200 personnes pour une cordée record à Chamonix avec Millet

On Saturday, July 10, a 6 km roped party of 200 climbers linked Chamonix's Aiguille du Midi to Italy's Pointe Helbronner. The event marked the 200th anniversary of the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix, which Millet has supported for the past 11 years.

The Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix celebrated its 200th anniversary in the mountains on Saturday, July 10. To mark the occasion, 200 guests were invited to join the world's largest roped party at an altitude of over 3,000 metres. Over 6 km, 170 guests and 30 mountain guides linked Chamonix's Aiguille du Midi (3842m alt) to Italy's Pointe Helbronner (3642m alt).

At 11am on Saturday morning, two separate roped parties embarked on this challenge on either side of the two needles, forming two roped parties. Two hours later, they met again to form the Grande cordée at the halfway point under the Mont-Blanc du Tacul pyramid. An exchange of flags between the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix and the Compagnie des Guides de Courmayeur in the middle of this 6 km roped party symbolized the attachment and commitment of the two companies to each other, and celebrated their 200-year history.

The event required five days of preparation upstream and at altitude, involving dozens of volunteer guides as well as the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix, for which Millet has been the official supplier since 2010. "Finding a date that suited everyone, with favorable weather conditions, was no easy task," said Olivier Greber, president of the Compagnie de guides de Chamonix. "As much as the 200th anniversary of the Compagnie de guides de Chamonix, these 200 years are those of the guiding profession, and that deserves a fine celebration and a highly symbolic event. But this great rope party is also, and above all, an opportunity to thank our customers - without a customer a guide doesn't exist - and of course to thank our partners, who enable us to do our job with top-quality, cutting-edge equipment." The photographer Luka Leroy was there for us and brought back these great pictures.

The summary of the Grand Cordée in figures:
- 5 days of preparation on site and at altitude with dozens of volunteer guides
- 20 people mobilized around the project for several months!
- 2 mythical Aiguilles: Aiguille du Midi and Pointe Helbronner
- 200 people connected (30 Guides and 170 guests)
- 3450 meters above sea level Average
- 6 km of rope crossing the Géant glacier
- 3 hours of effort
- Hundreds of spectators (France and Italy)

Millet celebrates its 100th anniversary

While the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, 2021 is also a historic year for Millet. The brand (which has produced the little film below for the occasion, which is worth a look) was founded in 1921 by Marc and Hermance Millet. This couple from Savoie made shopping bags and musettes for the customers of their grocery store near Lyon. Back in Annecy in 1928, they created the first backpack with frames. Their sons René and Raymond took over the business in 1945 and, with Louis Lachenal, designed the first mountaineering backpack, including the one he wore in 1950 on the summit of Annapurna, the first 8,000-metre peak conquered by man. Millet then became a reference in the world of international mountaineering and continued over the following decades and even today to accompany the greatest names in the discipline, such as Walter Bonatti, René Desmaison, Jean-Christophe Lafaille, Marco Siffredi and the climber Patrick Edlinger.