American historian and mountaineer W. A. B. Coolidge would later write: It is impossible, of course, to fix the precise date at which guideless climbing began to be abused. But no one can doubt that one of the first signs of the change in men's views was the tragic death of Emil Zsigmondy on the Meije in 1885 . . . there are limits even to human skill and human daring, and, in the opinion of the present writer, these were overstepped on that occasion.