 In the early years of the "golden age", scientific pursuits were intermixed with the sport, such as by the physicist John Tyndall.In the later years, it shifted to a more competitive orientation as pure sportsmen came to dominate the London-based Alpine Club and alpine mountaineering overall.In the 19th century, the focus of mountaineering turned towards mountains beyond the Alps, and by the turn of the 20th century, mountaineering had acquired a more international flavour.