Ulrich Inderbinen

Ulrich Inderbinen ( born December 3, 1900 in Zermatt, † June 14, 2004 same place ) was a Swiss mountain guide. He climbed the Matterhorn 371 times, 84 times the Mont Blanc and 81 times the Dufour Peak, the highest mountain in Switzerland.

The son of mountain farmers grew up with eight siblings. With five years he worked as a cowherd. He earned money at the age of 13 years as a shepherd, and later as a construction worker, carpenter or electrician.

In 1921, the Zermatt climbed together with his sisters for the first time the Matterhorn. In 1925 he graduated from the mountain guide school. Only in the 1960s he had thanks to the tourism boom enough work as a mountain guide. Worldwide interest Inderbinen admiration in 1990 when, as a 89 -year-old once again ascended to the summit as part of a television show for the 125th anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn.

At 80, he also began to participate in ski racing. As he drove in his age group mostly without competition, he also won the most. With 95 years he took part in the Last Mountain Guides Ski Race.

Little interest shown Inderbinen to modern imaging methods. So he still led in 1983 its tourists with the hemp rope around the belly through the glacier breaks.

He worked until his 96th year as a mountain guide. A crash forced him to quit the mountain guide career. At the age of 96 years, the devout Catholic fulfilled a lifelong dream: He traveled to Rome to receive the blessing of Pope John Paul II. In 2000 he dedicated the church Zermatt for its 100th birthday an exhibition dedicated to him at the same time a fountain was inaugurated in the historic center of Zermatt. He died in 2004 in his 104th year of life. He was at the time of his death the oldest man in the canton of Valais.