Pyrenean mountaineers and explorers

The mountains of the Pyrenees were climbed and explored by people from all kinds of backgrounds and driven by all kinds of interests but who shared the same undying love for these mountains, their culture and their heritage. All of these individuals worked tirelessly to raise awareness of nature's impressive legacy and to preserve it.

The origin of this fascination with the Pyrenees possibly dates back to the mapping done by a number of military engineers, among them Vicente de Heredia and Reinhard Junker in 1785, followed by the mountain ascents and nature excursions of Ramond de Carbonnières in 1787.

In the 19th century, the first Romantic travellers began to make their way to the Pyrenees-Monte Perdido area, all of them eminent figures who loved these mountains and were keen to discover, study or simply contemplate the landscape and above all to work to ensure that it was protected.
From that time on, there were many people who came here to conduct studies -- some of them in-depth, others more popular -- that they then publicised, extolling the natural, cultural, environmental and human riches of the region.
The historian Henri Beraldi described the way of thinking of these Pyrenean mountaineers and explorers, saying "you have to ascend the mountain, feel and write about what you feel".
Below, we present brief details of a number of the most eminent Pyrenean mountaineers, explorers and ethnographers who travelled the Pyrenees-Monte Perdido area.

Ramond de Carbonnières

The first visitors to the Pyrenees in the 19th century

Henry Patrick Marie Rusell-Killough

Franz Schrader

Julio Soler i Santaló

Editorial Hachette

Emile Raysse and the Baron of Lassus

Lucien Briet and the Pyrenean climbers in the French Alpine Club

Jean Bepmale

Other researchers