Henry Russell (explorer)
Encyclopedia
Henry Patrick Marie, Count Russell-Killough (1834–1909) was one of the pioneers of Pyrenean
exploration, known for his obsession with the Vignemale
.
of an Irish father and a French mother, he undertook his first distant voyage at the age of 23, to North America. In 1858 he climbed Pic de Néouvielle
in the Néouvielle massif
from Barèges
, as well as the Ardiden, and made three ascents of Monte Perdido
. In 1859 he made his second voyage, which lasted three years. He travelled to Saint Petersburg
, Moscow
, Irkutsk
and Beijing
, crossing the Gobi Desert
twice and descending the Amur River. He stayed in Shanghai
and Hong Kong
, then travelled on to Australia
and New Zealand
. He spent a year in India
and returned to France by Cairo
and Constantinople
.
s, surviving financially on his personal fortune and his investments. He is especially known for his ascents of the Vignemale
, which he climbed for the first time on 14 September 1861 with the guide Laurent Passet. In 1864 in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
, together with Charles Packe
, Farnham Maxwell-Lyte
and Emilien Frossard, he formed a society devoted primarily to the scientific and ethnographic study of the Pyrenees: the Société Ramond
(Ramond Society, named after the famous Pyrenean explorer, Louis Ramond de Carbonnières
), still extant today. In 1868 he climbed the Vignemale for a second time, with Hippolyte Passet. For his third ascent on 11 February 1869, and the first winter ascent of the peak, he was accompanied by Hippolyte and Henri Passet.
Being keen to spend nights on the Vignemale, he bivouacked
in the open – buried by his guides in a blanket of rocks and earth – on the summit of Pic Longue on 26 August 1880. It was at this point that he considered the installation of caves on the mountain, reasoning that any other construction would be unaesthetic and unwelcome. On his instructions, seven caves were built between 1881 and 1893. In August 1882, the first cave was completed; this was the villa Russell, located at 3,205 m at the col of Cerbillonna (the cave was 3 m in depth, 2.5 m broad and 2 m in height). Russell lived in the cave for three days, and on 12 August 1884 he had the cave – as well as the mountain – blessed by a priest. In 1885 digging started on the second cave (that of the Guides), then in 1886 on the third: the Grotte des Dames (the Ladies cave). On 5 December 1888 he asked the prefect of the Hautes-Pyrénées
to grant the concession of the Vignemale to him (comprising 200 ha
between 2,300 and 3,300 m). The annual rent was fixed at 1 frank
over 99 years, and payment began in January 1889. When the Ossoue glacier
covered his caves, three others were dug 800 m lower, at the base of the glacier (2,400m): these are known as the Bellevue caves. He organized sumptuous and legendary banquets at these caves, receiving princes and notables there on Persian carpets and styling himself as the Comte des Monts. These caves lacked the grandeur of his higher perches, however, so for his seventh and final cave – Le Paradis – he had a spot 18 m below the summit of the Vignemale dynamite
d to effect a suitable dwelling. It was here that he celebrated his 'silver wedding': the sixty years that had passed since his first ascent of the mountain. He made his thirty-third and final ascent of the Vignemale on 8 August 1904.
Pic Russell in the Maladeta massif
is named after him; he made the first ascent in 1865.
On his death in Biarritz
in 1909 he was buried at the cemetery in Pau.
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
exploration, known for his obsession with the Vignemale
Vignemale
The Vignemale , at 3298 metres, is the highest of the French Pyrenean summits, in the border with Spain ....
.
Early life
Born in ToulouseToulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
of an Irish father and a French mother, he undertook his first distant voyage at the age of 23, to North America. In 1858 he climbed Pic de Néouvielle
Pic de Néouvielle
Pic de Néouvielle is a mountain in the Néouvielle massif in the Pyrenees.It is located in the commune of Saint-Lary-Soulan within the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées, and lies on the border between the Pyrenees National Park and the Néouvielle National Park...
in the Néouvielle massif
Néouvielle massif
The Néouvielle massif is a group of mountains in the Pyrenees in France notable for its lakes and its microclimate. Much of the massif lies within the Néouvielle National Nature Reserve; this nature reserve was created in 1936 and is the third oldest in France.The name Néouvielle derives from nèu...
from Barèges
Barèges
Barèges is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. It is situated in the valley of the stream Bastan on the former Route nationale 618, the "Route of the Pyrénées."-Economy:...
, as well as the Ardiden, and made three ascents of Monte Perdido
Monte Perdido
Monte Perdido is the third highest mountain in the Pyrenees. The summit of Monte Perdido , located in Spain, lies hidden from France by the seemingly impenetrable peaks of the Cirques of Gavarnie and Estaubé. It is in the north of Huesca province...
. In 1859 he made his second voyage, which lasted three years. He travelled to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, crossing the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
twice and descending the Amur River. He stayed in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, then travelled on to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He spent a year in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and returned to France by Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
Pyrenean exploration
From 1861, Russell became devoted to the exploration of the Pyrenees. On his own or in the company of his guides, he made numerous first ascentFirst ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...
s, surviving financially on his personal fortune and his investments. He is especially known for his ascents of the Vignemale
Vignemale
The Vignemale , at 3298 metres, is the highest of the French Pyrenean summits, in the border with Spain ....
, which he climbed for the first time on 14 September 1861 with the guide Laurent Passet. In 1864 in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
Bagnères-de-Bigorre
Bagnères-de-Bigorre is a French commune in the south-western Hautes-Pyrénées department, of which it is a sub-prefecture.-Notable people:Bagnères-de-Bigorre was the birthplace of:*Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke...
, together with Charles Packe
Charles Packe
Charles Packe was an English lawyer and explorer who is noted for his travels in and writing about the Pyrenees.-Family:Packe was born in 1826, the oldest son of Edmund Packe, a captain in the Royal Horse Guards.-Pyrenees:...
, Farnham Maxwell-Lyte
Farnham Maxwell-Lyte
Farnham Maxwell-Lyte was a chemist and the pioneer of a number of techniques in photographic processing...
and Emilien Frossard, he formed a society devoted primarily to the scientific and ethnographic study of the Pyrenees: the Société Ramond
Société Ramond
The Société Ramond is a French learned society devoted to the study of the Pyrenees. It is named after the French politician, geologist, botanist and explorer Louis Ramond de Carbonnières and is based in Bagnères-de-Bigorre.-Founding:...
(Ramond Society, named after the famous Pyrenean explorer, Louis Ramond de Carbonnières
Louis Ramond de Carbonnières
Louis François Élisabeth Ramond, baron de Carbonnières , was a French politician, geologist and botanist...
), still extant today. In 1868 he climbed the Vignemale for a second time, with Hippolyte Passet. For his third ascent on 11 February 1869, and the first winter ascent of the peak, he was accompanied by Hippolyte and Henri Passet.
Being keen to spend nights on the Vignemale, he bivouacked
Bivouac shelter
A bivouac traditionally refers to a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire or such a site where a camp may be built. It is also commonly used to describe a variety of improvised camp sites such as those used in scouting and...
in the open – buried by his guides in a blanket of rocks and earth – on the summit of Pic Longue on 26 August 1880. It was at this point that he considered the installation of caves on the mountain, reasoning that any other construction would be unaesthetic and unwelcome. On his instructions, seven caves were built between 1881 and 1893. In August 1882, the first cave was completed; this was the villa Russell, located at 3,205 m at the col of Cerbillonna (the cave was 3 m in depth, 2.5 m broad and 2 m in height). Russell lived in the cave for three days, and on 12 August 1884 he had the cave – as well as the mountain – blessed by a priest. In 1885 digging started on the second cave (that of the Guides), then in 1886 on the third: the Grotte des Dames (the Ladies cave). On 5 December 1888 he asked the prefect of the Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.-History:...
to grant the concession of the Vignemale to him (comprising 200 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
between 2,300 and 3,300 m). The annual rent was fixed at 1 frank
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
over 99 years, and payment began in January 1889. When the Ossoue glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
covered his caves, three others were dug 800 m lower, at the base of the glacier (2,400m): these are known as the Bellevue caves. He organized sumptuous and legendary banquets at these caves, receiving princes and notables there on Persian carpets and styling himself as the Comte des Monts. These caves lacked the grandeur of his higher perches, however, so for his seventh and final cave – Le Paradis – he had a spot 18 m below the summit of the Vignemale dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
d to effect a suitable dwelling. It was here that he celebrated his 'silver wedding': the sixty years that had passed since his first ascent of the mountain. He made his thirty-third and final ascent of the Vignemale on 8 August 1904.
Pic Russell in the Maladeta massif
Massif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
is named after him; he made the first ascent in 1865.
On his death in Biarritz
Biarritz
Biarritz is a city which lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in south-western France. It is a luxurious seaside town and is popular with tourists and surfers....
in 1909 he was buried at the cemetery in Pau.
First ascents
The following is a selection of Russell's first ascents in the Pyrenees. Names of companions are given; otherwise the ascents were undertaken alone.- Pic d'Ardiden, 2988 m, 1858
- Lustou, 3023 m, 1864
- Pic Carlit, 2912 m, 1864
- Pic des Gourgs Blancs, 3129 m, with J. Haurillon, 1864
- Pico de Coronas, 3293 m, with a porter, 1864
- Cilindro de MarboréCilindro de MarboréCilindro de Marboré is a mountain in the Monte Perdido massif in the Pyrenees....
, 3,328 m, with Hippolyte Passet, 1864 - Pic Russell, 3205 m, with C. Packe, 1865
- Marboré, 3248 m, with Hippolyte Passet, 24 September 1865
- Pena del Infierno Ctl., 3082 m, with Sarettes, 20 June 1867
- Pico Royo, 3121 m, with Haurillon, 1868
- Pic d'Albe, 3107 m, with Haurillon, July 1868
- Grande Fache 3005 m, with Latour, August 1874
- Gabiétous Or., 3031 m, with C. Passet, September 1874
- Garmo Negro, 3051 m, with Sarettes, Pablo Belio, 23 June 1876
- Pic Occ. de la Cascade, 3095 m, with C. Passet 1877
- 2e Pic Occ. de la Maladeta, 3220 m, with C. Passet, 25 August 1877
- Eriste S, 3045 m, 17 July 1878
- Grand Eriste, 3053 m, with F. Barrau, 17 July 1878
- Robiñera, 3003 m, with C. Passet, 13 August 1878
- Punta del Sabre, 3136 m, with C. Passet, Vincent Grassy, 10 September 1878
- Petit Astazou 3012 m, with C. Passet, 21 July 1879
- Punta de Lliterola, 3132 m, with C. Passet, 30 July 1879
- Grand Quayrat, 3060 m, with Henri Reboul Peytier, Hossard C. Passet, 1 August 1879
- Tuca de Mulleres, 3010 m, with F. Barrau, B. Courrèges, 5 August 1879
- Pic d'Aragüells, 3037 m, with F. Barrau, 10 August 1880
- Pico del Medio, 3346 m, with Firmin Barrau, Célestin Passet, 12 July 1881
- Pic Occ. de Clarabide, 3020 m, 6 July 1882
- Pic Or. de Clarabide, 3012 m, with F. Barrau, C. Passet, 6 July 1882
- Diente de Alba, 3136 m, with Barthélémy Courrèges, 31 August 1882
- Grand Pic de Tapou, 3150 m, with Haurine, Pierre Pujo, 1 August 1883
- Pic du Milieu de Tapou, 3130 m, with Haurine, Pierre Pujo, 1 August 1883
- Pic des Pavots, 3121 m, with Pierre Barrau (fils), André Subra, 22 June 1885