L'Equipement de l'Alpiniste 1900

Champery's tourism industry began in 1857 when the “Grand Hôtel de la Dent du Midi” opened for business. From this moment and up to the First World War, the modernization and demographic growth of the village (which rose from 517 inhabitants in 1870 to 821 in 1910) kept pace with the development of tourism. Nevertheless, Champéry remains attached to the model of the “village resort” based on the convergence between tourist attraction and local initiative (Préau, 2002: 186). After the construction, in 1865, of the new road linking the village to the bottom of the valley, it was thanks to the initiative of local tourism promoters that Champéry was equipped with telegraph (1870) and telephone (1892) lines (Grob, 1996; Olsommer, 1957), that the village was connected to the electricity grid (1900), that the Monthey-Champéry-Morgins railway line was built (1908) and that the local authorities granted the right to cars to drive on the municipality’s roads (1910). Like other “village resorts” in Valais (Perriad-Volorio, 1996; Roy, Guex, Sauthier, 2012; Sauthier, Guex, Roy, 2012; Sauthier, 2016) and the western Alps (Cole, 2002; Anderson, 2016) where local initiative was able to guide the tourism model, even in Champéry the various tourism initiatives were a home-grown affair coming from the main families of the locality and some of their representatives. Thus, in 1911, Champéry already had fourteen hotels. Of the eleven whose owners are known, only one was a “foreign” entrepreneur4. The others were the result of projects of families rooted in the local economic life – notably the Exhenrys, the Berras and the Défagos (Olsommer, 1957) – who, at the same time, played a leading role in the municipal (and sometimes cantonal) political scene (Grob, 1996; Delmenico 2016). This multipositionality – namely, the superposition of different roles (political and economic) in the hands of the same stake-holder (or a small number of stake-holders) – is a striking feature of “village resorts”, which has characterized the tourism boom of various localities in Valais (Sauthier, 2016). This includes Champéry, where the birth of tourism relied on the close links between its local promoters and the municipal Council. Thus, between 1870 and 1970, twelve people succeeded one another to the presidency of the municipality, eight of whom were directly linked to the tourism industry: seven were hotel owners and one was a board member of the cable car company (Delmenico, 2016: 255-256). The hotel owners were continuously at the head of the municipality from 1869 to 1904, then from 1909 to 1912. After that, the multipositionality decreased, with new stake-holders, not directly linked to the tourism economy, appearing on the local political scene.

The canton of Valais; German: Kanton Wallis, Italian: Canton Vallese) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland, situated in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is simultaneously one of the driest regions of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley and among the wettest, having large amounts of snow and rain up on the highest peaks found in Switzerland. The canton of Valais is widely known for the Matterhorn and resort towns such as Crans-Montana, Saas Fee, Verbier and Zermatt. It is composed of 13 districts (hence the 13 stars on the flag) and its capital is Sion.

The Romans called the upper Rhône valley Vallis Poenina. The Vallis Poenina was won by the Romans after a great fight at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC and became part of the Gallo-Roman cultural sphere. According to a tradition which can be traced back to the middle of the 8th century, the Theban legion was martyred at Agaunum (now Saint Maurice) about 285 or 302. From 888 onwards the lands were part of the kingdom of Jurane Burgundy.

Valais formed part of the kingdom of Transjurane Burgundy, which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. It became part of the duchy of Burgundia Minor, which was held from the emperors by the house of Zähringen (which became extinct in 1218). In 999, King Rudolph III of Burgundy gave all temporal rights and privileges to the Bishop of Sion, who was later styled praefect and count of Valais and is still a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The count-bishops then struggled to defend their area against the Zähringer and then the dukes of Savoy, so that the medieval history of Valais is inextricably linked with that of the diocese of Sion. The Dukes of Savoy, however, succeeded in winning most of the land west of Sion, while in the upper part of the valley (Upper Valais) there were many feudal lords, such as the lords of Raron, those of La Tour-Châtillon, and the counts of Visp.

About the middle of the 13th century, the large communities (Zenden or tithings) began to develop independence and grow in power. The name Zenden or tithings probably came from a very ancient division of the bishop's manors for administrative and judicial purposes. In the same century the upper part of the valley was colonized by Germans from Hasli in the Canton of Bern. The locals became German speaking, though many Romance local names still remain. In 1354 the liberties of several of the seven Zenden (Sion, Sierre, Leuk, Raron, Visp, Brig and Conches) were confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV.

By the late 14th century, the counts of Savoy acquired the bishopric of Sion. The Zenden resisted his attempts to gather both spiritual and secular power in the valley. In 1375-76, Zenden forces crushed the army of the house of La Tour-Chatillon, and in 1388 utterly defeated the forces of the bishop, the count and his nobles at Visp. The German-speaking Zenden spread further into the valley. Starting in 1384 the Morge stream (a little below Sion) was recognized as the boundary between Savoyard, French-speaking Lower Valais and German-speaking episcopal Upper Valais.

During the Raron affair rebellion in 1414 to 1420, some cantons of the Swiss Confederation took sides in the conflict. Lucerne, Uri and Unterwalden supported the Upper Valais rebels, while Bern supported the noble Raron family. The uprising was successful in driving out the Rarons, and almost brought the Confederation to civil war.
Following the violence of the Raron affair, the canton was the location of the Valais witch trials between 1428 and 1447 in which at least 367 men and women were put to death. This event marks one of the earliest witch scares in late medieval Europe. The phenomenon later spread to other parts of the continent.

With the election of Walther von Supersax of Conches as bishop in 1457, the German-speaking part of the valley finally won the supremacy. At the outbreak of the Burgundian War in 1475 the bishop of Sion and the Zenden made a treaty with Bern. In November of the same year they seized all Lower or Savoyard Valais up to Martigny. In March 1476, after the victory of Grandson, they advanced and captured St Maurice, Évian, Thonon and Monthey. They had to give up the last three districts in 1477, but won them again in 1536. In the treaty of Thonon in 1569, Monthey, Val-d'llliez and Le Bouveret were permanently annexed to Valais. These conquered districts in the Lower Valais were always ruled as subject lands by the bishop and Zenden of the Upper Valais. On March 12, 1529, Valais became an associate member (Zugewandter Ort) of the Swiss Confederation.

Valais resisted the Protestant Reformation, remaining faithful to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1628 Valais became a republic, the République des Sept Dizains/Republik der Sieben Zehenden, under the guidance of the prince-bishop of Sion and the bailli. The bishop remained in power until 1798 when Napoleon's troops invaded Valais and declared a Revolutionary République du Valais (March 16) which was swiftly incorporated (May 1) into the Helvetic Republic until 1802 when it became the separate Rhodanic Republic. In 1810 the Rhodanic Republic was annexed by Napoleonic France as the département of Simplon. Independence was restored in 1813, and on August 4, 1815 Valais finally entered the Swiss confederation as a canton. In 1845, Valais joined the Catholic separate league (Sonderbund) which led to what is called the Sonderbund War. 99,000 Swiss Federal troops under General Henri Dufour were faced by 79,000 Separatists, but in the end Valais chose not to fight.

Wikipedia

"In 1760 and in 1761 again, Saussure made a promise to the first man who found a way to the top of the Mont Blanc. He even offered to compensate those who failed. His guide, Pierre Simond, with whom he had climbed the Brévent and Montenvers, made two expeditions, one on the side of the Tacul at the bottom of the Mer de Glace, the other at the Bossons glacier. He failed, became discouraged, and stopped trying. This was normal. Centuries of latent terror from the mountains paralyzed action. But the eighteenth century knew glaciers better than we thought, especially in the region of Chamonix.

The Mer de Glace hid the slopes of smooth rock at the foot of the Drus, Moine, Tendiaz and the Egralets. This whole mid-altitude area was well explored. For a hundred years, the export of crystals formed an important element in the commerce of Geneva. We know what role the crystal played in the jewelry of those times. It was encrusted in buttons, snuff-boxes, sword guards, buckles of shoes and garters. It is likely that the quartz sold in Geneva came from the Mont Blanc range, much closer than those of Valais and Oberland. The crystalline craft was very widespread. Windham speaks of the Chemin des Cristalliers at Montenvers, Saussure follows him to the glacier of Talèfre. The Col des Cristaux communicates this glacier with that of Argentière, where the Amethyst glacier emerges on the other side, these names are modern, but perhaps they are echoes of an old local tradition.

As early as 1643, Justel reported to the Royal Society that a "certain Capuchin" had accompanied a crystal hunter in his research. The men in this occupation, like the chamois hunters, knew the ice zone and its dangers. In the old stories, the crevasses, the cold, and the altitude are pointed out. Ice cracks suddenly open and engulf those who cross them, they are all the more dangerous as the snow masks them: they are snow bridges, The cold, as soon as the sun sets, becomes very violent and, if by chance, there is a chance that we will not survive because of the lack of air. A night spent high is fatal (which Balmat later proved was not necessarily true). The reverberation of the sun on the snow can make you blind.

These are the fears that one formulates at the time. There are others: the vague apprehension of the unknown, of all that can arise on the way. Mont Blanc was not on the list of the crystal hunters. There were too few rocks that were promising if you wanted to search for crystals. Other places were to prefer. Everything was there; to discover. Perhaps old local legends also paralyzed: a bird at Col de Balme is a prophet of death for all who hear his cry...

The massif has been an important source of mineral specimens for crystal-hunters for over 250 years. The mountaineer and explorer, Edward Whymper, noted that the basin of the Glacier de Talèfre was "considered good hunting-ground for crystals", and that the slopes below les Courtes had yielded many large specimens. He recounted that in 1745 a guide had stated he had collected over 300 pounds (136 kg) of specimens there in just three hours. The first systematic account of the minerals of the Mont Blanc area was published in 1873 by Venance Payot. His list, entitled "Statistique minéralogique des environs du Mt-Blanc", catalogued 90 mineral types although it also included those present only as very small components of rocks. If these are excluded, it is known today that at least 68 separate mineral species occur across the whole range of the Mont Blanc massif.

In order to preserve the mineralogical heritage of Mont Blanc, in 2008 the commune of Chamonix banned all mineral-hunting activities and collection of specimens without a prior permit being issued by the mayor's office. Use of explosives, heavy machinery or helicopters for removing material were also banned, and a code of practice put in place which requires an annual declaration of all finds to be made. It also gives a right for the Chamonix crystal museum (Musée des Cristaux) to have first option to acquire specimens of significance for its collections. To further protect the scientific value of material collected, all specimens offered for sale must be labelled with details of where they were found. The crystal museum opened to the public in 2006 and tells the story of the early crystal-hunters (known as cristalliers). Many specimens collected from across the massif are displayed there.

Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 342), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of the ancient Greek city of Myra in Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire. He is revered by many Christians as a saint. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus ("Saint Nick") through Sinterklaas.

Unlike the holiday in the US, in Switzerland St. Nicholas brings his thug buddy, Schmutzli, with him. For reasons I don’t fully understand, instead of reindeer, St. Nick usually shows up with donkey. Schmutzli is a dirty guy dressed in brown hooded cloak and smeared with soot. Unlike jolly old St. Nick, Schmutzli traditionally beat naughty children with a switch and carried them off in a sack to be eaten in the woods. Now, he’s a little bit less of a felon/child abductor. He passes out the goodies and delivers stern lectures on proper behavior.

St. Niklaus is first mentioned in 1233 as chousun. In 1272 it was mentioned as ecclesia Sancti Nicholai de Chouson, Gebreitun de Gazun, 1388 in villa sti nicolai de chosun, niu a fr Saint-Nicolas.