The Matterhorn (mät´ tr-hôrn) is one of the best-known of the mountains in Switzerland. It is a magnificent peak, almost 15,000 feet high. Every year thousands of tourists gaze on this wonderful peak. Clouds play about its top, and the sun glistens on its everlasting snows. It is a sight that its beholders can never forget. In the view you see a crowd of tourists looking at the mountain from the Riffelburg Hotel. This hotel is 8,000 above sea level; but the Matterhorn towers 7,000 feet above the hotel. Beyond the peak you can see a stretch of the rugged Swiss Alps. A great glacier lies on the side of the mountain. The Matterhorn was first climbed in 1865 by six men. In mountain climbing the men tie themselves at distances apart to a long rope. Then if one of the party fall into a chasm the rest can pull him out. In coming down the steep slope, near the top, one of the six men lost his footing. His fall was so sharp that he dragged two others of the party down. The rope snapped, and three of the men were thus saved. The other three were crushed in their awful fall. They fell downward 4000 feet-almost a mile-toward the Matterhorn glacier. Wire ropes are now put up at some of the most dangerous places. Many mountain climbers now go to the top of the peak. But it is a hard climb, and one that is beset by many dangers. Mountain climbing is an interesting sport, even though it is dangerous. Most of the tall peaks of the world have been climbed by hardy men. Each year there is a death toll, due to carelessness or to accident; but this does not cause the sport to cease. What are the tallest peaks of the Appalachian Mountains? Of the Rockies? In what countries are the Alps Mountains? Keystone ID: 10765 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.