Refuge du Requin to change hands

For keen mountaineers in the Chamonix Valley, a couple of familiar faces will be saying “au revoir” at the end of this winter. After 12 years of hosting the Requin hut, Annick and Gilbert Pareau will be moving on under controversial circumstances.

The hut is run by the Compagnie des Guides and the Club Alpin Français (CAF). Following complaints of poor service, they have decided not to renew the Pareau's contract. Mr Pareau contests this, claiming that the letters of complaint are a conspiracy and that lots of people support him.

One complaint that was held up as an example was that of a mountain guide and his client who took shelter at the refuge in bad weather and were told to leave. Mr Pareau says that he was justified in asking the guide to leave as he had not bought a drink or anything to eat. He claims that you would not expect to sit in a restaurant and not order anything, so why should you do the same in a refuge?

Mr Pareau is himself a mountain guide and his hut is a popular stopping point along the Vallée Blanche.

Apparently opinion within the CAF is divided. CAF president Roland Ravanel does not divulge whether or not he agrees with the decision but believes that it has been handled badly, he voices the bizarrely philosophical opinion that; “I do not agree on the manner in which they were ejected. When you want to kill a dog you accuse it of having rabies…”

Mr Pareau now intends on pursuing a civil case against the Compagnie des Guides (his own employers as a mountain guide) and the CAF in order to reclaim benefits from the contract that he and his wife have described as “vexatious”.

Source: Le Dauphiné Libéré