Charlet Armand

(Bearbeiten)

Biografie:
Charlet Armand, Bergführer, * Argentiere, + Chamonix
Bruder von Georges Charlet

Armand Charlet , geboren am 9. Februar 1900 in Argentière und gestorben in demselben Dorf am 28. November 1975, ist ein französischer Bergsteiger und Bergführer, eine der herausragendsten Persönlichkeiten des Bergsteigens zwischen den Kriegen und galt als der besten Kletterer unter den professionellen Bergführer seiner Generation. Der junge Bergführer aus Argentiere wagte eine Anzahl großer Erstbegehungen: Aiguille Verte über die direkte Nant-Blanc, Überschreitung der Aiguille du Diable, Nordwand der Aiguille Verte und der Aiguille du Plan.
Charlet war sowohl ein ausgezeichneter "Felskletterer" als auch ein perfekter "Eiskletterer" und erzielte eine Reihe von Premieren . In der Fachzeitschrift La Montagne et Alpinisme bezeichnet Alain de Chatellus ihn als "unangefochtenen Anführer und Leuchtturm seiner Generation". Als Referenz ist er für die Welt der Fremdenführer das, was Pierre Allain für die "ohne Fremdenführer" war. Armand Charlet, Autor von dreitausend Besteigungen und Führer von zwölfhundert Kunden, ist insbesondere auf die Routen der Aiguille Verte spezialisiert, die er 100 Mal bestiegen hat und nicht weniger als 14 Routen, darunter 7 neue. Zu seinen größten Erfolgen gehören neben diesem Gipfel auch die Bezwingung und Überquerung derAiguilles du Diable. Ein Jahr vor Peters ersten Begehung des Nordpfeilers der Grandes Jorasses-Pointe Croz-versuchte er mit Robert Gréloz diese Begehung.
Armand Charlet war ab 1925 Mitglied der GHM. Er lehrte viele Jahre an der ENSA und hatte großen Einfluss auf mehrere Generationen von Bergführern.
Armand Charlet ist die zentrale Figur in Marcel Ichacs Film À l'Assault des Aiguilles du Diable von 1942, einem großen Klassiker des Bergkinos .
Das Grab von Armand Charlet befindet sich in Argentière.

1924 Best.Aiguille Verte,4121m, (Montblancgebiet)
1924 Best.Droites,4000m, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 Best.Piz Bernina,4049m, (Bernina)
1925 Best.Piz Zupo,3996m, (Bernina)
1925 1.Best.Petit Capucin,3.425m, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Best.Trident du Chardonnet,3500m, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Beg.Aiguille des Pélerins-Nordwestwand "Carmichael-Führe",IV+,200 HM,3318m,
(Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Beg.Aiguille de la Perséverance-Nordostgrat,IV+,2900m, (Aiguilles Rouges,Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Best.Aiguilles du Diable,4114m, (Montblanc du Tacul,Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Beg.Aiguille du Diable-Pointe Chaubert,4074m, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Beg.Aiguille du Diable-L'Isolée,4114m, (Montblanc du Tacul,Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Beg.Aiguilles du Diable-Corne du Diable,4064m, und Pointe Médiane,4097m, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 1.Best.Cornes du Chamois-Südwesthorn, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 Best.Pointe Carmen,4109m, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 Best.Teufelshorn, (Montblancgebiet)
1925 1. Beg.Cornes du Chamois de Tennererge-Ostwand, (Rhone-Alpes,Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval)
1926 1.Beg.Grand Perron-Südwand,2674m, (Schweiz)
1926 1.Überschr.Aiguilles Rouges du Dolent,3608m, (Montblancgebiet)
1926 1.Winterbest.Aiguille du Plan,3673m, (Montblancgebiet)
1926 1.Beg.Aiguille Verte-Sans Nom Grat,IV+,396 HM,4121m, (Montblancgebiet)
1926 1.Beg.Aiguille Verte-Ostgrat "Jardingrat",IV,750 HM, 4121m, (Montblancgebiet)
1927 1.Überschr.(Skiüberschr.) Col des Nantillons, dem höchsten Punkt des Glacier des Nantillons, (Montblancgebiet)
1927 1.Winterbest.Aiguille du Grépon,3482m, (Montblancgebiet)
1927 1.Beg.Vers.Grandes Jorasses-Nordwand-Walkerpfeiler bis 3300m ,VI/A1,60°,4208m,
(Montblancgebiet)
1928 1.Winterbest.Aiguille de Bionnassay,4052m, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 1.Überschr.Drus,3754m, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 1.Winterüberschr.Drus,3754m, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 1.Gesamtüberschreit.Montblanc du Tacul-Südostgrat "Teufelsgrat" u.Aiguille du Diable,V-,800 HM,4248m, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 Beg.Montblanc Innominatagrat im Abstieg,4807m, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 1.Beg.Pointe Croux-Nordwestwand "Charlet-Devouassoux-Führe",4023m, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 Beg.Versuch Grand Jorasses-Nordwand-Walkerpfeiler bis 3300m,4205m,
(Montblancgebiet)
1929 1.Beg.Aiguille du Plan-Direkte Nordwand "Charlet-Führe",IV,bis 48°,1000 HM,3673m, (Montblancgebiet)
1929 Beg.Aiguille Verte du Nant-Blanc-Flanke,4121m, (Montblancgebiet)
1929 1.Beg.Petites Jorasses-Nordwestwand "Charlet Route 1929",4206m, (Montblancgebiet)
1932 1.Beg.Aiguille Verte-Nordostwand Direkter Ausstieg "Couloir Couturier",bis 55°,1000 HM,4121m, (Montblancgebiet)
1932 Beg.Vers.Grandes Jorasses-Nordwand-Walkerpfeiler,VI/A1,60°,1200 HM,4208m,
(Montblancgebiet)
1934 2.Beg.Vers.Grandes Jorasses- Nordwand Pointe Croz-Nordpfeiler(Crozpfeiler) "Peters-Führe",VI-/A1,Eis 58°,3600m,4110m, (Montblancgebiet)
1934 1.Beg.Mont Dolent-Nordwestwand "Charlet-Führe",IV,55°,550 HM,3823m,
(Montblancgebiet)
1934 1.Beg.Mont Dolent-Nordwestwand "Charlet-Führe",IV,55°,550 HM,3823m, (Montblancgebiet)
1935 1.Beg.Aigulle Verte-Direkte Nordwestwand "Nant Blanc-Flanke",IV,1000 HM,4121m, (Montblancgebiet)
1938 1.Winterüberschr.Les Drus,3754m, (Montblancgebiet)

Gerd Schauer, Isny im Allgäu

Bergführer aus Chamonix. Einer der richtungsweisendsten Bergführer der Westalpen. Ein Phänomen in Eis und kombinierten Routen.
Charlet hatte schon 1928 die Grandes Jorasses Nordwand an der idealsten Stelle versucht (am Walkerpfeiler).
Erste Begehung des Südostgrates (Teufelsgrat) am Montblanc du Tacul (4248m) am 14. August 1928 mit Miß O'Brian, G. Cachat und L.R. Underhill.
Erste Begehung der Nordflanke der Aiguille du Plan imJahre 1929.
Eröffnung von fünf neuen Anstiegen an der Aiguille Verte imJahre 1932.
Zweite Begehung der Nordwand der Aiguille de Triolet (mit direktem Einstieg) mit Azema im Jahre 1945.
Erste Begehung der Montblanc-Diagonale mit A. Azema im Jahre 1937.
Quelle: Archiv Proksch (Österr. Alpenklub)

Quelle: Montagne 1975/76 Seite 320 f

Armand Charlet died in December 1975.
He had been failing for many months. He was the first guide to be elected to Honorary Membership of the Alpine Club and this was an honour he greatly prized. He rarely wore a tie and once said to me I have only two, one black for funerals and municipal or other dutiful occasions; the other to be worn when real mountaineers are present'. In his coffin he was dressed in his old guide's suit and the A.C. tie.
Armand was far from being an easy person to climb or deal with. His aloofness and integrity alienated many in a valley where narrow views and feuds still persist. It was regretted by many in Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere that the GHM and the CAF never accorded him honorary membership, though he was an Officier de la Legion d'Honneur and holder of 2 gold medals awarded by the French Government for rescue work under perilous conditions. I have endeavoured in my book "Portrait d'un Guide" to give some account of his career-not merely from my own experience of nearly SO years, but with the gratefully received collaboration of many othcrs of differcnt nationalities who climbed with him.
Only a brief summary can be permitted here. Throughout Armand kept meticulous records of times, weather and other conditions in a minute note book; these were amplified as soon as possible on his return home and the results fill 13 thick quarto volumes in manuscript, sometimes containing pungent comments on his companions and sometimes his rare praise. There is also self-criticism "I was not on form", "Should have started earlie"' and the like. These volumes make up a most valuable commentary of the period of mountaineering, mostly in the Mont Blanc Group, in which Armand enjoyed superiority, on his companions and on himself. In the course of his career Armand made over 3000 climbs (of which he classed 1800 as difficult), with 1200 different employers or friends, of whom about a third were women. His climbs included 100 ascents of the Verte by 14 different routes, of which 7 were new; 72 of the Grepon, 56 of the Chardonnet by scven routes; 39 of Mont Blanc; and 22 of the Drus. In the opinion of Lucien Devies, a Severe critic, Armand was for 30 years the leading French mountaineer, with few equals elsewhere in the Alps.
Armand never used artificial aids and at times I thought he was unwise to refuse a piton for security on a stance-not as assistance on the climb. I only once used a piton for security with him, but he did accept it, though the delay involved in hammeting it in made him impatient.
Like the rest of us he was little aware at first of the immense advances made by rock climbers in the eastern Alps and Italy, and of technical aids such as karabiners. Most of his outstanding leads were done with naited boots. Vibram was then unknown. Where he excelled was in brilliant and daring use of primitive (i.e. pre-1914) Equipment on rock and, more important, on great mixed ice and rock climbs, all accomplished at the highest speed after meticulous preparation and with a rare sense for weather and other conditions.
A full list of his best or new climbs would occupy pages. A few may be noted here: the first ascent of the Come Sud de Tanneverge: Col du Tour des Courtes, from the N; Mont Dolent, NW Face; Col est des Pelerins, from the N; with Robert Underhill and Miriam O'Brien, the first complete traverse of the Aiguilles du Diable including the Isolee, of which the first ascent in nailed boots was a stupendous achievement; several ascents of the Peuterey Ridge, all without bivouac from the Gamba Hut, including one in 10 hours; an elegant direct route on the W Face of the Grepon, with Gisele de Lonchamp; the Nant Blanc Face of the Aiguille Sans om, with Camille Devouassoux, never repeated and described by Devies as one of the outstanding exploits of all time; the far sounder direct route of the Verte on the Nant Blanc Face, with
Dimitri Platonoff; a fine line on the N Face of the Plan, with Dilleman. Armand never bivouacked. Speed, a careful review of conditions and knowledge of
the capacity of his companions were weighed. Then he drew his rope into his own fast tempo, spurring his companions to their best, rarely praising, but always on the alert. Some of his fastest times are worthy of mention: the old Brenva in 4 1/2 hours from the Fourche Hut, with Gourdain; the Grepon traverse Montenvers to Montenvers, in 7 1/2 hours, with Hart; the traverse of the Drus (Armand's first ascent of the peak) in 9 hours from the Charpoua, with Hart and myself; and with Noyce, the Mer de Glace Face of the Grepon from Montenvers in 4 1/2 hours, descent to Montenvers in 2 hours. In winter he made the first ascents of the Drus, Grepon by c.P., Requin and Bionnasay. Guiding was not Armand's only activity. Apart from tending devotedly his scattered parcels of land and forest, he was Mayor of Argentiere for 20 years, and for a long period he was President of the Compagnie des Guides of Chamonix, a previously archaic institution which he activated by shock treatment. During the war, he rendered valuable service by passing people across frontiers, in defiance of the Gestapo. But his most outstanding contribution to public life was made during the 12 years from 1945 during which he was technical director of the Ecole Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme, at Chamonix, to which candidates from all over France came to obtain the guide's certificate. Over 3000 passed through his hands. Armand accompanied every group, making notes on the performance of the trainees. He was certainly tOugh, and it is recorded that he said once: 'In this profession you must learn how to suffer'. As he was the first to admit, Armand, a teetotaller and non-smoker, was austere. Devies wrote of him: 'Withdrawn, modest, sometimes abrasive, he was exacting towards others, but more so towards himself. Of absolute integrity and loyalty'. He was utterly indifferent to popular clamour or pressure. Yet to those who came to know him he was warmth itself. His striving for perfection, his own great climbs, and his insistence on training the young to move capably and safely in mountains, brought many visitors from many countries to his house.
To those of us who climbed with him he will remain unforgettable for his technical skill, daring and speed. He was no 'ladies guide' in the Swiss tradition. Taciturn and exacting he drew out the best in his companions and raised them not to his own Level of skill, but to performance they had never dreamed possible for themselves-all this with the minimum of aid; one was never hauled up on the rope, one simply had to climb a pitch, indeed the whole peak, if necessary under a barrage of comment from above 'Pas comme ca'. Yet, as Dimitri Platonoff records and as I can also well remember, he could, after a climb that had extended his companion to the limit, nurse him down a long descent with tenderness and vigilance. His standards were of the highest, but he raised yours and afterwards in the hut or at your home or his he would relax and one could exchange views on many subjects. Once the barriers were down you were sure of his friendship which he accorded only to the few who measured up to his own high standards-not necessarily as highly skilled mountaineers, but as individuals of probity who did their best in other fields.
The hospitality he and his wife Andrea gave to British climbers at Trelechamps will be remembered gratefully. The Col Armand Charlet of which he made the first ascent from the N with Dillemann, is an enduring memorial on the map of the Mont Blanc group, which for so many ycars he made his own. For all his imperiousness he would not have wished for a better epitaph than that inscribed on the grave of Christian Almer "Der besten Führer, einer".
Douglas Busk
Quelle: Alpine Journal 1977, Volume 82, Seite 269-271



Geboren am:
09.02.1900
Gestorben am:
28.11.1975