Exploration of the High Alps

While an attempt in 1689 to "re-open" the Col du Géant by Philibert-Amédée Arnod, an official from the duchy of Aosta, may be counted as having been made by a non-native, historical records do not show any further such activities until the last quarter of the 18th century.

The first people who systematically explored the regions of ice and snow were Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740–1799),[2] in the Pennine Alps, and the Benedictine monk of Disentis, Placidus a Spescha (1752–1833), in the valleys at the sources of the Rhine.

Their pioneering work was extended by several Swiss adventurers, including Gottlieb Samuel Studer (1804–1890) of Bern and Edouard Desor (1811–1882) of Neuchâtel.

The first-known English climber in the Alps was Colonel Mark Beaufoy (1764–1827), who made the fourth ascent of Mont Blanc in 1787.

Around Monte Rosa, the Vincent family, Josef Zumstein (1783–1861), and Giovanni Gnifetti (1801–1867) did good work during the half century between 1778 and 1842, while in the Eastern Alps archduke John (1782–1850), Friedrich Prince zu Schwarzenberg (1809–1885), Valentine Stanig (1774–1847), Adolf Schaubach (1800–1850) and P.J.