[3][4] He began mountaineering as a teenager, climbing the Reisseck in Austria in a round trip of 26 hours with his brother, Otto Zsigmondy.

[3] Emil Zsigmondy was the friend and companion of Ludwig Purtscheller, the great pioneer of guideless Alpine climbing.

[4] Emil and Otto climbed with Purtscheller in 1882 and 1884, including an ascent without guides of the Marinelli Couloir on Monte Rosa[3] and the first guideless traverse of the Matterhorn.

[2][6] The face was only conquered in 1912 by the South Tyrolese climbers Angelo Dibona and Luigi Rizzi with the brothers Guido and Max Mayer.

[2][4] Emil Zsigmondy's grave is a few miles away from the accident site in the small cemetery of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans in the Dauphiné Alps.