John Oakley Maund

Sir John Oakley Maund (died 1902) was an English banker, stockbroker, entrepreneur, hunter and mountaineer during the silver age of alpinism.

The son of Herbert Maund, he served in the Royal Marine Artillery, reaching the rank of lieutenant. In July 1867 he married Mary Emily Baring, daughter of longtime Member of Parliament and Lord of the Treasury Major Henry Bingham Baring. She had been divorced in 1864 from Sir Richard Lewis Mostyn Williams-Bulkeley, 11th Baronet, with whom she had a son. Bulkeley had divorced her for adultery allegedly committed with Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Armitage of the Coldstream Guards. Mary Emily Maund died on 18 February 1887. Maund subsequently married Zoe Gertraud Dudgeon. Maund was known for his quick temper.

John Oakley Maund was a mountaineer during the period known as the silver age of alpinism in the second half of the 19th century, and a prominent member of the Alpine Club. He weighed 13.5 stone (189 lb; 86 kg) at the height of his mountaineering career.

From 3 to 5 August 1874 Maund made the third attempt to ascend the main summit of the Meije (Massif des Ecrins in the Dauphiné Alps) via the north ridge with guides Jean Martin and Johann Jaun. The party had to halt the next day due to bad weather; however, the climb was shown to be perfectly feasible.

In 1876 Maund made three first ascents in eight days in the Mont Blanc massif. On 31 July 1876 he ascended the Cordier Couloir on the north face of the 4,122 metres (13,524 ft)-high Aiguille Verte with Thomas Middlemore, Henri Cordier and guides Jakob Anderegg, Andreas Maurer and Johann Jaun. The route was not repeated until 1924, and according to Helmut Dumler is "one of the most respected achievements in the history of mountaineering, for the 900m couloir is set at an angle of up to 56°". Claire Engel notes that the party were all nearly obliterated by rockfall while they were crossing the bergschrund. The following week, on 4 August 1876, he ascended the Cordier route on the north face of Les Courtes, again with Thomas Middlemore, Henri Cordier and guides Jakob Anderegg, Andreas Maurer and Johann Jaun, followed by the 7 August 1876 first ascent of the east summit of Les Droites (the lowest of the Alpine 4000ers) with Thomas Middlemore, Henri Cordier and guides Johann Jaun and Andreas Maurer. This ascent was not without incident. In an article in the Alpine Journal Maund wrote:

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