Charles Hudson (climber)

Charles Hudson (climber)

Charles Hudson (4 October 1828 – 14 July 1865) was an Anglican chaplain and mountain climber from Skillington, Lincolnshire, England.

Hudson was one of the most important climbers of the golden age of alpinism. An immensely strong walker, he is considered a pioneer of guideless and winter climbing in the western Alps, having made the first guideless ascent of Mont Blanc in 1855, the first official ascent of Mont Blanc du Tacul with Edward John Stevenson, Christopher and James Grenville Smith, E. S. Kennedy, Charles Ainslie and G. C. Joad on 8 August 1855, a guideless ascent of the Breithorn and a near ascent of the Aiguille du Goûter solo in winter, being forced back close to the summit by fresh snow. Amongst his guided climbs were the first ascent of Monte Rosa in 1855, the first completed passage of the Mönchjoch in 1858, the first ascent of Mont Blanc by the Goûter route (incomplete) in 1859 with E. S. Kennedy and party, and the second ascent of the Aiguille Verte (the first by the Moine ridge) in 1865 (with T. S. Kennedy and Michel Croz).