Cervino 1901
On September 28th, 1903, the Urban Mountaineering Expedition, headed by Frank Ormiston-Smith, left Zermatt to attempt the conquest of the Matterhorn. On the 29th, the conquest was completed by the filming of the panorama from the actual summit of the mountain. The film consists of 20 scenes and illustrates the whole ascent from Zermatt through the Hornli Ridge. A copy of the film was found in Zermatt in 1953 and was was erroneously attributed to Frederick Burlingham and dated 1901. Since then, the film has been widely publicized as the first mountain film under the title of 'Cervin 1901', but this is incorrect. Ormiston previously had made 'Alpine series' (1901), 'The ascent of Mont Blanc' (1902), 'Climbing the Great Schreckhorn' (1902) and 'Ascent of the Jungfrau' (1903). The pictures and descriptions of the Charles Urban Trading 1903 film catalogue show without any doubt that 'Ascent of the Matterhorn' and 'Cervin 1901' are the same film.
Piccoli Alpini
The film is a kind of docu-fiction about a boy who enrolls in a battalion of young mountain troops. The film follows his daily life in the military school and pays special attention to maneuvers and training exercises in the mountain, which include mountaineering and rock climbing lessons. The film, by Giovanni Vernuccio, was produced in 1942 by the Instituto Nazionale Luce at the end of the Italian Fascist regime, and was made with the collaboration of the 36th group of Alpine battalions 'Fabio Filzi' of the federal command GIL of Turin during the preparatory course for the festive camp of Balme.
The Ascent of the Matterhorn
Documentary featuring the ascent of the Matterhorn (Cervino) completed in 1911 by Mario Piacenza along the guides of Valtournenche Joseph Gaspard and Joseph Carrel . The ascent was filmed by Piacenza from the Italian side, by the Lion Ridge. In the film, a party of four climbers ascend from Cervinia to the Colle del Leone. From there they start the real rock climbing. The team ascend the chimney using a fixed rope with knots to reach the Luigi di Savoia Hut at 3830 meters and later, the snow covered Tyndall Peak. Finally the team arrive to the Italian summit and two men cross to the Swiss side. The film ends with a panoramic of the Matterhorn from Zermatt, suggesting the descent down the Swiss face.
Gemmi Pass and Oeschinen Lake
Tourists leaving the Bear Hotel, Kandersteg, to cross the Gemmi. Many ladies of the party are seen mounting the hardy ponies at the hotel front, and, as some of the ponies are frisky, this portion of the picture is a brisk one. Then we have a line portrayal of a crowd of lady climbers leaving on foot with alpenstocks, and oxen with luncheon baskets make up the rear portion of this interesting cavalcade. The party, crossing a rustic bridge that spans a mountain torrent, ate next seen negotiating the pass - ladies, men, and ponies all clambering over and amongst the huge boulders- on the journey to Oeschinen lake, and their arrival there is excellently rendered. Dismounting and entering boats and rowing in successive boat loads out on the azure waters of the Oeschinen, the picture here secured is as charming as anything that has ever been secured by the cinematographer. The return of the party and the landing brings to an appropriate conclusion...