Peter Kaufmann-Bohren (June 23, 1886 – June 23, 1971) was a Swiss ski instructor and mountain guide, climbing in the Swiss Alps and the Canadian Rockies.
Family and early life (1886–1905)
Kaufmann-Bohren was born in 1886, at his family's house (am Fussweg) in Grindelwald. He was the eldest son and grew up in a family eight siblings.Peter and Maria Elise Kaufmann-von Allmen had nine children: Elise (born 1885), Peter (1886–1971), Carolina [Lena] (1888–1966), Emma (1891–1976), Marianne (1893–1979), Luise (1895–1977), Christen (1898-1982), Johann [John] (1899–1996), and Fritz (1902–1978)."In Memoriam: Peter Kaufmann[-Bohren]," Echo von Grindelwald (July 2, 1971), No. 52. His father Peter Kaufmann-von Allmen and his grandfather Grabipeter (1832-1903) were established, certified mountain guides, who lived during the golden and silver ages of Alpinism. The Kaufmanns had been professional mountain guides for several generations, but Peter not only became a mountaineer but also an excellent skier and ski instructor."In Memoriam: Peter Kaufmann [-Bohren]," 1971. Skiing was introduced to Grindelwald in 1890. It was Gerald Fox (1865 - 1947), who brought skis to the area, after he had “discovered” them in Scandinavia.Rubi, Rudolf & Emil Ryter, eds. 100 Jahre Ski Club Grindelwald (1902-2002): 100-Jahr-Chronik. Grindelwald Ski Clib, , pp. 2-4. Whenever he left the Hotel Bären lobby on skis, locals and tourists shook their heads and said he was crazy. But he soon convinced some mountain climbers, guides, and two teenagers to slide across the snow on two long wooden boards. Those two adventurous sixteen-year-olds who tried skiing for the first time in February 1891 were Hans (1874-1930) and Ruedi Kaufmann (born 1875),Rubi, Rudolf. Der Sommer- und Winterkurort: Strassen und Bahnen. Wintersport," Im Tal von Grindelwald. Vol III. Grindelwald: Sutter, AG, 1986, p. 144. Peter's uncles.
Youth in England and Switzerland (1905–1913)
At the age of 19, Kaufmann-Bohren travelled to England to earn money for the family and to learn the English language. He went to Great Britain several times, spending seven years there."In Memoriam: Peter Kaufmann [-Bohren]," 1971. In 1911, he was working as a hotel porter at the Imperial Hotel in Malvern, England,Great Malvern Parish, Worcestershire, England. English Census (1911), #17650. probably helping guests with luggage along the "worm," "a corrugated iron tunnel leading up to the hotel," that allowed first-class passengers arriving at Great Malvern station to walk straight into the hotel without going outside."Great Malvern Station," Malvern's Lost Railway: Tracing the Malvern-Ashchurch Line (1864–1963). Posted January 31, 2016. At least three other Swiss from the Bernese Oberland were working at the hotel at the time.Jacob Pfeiffer, cook, age 22, from Tegensdorf; August Oswald, hotel porter, age 20, Ilanz; and Ulrich Lauener, hotel porter, age 24, Wengen. England, Census of 1911.
Upon his final return from England, he settled in Neuhausen am Rheinfall where he met his future wife, Margaritha Bohren, who was also from Grindelwald."In Memoriam: Peter Kaufmann [-Bohren]," 1971.
Early climbing (1914–1920)
Following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, Kaufmann-Bohren applied for his license to become a certified mountain guide. After passing his examinations, he began as a porter in June and July 1914; he accompanied certified mountain guides and their clients as a porter to the summits of the Wetterhorn, Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, Finsteraarhorn, Faulberg, and the Gross Fiescherhorn over the great Aletschhorn."In Memoriam: Peter Kaufmann[-Bohren]," 1971. Charles Francis Alexander Fyfe, from Liverpool, England, wrote the first entry into Kaufmann's Führer-Buch: "Peter Kaufmann was my porter, up to the top of the Wetterhorn today [June 22,1914], and I found him to be a safe companion of the mountain."Kaufmann, Peter. Führer-Buch nach dem Reglement für Bergführer und Träger von 30 Juli 1914. Interlaken, July 28, 1914, p. 43 C. F. A. Fyfe was naval engineer, who had published Steamship Coefficients, Speeds and Powers(1907), for the use "by engineers, shipbuilders, naval architects, superintendents, and draughtsmen." A frequently cited text, a second edition was published in 1920. J. V. I. Long, from Arundel, England, writes that Peter Kaufmann "(nephew of Christian Kaufmann) . . . showed himself very capable and willing, carrying anything I asked him to without ever showing any sign of fatigue, even at the end of the climb, and I am convinced he will shortly make a first class guide."Kaufmann, Führer-Buch (July 28, 1918), p. 44.
In 1918, at the age of 32, he married Margaritha Bohren (1871-1959)."In Memoriam: Peter Kaufmann [-Bohren]," 1971.
Professional climbing (I) (1920–1929)
On April 1, 1920, Kaufmann-Bohren was certified as a mountain guide 2. Klasse.Kaufmann. Führer-Buch, p. 5. During the 1920s, he frequently climbed with his father (Peter Kaufmann-von Allmen), step-uncles, and brother (Fritz), and he was praised not only for his excellent climbing skills but also his skiing abilities. On December 20, 1928, he received his teaching certificate as a ski teacher (Skilehrer Patent) from the Bernese Ski-Teachers' Commission, which he renewed annually for 36 years.Peter Kaufmann, Bergführer, Spillstatt, Grindelwald, Skilehrer-Patent. Bern: Direktion des Innern des Kantons Bern, 20 December 1928.
The Englishman Anthony Melland Robinson (1907-1950)Struve, K. C. P. In Memoriam: Anthony Mellard Robinson. Alpine Journal (London) 57 (1950), 562-563. recounted several climbs with Peter Kaufmann in Alpine Roundabout (1946).Robinson, Anthony M. Alpine Roundabout. London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd, 1946. During four days of climbing in 1929, he remarked that Kaufmann “is always ready to explain points that puzzle the beginner.” For example, he clarified that a large china cup to drink spring water was used by climbers above the Milchbach ladders headed for the Gleckstein Hut; and as Kaufmann-Bohren explained, “It was always replaced after [passers-by] had drunk their fill, never broken and never stolen though fettered by no rusty chain to the rock.”Robinson, p. 25.
One of Kaufmann's repeated clients was Peter Daniell (1909-2002), who originally "spent childhood holidays in Switzerland to cure asthma," but "became a passionate mountaineer, scaling many Alpine peaks in his student days.""In Memoriam: Sir Peter Daniell." The Telegraph (25 June 2002). Daniell describes Kaufmann as a "first class guide, a good and amusing companion" (Sept 1926), who is "always cheerful and entertaining (Aug 1928), on climbs to the Klein and Gross Schreckhorn as well as the Finsteraarhorn (Aug 1931).Kaufmann. Führer-Buch, pp. 61, 68-69. Upon Daniell's recommendation, C. A. Chadwick-Maley and his brother hired Kaufmann for climbs in the Oberland (Wetterhorn) and the Wallis and wrote that they "learned much from him," but observe that "he eats far too much, but as he has to carry the food, one can hardly complain."Kaufmann. Führer-Buch (August 22, 1955), p. 125.
In Canada with Cromwell and Thorington (1930)
Kaufmann-Bohren travelled to Canada in 1930, leaving Cherboug, France, aboard the S.S. Montrose on June 5, arriving in Quebec City June 13, and in Banff June 17.Library and Archives Canada. Immigration Records. “Passenger lists of the Montrose arriving in Quebec, Que. and Montreal, Que. on 1930-06-13,” item 14764, p. 492. He had been hired by Oliver Eaton Cromwell (1892–1987)Thorington, J. Monroe. "Climbs in the Freshfield and Other Groups of the Canadian Rockies, American Alpine Journal (1930), p. 75.An avid American mountaineer, "Tony" Cromwell climbed in the Alps, the Canadian Rockies as well as the Himalayas (1939 K2 expedition); at the suggestion of J. M. Thorington, a peak in the Sunwapta River Valley of Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, was named in his honor: Mount Cromwell (3,330 m / 10,930 ft). to do climbing in the Canadian Rockies. However, upon his arrival, Kaufmann travelled into the Yoho Valley to meet James Monroe Thorington (1894–1989),Bates, Robert H. "In Memoriam: James Monroe Thorington (1894-1989)," American Alpine Journal (1990). who says that "Kaufmann was loaned to me for the time preceding Cromwell's arrival."Thorington, "Climbs in the Freshfield," p. 75.
Thorington reported a very active 12 days of climbing with Kaufmann. Encountering heavy late snowfall near Twin Falls, they "were obliged to carry [their] loads" rather than using pack horses. On June 23, they met the guide Edward Feuz, Jr., who joined them the following day to "motor to Moraine Lake" and climbed Mt. Temple (11624 ft / 3543 m). The next day, June 25, Kaufmann and Thorington left Lake Louise with heavy packs, fording a swiftly flowing Mosquito Creek with a rope, and reaching the cabins at Bow Lake. Thorington comments: "Peter has long since forgiven me, but 25 miles with packs after a high climb, is not easily forgotten."Thorington, "Climbs in the Freshfield," p. 74.
After rowing across Bow Lake on June 27, Kaufmann and Thorington made a first ascent of Saint Nicholas Peak (9,639 ft / 2,938 m) and a second ascent of Mount Olive (10,256 ft / 3,126 m). And then on June 30, they made an eleven-and-a-half hour trip rowing down Bow Lake, fording streams, hiking along frozen lakes, and making a first ascent of Dolomite Peak (2,860 m / 9,380 ft).Thorington, "Climbs in the Freshfield," pp. 76-77.
On July 1, Cromwell met Kaufmann and Thorington at their Bow Lake camp; two other climbers, Dyson Duncan and Alden F. Megrew, also arrive from Lake Louise with three packers and fifteen horses. Megrew described the size of the expedition: "Our pack-train was increased here to twenty-seven horses, five packers and five travelers, and with this outfit we proceeded directly to the Freshfield group, which we reached on July 4th."Megrew, Alden F. "First Ascents and Explorations from the Mons and Freshfield Icefields," American Alpine Journal (1931). and climbed Mt. Thompson (3,089 m / 10,135 ft).
Then from July 5 to 15, 1930, Kaufmann and Cromwell made seven first-ascents:Kaufmann. Führer-Buch, pp. 72-77.
July 5: Unnamed Peak (3177 m / 10,423 ft).This was Pangman Peak, in the Freshfield Group of the Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada, first climbed by E. Cromwell, J. M. Thorington, D. Duncan, A. Megrew, P. Kaufmann. “North America, Canada, Canadian Rockies, Watershed Peak North of Pangman Peak,” Alpine Journal (1931). First ascent; at head of Pangman glacier, Freshfield group; descent east ridge.
July 7: Mt. Skene (3,063 m / 10,100 ft).Mount Skene is in Alberta, Canada, located north of Mount Bergne and southwest of Mount Strahan just north of the Freshfield Icefield. It is 24 km southwest of Saskatchewan Crossing and 49 km northwest of Field. The first ascent was made in 1930 E. Cromwell, D. Duncan, A.F. Megrew, J. Monroe Thorington, Peter Kaufmann (Canadian Alpine Journal 1, 335, 403; Alpine Journal (London) 43, 74). It was named in 1919 by D.B. Dowling after Peter Skene Ogden who was a fur trader from Quebec who joined the North West Company in 1811 and then became a partner in 1820. Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia Bivouac.com First ascent, Freshfield group.
July 7: Mt. Conway (3,098 m / 10,164 ft). First ascent, traverse from south to north; Freshfield group.
July 9: Mt. Barlow (3,143 m / 10,312 ft). First ascent, traverse from west to east; Freshfield group.
July 9: Mt. Lowe (3,054 m / 10,020 ft). First ascent, via south ridge.
July 12: Mt. Forbes (3,612 m / 11,850 ft): First ascent of north ridge, descent west ridge.Christian and Hans Kaufmann, Peter's step-uncles made the first ascent of Mt. Forbes in August 1902. But Peter, guiding J. M. Thorington and E. Cromwell, ascended the peak by the north-west face for the first time in 1930.