THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: A group of British mountain climbers and Swiss guides have take a step back in time. They explored the Alps in the footsteps of their 19th century predecessors.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: While this modern-day team ended their 10-day adventure this week, their Alpine adventure could be tracked on the Internet. Swiss TV-SRI scaled the peaks along with climbers to tell their story. Michael Morris reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL MORRIS, SWISS TV-SRI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reaching one of Switzerland's famous peaks, Momonth (ph), using 19th century gear. Hundreds of years after the first Alpine expeditions, seven Swiss and British climbers are tracking across the same inspiring landscape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see the whole world.
MORRIS: Momonth (ph) mountain is only one of the summits the team is set to climb during the 10-day expedition.
The view from Villa Castle (ph), one of their stops on the way.
Philip Martineau is a member of Britain's legendary Alpine Club. Two of his ancestors scaled these peaks in the 1850s.
PHILIP MARTINEAU, MOUNTAINEER AND SCIENTIST: This is the ax I should be using -- and one of the things we are going to be learning I think is what great advantage we have with the modern equipment that we have today over the pioneers, and I think we are going to be gaining in our respect for them.
MORRIS: Les Swindin is another member of the Alpine Club. Over the last 35 years, he scaled all the Alps' 4,000-meter peaks.
LES SWINDIN, MOUNTAINEER AND WRITER: The British were welcome, really. They brought money into remote valleys. Hotels developed because of that.
MORRIS: During the 19th century, mountaineering was a masculine domain, with a few exceptions. Of course, times have changed. ALISON HENRY, MOUNTAINEER AND CONSERVATIONIST: It's going to be phenomenal, because they had so much to overcome -- not just the clothing, but also prejudice -- it just wasn't something that Victorian ladies were supposed to do.
MORRIS: By reliving the adventure of the pioneers, the group aims to trace Alpine development from its roots to the present day.
Today, the team have taken on (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and like two of their predecessors, have brought along a tree to commemorate their assent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, well, this mountain was first climbed in 1811, but people didn't believe that the two Myer (ph) brothers had climbed it. But they came back in 1812, and this time they brought a fur tree with them and planted it on the summit just to prove that they had been here.
MORRIS: This is something very special. Climbing the peaks in these old-fashioned clothes, all the way up from the bottom without cable cars or anything, then walking all the way back down.
Much has changed in the Alpine world since the days of their forefathers. Though this part of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is declared a world heritage site by UNESCO later this year, will hopefully remain intact for the centuries to come.
This is Michael Morris, of Swiss Television and Swiss Radio International, for CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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