Ramuz, a contemplative against mountaineering

Unlike Eugène Rambert in the 19th century or Maurice Chappaz (1916-2009), Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878-1947) never ventured into the highlands. Faithful to an ancestral conception of the mountain as a place to be avoided, the Vaudois describes it in all its strangeness.

In those days, mountaineering was a relatively new sport. In 1900, Ramuz and three friends set off on a Voyage en Savoie (1931). As they left Geneva station, their attire contrasted with that of the proud climbers «with shod shoes, crampons and calf pads» with whom they shared the train:

«We had decided (...) that only rope soles could do their job perfectly well in the rocks (...); that while cloth clothes got wet less quickly, they also dried more difficultly (...); and so we set off as the