"The Club-Room of Zermatt in 1864" is a composite portrait of Alpine climbers and guides outside the Hotel Monte Rosa. The scene exhibits the easy camaraderie and muscular ethos of the "golden age" of mountaineering in the Alps. Edward Whymper described the tableau in Scrambles amongst the Alps (1871): "There is a frankness of manner about these strangely-apparelled and queer-faced men, which does not remind one of drawing room, or city life; and it is good to see--in this club room of Zermatt--those cold bodies, our too frigid countrymen, regele together when brought into contact; and it is pleasant to witness the hearty welcome given to the new-comers by the host and his excellent wife." Katharina Seiler, wife of the hotel proprietor, turns toward the door next to Lucy Walker, a leading female climber of the era, who faces the viewer head on. Whymper identified the men portrayed in Club-Room in the fourth edition of Scrambles (1893), p. 423.

Creator

• Whymper, Edward

Keyword

• Summits of Man

Year

• 1871

Date created

• 1871

Resource type

• Image

Source

• Edward Whymper, Scrambles amongst the Alps in the years 1860-69 (London, 1871), p. 262. Harvard College Library, Widener Library, Swi 685.7.1 http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/006907216/catalog

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2020-08-11