Courmayeur · Italy

Emile Rey, prince of guides

The guides of Courmayeur lived in hamlets such as this, and the greatest of them was Emile Rey. He was born here in 1846, worked as a carpenter and came to climbing late, which did not prevent him becoming the guide half of Europe wished to engage. He made the first ascent of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, then the most difficult summit in the massif to reach, and opened routes on the Italian side that still carry his name. Those who climbed with him described a man who was never hurried and never in doubt. In August 1895 he was descending from the Dent du Géant, on ground so easy the rope was off, when he slipped and fell. He was forty-nine. The guides' register records it in one line, as such news was recorded then.

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What is the Aiguille Blanche?

A 4,112-metre summit on the Peuterey ridge, reckoned the hardest four-thousander in the Alps to reach. It has no easy side: whichever way you come at it, you climb serious ground and must then descend it again.

What was a guide's life like?

Seasonal, and paid by the day. The Société des Guides, founded in 1850, set the tariff and distributed the work in turn so that nobody took all the best clients. In winter one took other work. In many families the work passed from father to son.

Where can I see more?

At the Casa delle Guide and the alpine museum down in the village, where the guides' books, their equipment and the records of ascents are kept. It is only a few rooms, but that is where the history of this work is written down.

Where it is

Villair, 11013 Courmayeur · 45.79727, 6.9763 · Open in Maps

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