club, that wasn't the full picture. After all, a big name in climbing circles was Lucy Walker. She ascended mountains in all the finery of the time, wearing blouses and petticoats despite the cold. She had her sights set on the Matterhorn but she had a rival. Marguerite Brevoort, aunt to the ailing W. A. B. Coolidge, also had a reputation. But which of these women would scale the mountain first?
