The Matterhorn is the quintessential mountain. Its appearance fits everyone’s impression of how a mountain appears. Ask a child to draw a mountain and it will inevitably be shaped as a steep rectangular pyramid.
While the Matterhorn is far from being the highest mountain in the world and is not even the highest mountain in Europe nor in the Alps, its isolated position and four towering rock faces emphasizes its form, making it one of the most alluring mountains for climbers to scale. It is not risk free and sadly, over 500 people have died trying.