The siblings who challenge the peaks
In the small Swiss resort village of Zermatt lives a sibling group unlike any other.
Three brothers, three phenomena, who have become references in the mountain world. Each with their own style and discipline, Simon, Martin, and Samuel shine on the international stage. Meet the Anthamatten brothers.
“Our parents aren’t great mountaineers, but when we were kids, they would take us—my brothers, my sister, and me—hiking in the mountains on weekends. Even if they weren’t big hikes, they made for long days,” recalls Samuel, the youngest of the Anthamatten brothers. The family walks on the trails of Zermatt are a distant memory. The memories remain, as does their love of the mountains. These mountains, which they still see from their balcony, their garden, their room.
The most distinctive of them, the Matterhorn, is no longer just part of their panorama. It’s also a chapter in the story of their lives. Long neglected by the three brothers for being too popular (about 3,000 ascents per year), the Matterhorn eventually drew them in.
Simon and Samuel opened a new route on its North Face. It now bears their name.
A few years later, Samuel skied down its East Face.
Martin, the third brother, climbed it for the first time two years ago to celebrate a festival held in honor of the famous mountain: “All three of us were on the Matterhorn at the same time, on different ropes. It’s one of my best memories with my brothers in the mountains.”
In the family, there’s the eldest, Simon, 33 years old. Intrigued by the climbers trying their hand at the cliff just behind the family home, the young boy took up the challenge of climbing rocks himself. But climbing is not a solo sport. He needed a rope partner. Samuel, the youngest at 30, remembers: “He needed someone to belay him, and in the end, I was the little brat who had to hold the rope! That’s how it started.” His journey then led him to the Ice Climbing World Cup, which he won in 2008. Then to the world’s highest peaks (El Capitan – USA, Cerro Torre, Fitzroy – Patagonia, Mount Hunter – Alaska, Bhagirathi 3 – India, Jasemba – Nepal), alone or with his brother Samuel or other renowned alpinists, like his compatriot Ueli Steck. Together, they climbed, among others, the North Face of Tengkangpoche (Nepal), an ascent that earned them the highest distinction in the discipline: a Piolet d’Or in 2009.
His first rope partner, Samuel, followed a parallel path. After also climbing icefalls around the world and winning an event at age 16, he turned to snowy slopes and freeride skiing, excelling in his first season by finishing second.
Martin (32), meanwhile, also spends most of his time in the mountains. The youngest of the group, a ski mountaineering specialist, has several world titles and a victory in the Patrouille des Glaciers, the famous Swiss race known as one of the toughest in the world. Last summer, he also won the overall ranking of the Skyrace circuit, the XXL version of trail running.
