Eleonore Noll-Hasenclever (4 August 1880 – 18 August 1925) was a German

alpinist Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

who mainly climbed in the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

. During her lifetime, she climbed more than 150 summits of 12,000 feet or above. In 1925, she died in an avalanche on her descent of the

Bishorn The Bishorn (4,151 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, Pennine Swiss Alps, Alps in Switzerland, just north of the Weisshorn. The mountain has two distinct summits, separated by a 600-metre easy-angled snow ridge. :*The west and higher summit ...

Biography

Eleonore Hasenclever was born on 4 August 1880 in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. She grew up in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

before attending an all-girls boarding school near

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

. Her interest in mountains was kindled during a school trip to

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

, and she subsequently climbed with

Alexander Burgener Alexander Burgener Alexander Burgener (10 January 1845, Saas Fee – 8 July 1910, near the Berglihütte) was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many mountains and new routes in the western Alps during the silver age of alpini ...

, a well-known mountain guide. Together, she and Burgener climbed 21 4,000-metre peaks. In 1911, Noll-Hasenclever was part of the first guideless ascent of the

Aiguille du Dru The Aiguille du Dru (also the Dru or the Drus; French, Les Drus) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is situated to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley. "Aiguille" means "needle" in French. The ...

. On 27 July of that year, she and Max Helff, Günter von Saar, Helene Wirthl, and Richard Witzenböck were the first to ascend the Tricot ridge of the Aiguille de Bionnassay. In 1919, she descended

Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...

after reaching its summit, becoming the first woman to climb its east face. In 1923, Noll-Hasenclever, , and made the first two-day climb of the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

and the

Dent d'Hérens The Dent d'Hérens (4,173 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The mountain lies a few kilometres west of the Matterhorn. Notable summits along the east ridge are Punta Bianca (3917 m), th ...

. She climbed the

eight times, as well as

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

multiple times. Noll Hasenclever

On 18 August 1925, Noll-Hasenclever, Hans Pfann, and Hermann Trier climbed the

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German language, German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major mountain, peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Mat ...

, and during their descent of the nearby Bishorn, an avalanche swept over them and carried them down to the Bies Glacier, trapping Noll-Hasenclever and Pfann. Trier attempted to dig out Noll-Hasenclever, but she died. The next day, Pfann was saved and Noll-Hasenclever's body was recovered from the snow. She was buried in

Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...

in a section of the graveyard known as the "Mountaineers' Cemetery", which mainly holds people who died climbing local peaks.

Personal life

Eleonore Hasenclever married mountaineer Johannes Noll in 1914. They owned an estate together near Frankfurt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noll-Hasenclever, Eleonore 1880 births 1925 deaths German mountain climbers German female climbers Deaths in avalanches Mountaineering deaths Sportspeople from Duisburg