Editing Mountaineering (section)

===The Enlightenment and the Golden Age of Alpinism===
[[File:Edward_Whymper Calkin.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Edward Whymper]] (1840–1911), painting by [[Lance Calkin]]]]
The [[Age of Enlightenment]] and the [[Romanticism|Romantic era]] marked a change of attitudes towards high mountains. In 1757 Swiss scientist [[Horace-Bénédict de Saussure]] made the first of several unsuccessful attempts on [[Mont Blanc]] in France. He then offered a reward to anyone who could climb the mountain, which was claimed in 1786 by [[Jacques Balmat]] and [[Michel-Gabriel Paccard]]. The climb is usually considered an epochal event in the history of mountaineering, a symbolic mark of the birth of the sport.<ref name="SeifertWolf2016" /><ref name="Hansen2013" />

By the early 19th century, many of the [[Alps|alpine peaks]] were reached, including the [[Grossglockner]] in 1800, the [[Ortler]] in 1804, the [[Jungfrau]] in 1811, the [[Finsteraarhorn]] in 1812, and the [[Breithorn]] in 1813.<ref name="SeifertWolf2016" /> In 1808, [[Marie Paradis]] became the first woman to climb Mont Blanc, followed in 1838 by [[Henriette d'Angeville]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Rebecca A. |url=https://archive.org/details/womenonhighpione00brow |title=Women on High: Pioneers of Mountaineering |publisher=Appalachian Mountain Club Books |year=2002 |isbn=1-929173-13-X |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The beginning of mountaineering as a sport in the UK is generally dated to the ascent of the [[Wetterhorn]] in 1854 by English mountaineer Sir [[Alfred Wills]], who made mountaineering fashionable in Britain. This inaugurated what became known as the [[Golden Age of Alpinism]], with the first mountaineering club – the [[Alpine Club (UK)|Alpine Club]] – being founded in 1857.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kara Rogers |date=July 14, 2010 |title=The Matterhorn: Edward Whymper and the Golden Age of Mountaineering |website=Encyclopædia Britannica BLOG |url=https://www.britannica.com/blogs/2010/7/the-matterhorn-edward-whymper-and-the-golden-age-of-mountaineering |access-date=2 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718173805/http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2010/7/the-matterhorn-edward-whymper-and-the-golden-age-of-mountaineering/ |archive-date=18 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.v-publishing.co.uk/books/climbing/1865-the-golden-age-of-mountaineering/|title=1865: the Golden Age of Mountaineering|website=Vertebrate Publishing|access-date=12 May 2020}}</ref>

One of the most dramatic events was the spectacular [[first ascent of the Matterhorn]] in 1865 by a party led by English illustrator [[Edward Whymper]], in which four of the party members fell to their deaths. By this point the sport of mountaineering had largely reached its modern form, with a large body of professional guides, equipment, and methodologies.<ref name="Hansen2013" />
[[File:Leontopodium alpinum 1.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Edelweiss]], a plant associated with mountain sports]]
In the early years of the "[[golden age]]", scientific pursuits were intermixed with the sport, such as by the physicist [[John Tyndall]]. In the later years, it shifted to a more competitive orientation as pure sportsmen came to dominate the London-based Alpine Club and alpine mountaineering overall.<ref>Claire Eliane Engel (1950), ''A History of Mountaineering in the Alps'', chapter VII.</ref> The first president of the Alpine Club, [[John Ball (naturalist)|John Ball]], is considered to be the discoverer of the [[Dolomites]], which for decades were the focus of climbers like [[Paul Grohmann]] and [[Angelo Dibona]].<ref>[https://www.dolomythos.com/de/lexikon/besteigung-berge.asp Die Besteigung der Berge – Die Dolomitgipfel werden erobert (German: The ascent of the mountains – the dolomite peaks are conquered)]</ref> At that time, the [[edelweiss]] also established itself as a symbol of alpinists and mountaineers.<ref>[https://www.oegg.or.at/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/BLBL_JUNI-2016.pdf Edelweiß, die Symbolpflanze der Alpen (German: Edelweiss, the symbolic plant of the Alps)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416041611/https://www.oegg.or.at/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/BLBL_JUNI-2016.pdf |date=16 April 2021 }}</ref><ref>Hermann Hinterstoisser: Das Edelweiß – Alpenblume mit Symbolkraft. In: Truppendienst, 2012, Nr. 5/329. [https://www.bundesheer.at/truppendienst/ausgaben/artikel.php?id=1438 Das Edelweiß]</ref>