Alfred Couttet | Couttet Champion

1889 - 8th may • Alfred COUTTET was born at Les Rebats in Chamonix.

1894 • At the age of five, Alfred COUTTET was tending his herd in the mountain pastures of Blaitière, at the foot of Grands Charmoz and Grépon. He learned his hard trade on the rocks lining the pasture meadows, on the outskirts of the mountain cowherds' cowsheds.

[passage taken from "Les guides de nos montagnes : à la veillée, dans un refuge" by Géo-Ch. Véran | Le Miroir du Monde N°117 of 28th May 1932]

1895 • One day, his brother, four years older than him, went for a walk to the Plan de l'Aiguille.
— Take me with you!" he asked.
— You're much too young," replies the elder.
Alfred COUTTET is six years old. Furious at being treated like a baby, he waits for his brother to return; then, two days later, to take his revenge and show what he is capable of, he sets off alone on the excursion he has been deprived of.
On the way up, there's nothing to stop him. He knew the path vaguely, having heard it described many times. He climbed for four hours without resting; he had never made such an effort. And, triumphant, he reached the goal he had set himself. But the descent was a different matter. Il veut aller vite, car il pense qu'en bas on doit s'inquiéter de son absence prolongée. Il s'engage dans les raccourcis, coupe la pente pour éviter quelques lacets et, finalement, se perd dans les bois qui, sur 1.000 mètres de hauteur, s'accrochent au versant de la montagne jusqu'aux glaciers. Le voilà seul, cherchant sa route, pleurant à chaudes larmes, parce qu'il commence à avoir peur, errant au milieu des blocs énormes, dévalant parmi les éboulis, s'agrippant aux branches des arbres pour ne point tomber. Night came. Luckily, he meets an old woman who puts him back on the right path.
At the age of six, this was his first mountain race.

[passage taken from "Les guides de nos montagnes : à la veillée, dans un refuge" by Géo-Ch. Véran | Le Miroir du Monde N°117 of 28th May 1932]

1896 • When he was just 7 years old, Alfred COUTTET, a guide's son, decided to imitate those "fend-la-bise" who came down from the snowfields with strange contraptions on their feet. With two barrel staves, a good pair of galoshes and two ash boards, the trick was done and...

…Best regards from Alfred!

"On those improvised skis, I felt that wonderful sensation you get on those crazy descents through snow-covered forests."

1901 • At the age of twelve, under the guidance of his father, he climbed Mont Blanc, which is not at all unusual for a boy from Chamonix. By listening to the men of his village recount their ascents in great detail, by following the many caravans that set off every morning towards the Bosses or the Grands Mulets, hadn't he long been familiar with the smallest crevasses and the most scabrous passages?

[passage taken from "Les guides de nos montagnes : à la veillée, dans un refuge" by Géo-Ch. Véran | Le Miroir du Monde N°117 of 28th May 1932]