Mountain guides in the Ecrins: the conquest of happiness
© DR - Caron Refuge view on to the Ecrins
Mountaineers are sometimes seen as pursuing pointless victories. A touching chronicle of mountain guiding in the Ecrins, in French, edited by Claude Albrand, Cent ans de guides dans les Ecrins, (Editions du Fournel) proves the contrary. Here are some excerpts.
"The most beautiful ascent I know? (…) When I tell people it's definitely the climb up to the Ecrins refuge, they just stare at me"
"I was still a trainee. After checking that none of the more experienced guides were interested, the secretary finally trusted me with a client."
"No, not a walk, a climb to the Ecrins refuge and back in a day, tomorrow" relates Claude Albrand, "The lady was 80 years old!"
The client in question - "a small, slender, dignified lady, in a long black dress, with her white hair in a bun" - told Claude Albrand that she had climbed up to the refuge for her honeymoon in 1909! The couple had not been able to tackle the Dome because of bad weather. They had both sworn to come back. But life's trials, the First and Second World Wars, and the death of her husband had prevented them from carrying out their wish. She decided that in spite of her age she was going to make it come true. She trained herself by carrying buckets of coal up the stairs to her fifth floor Parisian apartment, and saved up the money to pay for an excursion with a guide.
The only problem was that her trunk had been lost. All she had was the clothes she wore – and so she was to climb the glacier in her dress. On top of that, On top of that, she could only see properly for a few hours a day, with the help of medication.
"So we set off", writes Claude Albrand, for a total climb of 1400m, ten to twelve hours on foot, eight of which she did practically blind."
"She walked up briskly between Ailefroide and the Caron refuge, with an irregular pace, stopping at the most unusual places, vivacious and talkative. All the while we swapped our memories, our knowledge of geology, glaciology and local lore, and, better still, stories from our lives. When we reached the refuge, she ordered two meals. She wouldn't touch hers, so I ate them both! On my request, Benjamin the warden had given us the best table, with a fantastic panoramic view over the Ecrins. She kept looking out the window, in the direction of the Barre and the Dôme des Ecrins. I watched her smiling and crying at once. I had to turn away to hide my own tears. I can't remember her name. I've always called her Mrs Happiness. It was that, a simple day of happiness, and a memory for a lifetime"
Contact us
Pays des Ecrins
Ailefroide
Reading:
"Cent ans de guides dans les Ecrins", Editions du Fournel
Website
See the access map
Topic : Landscapes and nature
Published on : 2009/06/23
Tags : guides ecrins conquest happiness
No comments yet
Your opinion on this gem
Your comments, your rating.
Got a question, something to add or correct ?
Leave a message for the author.