As Millet celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2021, the French brand is giving impetus to its new signature, launched at a tribute to Chamonix and the mountain world. Private Sport Shop was present at the first Millet Base Camp.
Founded in Annecy by Marc and Hermance Millet in 1921, the brand of the same name has accompanied some of the world's finest mountain adventures over the years. From the first nylon bag used by Walter Bonatti in the 60s, to Christophe Profit's Gore-Tex suit in 1987, the Everest shoe in 2000, with its view of the 8,000-meter Himalayan peaks, and the recent Trilogy 15+ and Pierra Ment Evo bags, Millet has always supported those who write the history of mountaineering.
And what better place than Chamonix to bring together the brand's entire ecosystem. Once again, it was an opportunity to test Millet's core mission: "To help everyone live a mountain dream". In addition to film screenings, discussions and meetings on the theme of "the changing mountain", the Base Camp also gave guests (including Private Sport Shop) the opportunity to head off into the mountains for discovery and improvement workshops. Supervised by the three prestigious guide companies of Chamonix, Cervinia and Grindelwald (of which Millet is a partner), the roped parties also had the opportunity to learn more from glaciology experts Ludovic Ravanel and Jean-Baptiste Bosson. Here's the story of our adventure in the mountaineering capital of the world.
Monday, February 19
We arrive at Chamonix's Espace Michel Croz at 6pm on Monday. Millet banners show us the way in - this is the place to be! Dozens of small groups are on site, waiting like us for the doors to open. We can hear Italian, Japanese and Spanish being spoken. Millet has gathered his entire "family" back home in Chamonix.
Romain and Jean-Pierre Millet, descendants of the group's founders, will introduce the evening. A number of key players will also be on hand to share their views on the issues and changes linked to global warming. Among them, Olivier Greber, President of the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix, will explain how the guiding profession is evolving to meet the challenges of global warming. Shifting seasons, the disappearance of the shoulder season, summer temperatures in the middle of winter... Throughout his career, he has observed these changes, which have accelerated exponentially over the last 10 years. It was also an opportunity for Millet to reiterate its environmental objective: to contribute to global carbon neutrality by 2050 by reducing the company's carbon footprint by 25% by 2030. Romain Millet also took advantage of the Base Camp to announce the creation of an endowment fund to support projects in five distinct themes (education, tourism, social, biodiversity and innovation).
Another guest at this Base Camp is Jean-Baptiste Bosson, glaciologist and researcher at the Conservatoire d'espaces naturels de Haute-Savoie. In 2023, a study he carried out in collaboration with other colleagues was published in the renowned journal Nature. This study, which aims to model glacier melting on a global scale over the coming decades, is presented here. Jean-Baptiste sounds the alarm on the seriousness of the situation, without being fatalistic. Solutions are still possible, and there is still hope of limiting the damage. The Paris agreements and the ban on explosives and shovels on glaciers are just two examples. At the same time, we need to adapt to and manage the changes brought about by melting glaciers as best we can, since these changes are creating new areas of biodiversity that must be preserved and not neglected.
Aurélien Vaissiere is a mountain guide. But it's for his project 82-4000 Solidaires that it is here. The aim is to bring the mountains to people from very poor backgrounds. 82-4000 has already completed 75 climbs, bringing the dream of the mountains to the underprivileged.
Last but not least, three Millet mountaineering athletes were on hand to recount their adventures. Clovis Paulin, Symon Welfringer and Charles Dubouloz carried out the first repetition of the Directissime de la Walker on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses, free and in winter. For 30 minutes, they gave us their anecdotes on this unique adventure, opened by Patrick Gabarrou and Hervé Bouvard in the summer of 1986. The winter ascent raises the bar several notches.
Romain Millet closes the evening with a presentation of Millet's new visual identity. The revamped logo (see video below) is vertically oriented to recall the brand's origins and vertical DNA. Trilogy Alpine Kit, Millet's new mountaineering range dedicated to committed winter ascents, will be available in autumn 2024. A return to blue colors, recalling the element that most influences our mountains and life in general: water.
Tuesday, February 20
Meet at 9:30 am at the foot of the Aiguille du Midi cable car. Harness on, big boots on, ice axe on the bag. A group of around forty people has gathered for a day in the mountains. At the summit, the weather is clear, with a 360° view of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. We put on our crampons and helmets, find a roped party and off we go. We find ourselves roped up to Quentin from Sport 2000, Ulysse Levebvre, founder of Alpine Mag, Pierre, who manages communications at Millet, Gilles, Millet sales manager, and finally Guillaume, our guide. It's off for the arête à Laurence, or "arrête à Lolo" to our friends. This route, which joins the Cosmiques refuge, is an introduction to mixed routes with a touch of atmosphere and commitment.
Along the way, Ludovic Ravanel, geomorphology researcher and permafrost specialist, takes the time to explain the dangers of the mountains, the formation of crevasses, and in particular the increase in collapse phenomena linked to climate change. One of the most striking phenomena he experienced was the collapse of a 600 m3 slab of granite in 1998 beneath the Cosmiques refuge (our evening refuge). It happened in the middle of the night, while he was working there for a season as an assistant janitor. That same evening, Ludovic presented his research on permafrost, glacier melt and glacier viability. The results of his research are terrifying. Despite widespread understanding, the political action taken to preserve the health of the glaciers is not equal to the problem.
We arrive at the Cosmiques refuge at 5pm. It's the largest and second-highest refuge in France. The last roped parties arrive one after the other. We watch Ludovic's presentation and a magnificent sunset over Mont Blanc.
6.30pm dinner served, 8pm bedtime. We're at 3,613m and the altitude is taking its toll. Acclimatization isn't easy for everyone, and some people have headaches...
Wednesday, February 21
Wake up at 6.30am, eat breakfast to Stéphane Eicher, and run out to watch one of the most beautiful sunrises of our lives. In the foreground, the Grand Jorasses, with the Matterhorn in our sights. We'll remember this one.
8:00 am: We're off with Gilles, our guide for the day, back to the Aiguille du Midi to head down into the Chamonix valley. Along the way, the guides we meet are all unanimous. "It's like August 15th! Gilles explains that the guide profession is doomed to disappear. Although the day's weather offered us an exceptional setting, these are not winter conditions at 3600m altitude. Today, summer mountaineering is all but finished, and the winter seasons are getting poorer and poorer.
10:30am: We've arrived in Chamonix. We set down our gear and set off again for Montpellier (Private Sport Shop headquarters). From 3600 to 27 metres altitude in 5 hours, we've come full circle.
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