Abbé Amé Gorret
The Bear of the Mountain, priest and Matterhorn pioneer (1836-1907)
He was known as “the Bear of the Mountain”. Abbé Gorret was a priest, a mountaineer and a writer all at once. He took part in the first Italian attempts on the Matterhorn.
A son of Valtournenche
Amé Gorret was born in Valtournenche on 26 October 1836. In 1857 he climbed to the Tête du Lion with Jean-Antoine and Jean-Jacques Carrel: one of the very first attempts to open a route to the summit of the Matterhorn.
He was ordained in Aosta in 1861, then served as curate in Champorcher, Saint-Pierre and Cogne.
July 1865: the Matterhorn
In July 1865 Abbé Gorret was part of the Italian expedition to the Matterhorn. On 18 July Jean-Antoine Carrel and his companion Bich reached the summit. Gorret stayed a little lower down to secure their descent.
Pen and mountain
In 1869 he spoke at the Italian Alpine Club congress in Varallo, which later made him an honorary member. In 1876 he published the Guide de la Vallée d’Aoste with Baron C. Bich, followed in 1878 by Victor-Emmanuel sur les Alpes.
In 1884 he was appointed to Saint-Jacques d’Ayas, where he stayed for some twenty years. He died in Saint-Pierre on 4 November 1907, in a home for poor priests.
Source: Treccani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani.
Main photo: unknown author, C.A.I., public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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