Premier de cordée - R. Frison-Roche
The Mountain.
The guide, Jean, was killed as a result of an American client’s recklessness; George, the porter finds
himself alone with the American, whom he considers mad, the man responsible for the death of the
guide.
So Georges thought to go back down. A stubborn idea kept him going. All was not yet lost, he could still
save himself! Tough luck for the client. All it would take would be to tie him up on a ledge and leave him
to his fate. Alone, the porter knew that he would earn hours and hours of working the rope; perhaps he
would even be able to avoid the dangerous bivouac and gain the refuge de la Charpoua1. Yes, that was
very good. It would take nothing but letting himself slide gently, tie up the madman, leave him the
contents of the bag, and flee! Flee the bad weather, and that accursed mountain; flee the dead body of
Jean Servettaz who, up there, fixed his glassy-eyed gaze on unknown horizons of the living.
With this thought, Georges felt an immense hope come to life once more.
To flee was to rediscover the moraine, the alpine pastures, the forest, the valley, and the wooden cabin
among the orchards. To flee was to live. To continue on this path was to almost invariably perish, to risk
falling backwards into an infernal chimney, or, if he made it through that, to die from cold in the
company of the American. Oh yes! The American… He thought no more about it: he had to take him
back. Take the client back? Of course! That was his duty, though it was not fair, for that no, not fair at
all! It was that obstinate client’s fault that Jean was petrifying on the plateau of snow; was it necessary
that he too should perish, because of his wish to take back a madman at all costs?
R. Frison-Roche, Premier de cordée (Arthaud, 1963)2.
1
Refuge de la Charpoua: A hut in the Alps, near Mont Blanc, used as a bivouac by mountaineers and which
provides a good approach to a number of nearby peaks.
2
Premier de cordée: First on the Rope, a novel by French mountaineer, explorer and writer, Roger Frison-Roche,
which appeared serialised in the Algerian weekly La Dépêche algérienne in 1941. Translated into English by Janet
Adam Smith in 1949.