Adolphus Warburton Moore

Adolphus Warburton Moore (known generally as A. W. Moore) (1841 – 1887) was a British civil servant and mountaineer.

Life

The son of Major John Arthur Moore and Sophia Stewart Yates, [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p14820.htm thePeerage.com - Person Page 14820 ] ] , Moore was an India Office official from 1858–87, holding the role of Assistant Secretary, Political Department from 1875–85.http://www.bllearning.co.uk/collections/afghan/sources1843to1878.html British Library, Sources for the study of Afghanistan, 1843–78 He was also private secretary to Lord Randolph Churchill. [ [http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/96/96327.html Oxford DNB theme: Founders of the Alpine Club ] ]

Alpinism

Moore made a first ascent during his first visit to the Alps in 1862 and immediately became a central figure in the golden age of alpinism.

Moore's first ascents include:
*23 July 1862: Fiescherhorn (Bernese Alps) with H. B. George and the guides Christian Almer and Ulrich Kaufmann
*25 June 1864: Barre des Écrins (Dauphiné Alps) with Edward Whymper and Horace Walker, and the guides Michel Croz, Christian Almer the elder, and Christian Almer the younger
*28 June 1865: Piz Roseg (Bernina Alps) with Horace Walker and the guide Jakob Anderegg
*6 July 1865: Ober Gabelhorn (Pennine Alps) with Horace Walker and Jakob Anderegg
*9 July 1865: Pigne d'Arolla (Pennine Alps) with Horace Walker and Jakob Anderegg
*15 July 1865: Brenva Spur on Mont Blanc with George Spencer Mathews, Frank Walker and Horace Walker, and the guides Jakob Anderegg and Melchior Anderegg

This last route, the Brenva Spur, was the first to be climbed on the remote southern side of Mont Blanc and exceeded in difficulty anything that had thus far been attempted on the mountain. Moore's description of the Brenva ascent is, according to Claire Engel, 'amongst the finest Alpine tales in existence'.Claire Engel, "Mountaineering in the Alps", London: George Allen and Unwin, 1971, p. 125

Moore went to the Caucasus with Douglas Freshfield and Charles Comyns Tucker in 1868, making the first ascent by a non-native of Mount Elbrus (the lower of the two summits), the highest mountain in the Caucasus,Horace Walker and party made the first ascent of the higher summit six years later in 1874. and the first ascent of Kazbek with the same party.

References

Bibliography

Moore, A. W., "The Alps In 1864: A Private Journal", London: Basil Blackwell, 1939 (originally printed in 1867 for private circulation)