Alexander Burgener

Who was Alexander Burgener?

Alexander Burgener was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many mountains and new routes in the western Alps during the silver age of alpinism.

Together with Albert Mummery, he made the first ascent of the Zmuttgrat on the Matterhorn on 3 September 1879, and of the Grands Charmoz and the Aiguille du Grépon in the Mont Blanc Massif. With another British alpinist, Clinton Thomas Dent, he made the first ascent of the Lenzspitze and the Grand Dru,

He was killed by an avalanche on 8 July 1910 near the Berglihütte in the Bernese Alps. Six other climbers died in the avalanche, including Burgener's son Adolf. Another son, Alexander, lost an eye in the incident.