- Alyssa Alps
Alyssa Alps (born December 6, 1969 in Rock Island, Illinois) is an American stripper and nude model, known for her surgically enlarged breasts. Alps began modelling in the 1980s, but rose to popularity due to her appearances in "Score" magazine, a publication dedicated to large-breasted women. Alps, who spent much of the 1990s touring North America as a popular exotic dancer, wrote a monthly column for "Score" for several years, detailing life on the road. - Henry The Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180. He was one the most powerful of the German princes of his time, … - Johanna Spyri
Johanna Spyri (June 12, 1827 - July 7, 1901) was an author of children's stories, and is best known for "Heidi". Born Johanna Louise Heusser in the rural area of Hirzel, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers in the area around Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels - Rosie Thomas
Rosie Thomas is a writer, currently living in London. Her numerous novels, several of them top ten bestsellers, deal with the common themes of love and loss. She is a keen traveller and mountaineer who has climbed in both the Alps and the Himalayas. She has also competed in the Peking to Paris car rally and spent time at a Bulgarian research station in Antarctica. - Thomas Dekker
Thomas Dekker (born 6 September 1984 in Dirkshorn, Noord-Holland) is a Dutch professional cyclist. It has been said that he is one of the most talented riders of his generation. His specialism is the individual time trial, but he is also a strong climber. He is a member of the Rabobank cycling team, having been a professional cyclist since 2005. In his relatively short career Dekker has already won two events on the UCI ProTour. - Eric Shipton
Eric Shipton (1 August 1907 - 28 March 1977) was an English Himalayan mountaineering legend. Born in Ceylon and educated in England, Shipton began climbing in the Alps. In 1928 he went to Kenya as a coffee grower, and first climbed Nelion, a peak of Mount Kenya in 1929. It was also in Kenya's community of Europeans that he met his future climbing partners Bill Tilman and Percy Wyn-Harris. Together with Wyn-Harris he climbed the twin peaks of Mount Kenya. - Walter Bonatti
Walter Bonatti (born June 22, 1930) is an Italian born climber who set new standards in post-war Alpine climbing. Bonatti was born in Bergamo, Lombardy. Famed for his climbing panache, he pioneered little known and technically difficult climbs in the Alps, Himalaya and Patagonia. Among his notable climbs include a solo climb of a new route on the south-west pillar of the Aiguille du Dru in August 1955. - John Gibson
John Gibson, (June 19 1790 - January 27 1866), British sculptor, was born near Conway in 1790, his father being a market gardener. To his mother, whom he described as ruling his father and all the family, he owed, like many other great men, the energy and determination which carried him over every obstacle. When he was nine years old the family were on the point of emigrating to America, but Mrs Gibson's determination stopped this project on their arrival at Liverpool, … - Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith (born March 30, 1926) is, among other things, an explorer, author and former "Tomorrow's World" television presenter. He is perhaps best known for his bestselling work "The Body" (originally published in 1968 and later renamed "The Human Body"), which has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide and tied in with a BBC television series, known in America by the name "Intimate Universe: The Human Body". - Mick Fowler
Mick Fowler (b. 1956 in London) is a British mountaineer. He was awarded the Piolet d'Or and Golden Piton with Paul Ramsden for their 2002 ascent of Siguniang (6250m), was voted "the Mountaineer's Mountaineer" in a poll in the Observer, and has been described by Chris Bonington as "the most successful innovative mountaineer of the last twenty years". - Giovanni Segantini
Giovanni Segantini (January 15, 1858 - September 28, 1899) was an Italian painter. - Aistulf
Aistulf (749 - d.756) was the duke of Friuli from 744, king of Lombards from 749, and duke of Spoleto from 751. His father was the Duke Pemmo. After his brother Ratchis became king, Aistulf succeeded him in Friuli. He succeeded him later as king when Ratchis abdicated to a monastery. Aistulf continued the policy of expansion and raids against the papacy and the Byzantine exarchate of Ravenna. In 751, he captured Ravenna itself and even threatened Rome, … - George Band
George Band (born 1929) is a British mountaineer. Having started climbing in the Alps while a student at Queens' College, Cambridge, he was the youngest person on the 1953 Everest expedition. Two years later, in 1955, he and Joe Brown became the first climbers to ascend Kangchenjunga. Out of respect for the religious feelings of the people of Nepal and Sikkim, they stopped about ten feet below the actual summit. - Joe Tasker
Joe Tasker (May 12, 1948, Hull - May 17, 1982) was one of the most talented British climbers during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Born into a traditional Roman Catholic family, he was one of ten children and spent his early childhood in Port Clarence, Middlesbrough then attended Ushaw Seminary, County Durham between the ages of 13 and 20, in training to become a Jesuit priest. - Eduard Suess
Eduard Suess (August 20, 1831 - April 26, 1914) was a geologist who was an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for discovering two of the Earth's major now-lost geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed 1861) and the Tethys Ocean. Born in London to a Saxon merchant, when he was three his family relocated to Prague, then to Vienna when he was 14. Interested in geology at a young age, … - Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck (born 6 March 1889 in Frankenthal, Germany; died 28 September 1974 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) was a pioneer of the German mountain film. Together with Odo Deodatus Tauern, Bernhard Villinger and Rolf Bauer, Fanck established the company "Berg- und Sportfilm GmbH Freiburg" in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1920. Fanck, who held a PhD in geology, directed mountain films, sports films and ski films. - Albert Heim
Albert Heim was a Swiss geologist. Born at Zürich, he was educated at Zürich and Berlin universities. Very early in life he became interested in the physical features of the Alps, and at the age of sixteen he made a model of the Tödi group. This came under the notice of Arnold Escher von der Linth, to whom Heim was indebted for much encouragement and geological instruction in the field. In 1873 he became professor of geology in the polytechnic school at Zürich, … - Bernard Of Menthon
Saint Bernard of Menthon, Born in 923, probably in the Château de Menthon near Annecy, in Savoy; died at Novara, 1008. He was descended from a rich, noble family and received a thorough education. He refused an honorable marriage proposed by his father and decided to devote himself to the service of the Church. Sneaking away from the chateau the day before the wedding, he fled to Italy and joined the Benedictine order. - Narses
Narses (also sometimes written Nerses) (478-573) was with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I during the so-called "Reconquest" that took place during Justinian's reign. Narses was a Romanized Armenian from the noble Kamsarakan family, which claimed descent from the royal Arsacid dynasty. He spent most of his life as a relatively unimportant eunuch in the palace of the emperors in Constantinople. - Tom Patey
Tom Patey (20 February 1932 - 25 May 1970) was a Scottish climber, mountaineer and writer. Although he was a leading Scottish climber of his day, particularly excelling on winter routes, he his probably best known for his humorous writings about climbing, many of which were published posthumously in the collection "One Man's Mountains". He was born in Scotland and educated in Aberdeen at Ellon Academy and Robert Gordon's College. - Peter Boardman
Peter Boardman (b.December 25,1950 - d.May 17, 1982) was a British climber, Everest summiteer, and author of several mountaineering books. Born in Stockport, England, he began climbing in his teens, and at the age of 16 made his first visit to the Alps. He quickly became a proficient Alpine climber, and made the first British ascents of the North Face Direct of the Olan, the North Face of the Nesthorn and the North Face Direct of the Lauterbrunnen Breithorn. - Anton Melik
Anton Melik was a Slovene geographer. Melik was born in a village Črna vas ("Black Village"), south of Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary, (today Slovenia). Before and during World War I, he studied at the University of Vienna, graduating in 1916 in history and geography. Later on he was employed as a gymnasium professor. In 1926/1927 he became a senior university teacher at the Philosophical Faculty (PF) in Ljubljana, in 1932 a senior lecturer, and soon after in 1938 a professor. - Geoffrey Winthrop Young
Geoffrey Winthrop Young D.Litt. (1876 – 1958) was an English climber and author of several notable books on mountaineering. He was also a poet of some distinction and an educator that sought alternatives. He began rock climbing shortly before his first term at Trinity College, Cambridge where he studied Classics and won the "Chancellor's Medal for English Verse" two years in a row. - Alison Hargreaves
Alison Hargreaves (February 17, 1963 - August 13, 1995) was a British female mountain climber who was considered by some in the early 1990s to be one of the best in the world. Her accomplishments included being the first woman to scale Mount Everest unassisted in 1995, and soloing all the great north faces of the Alps in a single season-a first for any climber. This feat included climbing the famously difficult north face of the Eiger in the Alps. - Charles Hudson
Charles Hudson was an Anglican chaplain and mountain climber from Skillington, Lincolnshire. Hudson was one of the most important climbers of the golden age of alpinism. An immensely strong walker, he is considered a pioneer of guideless and winter climbing in the western Alps, having made the first guideless ascent of Mont Blanc in 1855, the first official ascent of Mont Blanc du Tacul with Edward John Stevenson, Christopher and James Grenville Smith, E. S. Kennedy, … - Hanna Reitsch
Hanna Reitsch was a famous German test pilot. Reitsch was born in Hirschberg, Silesia. She was the daughter of an ophthalmologist and was in training to become a medical doctor in 1932 when she left that field to pursue a career as a test pilot. In the 1930s she became famous, setting many glider, aerobatic and endurance records, being the first woman to cross the Alps in a glider. Several of her gliding records stand to this day. - Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker, a British mountaineer, was the first woman to climb the Matterhorn. Ms. Walker began her climbing rather modestly in 1858 when she was advised by her doctor to take up walking as a cure for rheumatism. Accompanied by her father Frank Walker and her brother Horace Walker, both of whom were early members of the Alpine Club, and Oberland guide Melchior Anderegg, she became the first woman to regularly climb the Alps. - Melchior Anderegg
Melchior Anderegg was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden age of alpinism. His clients were mostly British, the most famous of whom was Leslie Stephen, the writer, critic and mountaineer. First ascents by Melchior Anderegg: *Wildstrubel, 3,243 m (Bernese Alps), 11 September 1858 *Rimpfischhorn, 4,199 m (Pennine Alps), 9 September 1859 *Alphubel, 4,206 m (Pennine Alps), … - Slavko Avsenik
Slavko Avsenik (b. 1929) is a Slovenian composer and musician. Slavko Avsenik was born on November 26 1929 in Begunje near Bled, Slovenia. His career accomplishments place him at the worldwide pinnacle of success among ethnic popular musicians. Over forty years, the Avsenik Ensamble's original "Oberkrainer" sound became the primary vehicle of ethnic musical expression for Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Benelux countries, … - Sibylle Baier
Sibylle Baier is a German folk singer and actress whose musical abilities achieved belated recognition with the 2006 release of the album "Colour Green", compiled from songs she had recorded in the early 1970s. Having played guitar and piano as a young girl, she was moved to write her first song, "Remember The Day", after taking a road trip with a friend across the Alps to Genoa, via Strasbourg. She appeared in Wim Wenders' 1973 film "Alice in the Cities", … - John Salathe
John Salathe (1900-1993) was a pioneering rock climber and the inventor of the modern piton. Salathe was born in Switzerland and emigrated to the United States. He had been a blacksmith before a mid-life spiritual conversion led him to devote his life to ascetic meditation and rock climbing. When he began climbing in 1945, he found that traditional pitons used for climbing in the Alps were too soft to be driven into narrow cracks without buckling. - Maria Schell
Maria Schell (born January 15, 1926 in Vienna; died April 26, 2005 in Preitenegg, Carinthia) was an Austrian actress. Born Margarete Schell to a Swiss author and an Austrian actress, she was the older sister of actor Maximilian Schell, and lesser-known actors Carl Schell, and Immy (Immaculata) Schell. She starred in such films as "The Heart of the Matter" (1953), "Gervaise" (1956), "Le Notti Bianche" (1957), … - Germain Sommeiller
Germain Sommeiller was an italian civil engineer. He directed the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel between Italy and France, also known as the Mont Cenis Tunnel. This was the first of a series of major tunnels built in the late 19th century to connect northern and southern Europe through the Alps. Sommeiller pioneered the use of pneumatic drilling and dynamite to achieve record-breaking excavation speeds. This 12.8-km tunnel was completed on December 26, 1870, … - Fritz Wintersteller
Fritz Wintersteller (born October 21 1927) is an Austrian mountaineer who made the first ascent of Broad Peak together with Hermann Buhl, Kurt Diemberger and Marcus Schmuck (Expedition Leader) in 1957. Although never a professional climber he climbed nearly every 4000m-mountain in the Alps, including first ascents of Hochkogel (north face), Wiesspitze, and the 7.420 m high Skil Brum on June 19, 1957. - J. Norman Collie
John Norman Collie, commonly referred to as J. Norman Collie, was a highly respected British scientist, mountaineer and explorer. He is best remembered in Scotland for his pioneering climbs on the Cuillin in the Isle of Skye, but he also climbed in the Alps with William Cecil Slingsby and Albert F. Mummery. In 1895, Collie, Mummery and fellow climber Geoffrey Hastings headed off for the Himalaya for the world's first attempt at a Himalayan 8000 metre peak, … - Fritz Wiessner
Fritz Wiessner (1900-1988) was a pioneer of free climbing. Born in Dresden, Germany, he emigrated to New York City in 1929. He became a U.S. citizen in 1935. Wiessner started climbing with his father in the Austrian Alps before World War I. At the age of 12, he climbed the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany. In the 1920s, he established hard climbing routes in Saxony and the Dolomites that have a present-day difficulty rating of up to 5.11. - Paul Preuss
Paul Preuss was an Austrian climber who achieved recognition for his bold solo ascents and for the purity of his climbing style. Born in Altaussee, he attended Gymnasium in Vienna and, later, studied at the University of Vienna and Munich University, where he was awarded a Dr.Phil. degree in 1912. His major subject was the physiology of plants, but soon after gaining his degree he turned to empirical philosophy, … - Dennis Gray
Dennis Gray was born 1935 in Yorkshire and started climbing when he was 11, after seeing the great Arthur Dolphin in action at Cow and Calf rocks on Ilkley Moor. He then climbed with a group who called themselves the 'Bradford Lads'. When called up for National Service Dennis volunteered to work as a pay clerk and was posted to Manchester, where he was able to climb with the Rock and Ice club members on a regular basis. - Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, Duke of Montebello (April 11, 1769 - May 31, 1809), Marshal of France, was born at Lectoure, Gers. Jean Lannes was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"." - François Christophe Kellermann
François Christophe Kellermann or de Kellermann was the duke of Valmy and Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Wars. He came from a Saxon family, which was long settled in Strasbourg and ennobled. He entered the French army as a volunteer, and served in the Seven Years' War and in Louis XV's Polish expedition of 1771, on returning from which he was made a lieutenant-colonel.
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