Geoffrey Winthrop Young

Geoffrey Winthrop Young D.Litt. (1876 – 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering. Young 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 running. While there, Young wrote a humorous college climbing guide called The Roof Climbers Guide to Trinity, in part a parody of earl... more

Geoffrey Winthrop Young D.Litt. (1876 – 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering. Young 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 running. While there, Young wrote a humorous college climbing guide called The Roof Climbers Guide to Trinity, in part a parody of early alpine guidebooks. During the Edwardian Period, and up until the outbreak of hostilities heralding World War I, Young made several new and difficult ascents in the Alps, including noted routes on the Zermatt Breithorn (the "Younggrat"), the west ridge of the Gspaltenhorn, on the west face of the Weisshorn, and a dangerous and rarely repeated route on the south face of the Täschhorn. His finest rock climb was the Mer de Glace face of the Aiguille du Grépon. In 1911, with H. O. Jones, he ascended the Brouillard ridge of Mont Blanc and made the... less