Courmayeur Mountain Guide Club

The Courmayeur Mountain Guide Club — known in Italian as the Società Guide Alpine di Courmayeur and in French as the Société des guides de Courmayeur — is a professional association of mountain guides and mountain leaders based in Courmayeur, in Italy's Aosta Valley. It describes itself as the first mountain guide society established in Italy, and it was founded in 1850, making it the second such organisation in the world after the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix (1824). Its principal vocation is the accompaniment of clients in high mountain terrain, above all in the Mont Blanc massif that rises above the town. The society's origins lie in the mid-nineteenth century, when the precursors of the guiding profession in Courmayeur came together to give a fixed and prestigious structure to a trade that had become the pivot of mountain tourism. The leading figure in its early years was Jean-Laurent Jordaney, a native of Pré-Saint-Didier nicknamed "Patience", who had already accompanied the alpine traveller and botanist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure from 1774 on the Miage glacier and Mont Crammont, and the Englishman Thomas Ford Hill at the Col du Géant in 1786. Over the following generations the society counted among its members many of the great names of Italian and Alpine mountaineering, including Jules Guédoz, Émile Rey, Adolphe Rey, Joseph Petigax, Alexis Brocherel, Laurent Croux, Cyprien Savoye, César Ollier and Louis Mussillon. Today the organisation operates as a cooperative-style association of professional guides. It offers guided ascents and courses across the seasons, with a well-known summer programme centred on the ascent of Mont Blanc and a winter programme of ski touring and other snow activities. It also manages mountain infrastructure in the massif: the Monzino refuge in the Mont Blanc massif, the Marco Crippa bivouac in the Val Vény and the Jachia bivouac in the Val Ferret. In 2012 it counted around fifty members, of whom about forty were active. It is a member of the Union internationale des associations de guides de montagne (UIAGM/IFMGA). The society's headquarters building, located between the route du Villair and the place Abbé Henry in Courmayeur, also houses the Museo Alpino Duca degli Abruzzi (Duke of the Abruzzi Alpine Museum), which preserves the history of the society and of mountaineering in the region. The society maintains a public presence through its website, a YouTube channel and webcams, and it collaborates with commercial partners such as La Sportiva on mountain experience programmes. Its long history, its role in the birth of Italian alpinism and its continuing operation make it one of the oldest continuously active guiding institutions in the world.

The Courmayeur Mountain Guide Club was founded in 1850, when the precursors of the guiding profession in Courmayeur came together to give a fixed and prestigious structure to a trade that had become the pivot of mountain tourism. It is described as the first mountain guide society constituted in Italy and the second in the world, after the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix, which had been founded in 1824. From its earliest years the society was one of the first bodies to promote and make known the mountains and, in particular, alpinism. The leading figure of the early society was Jean-Laurent Jordaney, a native of Pré-Saint-Didier nicknamed "Patience". He had accompanied the alpine traveller and botanist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure from 1774 on the Miage glacier and on Mont Crammont when Saussure decided to open a route to Mont Blanc, and he accompanied the Englishman Thomas Ford Hill at the Col du Géant in 1786. Jordaney thus linked the pre-history of Mont Blanc climbing to the institutional founding of the Courmayeur guides. Across its history the society has counted among its members many of the major personalities of Alpine mountaineering: Jules Guédoz, Émile Rey, Adolphe Rey, Joseph Petigax, Alexis Brocherel, Laurent Croux, Cyprien Savoye, César Ollier and Louis Mussillon. From the beginning of the twentieth century the society also organised expeditions outside Europe, extending its activity beyond the Alps. The society's vocation has remained the accompaniment of clients in high mountain terrain, essentially in the Mont Blanc massif. It manages mountain infrastructure in the area: the Monzino refuge in the Mont Blanc massif, the Marco Crippa bivouac in the Val Vény and the Jachia bivouac in the Val Ferret. In 2012 it counted around fifty associates, of whom about forty were active. It is a member of the Union internationale des associations de guides de montagne (UIAGM/IFMGA). The society's headquarters building, situated between the route du Villair and the place Abbé Henry in Courmayeur, also houses the Museo Alpino Duca degli Abruzzi (Duke of the Abruzzi Alpine Museum). In the present day the society maintains a public presence through its website, a YouTube channel and webcams, publishes winter and summer programmes, and collaborates with commercial partners such as La Sportiva on the "aequilibrium Mountain Experience" programme. Its summer programme centres on the ascent of Mont Blanc, for which it advises clients to book well in advance because of limited places at the Tête Rousse and Gouter refuges.

• 2012

  The society counts around fifty associates, of whom about forty are active.

• 1900

  From the beginning of the twentieth century the society organises expeditions outside Europe.

• 1850

  The Courmayeur guides come together to found the society, the first mountain guide society in Italy and the second in the world after Chamonix (1824).

• 1786

  Jordaney accompanies the Englishman Thomas Ford Hill at the Col du Géant.

• 1774

  Jean-Laurent Jordaney, later the leading figure of the society, accompanies Horace-Bénédict de Saussure on the Miage glacier and Mont Crammont.

Italy's first and one of the world's oldest mountain guide societies, offering professional high-mountain guiding in the Mont Blanc massif.

• Guided ascent of Mont Blanc (summer programme)

  The society's flagship summer offering, with bookings advised well in advance because of limited places at the Tête Rousse and Gouter refuges.

• Winter programme (ski touring and snow activities)

  A seasonal programme of guided winter mountain activities published by the society.

• La Sportiva 'aequilibrium Mountain Experience'

  A mountain experience programme run in collaboration with the partner La Sportiva.

• Monzino refuge, Marco Crippa bivouac and Jachia bivouac

  Mountain infrastructure managed by the society in the Mont Blanc massif, the Val Vény and the Val Ferret.

1. 1Guide Alpine Courmayeur: Italianoguidecourmayeur.com
2. 2Courmayeur Mountain Guide Club (Wikidata)wikidata.org
3. 3Société des guides de Courmayeur (Wikipédia)fr.wikipedia.org