[the spirit] [The Decision] [The job in Chamonix and elsewhere]

The Spirit :
Described by the French Alpinist Gaston Rébuffat as 'a world beyond the world', the mountains occupy a rare space on our planet: a space of great freedom. Nothing impedes the mountaineer in his quest towards these heights - nothing other than the mountain itself. Indeed, the mountain conceals dangers said to be 'indiscriminate', to which no-one is infallible: falling rocks, avalanches, storms... Taking you up there with promises of '100 per cent safety' would be misleading. On the other hand, I can assure you that thanks to my experience, my judgement, my knowledge of the terrain and of suitable
equipment required, I can reduce the risks. Chamonix lies at the heart of the three countries of the Alpine arc: France, Italy and Switzerland. Often, I cross a border to take advantage of the best weather, snow or alpine conditions. Bad weather hinders the smooth progress of a day's climbing or a training course. But my expertise of the surrounding mountain range always allows me to find alternative solutions and to ensure that each of you closely realise your mountain dreams.
Welcome in the mountains !

Sunset on the Patagonian Pampa, Argentina

The Decision :
During a university management lecture, one of my friends was enthusiastically recounting his experiences of his military duty in the alpine corps; a few months later, I joined the corps, for every day, for almost a year, we travelled in the mountains on skis or by foot with the ‘Section de Renseignement’, a division  of the 7th Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins, in Savoie. At  week from the “quille”, the military graduation day and my entry to the real world, I found myself asking one simple question : Do I go back to Paris and find proper employment or stay in the Alps and continue doing what I knew I loved? I was 23 and had only then realised my joy and connection with the mountains, a landscape of rugged physical beauty and silence . With hindsight, there was no decision to be made. After a few years of being a salesman in a specialist climbing shop in Annecy and after a term as a banker in Geneva; and with my UIAGM mountain guide diploma from the famous Ecole Nationale de Ski et d’Alpinisme in my rucksack, I decided in 1998 to come home to Chamonix.

On the Southern Patagonian Icefield – Argentina

The job in Chamonix and elsewhere :
Ever since, I do my job with as much passion and enthusiasm as during the first years. I spend most of my time in the Mont-Blanc range just above Chamonix but also, I regularly enjoy to escape from the sometimes tumultuous valley and spend some quality days in the neighbouring Swiss or Italian mountains which can sometimes offer quieter surroundings. Finding out for the 1st time about a route, a mountain, a view over the pass does still excite me.The autumn is for me the occasion to leave the valley for a longer period. The 1st time was in 1991 : for almost 2 months, I climbed the Cordillera Real in Bolivia. This trip was the first of a long serie. Indeed, since then, I always got back to the Andes Cordillera, especially in Argentina. After two previous stays in the 80’s/90’s, I fell in love with this country and its mountains. Several expeditions allowed me to know more about it and its people. In 2001, I came back to work as a guide for 2 seasons in a row. With 2 Argentinean friends, we set up a guides company in Bariloche, Patagonia called Meridies. I needed to know what was climbable outside this sacred valley of Chamonix ! So then, I went to Canmore, a small village at the foot of the Rockies in Canada, close to Banff National Park to work as a mountain guide too with Yamnuska Mountain Adventures , a local guides structure. Amazing trips abroad, beautiful mountains, different horizons everyday, climbing partners of great humanity, what else asking ?

Thanks to those numerous trips abroad, my English and Spanish are fluent : I am used to be with English speaking persons in the mountain, therefore my English is well enough rich/dense to make myself clear and understood, specifically in teaching skiing and climbing techniques with simple and adequate explanations.

In the Bugaboos range, Canada

[the spirit] [The Decision] [The job in Chamonix and elsewhere]