Jules on top of the world at Matterhorn

Jules on top of the world at Matterhorn

22 July 2020

IT was the hug at the top of the Matterhorn that told Chris Molyneaux his son was proud that he had just climbed one of the highest peaks in Europe — at the age of 11.

The former Co Down man was not surprised that his youngest child, Jules, completed the arduous climb at such a young age.

The naturally gifted young sportsman has been loving the thrill and achievement of climbing since he was a toddler. 

At just under 4,500 metres high, the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps is a challenging climb due to its sheer pyramid shape and requires rock climbing expertise and strength to scale it.

The challenge is reflected in that 500 people have died on the mountain, including a 55 year-old man let Wednesday when Chris and Jules successfully completed their climb.

Climbing in two pairs with an experienced mountain guide each, father and son left camp just before 4am and reached the summit just over four hours later.

“The Matterhorn is one of the deadliest peaks in the world and on the day of our climb,  there was more snow than our guide has seen in 30 years and there were lots of falling rocks,” said Chris. “But there was no issues for Jules during the climb,. If there had have been, the guide would have stopped and taken him down.”

Jules was later told by the Matterhorn Museum that it’s believed he was the youngest person ever to have mastered the peak.

Chris, now living with his family in the Scottish Highlands where he and his wife Mignonne run a gin distillery, Daffy’s, said: “Jules has always loved climbing since he was able to walk. Whether it was trees or rocks, he progressed doing indoor climbing walls and roped up climbing outdoors.”

A former professional snowboarder, Chris grew up on Sketrick Island, near Killinchy, with his parents, Zora and Paul.

He developed a love of mountains and climbing as a child in the Mournes and through his school’s mountaineering club, so it was inevitable he would pass on his passion for the outdoors to Jules and his elder brother, 13 year-old Louis.

“We’ve always climbed as a family but several years ago Jules was asked to do a school project on any subject and he chose to do one on climbing the Matterhorn,” explained Chris.

“One day he asked me if he could climb the Matterhorn some time and I said of course, rather thinking it was a joke.

“But Jules really put in the training himself and kept pushing me to take on a hike or a climb. He was always very capable as we have always climbed as a family.”

Chris said that Jules continued to put the work into building up his skills and stamina for the climb — even the Covid-19 could not defeat the 11 year-old’s determination to climb the mountain.

“We had lined up an American friend of ours to guide us, but he couldn’t travel due to the pandemic so we thought we would go with the local mountain guides.

“However, they told Jules that he couldn’t do it until he was 16 and after he proved himself. We did a lot of high altitude extreme rock climbs. They watched Jules, saw that he was very capable and decided to give him a shot.”

While Chris was prepared to try and make his son’s ambition to come true, even he was surprised when they safely made the summit and returned back down without incident. 

“I don’t think I fully expected we would make it to the top,” admitted Chris. “Jules gave me a hug at the very top and said he couldn’t believe he had done it. He thought it was incredible but it did take a while for it to sink in afterwards.”

While Jules may be eligible for an entry into the Guinness Book of Records, his dad said that accolade is not what Jules was about.

“He’s not a glory hunter in any sense, he’s just appreciative and proud to have done it. Jules wasn’t doing it for a record, he just wanted to climb the Matterhorn, for the achievement of it.”

And Chris’s prediction of what his son might achieve in the future? “I’m not sure if Jules will go for a career as a climber, he’s more about adventure and would love to be a great adventurer whether it’s skateboarding, skiing, diving, sailing. Jules just loves adventure. He’s a very good fencer, swimmer, footballer and is a bit of an all-rounder really.”