Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Meta Brevoort
Marguerite "Meta" Claudia Brevoort (November 8, 1825 – December 19, 1876) was an American mountain climber and pioneer in alpine history, known for her many first ascents and as a trailblazer in winter mountaineering.
In the Haut Dauphiné region, the highest peak of the Grande Ruine, the 3,765-meter-high Pointe Brevoort, was named after her.
Brevoort was born on November 8, 1825 into New York high society and spent her early years at Couvent Sacré Coeur, a Paris convent school. During the summers, she accompanied her family to Switzerland, where she grew familiar with the Alps. It wasn’t until age 39 that she took up climbing.
After the death of her parents, Meta Brevoort returned to New York in 1848 and moved in with her sister. During this time, she volunteered at a hospital and helped care for her sister's children, particularly her nephew, William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge, with whom she would share a lifelong bond. After a doctor recommended mountain air for the sick boy, Brevoort traveled with William to the Bernese Oberland and Zermatt in 1865 and stayed.
She was the one who introduced Coolidge to alpine mountaineering, a passion he would pursue with great success, eventually completing over 1,700 climbs in the Alps and becoming the most prominent alpine historian of the Victorian era. For more than a decade, Brevoort and Coolidge climbed together, usually accompanied by the Grindelwald mountain guide Christian Almer, and a lot of times also by Almer’s son, Ulrich Almer.
She made a number of important ascents in the Alps in the 1860s and 1870s. She was the first human to climb Pic Central de la Meije (3973 m) in 1870. The same year she also made the first ascent on Eiger (3967 m) by the SouthEast ridge. First ascent of a woman on Silberhorn (3689 m) and the first winter ascent ever on Jungfrau (4158 m). She also was the first woman to traverse Matterhorn (4478 m) and did the first ascent of a woman on Weisshorn (4506 m), Dent Blanche (4357 m) and Bietschhorn (3934 m).
After a failed attempt to climb Eiger, Christian Almer gifted Coolidge a dog named Tschingel (1865–1879) as a consolation. Tschingel became the most famous dog in alpine history, joining Meta, Coolidge, and the Almers on several major first ascents. Including being the first dog on the highest peak in the alps, the 4,808-meter high Mont Blanc. An event that was celebrated with cannon salute by the citizen and mountain guides of Chamonix.
In 1869, while descending from Monte Rosa, Meta Brevoort’s climbing party encountered representatives of the Alpine Club near Riffelberg. They were so enthusiastic about Tschingel that they elected her an honorary member on the spot “by acclamation”. Brevoort later described Tschingel as the only female member of the Alpine Club — an honour that was denied to Brevoort, one of the most famous female alpinists of her time, because the Alpine Club only accepted men until 1974.
Hub AI
Meta Brevoort AI simulator
(@Meta Brevoort_simulator)
Meta Brevoort
Marguerite "Meta" Claudia Brevoort (November 8, 1825 – December 19, 1876) was an American mountain climber and pioneer in alpine history, known for her many first ascents and as a trailblazer in winter mountaineering.
In the Haut Dauphiné region, the highest peak of the Grande Ruine, the 3,765-meter-high Pointe Brevoort, was named after her.
Brevoort was born on November 8, 1825 into New York high society and spent her early years at Couvent Sacré Coeur, a Paris convent school. During the summers, she accompanied her family to Switzerland, where she grew familiar with the Alps. It wasn’t until age 39 that she took up climbing.
After the death of her parents, Meta Brevoort returned to New York in 1848 and moved in with her sister. During this time, she volunteered at a hospital and helped care for her sister's children, particularly her nephew, William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge, with whom she would share a lifelong bond. After a doctor recommended mountain air for the sick boy, Brevoort traveled with William to the Bernese Oberland and Zermatt in 1865 and stayed.
She was the one who introduced Coolidge to alpine mountaineering, a passion he would pursue with great success, eventually completing over 1,700 climbs in the Alps and becoming the most prominent alpine historian of the Victorian era. For more than a decade, Brevoort and Coolidge climbed together, usually accompanied by the Grindelwald mountain guide Christian Almer, and a lot of times also by Almer’s son, Ulrich Almer.
She made a number of important ascents in the Alps in the 1860s and 1870s. She was the first human to climb Pic Central de la Meije (3973 m) in 1870. The same year she also made the first ascent on Eiger (3967 m) by the SouthEast ridge. First ascent of a woman on Silberhorn (3689 m) and the first winter ascent ever on Jungfrau (4158 m). She also was the first woman to traverse Matterhorn (4478 m) and did the first ascent of a woman on Weisshorn (4506 m), Dent Blanche (4357 m) and Bietschhorn (3934 m).
After a failed attempt to climb Eiger, Christian Almer gifted Coolidge a dog named Tschingel (1865–1879) as a consolation. Tschingel became the most famous dog in alpine history, joining Meta, Coolidge, and the Almers on several major first ascents. Including being the first dog on the highest peak in the alps, the 4,808-meter high Mont Blanc. An event that was celebrated with cannon salute by the citizen and mountain guides of Chamonix.
In 1869, while descending from Monte Rosa, Meta Brevoort’s climbing party encountered representatives of the Alpine Club near Riffelberg. They were so enthusiastic about Tschingel that they elected her an honorary member on the spot “by acclamation”. Brevoort later described Tschingel as the only female member of the Alpine Club — an honour that was denied to Brevoort, one of the most famous female alpinists of her time, because the Alpine Club only accepted men until 1974.