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Georges Charlet

Biography

Georges René Charlet, born November 23, 1901 in the Chamonix valley in Argentière (France), was one of the greatest mountain guides of his generation. Very young, he and his brother, Armand Charlet, became aspiring guides (we said porters at the time) and from the age of 22 they were guides. Still somewhat in the shadow of the exploits of Armand Charlet, Georges' career was nevertheless quite exceptional. He married Marie germaine Coutte on November 6, 1923 in Couttet on November 6, 1923. In 1928, Georges Charlet made the first descent of the Arête des Grands Montets after it had been climbed in 1925 by mountaineers “without guides”, Henri de Ségogne, Jacques Lagarde and Pierre Dalloz. It was a great disappointment for Georges and Armand to have the first ascent of this obvious ridge stolen from them, which rises directly above their native village of Frasserands. Georges threw himself into this perilous descent without pitons and without carabiners, just an abseiling rope, in a roped party of three. He also made the first of the North face of the Col du Pain de Sucre in the Aiguilles de Chamonix. To climb this glacial slope at more than 60 degrees over almost 300 meters, he cut for 9 hours, steps 60 centimeters high in the ice... roped up by four, two customers and an aspiring guide, no one is insured and each climbs the steps in turn. Once halfway up the slope, you had to get out at the top because any backtracking would have been even more dangerous. For more than twenty years, with his client Alain de Chatellus, a French mountaineer and writer, he has climbed several great ascents such as most of the great Swiss 4000s, the Aiguilles du Diable, the Verte via the Sans Nom ridge and that of the Grands -Montets, the first without bivouac from the Peuterey ridge to Mont-Blanc, the second ascent of the north ridge of the Aiguille de Leschaux or the Carmichael route to the Aiguille des Pèlerins. In the preface to the book “from the Eiger to the Iharen”, Lucien Devies pays a fine tribute to the rope party of Georges Charlet with his client Alain de Chatellus: “Georges Charlet is one of the best French guides. Chamoniard, lively, cheerful, and shrewd, with flawless instinct, indomitable courage, he is a splendid performer in all terrains and he particularly excels on the ice... ". Georges Charlet was also an excellent rock climber. With one of his clients, William Carmichel, they climbed small difficult points such as the trident, the bell tower, the tacul sword on the south-west ridge of the Aiguille du Tacul and the snail point in the circus. of Argentiere. We also owe him the first of the Capucins du Chardonnet, the first of the Chamonix du Peigne face. In addition, a point, which he made the first ascent, bears his name south of the Aiguilles Ravanel and Mummery. He died on December 18, 1978 and rests in the cemetery of Chamonix.