Emmanuel Boileau de Castelnau
Henri Emmanuel Boileau, baron de Castelnau (1857-1923) was a French alpinist and sportsman who took part in the first ascent of the Meije. After his career as an alpinist he competed as an amateur cyclist. Biography Boileau de Castelnau was born in Nîmes in 1857. He was sickly as a child. Alpine career He began mountain climbing in the Pyrenees at the age of thirteen, climbing Maladeta and Aneto. Between 1872 and 1874, he climbed Mont Blanc four times, as well as climbing the Matterhorn, the Jungfrau, and many other mountains. At seventeen, he joined the Club alpin français (French Alpine Club) founded the previous year. In 1874, Boileau de Castelnau traveled to Chamonix to climb Mont Blanc. Forced to descend by a storm, he made the acquaintance back in Chamonix of Henry Duhamel, creator of the French Alpine Club and Haut-Dauphiné specialist. Boileau de Castelnau told Duhamel of his desire to achieve the ascent of the Grand Pic de la Meije. Tired of the bad weather that prevailed in Chamonix, the following year the two men engaged three guides in the valley and went to La Grave and the "rocher de l'aigle" ("rock of the eagle") to bivouac. The