If you are heading to the Ecrins look out for a giant 5m50 statue of Edward Whymper that will be guarding the entrance to the National Park at the Argentière la Bessée exit of the Route National as you head towards Briançon.

It looks as if the Ecrins guides office have come to terms with Whymper employing of the Swiss Guide Almer and Chamoniard Croz. Croz died on the controversial first ascent of the Matterhorn a year later, again with Whymper.

The statue pays hommage to Whymper’s ascension of the 4102 meter Barre des Ecrins in the company of Adolphus Warburton Moore, Horace Walker, with the guides Christian Almer (father and son) and Michel Croz on the 25 June,1864.

Walker made first acents of a number of summits including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses. Warburton climbed the technically challenging Brenva Spur on Mont Blanc a year after his partnership with Whymper in the Ecrins. The southern part of the Mont Blanc range was largely unexplored at the time.

The statue will be unveiled to celebrate 100 years of the local guides office on the 17th of July 2009.

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