http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaineering#History wrote:
- History of Mountaineering
. Though it is unknown whether his intention was to reach a summit, "
Ötzi the Iceman" ascended at least 3,000 metres in the Alps about 5,300 years ago. His remains were found at that altitude, preserved in a glacier.
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The first recorded mountain ascent in the Common Era is Roman Emperor Hadrian's ascent of Etna (3,350 m) to see the sun rise in 121.
. Peter III of Aragon climbed Canigou in the Pyrenees in the last quarter of the 13th century.
. The first ascent of the Popocatépetl (5,426 m in Mexico) was reported in 1289 by members of a local tribe.
. The Italian poet Petrarch wrote that on April 26, 1336 he, together with his brother and two servants, climbed to the top of Mont Ventoux (1,909 m).
. The Rocciamelone (3,538 m) in the Italian Alps was climbed in 1358.
. In the late 15th/early 16th centuries, ascents were made of numerous high peaks in the Andes, for religious purposes by citizens of the Inca Empire and their subjects. They constructed platforms, houses & altars on many summits and carried out sacrifices, including human sacrifices. The highest peak they are known for certain to have climbed is Llullaillaco (6,739 m). They may also have ascended the highest peak in the Andes, Aconcagua (6,962 m) as a sacrifice victim has been found at over 5,000 m on this peak.
. In 1492 the ascent of Mont Aiguille was made by order of Charles VIII of France. The Humanists of the 16th century adopted a new attitude towards mountains, but the disturbed state of Europe nipped in the bud the nascent mountaineering of the Zurich school.
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Leonardo da Vinci climbed to a snow-field in the neighborhood of Monte Rosa and made scientific observations.
. In 1642 Darby Field made the first recorded ascent of Mount Washington, then known as Agiocochook, in New Hampshire.
. Richard Pococke and William Windham's historic visit to Chamonix was made in 1741, and set the trend for visiting glaciers.
. The first attempt to ascend Mont Blanc was made in 1775 by a party of natives. In 1786 Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat gained the summit for the first time. Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, the initiator of the first ascent followed next year.
. The Grossglockner was climbed in 1800, the Ortler in 1804, the Jungfrau in 1811, the Finsteraarhorn in 1812, and the Breithorn in 1813. Thereafter, tourists showed a tendency to climb, and the body of Alpine guides began to come into existence as a consequence.
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The British scientist, Sir John Herschel, makes an ascent in 1824 where on July 23 he carries out a barometric determination of the height of Mount Etna.
. Aconcagua (22,831 feet), the highest peak of the Andes was first climbed in 1897 and the Grand Teton (13,747 feet)in North America's Rocky Mountains was ascended in 1898.
. The Italian Duke of the Abruzzi in 1897 made the first ascent on Mount Saint Elias (18,009 feet) which stands at the boundary of Alaska and Canada and in 1906 successfully climbed Margherita in the Ruwenzori group (16,795 feet) in East Africa. In 1913, an American, Hudson Stuck ascended Mount McKinley (20,320 feet) in Alaska, the highest peak in North America.
. The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857, and was soon imitated in most European countries. Edward Whymper's ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marked the close of the main period of Alpine conquest, the Golden age of alpinism, during which the craft of climbing was invented and "perfected", the body of professional guides formed and their traditions fixed.
. The Edelweiss Club Salzburg was founded in Salzburg in 1881, and had 3 members make the first ascent on two Eight-thousanders, Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960).>>