Mountaineering Since 1854

It was not till the 19th century that people started climbed for pleasure. The ascent of the Wetterhorn, Switzerland, by Sir Alfred Wills and his party in 1854 is believed to be the birth of mountaineering as a sport.

But the first to engage in mountaineering activities, long before the Brits, were Italian and Swiss mountain guides. They were usually employed by scientists (like geologists, botanists, cartographers) to guide them on unfamiliar mountain paths.