Growing up in Zermatt, he absorbed the family history and sensed from an early age the pride and anguish of his ancestors over the tragic first ascent; the anguish over the tragedy on the descent was a burden passed among generations. There was a sense of injustice, shared more broadly in the community, that the Taugwalders’ version of events were overlooked. But no one was too eager to speak out, either, for fear of upsetting the fledgling tourist industry the historic climb unleashed.

As a child, he sold commemorative pins during previous celebrations of the climb that indelibly branded an iconic mountain, a village and their family name. He didn’t know how to respond when a journalist with Swiss public radio, SRF, once asked him what he thought about it. Now, he has far more to say. “The public only knows the Whymper version of the story, which is kind of the official version of the first ascent of the Matterhorn,” says Taugwalder, referring to Whymper’s popular accounts of the climb in books like Scrambles Amongst the Alps and his remarks to the English press, which conflicted and grew over time. “And I ask myself if really my ancestors didn’t have the chance to tell their story.”

Peter Taugwalder Jnr., left, and Peter Taugwalder Snr., right with clients before climbing the Mont Blanc in 1866

It’s long been established that the most inexperienced climber, Douglas Hadow, slipped and fell, pulling the Reverend Charles Hudson and Lord Francis Douglas, and Chamonix guide Michel Croz, the last man on the rope, to their deaths. To this day no one has found Douglas’ body. What’s less clear is exactly how the thin climbing cord made of manila snapped between Douglas and his guide, Taugwalder Snr., who managed to brace himself using a bit of the rope and the rock.

But even the thicker rope would have broken, according to the latest tests. Above him was Whymper, tied between the Taugwalders; the younger Taugwalder was at the top of the rope. “They saved Whymper’s life,” said Matthias. A cousin, Josef Taugwalder, 50, and his son, David, 23, are also helping to resurrect the past. Roughly the same ages as the father-son guides were on the first ascent, they are playing their famous ancestors in an open air theatre production this summer in Zermatt.

Though his versions of the events kept changing, Whymper was the lone English-speaker among the survivors. The Taugwalders’ accounts in German have remained obscured even to this day. The accident shattered lives and reputations.