Horace Walker (1838–1908) was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses.

Horace Walker (sitting, 3rd from left), Lucy Walker (standing, 3rd from left), A. W. Moore (sitting, 2nd from right) and Melchior Anderegg (standing, far right)

Alpinism

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Born in 1838, Walker was the son of Liverpool lead merchant and mountaineer Francis Walker (1808–1872) and brother of Lucy Walker (1836–1916), the first woman to climb the Matterhorn.[1]

Walker was President of the Alpine Club in 1891-1893.

Commemoration

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The Horace Walker glacier and Horace Walker hut in the Southern Alps of New Zealand are named after him.

In commemoration of his first ascent of the Grandes Jorasses on 30 June 1868, Walker gives his name to Pointe Walker (4,208 m), the highest summit of the mountain; this lends its name to the Walker Spur, the most well-known buttress on the north face and one of the great north faces of the Alps.

First ascents

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The Grandes Jorasses. Pointe Walker is the highest summit, at the top of the Walker Spur (the first major buttress from the left)

References

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