Inspired by Hacquet's book and the first ascent of the Mont Blanc in 1786, the Gurk prince-bishop Count Franz Xaver of Salm (1749-1822) together with his vicar general Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745-1825) and Baron Franz Xaver von Wulfen (1728-1805) started efforts for a Grossglockner expedition. They engaged two peasants from Heiligenblut as mountain guides to do the first explorations for an ascent through the Leitertal valley, which is the side of Grossglockner with the least ice (people feared glaciers in these times). These valiant men, called Glockners in the records, did more than they were ordered to do - and probably reached the Kleinglockner summit on 23 July 1799.