Johann Coaz

Johann Wilhelm Fortunat Coaz (31 May 1822 – 18 August 1918) was a Swiss forester, topographer and mountaineer from Graubünden.

In 1850 he made the first ascent of Piz Bernina, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps.

[3][4] Coaz was scientifically active in the areas of forest botany, topography, meteorology, and glacier and avalanche research.

[4] His most significant and celebrated first ascent was of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 m the highest summit in the Eastern Alps, together with two assistants, brothers Jon and Lorenz Ragut Tscharner on 13 September 1850.

[9] Coaz later wrote in his diary: At 6 pm we stood on the ardently desired lofty peak on soil that no human had trod upon before, on the highest point of the canton at 4052 meters [sic] above sea level.