High Life
Driving out dragons
Gstaad
‘Goblins and devils have long vanished from the Alps, and so many years have passed without any well-authenticated account of a discovery of a dragon that dragons too may be considered to have migrated.’ So the Alpine Club was informed in May 1877 by Mr Henry Gotch, the secre-tary, and the news set off great celebrations among sporty but superstitious Englishmen. The golden age of mountaineering, as it was then known, began in 1854 and ended with a bang around 1865, the year five Englishmen fell to their death climbing the Matterhorn. Among the dead was Lord Francis Douglas, whose older brother went after Oscar Wilde some 30 years later. A little known fact is that when the bodies were found, mostly shredded and unrecognisable after a fall of more than 4,000 feet, and brought down for burial, a young man by the name of Carson was in Zermatt following the gruesome proceedings. Carson was the QC the ghastly Queensberry chose to defend him against the playwright’s suicidal libel suit. Even more amazing was the presence of Alfred Wills, later Sir Alfred, the man who presided over the trial and the first to conquer the Wetterhorn in 1854. Today, any shyster lawyer would have got Oscar off on conflict of interest, mountain climbing, but those were more innocent days.
Many strange things happen in the mountains, and 20 minutes from where I live in Gstaad is the village of Diablerets, named after the devils inhabiting the surrounding gorges. Although the Alps today are the playground of the rich and ugly, only 200 years ago they were a wilderness of fear and superstition. Just above the pastures of Switzerland, it was believed dragons and ghosts existed, inhabiting the glaciers and snowy peaks. No one in their right mind thought of going up and disturbing the devils, and many a naughty child was warned that a dragon would snatch it away if it didn’t behave.
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Herbert Thornton
September 4th, 2008 4:54pmSince I know little of Swiss winter sports and hold Taki in considerable awe, I feel that by asking this I may be putting myself beyond the pale, or at least committing a faux pas - but is "using skins in winter" an activity that I am ignorant of, or is it merely a spelling mistake? Or is it perhaps a Taki-style double entendre?
Colonial
September 8th, 2008 1:46pmGood question! Although I've skied I've never heard it - but do have an excuse, being from the bush. Where we do skin things.
Perhaps he skins the really gross visitors?
David Short
September 8th, 2008 11:17pmNo it's that lack of sub-editors at The Spectator again.
The stand-first for the top article has a simple error in conjugation.
It's the new top management, cutting costs and lowering quality.
Ryan Dallas
September 10th, 2008 8:10pmYour reference to a QC name of Carson reminds me of a squib.
Edward Carson had a cat
That sat upon the fender
And every time it caught a rat
It shouted "No surrender!"
yes one and the same Carson