Background
Carrel was born on 16 January 1829 in Valtournenche, in the Aosta Valley, a French-speaking Italian village which lies at the foot of the Matterhorn.
Carrel was born on 16 January 1829 in Valtournenche, in the Aosta Valley, a French-speaking Italian village which lies at the foot of the Matterhorn.
Carrel was in the group that became the first Europeans to reach the summit of Chimborazo in 1880. He died from exhaustion when guiding a party on the south side of the Matterhorn. He served in the Bersaglieri, a light infantry unit of the Piedmontese army.
In the early 1860s, Carrel made numerous attempts to climb the Matterhorn, often in the same party as Edward Whymper and John Tyndall, and at other times competing against them to reach the summit first.
Carrel had agreed to accompany Whymper on his ascent of the Swiss side in 1865, but withdrew at the last minute when he was recruited by Felice Giordano on behalf of the Italian Alpine Club to lead an Italian party up the Italian side at the same time. Ultimately, Whymper"s party outclimbed the Italians and reached the summit on 14 July 1865, marking the first ascent of the Matterhorn.
Carrel and his Italian party successfully summited the Matterhorn three days later. Carrel died in August 1891 while guiding a party on the south side of the Matterhorn.
After ensuring that his clients descended the mountain safely and easily in a severe storm, he collapsed from exhaustion and died on a rock at the mountain"s base.
After Carrel"s death, Whymper wrote that Carrel was "a man who was possessed with a pure and genuine love of mountains. A man of originality and resource, courage and determination, who delighted in exploration. The manner of his death strikes a chord in hearts he never knew.".