by Lauener, Tyndall reached alone the summit: "A world of clouds and mountains lay beneath me. Switzerland, with its pomp of summits, was clear and grand; Italy was also grand, but more than half obscured. Dark cumulus and dark crag vied in savagery, while at other places white snows and white clouds held equal rivalry. The scooped valleys of Monte Rosa itself were magnificent, all gleaming in the bright sunlight — tossed and torn at intervals, and sending from their rents and walls the magical blue of the ice." Among mountain guides, the eastern wall had the reputation of being unconquerable. Ferdinand Imseng was convinced that the long snow couloir in the middle of the face could be ascended. He succeeded in convincing other climbers and, on 22 July 1872, Richard Pendlebury, William and Charles Taylor, Ferdinand Imseng, Gabriel Spechtenhauser and Giovanni Oberto began the ascent from Macugnaga. They were aware of the objective dangers of the wall but they decided to go as high as possible, without compromising their lives. After a bivouac on the actual Marinelli hut emplacement, they headed towards the Grenzsattel. Suddenly, when they arrived near the Grenzsattel, an avalanche started and rivers of snow began to flow everywhere around the climbers. They were able to reach the safe rocks of the Grenzgipfel just in time to save their lives. They finally reached the summit and descended to Riffelalp on the other side, concluding an 18-hour journey. This ascent made Ferdinand Imseng a famous mountain guide. He lost his life in 1881 on the east wall during the third ascent with Damiano Marinelli and guide Battista Pedranzini. On 8 August, they were caught by an avalanche and brought 1,200 metres down. The accident was reported by a porter who survived. The couloir was then named Canalone Marinelli. Other ascents In 1889 Achille Ratti, who became later Pope Pius XI, made the first traverse from Macugnaga to Zermatt by the Zumsteinjoch. After climbing the Dufourspitze, he spent the night on the summit with his companions. Visiting Zermatt in 1894, the young Winston Churchill insisted on an ascent of Monte Rosa rather than of the Matterhorn, not only because of its superior height but also because the guides' fee was substantially less. More recently, on August 1 (which happens to be the Swiss National Day), 2005, the Swiss Minister of Treasure Joseph Deiss climbed the Dufourspitze. The expedition