Henri Emmanuel Boileau, baron de Castelnau (1857-1923)
was a
French alpinist and sportsman who took part in the
first ascent
In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...
of the
Meije.
After his career as an alpinist he competed as an amateur cyclist.
Biography
Boileau de Castelnau was born in
Nîmes in 1857. He was sickly as a child.
Alpine career
He began mountain climbing in the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
at the age of thirteen, climbing
Maladeta
Maladeta (3,312 m) is a mountain in the Pyrenees, close to the highest peak in the range, Aneto. It is located in the Natural Park of Posets-Maladeta in the town of Benasque in Province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. Its northern slope contains t ...
and
Aneto.
Between 1872 and 1874, he climbed
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...
four times, as well as climbing the
Matterhorn
The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...
, the
Jungfrau
The Jungfrau ( "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Ju ...
, and many other mountains.
At seventeen, he joined the
Club alpin français
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises ...
(French Alpine Club) founded the previous year.
In 1874, Boileau de Castelnau traveled to
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...
to climb Mont Blanc. Forced to descend by a storm, he made the acquaintance back in Chamonix of
Henry Duhamel, creator of the French Alpine Club and
Haut-Dauphiné specialist.
Boileau de Castelnau told Duhamel of his desire to achieve the ascent of the Grand Pic de la
Meije. Tired of the bad weather that prevailed in Chamonix, the following year the two men engaged three guides in the valley and went to
La Grave
La Grave (; oc, La Grava) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France.
It is a small ski resort in the French Alps, dominated by La Meije (3982 m). It was the birthplace of Nicolas de Nicolay; adventurer and Geograp ...
and the "rocher de l'aigle" ("rock of the eagle")
[The current refuge, the Refuge de l'Aigle, dates only from 1910.] to bivouac. The company was tempted by the north face with the three guides (Alexandre Tournier, François and Léon Simond) but the expedition was blocked by an overly dangerous passage in a corridor formed of black ice and sleet. That year they reached the central peak of the Meije (),
conquered by
W. A. B. Coolidge five years earlier.
Later, in
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, Boileau de Castelnau met the President of the
Société des touristes du Dauphiné, and in 1876 met the guide
Pierre Gaspard and his son. They formed one of the most brilliant ropes of their era, quickly achieving many
first ascents in the 1876 and 1877 seasons. 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 and thanks to Gaspard's audacity, they came to the end of the wall that Duhamel thought impassable, both climbing with bare feet.
Forced to abandon it due to lack of time, they left a
fixed rope in place.
On 16 August, Boileau de Castelnau, Gaspard and his son reached the top, not without difficulty: the Meije was defeated. The descent was even more challenging than the ascent and they were obliged to bivouac, on the night of 16 August, on an uncomfortable ledge but managed to return to La Grave the following day.
W. A. B. Coolidge, who had hoped to be the first to climb the Meije, initially refused to believe that the relatively unknown Boileau de Castelnau had climbed it. Coolidge himself climbed the Meije by Boileau de Castelnau's route in July 1878 to confirm his account.
[Fleming](_blank)
pp. 313-316.
The Alpine career of the very young Boileau de Castelnau, interrupted by
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...
the following year, finally ended in 1879.
Post-alpine career
He subsequently devoted himself to managing his estates in
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
near
Montpellier.
He joined a foot-racing team and won the
Mile Race in Germany. He attended the
Faculty of Medicine in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, but did not write a thesis or practice medicine. In later years he became interested in bicycling (finishing second in the Paris-
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
race of 1898), driving motorcars (befriending
Armand Peugeot
Armand Peugeot (; 18 February 1849 – 4 February 1915) was an industrialist in France, pioneer of the automobile industry and the man who transformed Peugeot into a manufacturer of bicycles and, later, of automobiles. He was accepted into the Au ...
, among other manufacturers, and finishing fifth in the first
Tour de France Automobile), and flying balloons and airplanes.
Family and death
Boileau de Castelnau was married with a son and daughter.
He died at his home in Montpellier in 1923 at the age of 65.
Ascents
* 1875 -
First ascent
In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...
of the Tête des Corridors (), 21 August
* 1875 - Pic Central of the
Meije ()
* 1876 - First ascent of the
Tête des Fétoules, 29 August
* 1876 - First ascent of the aiguille d'Olan (), 2 September
* 1876 - First ascent of the
Tête de l'Étret, 4 September
* 1876 - First ascent of the Pic Nord des Cavales (), 10 September
* 1876 - First ascent of the Tête du Graou (), 18 September
* 1877 - First ascent of the
Dôme de Neige des Écrins (), 21 July
* 1877 - First ascent of the
Tête du Rouget (), 23 July
* 1877 - First ascent of the Petit
Pelvoux
Pelvoux (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Pelvós'') is a former commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Vallouise-Pelvoux.
Pelvoux bid ...
()
* 1877 - First ascent of the Grand Pic de
La Meije (), 16 August
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boileau de Castelnau, Emmanuel
1857 births
1923 deaths
Barons of France
French male cyclists
French male middle-distance runners
French mountain climbers
French racing drivers
Sportspeople from Montpellier
Sportspeople from Nîmes