Matthias Zurbriggen
{{Short description|Swiss mountaineer (1856–1917)}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Matthias Zurbriggen
| image = Matthias Zurbriggen in the Tasman Valley.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Zurbriggen in 1895
| birth_name = Matthias Zurbriggen
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1856|5|15}}
| birth_place = Saas-Fee, Switzerland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1917|6|21|1856|5|15}}
| death_place = Geneva, Switzerland
| nationality = Swiss
| other_names =
| occupation = Mountaineer
| years_active =
| known_for = First ascent of Aconcagua and Tupungato
| notable_works =
}}
File:Matthias Zurbriggen, plaque commémorative.JPG, on the border between Italy and Switzerland]]
Matthias Zurbriggen (15 May 1856 in Saas-Fee – 21 June 1917 in Geneva) was a Swiss mountaineer. He climbed throughout the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas and New Zealand.
Ascents
He made many first ascents, the best known of which is Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest peak outside of Asia, which he climbed alone on 14 January 1897, during an expedition led by Edward FitzGerald. During the same expedition Zurbriggen also made the first ascent of Tupungato with Englishman Stuart Vines.FitzGerald, Edward. The Highest Andes. Methuen & Co., 1899
The Zurbriggen Ridge on Aoraki / Mount Cook in New Zealand is named after him. On 14 March 1895, Zurbriggen made the first ascent of the ridge, the second ascent of the mountain and its first solo ascent. He missed the honour of claiming the first ascent of Mount Cook, which was achieved a few months earlier, on Christmas Day 1894 by a party of New Zealanders who were determined to prevent the first ascent being credited to a foreigner.
Personal life
Later in life, his fortune declined. He lived his last decade as a vagrant in his home country, and was found hanged in Geneva in 1917, an apparent suicide.{{cite journal |last=Stettler |first=Peter |title=Matthias Zurbriggen 1856–1917 |journal=Les Alpes |date=January 2004 |pages=26–28 |url = http://alpen.sac-cas.ch/html_f/archiv/2004/200401/af_2004_01_08.pdf |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110523130207/http://alpen.sac-cas.ch/html_f/archiv/2004/200401/af_2004_01_08.pdf|archivedate = 23 May 2011}}
References
{{Commons category|Matthias Zurbriggen}}
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Category:Swiss mountain climbers
Category:Suicides by hanging in Switzerland
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