a short introduction on the history of mountain guiding

7/31/2019 A Short Introduction on the History of Mountain Guiding

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A short introduction on the history of mountain guiding.

Introduction

Most mountaineers have climbed once or more in their life with a mountain

guide, as I have. That is why I thought it maight be interesting to have a look at

how thiswonderful- profession arose and how it has evolved. When someone is

climbing together with a mountain guide its not really something were thinking

of, but still it might be interesting to know who these first mountain guides were,

and how mountain guiding has evolved.

As a history student I made my master dissertation about mountaineering history

in the nineteenth century in the Western Alps (about the often paradoxical

relationships between mountain guides and (British) mountaineers). Thats why

this little bit of history only handles the history of mountain guiding in the

nineteenth century (a very interesting century though) and in the Western Alps,

as Im not very familiar with the twentieth century (still working on it).

I hope its interesting.

A bit of history can never be bad!

If somebody has some nice old photo's in a way related to this theme, feel free to

attach! Thanks.

Part I: In the beginning (...-1821)

For centuries people who needed to cross the Alps hired local people (mostly

peasants) to lead them safely through this dangerous environment. Most of thetime, from the early times in history till far in the 19th century, most people tried

to avoid the Alps (and mountain ranges in general). Which isnt really a surprise as

many believed these mountains were inhabited by dragons and other foul

creatures.


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Only when it was really necessary to cross the mountains (for trade or pilgrimage)

people would do this. That most people where really scared of travelling in or

through the Alps can be proved by the fact that there are only very few examplesof men who traveled in or through the Alps just for their pleasure, just because

they liked it. One of the first men to do so was the Italian humanist Petrarca, who

climbed the Mont Ventoux in the Provence (southern France) in 1336. After

Petrarca some others, like Leonardo Da Vinci (15th century) or Konrad Gessner

(16th century) did the same. But men like them were very rare.

As most people tried to avoid the mountains, they remained completelyunknown. The Alps in the Middle Ages and the early Modern Times remained

terra incongnita. This ignorance of most people had an important consequence

for those who occasionally did need to cross the Alps. Because they werent

acquainted with an environment like that they had to hire local people in order to

travel safely through the mountains. Local people who did know something of the

mountains where, after all, they lived in. It has to be said that these local peasants

didnt really know anything of these mountains. They only knew something about

the lower mountains, the places where they came with their herds (of cows or

sheeps) or where they needed to be for their profession as a lumberjack or a

hunter, etc.[1] But that wasnt a real problem as they only needed to guide -very

occasionally- people across more or less known mountain passes.

From the middle of the eighteenth century, and specially from the end of the

eighteenth century, more and more people started to find their way to the Alps

(in this period mostly to Chamonix).[2] Times started to change these days.

Mostly thanks to the Enlightenment more and more people changed their point

of views towards the mountains. From a complete aversion to a more positive

point of view. More people started to realise that the mountains werent just a

foul and dangerous place, inhabited by dragons and demons, but that the


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mountains were a place of exquisite beauty, where they could come in contact

with, what was called, the sublime.[3] It was thanks to some great poets, painters

and philosophers like Lord Byron, Caspar David Friedrich or Jean-Jacques

Rousseau, and with them many others, that more people started to like the

mountains (not necesarely for climbing them, more for just being in the

mountains). It was in this time that many wealthy people, from the upper classes,

did their Grand Tour, in which they traveled to the most important places of

Europe, like Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Paris, Geneva, and often some

Flemish, Dutch or Northern German cities. At the end of the eighteenth century

this itinerary changed however slightly as the Alps (specially Chamonix) became

an important part of this Grand Tour. Not only as a part of this Grand Tour, but

also for other people, the Alps became a very interesting region.

Apart from these poets, philospherns and painters, scientist played an evenly

important role in stimulating mountain tourism. Scientists like Bndicte de

Saussure, Louis Agassiz, James Forbes, Bernard Studer or John Tyndall. In the first

place because the scientists themselves whent to the mountains, and occasionally

climbing them. But secondly, because thanks to their research (on glaciology,

cartography, botanica, and other mountain related scientific subjects) the Alpsbecame better known to all. The Alps lost gradually their status of Terra Incognita.

Most people who came to Chamonix (or to other mountain villages, although that

was still very rare in this period) wanted to have a look at the mighty glaciers and

the immens mountain scenery, specially the enormous Mont Blanc. However, as

in earlier times these people werent acquainted at all with hiking in the

mountains, let alone hiking on a glacier. To do so, as, for example, merchants didearlier, they started to hire local peasants to guide them towards the mountains

and glaciers, and sometimes even on them. It is here that the origin of the

profession of mountain guides can be found. These tourists thought that the local

people had a good knowledge of the mountains they lived in and for that reason

they hired them. However, their knowledge, as it has been said before, wasnt


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altogether good. Their knowledge didnt go any further than the knowlegde they

needed for their profession (as a hunter, a lumberjack, herdsman or farmer).[4]

Nontheless, it was better than the knowledge of the tourists and therefore it

wasnt but normal for them to hire these local people. These local peasants weremostly happy with these tourists as they meant a boost for their otherwise

precarious economical and financial situation.

Important to say is that almost all mountain tourism was concentrated in

Chamonix, at the foot of the highest mountain in the Alps, the Mont Blanc (an

important reason for the early succes of Chamonix). This early succes meant that

Chamonix was able to build up a huge lead in their development as the capital city

of mountaineering. Other important places as Zermatt or Grindelwald in

Switzerland couldnt catch up with Chamonix untill the 1850s and 1860s.

The growing number of tourists meant that more local people could earn an extra

wage as some sort of mountain guide (they werent really mountain guides as we

know them today). The more challenging tours they made were these towards (or

on) the glaciers, for example the Mer de Glace. The most chalenging excursion

that was made in this period was the ascent of Mont Blanc, first summited in1786 by Pacard and Balmat, two local people from Chamonix, hired by the famous

Horace Bndict de Saussure from Geneva. The year after De Saussure himself

ascended Mont Blanc.[5] This meant another boost for the succes of Chamonix.

This succes would eventually lead to the formation of the first organisation for

mountain guides: La compagnie des guides de Chamonix, in 1821.

Statue for Michel Paccard

Enlarge

Statue in honour of Michel Paccard, who first climbed Mont Blanc together with

Jacques Balmat in 1786


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Part II: The first step towards a more professional approach (1821-ca. 1850)

Maison de la Montagne

Enlarge

The place where it all started in 1821

On the 24th of July, 1821 the local authorities of Chamonix decided to establish

what would become the first guiding association in the world. The mean reason

for it was the growing succes of mountain tourism. As more and more people

travelled towards Chamonix with the purpose of having a look at the great

glaciers surrounding the village or to scale aneasy- mountain, or in a rare case,

the Mont Blanc, it became clear that the need for decent mountain guides and

clear rules became bigger and bigger. The real trigger for the establishment of the

Compagnie des guides de Chamonix, was an accident in 1820 on the slopes of

Mont Blanc where three local guides perished.[6] The accident made clear that

there was an urgent need to establish some clear rules on who was able to act as

a mountain guide, who as a mule driver or as a porter, and who not. In otherregions, like in Switzerland it would take untill the 1850s and 1860s before rules

like these were introduced.[7]

Its clear that around this time we can see that in Chamonix the first steps were

taken towards a more professional approach of mountain guiding. An association

was established to assure the quality of the tourism in Chamonix.

Its important to say that the Compagnie des guides had some important rules,

directly related to the mountaineering, besides the rules about the needed

qualifications to be able to act as a guide: first there was the famous tour de rle,

which was a sort of rotation system. It meant that all guides had the same

amount of opportunities to guide on certain hiking or mountaineering trips. The


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rates of all the possible trips offered by the Compagnie were fixed. Some of them,

specially the Mont Blanc, were a lot more expensive than others (mostly because

they were a lot more dangerous). For example it costed 7 Livres per person per

guide for a trip to de Mer de Glace, while it costed 40 Livres per person and per

guide to climb the Mont Blanc. In order to give each guide the same opportunities

to guide these, financially, more attractive trips this rotation system was

invented. When a tourist or alpinist came to Chamonix he wasnt able to choose a

guide. It was instead the Compagnie who assigned one or more guides

(depending on which trip the tourist wanted to do) to the tourist.

Apart from the rotation system, the Compganie des guides decided about the

number of guides a tourist was obliged to take. Tourists werent free to choose

the number of guides of which they thought it would be sufficient. The numberwas fixed by the Compagnie. To give an example. Even in 1872 the Compagnie des

guides de Chamonix still proclaimed the following: Pour lascension au Mont-

Blanc et pour un voyageur, le guide-chef fournira trois guides au moins ou deux

guides et un porteur; pour deux voyageurs, quatre guides ou bien trois guides et

deux porteurs, en augmentant dun guide par chaque voyageur en sus.*8+ An

important consequence was that the cost to climb for example Mont Blanc, could

raise quiet high rather quickly.

Finally the Compagnie had a monopoly in the Chamonix-Mont Blanc region

regarding to mountain guiding. Foreign guides, in the first place Swiss guides,

werent allowed to guide tourists or alpinists in this region.

Rules like these were at first very useful, in the first place because it provided

equal chances for all guides, it created some equality amongst them. Later,

specially from the 1850s onwards, things started to change, when thedisadvantages of this system came up.


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Weve said that in this period the first steps were taken towards a more

professional approach of mountain guiding. However, some remarks need to be

made here. In this period, from the beginning until the middle of the nineteenth

century, its not yet possible to speak of a real professionalization. A start towards

it was made in the first half of the nineteenth century but the real

professionalization took place only in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Not least because of the growing influence, the growing dominance of the British

in the Alps in the 1850s and 1860s. It was mainly due to these British alpinists that

the profession of mountain guides became more and more professional. Thanks

to the British climbing elite, more and more mountain guides were able to

develop their climbing skills to a level much higher than it was before, gradually

surpassing their predecessors.

It needed mountaineers such as Wills and Mathews, as the Rev. Hereford George

and Leslie Stephen, to raise up a certain number of Alpine peasants, to breath fire

into them and to stir them a knowledge which was eventually to make them the

first members of a great profession.*9+

But that development wasnt really started in this period. As in the period prior to

this one, mountain guides werent real mountain guides. They remained in the

first place farmers, herdsmen, lumberjacks, hunters, who, occasionally, guided

some tourists on smaller mountains, nearby glaciers or on simple hiking trips.

Even the guides (or porters, etc.) who served in the Compagnie des guides in

Chamonix werent guiding all the time. Only a small amount of time was spent by

them in the mountains guiding tourists or climbers. For them it was only a small,

albeit a financially important one, secondary occupation. Due to the fact that theydidnt spent much time climbing, the level of their climbing abilities wasnt

altogether high, on the contrary. But, on the other hand, they didnt really felt the

need of improving themselves. Mostly because they only guided on rather easy

tours, often only hiking tours. Mountain guides were primarily focused on the

middle mountains.[10] In this period only a few tougher mountains were scaled.


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Like Triglav in 1778, Mont Blanc in 1786, Grossglockner in 1800 or the Ortler in

1804, the Jungfrau in 1811, Breithorn (1813), Finsteraarhorn (1829), Aiguilles

dArves (1839), Between 1786 and 1854 only twelve peaks higher than 4000

meter were climbed.*11+ Only to say that most mountain guides didnt undertake

more difficult, tougher climbs. Just a handful of guides got the opportunity to do

so. Therefore, most guides didnt felt the need of improving themselves to much,

or to put a large amount of time in improving their skills, while they had a lot of

other work to do. It was only later, when the British came, that more guides felt

the need of improving themselves, or that they got more opportunities for

improving.

In this period most guides had another purpose than just leading their clients on

different mountains or climbing trips. Most tourists saw their guides more like

servants than independent mountain guides, more servants than equals

(socially).[12] The main activities for mountain guides in this period were carrying

the luggage of the tourists, carrying all the food, drinking, materials, cutting

steps in the snow/ice, clearing the paths, cooking, putting up tents, supporting

their clients (sometimes this went even that far that guides almost needed to

carry their tourists), etc. They worked more as servants than as real mountainguides. Most of the time they werent really hired for their climbing abilities, but

more in order to support the tourist. Tourists, specially those from the aristocracy

and the rich industrials wanted to hike or climb in comfort. This was one of the

reasons why the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix decided that for most tours

they organized more than one guide had to be taken by the tourist. Only later,

when more and more tougher climbs were done, this changed. Although most

guides kept doing tours like that (simple hiking tours, smaller mountains, and

glaciers). Only a small amount of mountain guides were able to do some realmountain climbing. Most guides remained simple glacier guides (Gletscherfhrer),

mule-drivers (Maultierfhrer) or porters (Personen- or Packtrger) and porteurs

chaise.*13+


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A situation like this, with a rather limited professionalization, continued until the

1850s. But from then on this situation changed rather quickly. It was the start of

the Alpine Golden Age, the time when British alpinists dominated the Alps. And it

was mostly thanks to them that some mountain guides, not all guides, got more

and more professional, and, very important, their climbing skills improved rapidly.

At this point a small remark has to be made about the alpinists themselves: until

the 1850s-1860s most real mountaineers were scientists. Or they did at least to

some degree scientifical research in the mountains. The reason therefore, was

that climbing mountains was only accepted when it was in the service of science.

Being in the mountains was okay for most people, and many tourists really

enjoyed being there, but climbing mountains was just a bridge to far. Climbing

just for pleasure wasnt granted much approval by most people. Most non-

mountaineers believed that Any failure to record a multitude of fact, figures, and

dates, would be a back sliding in social and moral duty.*14+ And when some

mountaineers did climb without a scientifcal purpose reactions like these werent

rare: They blame us for having risked our own lives in an entreprise without aim

or purpose, and for now holding out to others any inducement to tread in our

footsteps; and they estingly intimate that we must be prepared to defendourselves in the Criminal Court against a charge of manslaughter.*15+ Only from

the 1860s onwards climbing for climbing became more accepted, although even

up till now many dont or cant understand why people go on climbing mountains.

Finally we can add here another important function of the Compagnie des guides

de Chamonix (and other mountain guiding associations). This function isnt

directly related to mountaineering, but is has to do with social insurance. As itbecame clear that mountain guiding wasnt really the safest profession, local

authorities (first in Chamonix, later elsewhere) saw the need to create some sort

of social insurance in order to support injured or sick mountain guides, or to

support the families of perished mountain guides. In some way one could say

that the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix invented social insurance.*16+ Later


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other associations and from the 1860s the different Alpine Clubs, would take this

over. For example the sterreichischer Alpenverein obliged everyone who

wanted to hire a mountain guide to pay a small sum which was used to support

injured guides or the families of perished guides. Besides it was used to be able to

give mountain guides a decent wage. It was said that only when a mountain guide

earned a decent wage he could exercise his job thoroughly.[17]

Despite this good intentions, this form of social insurance didnt always work

perfect. In most cases the compensations guides got when they were unable to

work due to injury werent sufficient for a decent living. This was even more the

case for the families who had lost their breadwinner. Throughout the 19th

century most of these families depended largely on charity on behalf of other

mountaineers. There are many examples to give. For example John Tyndall made

sure A sum of money was collected in England for Bennens mother and

sisters.*18+ Or Alfred Wills as President of the Alpine Club organized a collection

for the family of Michel Croz after he died on the Matterhorn in 1865.[19] The

Club Alpin Franais did the same for the two guides Devouassoux who died in

1885 in a mountain accident.*20+ Its clear that this social insurance didnt work

perfectly. In Chamonix this was installed much earlier than elsewhere, but evenhere (see the example of Michel Croz) this didnt always worked as well as people

wanted. Only at the end of the nineteenth century it got rapidly better with this

social insurance.[21] But, one has to keep in mind that this social insurance

system for mountain guides was organized a long time before a similar system

was organized for most people (first of all workers) elsewhere in Europa (or in the

world).

In memory of Michel Croz

Enlarge

In honour of Michel Croz

Part III: And then the British came (from the 1850s till the 1880s)


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From the 1850s onwards more and more British alpinists found there way to the

Alps. Rather quickly and for various reasons these British climbers gained a

dominant position in the Alps. This period (1850s-1860s) most climbers were

British: A Courmayeur, Valle dAoste entre Mont Blanc et Cervin, le nom

gnralique danglais dsigne tout amateur de grimpade.*22+

This inflow of British alpinists would have some major consequences on

mountaineering in general, but more specific, they had a large influence on the

profession of mountain guides.

More alpinists came to the Alps to, successfully, attack almost all still unclimbed

mountains. To give an example of the enthusiasm of these British climbers toscale all these mountains, between 1854 and 1865, 31 4000ers were first

ascended by British alpinists. Only 4 4000m peaks were climbed by mountaineers

of other nations. Not only new mountains were climbed, mountains who had

been scaled before were climbed again, and often repeatedly. An example:

Between 1852 and 1857 Mont Blanc has been climbed 64 time, 60 times by

British alpinists.[23] This time would become known as the Alpine Golden Age (ca.

1850-1865). And so British mountaineers became, by far, the dominant force in

the Alps. This British supremacy has been expressed very well by the Swiss

Gottlieb Studer:

Ja, es ist diese abenteuerliche Reiselust fast zur Mode geworden und die

Unerschrocken Shne Albions geben hierin den anderen Nationen das

vorleuchtende Beispiel. Gelingt es doch den Schweizer Kaum, ein bisher von ihm

noch fr unbetreten gehaltenes Gletscherjoch oder eine neue Alpenspitze zu

besteigen, ohne aus dem Mundes seines Fhrers zu vernehmen, er habe einaml

schon einen Englnder dahin begleitet.*24+


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But one could ask: how could this British dominance have influenced the

development of mountain guiding? And in what ways?

These British climbers excersised influence on mountain guides/guiding in

multiple manners. Starting with the most important, British mountaineers(specially the elite alpinists, like Leslie Stephen, Sir Alfred Wills, Edward Whymper,

John Tyndal, Edward S. Kennedy, the Matthews family, Tuckett, Hereford George,

T.W. Hinchcliff, Anthony Horst, William Longman, etc., etc.) stimulated many

mountain guides to improve themselves, to work on and develop their climbing

(as well as human/moral) capacities. It were climbers like these who wanted to

climb peaks previously untrodden, where no men had been before. In order to do

so, these guides (like Melchior Anderegg, Michel Croz, Johann J. Bennen, Ulrich

Lauener, Auguste Balmat, Christian Almer, Devouassoud, Franz Andenmatten andmany others) needed to start climbing on a level much higher then before. If they

didnt they would lose their, passionate, clients/partners, which would affecte

their financial situation quiet hard. Thanks to those British climbers they were

able to earn more money, which was very welcome in those poor mountain

valleys in the Alps. Besides, by climbing with those British, these guides started,

more and more, to climb because of the climbing itself. Not only for the money,

but because they started to like the climbing itself, just as their clients/partners

did. Beside, they started to really like their clients, or better partners. Around this

time the phenomenon of the Belles-amitis, the seil-/bergkameradschaft was

formed. Equal relations, or even real friendships arose at this time.[25]

So we can say that thanks to more driven alpinists (mostly British) many guides

were stimulated to improve and develop their skills.

Golden Wedding

Enlarge

The Almers. (Photo of Hansw)


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Secondly the establishement of the Alpine Club in 1857 influenced the

professionalization of mountain guiding profoundly. Not directly, rather indirect.

The Alpine Club was the first association for mountaineers. The idea for the

establishment of the Alpine Club first came from William Matthews in 1857: Iwant you to consider whether it would not be possible to establish an Alpine

Club, the members of which might dine together once a year, say in London, and

give each other what information they could.*26+ The Alpine club didnt had

anything to do with mountain guides, but it was the example for other alpine

clubs who were founded in the Alps in the decades after 1857. For example the

Austrian Alpine Club in 1862 (sterreichischer Alpenverein (OAV)), the Swiss

Alpine Club in 1863 Schweizer Alpenclub/Club Alpin Suisse (SAC/CAS)), also in

1863 the Italian Alpine Club (Club Alpino Italiano (CAI)), the German Alpine Club(Deutscher Alpenverein (DAV)) in 1869 and the French (Club Alpin Franais(CAF))

in 1874.[27] These Associations were based on the Alpine Club, but with one

major difference: they did have a lot to do with mountain guiding. Gradually they

would start to organize the profession of mountain guides, by organising

mountain guide trainings in order to assure the qualities of the guides, by working

with official mountain guide qualifications (certificates) granted after passing

these courses, by handing over Fhrerbcher/Livrets de guides to licensed guides

(as a way to check on guides),

In Switzerland things were a bit different. There, the Cantonal authorities were in

large part responsible for organizing and controlling the Swiss mountain guides.

They handed out the different certificates to future mountain guides. Different

certificates for different sorts of guides. More specifically three types:

Besteigungsfhrer (real mountain guides), Maultierfhrer (mule drivers) and

Personen- or Gepckfhrer (porters or porteurs chaise).[28] Furthermore, they

made sure mountain guides had the right qualifications to exercise their

profession and they were responsible to check regularly all mountain guides to

make sure they had these qualifications. They set the rates for mountain

excursions, climbs and hikes[29] and they decides about the minimum number of


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porters a tourist had to hire: for example, for a normal person four guides had to

be hired. Men who were a bit heavy or overweight people needed to take six

porters.[30]

In Switzerland most affairs were arranged by the cantonal authorities. In other

countries, in Italy, France, Germany or Austria most of these affairs came under

the responsibilities of the different alpine associations. In these countries local,

regional or national authorities werent as much involved as in Switzerland.

The Alpine Club had another effect on the professionalization of mountain

guiding: it was thanks to clubs like these that mountaineering became better

known to, and importantly more accepted by most people. Although the Alpine

Club was a very small association with only few members it had a major impact of

the number of (British) people travelling to the Alps (appendix I). The Alps became

better known to more and more people. The Alpine club and many of its

members where gifted writers. They wrote many and many books and magazines

about the Alps and mountaineering (see references), which meant to many

people the stimulus to actually go to the Alps. This increasing number oftourists/alpinists meant a boost for mounatin guiding. More people coming to the

Alps meant an increasing demand for mountain guides. Not only mountain guides,

but many other people found there way into tourism (as a hotel manager, a

restaurant keeper, as a mule driver or a porter or as a mountain guide). At first

this development didnt had a very positiv effect on the qualities of many

mountain guides:

It must be admitted that the enormous increase in the number of travelers has

tended to lower the moral scale of the guides as a class. It is desirable the

cantonal authorities would require each guide to furnish himself with a legal

certificate of his character and qualifications, and that the names of these

certificated guides, with tariffs of charges, be exhibited on the walls of the hotels;


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by these means the traveler would be exposed to no risk in his selection, whilst

the standard of the men generally would rise to its former level.*31+

members of the different Alpine associations (1861-1913)

Enlarge

After the establishment of the different alpine associations this started to change.

These certificates Baedecker speaks of, were introduced, tariffs were fixed,

trainings were installed, and mountain guiding became more and more

professionalized. And so more and more tourists and mountaineers where able tohire competent guides (regarding their climbing skills as well as their moral

capacities).

A remark has to be made here. The professionalization of mountain guiding got

more and more underway these days, but it still wasnt all perfect. There are still

enough examples to give of climbers who hiredwhat they thought were- bad,

incompetent guides. Around this time there was a huge gap between the level of

mountain guiding in the well known ditricts like Zermatt, Grindelwald, Saas-Fee,Interlaken or Chamonix and less known districts like the Dauphin or the Val

dAosta. Mid-19th century travel stories, guidebooks or diaries of mountaineers

often refer to the low quality of mountain guiding (and tourism in general) in

these regions: We had taken a guide from La Brarde *Dauphin+, and the man,

as is common in those parts, was almost useless.*32+ Or: Anyone, however,

meditating an assault on the Premiero peaks [South Tirol] must either go alone or

bring guides from more satisfactory districts. But even in the more developed

regions not all guides were as good as one would hope, like in this example inChamonix: But we had bad guides, who, as we had found the day before, were

afraid of any glacier they were not familiar with... Despite our remonstrances,

they insisted upon conducting us by a route full of peril, across the vast tract of

boulders and dbris...*33+ Or in Switzerland: The most singular characteristic of

my guides was, perhaps, their conversational power. I may as well say at once


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that I found one of them, Johann Zgler, to be a good mountaineer. Of the others,

the less said the better.*34+

Criticism on Chamonix guides wasnt exceptional. Many British alpinists (specially

the more gifted climbers) often criticized guides hired in Chamonix, but even

more their criticism was aimed at the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix in

general. The reasons for their criticism can be found in the rules of the

Compagnie, of which I have spoken earlier. Many of the elite mountaineers didnt

agree with the rotation system: A member of our party left a cheque for the

sufferers [of a great fire in the 1850s in Chamonix], on condition that it should

remain untouched until an English traveller should be at liberty to choose his own

guide, and to determine for himself the number he required.*35] Specially when

they wanted to make bigger excursions, when they wanted to scale larger and

tougher mountains they wanted someone they knew [36] , or someone of whom

they had heard of (in a positive sense). They needed a mountain guide, or some

mountain guides whereupon they could trust. In Chamonix, thanks to the rotation

system, this wasnt possible. Instead of the mountaineer, it was the Compagnie

who would pick one or more guides for the alpinist. A rule that often caused

frustration on behalf of the mountaineers. Even on a higher level thesefrustrations were noticeable.[37] Under pressure of the Alpine Club and the

S.A.C./C.A.S. the Compagnie would eventually abolish this rotation system, but

only in 1879 when they stated: Les voyageurs sont libres dans le choix de leurs

guides; dfaut de choix, les guides font leur service tour de rle.*38+

This rotation system had the great advantage of creating equality among

mountain guides, but it had one major disadvantage: it often createdincompetent guides. Not incompetent overall, but more or less incompetent on

certain types of terrain. Some guides will prefer climbing on ice or snow, while

others might prefer rocks. Due to the rotation system the guides werent able to

choose their clients. When a client wanted to do some rock climbing it was

perfectly possible that he would get an ice or snow specialist, with insufficient


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rock climbing skills. This often caused frustration on behalf of the client as well as

of the guide himself: Were they (the guides) all equally excellent, this [rotation

system] would not be a great hardship, but the contrary is the fact: and none

grumble at the system so much as the really first-rate guides of whom there are

plenty at Chamonix, who find themselves put on a level with men scarcely more

fit for their duties than so many railway porters.*39+

Many first rate mountain guides could often only undertake some easier

excursions or hikes. Thanks to this rotation system they werent able to develop

their mountaineering skills as well as many Swiss guides, who didnt knew such

restrictions. While other less competent guides where often assigned to tougher

excursions. Therefore it doesnt need to be surprising that quiet a lot

mountaineers regularly spoke rather bad about their mountain guides of

Chamonix.

Another source of frustration for many alpinists, as well as for the Alpine Club and

mountain guides from other districts was the monopoly on mountain guiding of

the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix in the Chamonix-Mont Blanc region.Before the 1860s guides who werent affiliated to the Compagnie were not

allowed to guide anyone in the region. For many mountaineers this meant that

when they wanted to scale mountains in the Mont Blanc region with their, for

example, Swiss guide(s) they werent allowed and they were obliged to hire local

guides. Only later this rule was made less stricts and after ca. 1860 foreign guides

were allowed, albeit not always evenly benevolent, as this example shows very

clear: Furious on hearing about the ascent made by outsiders *more specific:

Edward Whymper, Almer and Biner] on their much tried mountain [Aiguille Verte(4221m)+. They refused to believe it, and when Whympers party descended to

the village three gendarmes had to be summoned to quell a near riot.*40+


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An extra reason for contesting this monopoly (by individual climbers as well as by

the Alpine Club and S.A.C.) was because the Compagnie offered only a small, not

very challenging number of excursions and climbs. As from the 1850s onwards

more climbers tried to scale the more tougher mountains, this rule made it

impossible to climb the tougher mountains in the Chamonix district. On top, local

guides didnt had the opportunities to improve their climbing skills by climbing

new mountains as they werent included in the program of the Compagnie:

The Chamonix guides became more accustomed to well-known glacier

expeditions than to attempts on the unclimbed peaks which flanked the glaciers,

more accustomed to ice than to rock. They guided travellers the majority of

whom made no pretence of feeling any joy among the mountains, which they

visited, as they would often stress, entirely for the data on the unknown physical

world which they could gather there. And, above else, they were cribbed and

confined by the regulations of the corporations which made initiative worthless

and their careers often a set of routine expeditions within the confines of their

own valley. When a man such as Balmat, or later Michel Croz, developed into an

exceptional guide, he did so only by going against the traditions of his own

people. No such limitations hampered the Oberland men.*41+

Therefore there skills remained rather limited and their knowledge on other

mountain ranges was almost nonexistent: He *Michel Croz+ is the only Chamounix

guide who is acquainted with them *Mont Pelvoux, Grande Casse,+ and the local

guides are worse than useless.*42+

Mountain guides in Chamonix who really wanted to excel in their profession

hadnt got another option than to oppose these rules and the Compagnie in

general, like for example Michel Croz and Auguste Balmat. They saw that the only

way of improving themselves and to close the gap on many famous Swiss guides,

was to ignore these rules. Only then something could be done against the dead

level of mediocrity which was so characteristic for many Chamonix guides.*43+


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An important consequence of all this was that the lead, regarding mountain

guiding, the Compagnie had established in earlier years was now strongly

diminishing. More and more Swiss guides took the lead when it came tomountaineering skills, which meant that an increasing number of alpinists and

tourists went to Switzerland instead of going to Chamonix, the old capital of

mountaineering. Only few Chamonix guides were able to catch up with those

famous Swiss guides (Melchior Anderegg, Christian Almer, Bennen, Jakob

Anderegg, Ulrich Lauener, etc.). Not surprisingly it were those guides who

opposed themselves against the Compagnie like Michel Croz and Auguste Balmat.

Conclusion, despite the professionalization of mountain guiding, not all mountain

guides were as professional.

To counter the danger of hiring bad guides some measures were taken by the

Alpine Club, as well as by the other alpine associations. The alpine associations

countered it by obliging mountain guides to use their Fhrerbuch.[44] Every client

of the guide was obliged to write something down about his guide. Thus future

clients could have a look in these Fhrerbcher to get a view on the capacities

(climbing skills as well as moral capacities) of that guide before they would hire

the guide. Some examples: In height, courage, skill & prudence I have never

met his equal. (John Tyndall on his guide Bennen)*45+ Or Alfred F. Mummery on

his favourite guide Burgener: In every instance he has shown himself most

daring, determined & with all prudent, no better guide or cheerier compagnion

could be desired.*46+ I have much pleasure in adding my testimony to his

excellence as a guide to those of my friends J.J. Tuckett on Michel Croz.[47] And

a final example of J.J. Tuckett on Ulrich Lauener: I can most sincerely say that I

part with great regret from this excellent fellow & first-rate mountaineer whom I

can confidently recommend whether for easy (?) or long glacier excursions.*48+


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In Britain the Alpine Club tried to do the same by making lists of guides. These

lists were kept by the Alpine Club and members could write something down

about a particular mountain guide. When somebody else had the purpose of

hiring a certain guide he could take a look at these lists first to make sure his

choice for that guide was the right one. For example Leslie Stephen wrote in one

of those lists about Jacob Anderegg (cousin of the famous Melchior Anderegg):

He has shown himself a firstrate guide during the seasons of 1864-1865 and is

acquainted with the Oberland, Chamouni, Zermatt & other districts.*49+ Or H.B.

George on Johann Baumann: is the best man I know in his native place

*Grindelwald+, after Christian Almer. He is a very good step-cutter, and will

carry an immense load willingly.*50+ Motivations or remarks like these could

prevent climbers or tourists of hiring incompetent mountain guides.

Some final remarks

First of all, its mentioned before, most guides in the nineteenth century rema ined

simple Gletscherfhrer (guides for glacier tours) or guides on rather easy

excursions, or mule drivers and porters or porteurs chaise. Porters, mule drivers

and porteurs chaise remained a large group within mountain tourism.[51] For

many mountain guides this was the first step to become a real mountain guide

later. Many of the well known mountain guides started their mountaineeringcareer as a porter or mule driver: Im Sommer 1923 ging Ulrich als Trger in die

Berge, um eine weitere Bescheinigung fr die anmeldung zum Bergfhrerskurs zu

bekommen.*52+

Although this situation changed firmly during the second half of the nineteenth

century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Thanks to better and stricter

regulations it became harder to obtain an official mountain guiding certificate orpermit. For example, before being admit on a mountain guide course it was

necessary to present a record of mountaineering achievements. This was a reason

why many future guides started their career as a porter or mule driver, in order to

gain some mountaineering experience. Thanks to these stricter regulations and

better courses most mountain guides became more and more professional and


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more and more competent, regarding real mountain climbing. Courses consisting

of a practical part and a theoretical part, where future guides were learned about

geography, reading maps, first aid, rescue, regulation regarding mountain guiding,

etc.*53+ It has to be said that in comparison to todays courses these werent on

the same level, but when compared to the middle of the nineteenth century

these courses were a huge improvement. Thanks to these changes the average

mountain guide at the beginning of twentieth century was more competent for

guiding tourists and mountaineers in the mountains then their counterparts of

the middle of the nineteenth century, when the professionalization of mountain

guiding started.

A second and most important remark is that during almost the entire nineteenth

century practically all alpinists climbed with mountain guides. Guideless climbing

was in this time almost not done. There are some examples of mountaineers

who climbed without guides, but they were very rare. For example E. S. Kennedy

and Charles Hudson climbed Mont Blanc in 1856 without guides[54] , John Tyndall

climbed Monte Rosa on his own in 1858, Edward Whymper tried it,

unsuccessfully, on his own on the Matterhorn in 1862 and the Parker Brothers

(Alfred, Charles en Sandbach) scaled the Finsteraarhorn without guides in 1865.But examples like these were very rare until the 1880s-1890s. Only from then

onwards guideless climbing became more and more popular (specially in the

Eastern Alps were more and more Austrian and German climbers started to climb

without guides (mostly because they didnt had the money for hiring guides). But

before the 1880s it was only normal to climb with guides. There was some sort of

taboo around guideless climbing. The few people who actually climbed without

guides didnt get much sympathy from other climbers, let alone mountain guides

and the indigenous people, as the Parker Brothers experienced when they set offfor the Matterhorn without an encouraging word from anyone, on an enterprise

apparently regarded by others of a rash or dubious nature.*55+

Almost all alpinists were clear on this matter: climbing mountains meant hiring

competent- mountain guides as Leslie Stephen points out clearly in his book The


22/31

Playground of Europa: Meanwhile I will only delay my narrative to denounce one

other heresy that, namely, which asserts that guides are a nuisance.*56+ An

important reason for this necessity was that practical knowlegde which long

residence among the mountains can alone impart, and in the possession of which

our best English climbers fall far behind their guides.*57+

Even on minor excursions most alpinists and tourists hired one or more mountain

guides. At this time it was the normal thing to do. A quick look on some mid-19th

century guide books makes this attitude clear: The services of a Guide are

needful when the traveler is about to plunge into the recesses of the mountains

on foot. He may be said to be indispensable in ascending very lofty mountains,

in exploring glaciers, and in crossing the minor passes of the Alps according to

John Murraysfamous guide book A hand book for travelers in Switzerland.*58+

Or according to karl Baedecker: For the more difficult and dangerous routes,

however, guides are absolutely indispensable, and they will be found to be, as a

class, intelligent and respectable men, well versed in their duties, and acquainted

with the people and resources of the country.*59+

Not surprisingly guideless climbing couldnt count on much sympathy on behalf of

most tourists and alpinists, as well as on behalf of mountain guides. Even later,

when guideless climbing became more established, many, specially British

mountaineers and mountain guides kept on to condemn this new sort of climbing,

as did for example W.A.B. Coolidge.[60]

But before the end of the nineteenth century climbing with guides was the rule,

and exceptions on that unwritten rule were rather rare.

A final remark is about the influence of the British. During the 1850s and 1860s

they were the dominant force in the Alps (specially the Western Alps). Due to

various reasons (meanly political and economically) other nations, like the Swiss,


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French or Austrians didnt focus on mountaineering. This situation would only

change from the 1870s onwards. From then onwards the dominant position of

the British would strongly diminish and other nations would take their place.

Conclusion

Between the guides hired by the early tourists at the end of the eighteenth

century and the mountain guides who were active between the 1860s and the

1880s there was an enormous gap. These first guides were still more herdsmen or

hunters than real mountain guides, with only few mountaineering skills. Only

several decades later things started to change when, around the middle of the

nineteenth century, more and more -British- tourists and mountaineers started to

visit the Alps. They urged the existing mountain guides to improve themselves in

order to attract tourists and alpinists. This growing demand for mountain guides

made it clear that their was a need of finding a way to guarantee the qualities and

skills of the different sorts of mountain guides. It was the time when the different

alpine associations were established, with the Alpine Club being the example for

the others. More and more these associations got hold on the profession of

mountain guiding which meant a real boost for the professionalization of

mountain guiding. A process that wasnt finished at all at the time this historical

overview ends. This process continued towards the end of the nineteenth centuryand throughout the twentieth century. Vastly influenced by some major changes

that occurred from the end of the nineteenth century on: first of all there was the

growing number of guideless climbers, secondly the number of long engagements

diminished strongly. Specially during the GoldenAge of Alpinism many

mountaineers engaged one or more mountain guides for longer spells.

Engagements of several weeks werent exceptionally at all. However, from the

end of the nineteenth century onwards this did became rather exceptional. The

third and latest important change was the beginning of skiing. This made itpossible for the first time that mountain guides were mountain guides all year

round and not just during the summer months. These, and other, changes

changed the outlook of mountain guiding again profoundly.

Endnotes


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1 Auch die einheimischen selbst kannten in der Regel das Gebirge nicht weiter,

als ihr Beruf als Jger, Hirte oder Holzarbeiter sie eben fhrte. Fr die

Gebirgsbewohner hatte die Bergwelt nur so weit Interesse, als schne Bden

oder Nutzbringender Wald vorhanden war. (translation: The indigenous people

themselves usually didnt knew the mountains no more than for their profession

as a hunter, herdsman or lumberjack. The inhabitants werent interested in their

mountains but for fertile soils and profitable woods.) Gidl A., Die Stdter

entdecken die Alpen, p. 17.

2 Mountain tourism is said to be invented by two British tourists named

Windham and Pococke. They came to Chamonix to have a look at the glaciers

around the middle of the eighteenth century.

3 It has to be said that the number of people travelling to the Alps in this period

was still very small. But still, it was an important change in comparison with the

complete aversion people had earlier towards the mountains.

4 Die Bergreisenden kauften die Kompetenzen der lpler Kompetenzen, die

diese fr ihre Lebensweise in den Bergen notwendeigerweise hatten erwerben

mssen. (Translation: Moutain travellers bought the competences of the

indigenous peoplecompetences they had to acquire for their lifestyle.) Scharfe

M., Berg-Sucht: eine Kulturgeschichte des frhen Alpinismus 1750-1850, Wenen,

Bhlau, 2007, p. 34.

5 For a detailed report of this climb (and other climbs by De Saussure): De

Saussure H.B., Voyages dansles Alpes: Prcdes dun essai sur lhistoire naturelle

des environs de Genve., Neufcahteaux, 1803, pp. 474.

6 For a more detailed report of this accident, see: http://www.chamonix-

guides.com/pages_stat_en/presentation_en.html

7 One of the first places in Switzerland were an association like the Compagnie

des guides de Chamonix was established was Zermatt in 1845. Other famous

places like Grindelwald didnt saw such an association before 1856. In Pontresina

(close to St-Moritz) it took until 1861 and the Dauphin in France only in 1875,

when the STD, Socit des Touristes du Dauphin was established. Coolidge


25/31

W.A.B., Les Alpes dans la nature et dans lhistoire, pp. 335-336. And Bourdeau P.,

Les socits alpines et le tourisme en Haut-Dauphin de 1874 1974: formes de

leur action et rle dans le dveloppement touristique: rapport de recherche,

Lyon, Universit de Lyon, 1984, pp. 99.

8 Club Alpin Franais, established in 1874. The C.A.F. were responsible for

regulations regarding mountain guiding. Published in: Rglement des guides de

Chamonix, 1879 (article 33), Bulletin du CAF 2me Trimestre, 1879, pp. 59-62.

(Translation: For the ascent of Mont Blanc the guide-chef will assigne at least tree

guides, or two guides and a porter per traveler; for two travelers, four guides or

three guides and two porters. For every extra traveler another guide will be

assigned.)

9 Clark R. The Victorian Mountaineers, Londen, B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1953, pp. 88-

89.

10 Chaubet D., Histoire de la Compagnie des guides de Chamonix, p. 52.

11 Trevor B., When the Alps vast their Spell: Mountaineers of the Alpine Golden

Age, Glasgow, The In Pinn, 2004, Appendix: Alpine first ascents.

12 Most mountain guides were lower class men, while most tourists were upper

class, or upper middle class men. These tourists saw their mountain guides,

certainly in this period, and most of all the aristocracy and the rich industrials, as

members of the lower classes. They looked and treated them more like they did

with servants, workers and peasants. Often they looked down at them or they

simply despised these lower class mountain guides. Only later, from the 1850s

onwards, when more and more middle class British climbers came to the Alps,

this started to change. These British climbers saw their guides more as equals

then members of the lower classes, and they treated them likewise, as equals. Off

course there were a lot of exceptions regarding this subject, but in general these

were the kind of relations that existed between tourists/climbers and mountain

guides. Relations that could be called rather paradoxical. Several members of the

Alpine club admit that they act differently when being together with lower class

members in Britain or when they are together with similar lower class people in


26/31

the mountains, i.e. mountain guides: There is a bond of union between the guide

and his employer which seems to remove the former in some degree from his

ordinary sphere. Dangers and difficulties shared, and the exchange of thoughts

and opinions, which must result from days and sometimes weeks of

companionship, wonderfully diminish, for the time, at least, the gulf that exists,

socially, between them; (From: GeorgeH.B. (ed.), 'The Alpine Journal: A

Record of Mountain Adventure and Scientific observations. By members of the

Alpine Club., Londen, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, Vol. I, 1864,

p. 44.) Van Loocke K., Geld, vriendschap en sociale tegenstellingen: Een

onderzoek naar de paradoxale relaties tussen gidsen en alpinisten in de 19de

eeuw., master dissertation, Ghent University, 2010, pp. 201.

13 Gesetz, Reglement & Tarif fr den Frherdienst im Canton Wallis, p. 13.

14 Clark R., The Victorian Mountaineers, p. 99.

15 Hudson C. en Kennedy E. S., Where theres a will theres a way: an ascent of

Mont Blanc, by a new route and

without guides, Londen, Spottiswoode & Co., 1856, p. VII.

16 En quelque sorte la Compagnie inventa la scurit sociale. Gendrault J.,

Voyage chez les guides de Chamonix, in: Relief, 3, 1995, p. 6.

17 Gidl A., Die Stdter entdecken die Alpen, p. 166.

18 Tyndall J., New Fragments, p. 442.

19 Trevor B., When the Alps cast their spell: Mountaineers of the Alpine Golden

Age, p. 29.

20 In 1885 the guides Devouassoux (two brothers) perished on the Col des

Courtes. Published in: Souscription Devauossoux, in: Bulletin du CAF, 1885, p.

293.

21 Gidl A., Die Stdter entdecken die Alpen, p. 166.


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22 Chamson M., le roman de la montagne, p. 154. Vertaling: Courmayeur, Val

dAosta, between Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, the name Englishman assigns

all amateur-climbers.

23 Grupp P., Faszination Berg, p. 59. In comparison, before 1850 Mont Blanc hasonly been scaled 33 times.

24 Grupp P., Faszination Berg, p. 59. Footnote 27, p. 236 (Translation: Yes, this

want for adventurous traveling has become almost a fashion trend and the

dauntless Albions serve as a bright example for other nations. Its almost

impossible for a Swiss to climb a glacier pass or a mountaintop, which he thought

was previously untrodden or unclimbed, without hearing from his guide, he has

already guided an Englishman there.)

25 Van Loocke K., Geld, vriendschap en sociale tegenstellingen: Een onderzoek

naar de paradoxale relaties tussen gidsen en alpinisten in de 19de eeuw., pp.

201.

26 Letters relating to formation of alpine Club, Alpine Club Archives. I want you

to consider whether it would not be possible to establish an Alpine Club, the

members of which might dine together once a year, say in London, and give each

other what information they could. Letters relating to formation of Alpine Club:1857-1858, Alpine Club Archives, 1922/B65.

The first twelf members of the Alpine Club were: William Matthews, Edward

Matthews, St. John matthews, E.

S. Kennedy, E. J. Shepherd, Alfred Wills, Henry Trower, Rev. Isaac Taylor, William

Longman, T. W. Hinchcliff, C.

Ainslie en E. L. Ames. Uit Band G., Summit: 150 years of the Alpine Club, Collins,

2006, p. 13.

27 Some guiding associations were established before these Alpine Clubs, like in

Zermatt, Chamonix and Grindelwald, but it was only when these national

associations took control over mountain guiding that a real professionalization

took place.


28/31

28 Gesetz, Reglement & Tarif fr den Fhrerdienst im Canton Wallis, Lausanne

1870, pp. 64.

29 About the rates, tarifs, for excursions and climbs: Die Bezahlung fr die Fhrer

und die Reitthiere zu den verschiedenen Kursen ist durch den hier nachfolgendenallgemeinen Tarif bestimmt. (Translation: the payment for mountain guides and

horses and mules for the different excursions is fixed by the following general

rates/tariffs.) Gesetz, Reglement & Tarif fr den Fhrerdienst im Canton Wallis,

Lausanne 1870, Article 22, p. 19.

30 Gesetz, Reglement & Tarif fr den Fhrerdienst im Canton Wallis, Article 17,

p. 9.

31 Baedeker K., Switzerland with the neighbouring Lakes of Northern Italy, Savoyand the adjacent districts of

Piedmint, Lombardy and the Tyrol. Handbook for travellers., Londen, Williams &

Norgate, 1863, p. XXIX.

(translated from German)

32 Bonney T. G., The Alpine regions of Switzerland, Cambridge, Deighton, Bell,

and Co., 1868, p. 177.

33 Wills A., Wandering Among the High Alps, p. 85.

34 Stephen L., ThePlayground of Europe, p. 3.

35 Forbes J., Travels through the Alps, p. 512.

36 Many of the better known mountaineers from this era preferred to climb as

often as possible with the same guide. It was the time of the Belles amities

between guides and mountaineers. For example John Tyndall preferred climbingwith Bennen, Alfred Wills mostly climbed with Auguste Balmat, Leslie Stephen

with Melchior Anderegg, Edward Whymper with Michel Croz, Geoffry W. Young

mostly climbed with Josef Knubel, A.W. Moore with Christian Almer, Alfred F.

Mummery and Alexander Burgener, Between many of these alpinists and guides

real friendships existed. Therefore they didnt agree with the rotation system of


29/31

the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix. It has to be said that the mentioned

mountaineers and guides didnt only climb with each other. The guides as well as

the mountaineers climbed with other people. But when it was possible they

would prefer to climb together.

37 Chaubet D., Histoire de la compagnie des guides de Chamonix, pp. 76-79.

38 Rglement des guides de Chamonix, 1879 (article 21), published in: Bulletin du

CAF 2me Trimestre, 1879, pp. 59-62. (Translation: travellers are free in the

choice of their guides; when they dont have a preference, guides will offer their

services based on the rotation system.)

39 Clark R., The Early Alpine Guides, p. 74.

40 Trevor B., When the Alps cast their spell: Mountaineers of the Alpine Golden

Age, p. 150.

41 Wills A., Wandering Among the High Alps, p.57.

42 Original Furhrerbucher: Michel Croz: 1857-1862, Alpine Club Archives,

1922/K51.

43 Clark R., The Early Alpine Guides, p. 79.

44 Der Fhrer soll auf der Reise stets sein Bchlein bei sich haben und selbes

jedesmal vorweisen, wenn er von einem Beamten oder Angestellten dazu

aufgefordert wird. (Translation: The mountain guide has to have his Fhrerbuch

always with him, and he has to present it himself when he is urged to do so by an

official or a clerk.) Gesetz, Reglement & Tarif fr den Frherdienst im Canton

Wallis, Lausanne, 1870, p. 15.

45 Original Furhrerbucher: Johann Joseph Bennen: 1857-1863, Alpine Club

Archives, 1922/K15.

46 Original Furhrerbucher: Alexander Burgener: 1882-1909, Alpine Club

Archives, 1922/K9.


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47 Original Furhrerbucher: Michel Croz: 1857-1862, Alpine Club Archives,

1922/K51.

48 Original Furhrerbucher: Ulrich Lauener: 1856-1892, Alpine Club Archives,

1922/K30.

49 List of Guides, c. 1866, Alpine Club Archives, 1922/C88.

50 List of Guides, c. 1866, Alpine Club Archives, 1922/C88.

51 Mais seuls quelques-uns, les Andermatten, Les Taugwalder, les Burgener, Les

Anderegg (pour ne citer que des noms de guides suisses) marquent leur poque

par un srie de conqetes. Les autres jouent plutt le rl daccompagnateur

touristiques en montagnes. Demaurex B. and Bailly A., Profession: guide de

montagne, in: Les Alpes, Genve, 1, 1986, p.51.

52 Lanz H. And De Meester L., Ulrich Inderbinen: Ich bin so alt wie das

Jahrhundert, Rotten Verlags AG, Visp, 2009, p. 117. In the summer of 1923 Ulrich

went into the mountains, to get another certificate for the admission to the

mountain guide course.

53 Lanz H. And De Meester L., Ulrich Inderbinen: Ich bin so alt wie das

Jahrhundert, pp. 120-121.

54 This climb was subject for the book Where theres a will theres a way of

Hudson and Kennedy, published in 1856. This climb of Mont Blanc without guides

was performed by Hudson and Kennedy Together with Charles Ainsley, Grenville

and Christopher Smyth. Kennedy en Hudson would climb in 1865 the Aiguille

Verte without guides. (Hudson C. en Kennedy E. S., Where theres a will theres a

way, London, Spottiswoode & Co., 1856, pp. 95.)

55 Trevor B., When the Alps cast their spell: Mountaineers of the Alpine GoldenAge, p. 168.

56 Stephen L., The Playground of Europe, pp. 13-14.

57 Tyndall J., New Fragments, Londen, Longmans, Green, 1892, p. 457.


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58 Murray J., A hand book for travelers in Switzerland, Savoy and Piemont,

Londen, Murray, 1838, p. XVII.

59 Baedeker K., Switzerland with the neighbouring Lakes of Northern Italy, Savoy

and the adjacent districts of Piedmint, Lombardy and the Tyrol. Handbook fortravellers., Londen, Williams & Norgate, 1863, p. XXVII-XXVIII.

60 ... la vantardise de beaucoup de sans guides, et leur habitude de reprsenter

telle ou telle ascension comme ridiculement facile, ne peut manquer dinfluencer

dautres jeunes tmraines avec les consquences que lon sait. Cest pourquoi

nous avons dclar trs regrettable la mode des ascensions sans guides dans la

haute montagne, lorsqu elles sont entreprises par des amateurs non-qualifis. Si

lon ny met un frein, cette mode peut avoir pour lalpinisme srieux des

consquences irrparables et jeter nouveau sur lui la dfaveur et la suspicion

qui le paralysrent aprs la catastrophe de 1865 [During the first ascent of the

Matterhorn+.

Translation: the boast of many guideless climbers, and their habit to suggest

one or another ascent as ridiculously easy, can not but influence young

daredevils, with the known consequences. Thats why we have told we find this

trend to climb without guides in the mountains regrettable, specially when these

climbs are done by not-qualified amateurs. F we dont put a halt to this

phenomena, this development on mountaineering could have irreparable

consequences, and people will look at it once again with disgrace and suspicion,

like after the 1865 disaster *on the Matterhorn+.)

From Coolidge W.A.B., Les Alpes dans la nature et dans lhistoire, p. 327.

a short introduction on the history of mountain guiding

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