Pierre Gaspard

Pierre Gaspard (27 March 1834, in Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans – 16 January 1915, in Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans) was a French mountain climber, one of the greatest mountain guides in the silver age of alpinism. He made the first ascent of La Meije (Massif des Écrins) on 16 August 1877 with his son and Emmanuel Boileau de Castelnau. Their ascent followed the south buttress Arête du Promontoire, which became the "normal route".

Biography Pierre Gaspard's father, Hugues Gaspard, came from the small village of Saint-Georges d'Entraunes in the former department of Var (department) in Provence. He was a shepherd, who spent each summer with the sheep on the long trip to the Alpine pastures in the Vénéon valley in the Dauphiné. In September 1832, he married an inhabitant of the village of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans, in the Dauphiné Alps, and settled in the village permanently. His son was born in the village, in the heart of the Pelvoux Massif, in 1837.

Pierre Gaspard took over his father's farm, which consisted of several sections of the field and a flock of sheep. In his spare time he enjoyed hunting chamois. He was a rugged and fearless man who knew the mountains beautifully. He became familiar with the entire upper part of the valley surrounding Vénéon, from Olan and Les Bans on the south to Ailefroide and Barre des Écrins in the east to La Meije in the north. He had climbing ability and knowledge of the details of topography of the area, including the configuration of the glaciers.

Already by the end of the 1860s he led tourists on trips to the mountains. In 1873, he scaled the ice pass of Col de la Lauze . In 1874, he climbed the Barre des Écrins. The following year, with the support of W. A. B. Coolidge, the Dauphiné Tourists Association (Société des Touristes du Dauphiné) turned to him for help in setting up the organization of the alpine guides. On 4 August 1877, Boileau de Castelnau and Gaspard tried a new ascent of the Meije by the south side, a route attempted the previous year by Henry Duhamel. With difficulty He died a few months later. He was buried in the small cemetery in his native village, surrounded by mountains. 1889 - L'Ailefroide Centrale , southeast face, 8 August 1891 - Summit of Pelvoux by the northwest face of Pointe Durand , 10 July 1891 - West summit of Pic des Souffles