1926
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16 Feb 1926 Pierre Vittoz was born.
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1927
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28 Aug 1927 Catherine Gerber, future wife of Pierre Vittoz, was born.
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1947
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15 Aug 1947 India and Pakistan became independent states. Civil war
and inter-religious mass killings between Muslims and Hindus followed suit.
The princely state of Kashmir, led by a Hindu maharajah, joined the Republic
of India on 26 Oct 1947. The Muslim majority and the Muslim Pakistanese
neighbours did not like this choice and the region slid into turmoil, with
Pakistanese militias trying to invade Kahsmir.
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1948
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In Nov 1948, the Indian army at last repelled islamic hordes
occupying Kargil and threatening Leh in Ladakh. They took over
the Zoo-Ji pass with tanks in Winter, freeing the road connecting
Leh with Srinagar and Jammu. The Muslim militias were now
being kept in check and Buddhism regained some chance of survival.
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1950
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01 April 1950 Wedding of Pierre Vittoz (24) and Catherine
Gerber (22).
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1950
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Sept 1950 Pierre and Catherine Vittoz travelled
from Switzerland to Ladakh (leaving London on
26 Aug 1950), with train, boat, train and
airplane. They settled in the capital city of Leh
(3,500 m)
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1950
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In Oct 1950, the Chinese communist Army attacked the independent
theocratic Kingdom of Tibet along its Eastern border (Chamdo
province) from Chengdu and along its Western border (U-Tsang province)
from Turkestan.
The weak and under-equipped Tibetan army could not oppose serious
resistance. On 19 Oct 1950, 5,000 Tibetan soldiers
were dead already.
On 7 Nov 1950, Lhasa sent a desperate call for help to the
United Nations. However, not being a member, having shunned the
rest of the world for too long, the Kingdom of Tibet did not manage
to attract much attention. Last but not least, the Korean War
was raging at the same time. It had begun on 25 Jun 1950 and
would continue until 1953. It overnoised the Tibetan War, which
remained ignored from the world.
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1951
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xx Apr 1951: Child No1, a son, was born in Ladakh
and died on same day.
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1951
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On 23 May 1951, the capitulation treaty of Tibet was signed
in Peking (the Seventeen Point "Agreement" on the "Peaceful"
"Liberation" of Tibet) |
1951
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In 1951, frightened by the Chinese invasion of Tibet,
the Kingdom of Nepal began to open to international
alpinists. They granted their only annual Everest permit
for 1952 to Switzerland.
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1952
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In 1952, a Swiss expedition from Geneva attempted to climb the
Mt
Everest (8,868 m, the world's highest mountain,
from the Nepalese side. They almost succeeded, reaching
an altitude of 8,600 m.
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1952-1956
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From 1952 to 1956, Pierre Vittoz edited in Leh a Christian
newsletter
in Tibetan.
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1952
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During the year 1952, Pierre Vittoz went for explore
the Mount
Nun (7,135 m), the highest summit in the Indian Kashmir,
to find out the best ascent routes in view of the expedition
to come the following year.
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1953
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Mar 1953 Child No2, a son, was born in Ladakh.
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1953
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28 Aug 1953 Pierre Vittoz (26) was the first man to ascend the
Mount Nun
(7,135 m), the highest summit in the Indian Kashmir,
together with C.Trouillet-Kogan.
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1954
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Sep 1954 Child No3, a daughter, was born in Ladakh.
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1955
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Sept-Nov 1955 Pierre Vittoz (29) participated in an expedition
aiming at climbing the
Mount
Ganesh I Yangra Kangri (7,422m) in Nepal.
But he was stopped before the summit by a sudden high fever.
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1956
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Starting in 1955 or 1956, China built a strategic road across
the (Eastern part of the) Aksai Chin district. This road
connected the Chinese Turkestan to the freshly conquered Tibet.
The Aksai Chin plateau, 3,000 km2 at 5,000 meter altitude,
was entirely desert and not guarded by any Indian troops.
However, it was Indian territory, i.e. the district lay
inside the 1865-Johnson line that India (like Britain before)
considered to be its external border. The road was completed
around 1957.
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1956
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July 1956 Pierre Vittoz and whole family moved back
from Ladakh to Switzerland.
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1956-1957
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Pierre Vittoz with his family took a holiday of one year
in Switzerland.
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1957
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July 1957 Pierre Vittoz and family moved
from Switzerland to Libamba, French Cameroon.
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1957
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31 Aug 1957 Pierre Vittoz (31) and Catherine
Vittoz (30) published the great book
Un
Autre Himalaya
about their deep understanding of the Tibetan civilization
gained over his six years in Ladakh.
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1959
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10-23 March 1959: the Tibetan people rebelled against Chinese communist yoke
in Lhasa on 10 March 1959. The Chinese engaged in a violent repression
that turned into a genocide. In Lhasa only, they killed about 15,000 Tibetans.
The Dalai Lama (the "king" of Tibet) secretly fled with a small army
on 17 March 1959, crossing the border to India at Tawang, in Arunachal
Pradesh, on 31 March 1959.
Over 1959-1960, about 80,000 more people managed to flee Chinese-occupied
Tibet, protected by Khampa warriors.
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1959
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xx Apr 1959 Children No4 and No5, twin daughters, were born
in Cameroon.
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1959
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July 1959 Pierre Vittoz and family moved back from Cameroon
to Switzerland.
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1959
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Sept 1959 Pierre Vittoz and family moved from Switzerland
to Mussoorie, Northern India.
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1960
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xx Jul 1960 the twin daughters both died in India
of an allergic reaction to the smallpox vaccine.
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1962
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Feb 1962 Pierre Vittoz and family moved back from
Mussoorie, Northern India, to Switzerland.
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1962
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On 20 Oct 1962, the Chinese Empire attacked India with
80,000 soldiers, on the west and the east. Peking was
taking advantage of the Cuba missile crisis (14-28 Oct 1962)
that kept the world distracted. Peking conquered the whole
Aksai Chin district and the Arunachal Pradesh province,
east of Bhutan, India's northeasternmost territory.
All Indian troops were killed or captured. On 20 Nov 1962,
satisfied by its quick victory, Peking declared ceasefire
but only retreated from Arunachal Pradesh.
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1965
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Jan 1965 Child No6, a daughter, was born in Switzerland.
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1969
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Aug 1969 Pierre Vittoz and family moved from
Switzerland to Cameroon.
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1974
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Jul 1974 Pierre Vittoz and family moved back from
Cameroon to Switzerland.
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1978
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20 Aug 1978 Pierre Vittoz tragically disappeared at age 52
in an accident while climbing the Mont-Blanc.
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1978
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The book by Pierre Vittoz L'Attrait des Religions Orientales
published posthumously |
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2012
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30 Jun 2012 Catherine Vittoz, wife of Pierre, died at age of 84.
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1946
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Paper by PV on his 1945 Mont-Rose expedition.
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"Autour
du Mont-Rose", Die Alpen/Les Alpes, Journal du Club
Alpin Suisse (CAS), 1946.
First recorded article by P.V., written at age 19! The champion shares
with us his experiences of climbing around the Mont-Rose massif, south
of Zermatt, in the Swiss Alps.
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1949
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Paper on the Jul-Aug.1949 Taeschhorn expedition by EP and PV.
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Edmond PIDOUX:
"Taeschhorn, une hivernale au mois d'août",
Die Alpen/Les Alpes, Journal du Club Alpin Suisse (CAS),
1949.
On the difficulties of climbing the Taeschhorn
(close to Zermatt, Switzerland).
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1953
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Movie on the 1953 Nun expedition
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Bernard PIERRE:
"Une Montagne Nommée Nun-Kun",
Film de 60 minutes, présenté au Festival du Film de Montagne
de Trente (Italie), en 1953.
Film malheureusement introuvable aujourd'hui (21 juillet 2023),
que ce soit dans les ciné-archives suisses, françaises ou italiennes.
Si quelqu'un peut m'aider à retrouver une copie de ce film,
merci de me le faire savoir.
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1954
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Paper by PV on his 1953 Nun climbing.
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Pierre VITTOZ: "Ascent of the Nun",
a chapter in the hard cover journal The Mountain World 1954,
224 pages, edited by Marcel Kurz, Ruskin House,
George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London, 1954.
Republished in Indian Mountaineer, Number 25, 1990.
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1954
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Paper by PV on his Nun 1953 expedition
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"Dernière
chance au Nun", Les Alpes, Journal du Club Alpin Suisse, 1954.
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1954
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Book describing PV at 27 during the Nun expedition.
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Bernard PIERRE:
Une Montagne nommée Nun-Kun,
Bibliothèque de l'Alpinisme, Amiot Dumont, Paris, 1954,
199 pages. Ouvrage épuisé (au 10 juin 2024).
Réédité aux éditions Hachette, avec un supplément historique
de Bernard Pierre, sous le titre Une Victoire sur
l'Himalaya en 1960 et 1962.
Réédité dans une version très raccourcie, beaucoup
moins intéressante, avec moins de texte et de photos,
par les éditions Slatkine, Genève
en 1982.
A review by D.Dangar (1954).
A very lively book, very nice to read, describing all dimensions
(human, cultural, organizational, geological) of the 1953 Nun
conquest, that reads like a novel. B.Pierre (1920-1997) describes
all events with so much
sincerity and so little filter that you feel like being within
the expedition yourself. You delve directly into the human soul,
right into the most important questions of life. The book has
received the French "Grand Prix Littéraire de la Montagne" in 1955.
Translated into English as A Mountain Called Nun-Kun,
Hodder & Stoughton Limited, London, 1955.
Translated into 9 languages altogether, the book has received
several literature prizes.
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1954
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Book describing PV at 27 during the Nun expedition.
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Ang THARKAY, Basil NORTON: Mémoires d'un Sherpa,
Amiot-Dumont, Paris 1954.
Translated into English in 2016 as:
Ang THARKAY, Basil NORTON:
Sherpa – The Memoir of Ang Tharkay,
Mountaineers Books, 1st edition, March 2016, 192 pages.
Describing the 1953 Nun party in very vivid terms.
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1955
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Paper by PV on his solo ascent in 1954 of an unknown peak
in Ladakh.
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"Solitude
Himalayenne", Die Alpen/ Les Alpes,
Journal du Club Alpin Suisse (SAC/CAS), 1955.
PV sharing with us his Summer 1954 ascent of the Mashro Kangri,
6,000-6,200m peak in Ladakh, uphill from Leh, between the
Indus and the Zanskar.
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1956
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Paper by PV on his interrupted
Ganesh Himal 1955 expedition
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"A
travers le Népal", Die Alpen/Les Alpes, Journal
du Club Alpin Suisse (SAC/CAS), 1956.
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1956
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Article describing PV at 29 during the Ganesh Himal 1955 expedition.
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Raymond LAMBERT:
"Die
französisch-schweizerische Ganesh-Himal-Expedition (August-November
1955)", Die Alpen/ Les Alpes, Journal du Club Alpin Suisse
(SAC/CAS), 1956.
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1956
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Article by CV at 28 on her 1955 visit to Tibetan nomads.
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Catherine VITTOZ:
"Hautes
Terres", Actualité Missionnaire, no1, Neuchâtel
(Suisse), février 1956.
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1957
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Book No1 written by PV
and 1 other author (his wife)
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Pierre VITTOZ et Catherine VITTOZ: Un Autre Himalaya,
Missions protestantes, Lausanne, 31 août 1957 (31 Aug 1957),
broché, 186 pages.
2nd edition: Pierre et Catherine Vittoz: Un Autre Himalaya,
Editions du Soc, Lausanne 1958. Ouvrage épuisé (au 10 juin 2024).
15 editions published between 1957 and 1966 in 4 languages (really 4?).
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1958
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Translation of Book No1
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Goldene Daecher Schwarze Zelte: Herrnhuter Mission
unter den Tibetern, Friedrich Bahn Verlag, Konstanz 1958.
Reedited by Christliche Verlagsanstalt, 1966.
Translation of Book No1 from French into German by Winfried Thiemer.
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1968
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Translation by PV
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Pierre VITTOZ, Eliyah Tsetan PHUNTSOG: The Way of Power:
the Acts of the Apostles in Tibetan, 1968.
1 edition published in 1968 in Tibetan.
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1970
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Book No2 written by Pierre Vittoz
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Pierre VITTOZ: Manuel de l'engagement chrétien,
Yaoundé, Cameroun, 1970, 67 pages.
Ouvrage épuisé (au 10 juin 2024).
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1970
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Book No3 written by PV
guide de marche et d'alpinisme
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Pierre VITTOZ: Alpes Vaudoises,
Éditions du Club Alpin Suisse (CAS), Zurich 1970.
140 pages, avec 29 croquis de l’auteur
et 12 photographies
de Kinette Hurni. Ouvrage épuisé (au 10 juin 2024).
Réédité en 1981:
Pierre VITTOZ, Philippe METZKER: Alpes Vaudoises,
Editions du CAS, 1981. Ouvrage épuisé (au 10 juin 2024).
Livre souvent rebaptisé, dans les références:
Guide des Alpes Vaudoises.
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1970
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Text translation by PV and E.T.Phuntsog
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The
New Testament in Tibetan
(Traduction en tibétain
intermédiaire entre sacré et vernaculaire)
translated by
Pierre Vittoz, Eliyah Thsetan Phuntsog and
Yo-seb Dge-rgan, Bible Society of India, 1970,
847 pages.
1 edition.
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1974
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Paper by PV recalling his Mont Blanc massif expeditions in the 1950s
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"L'aiguille
de Brenva, 20 ans plus tard", Die Alpen/Les Alpes,
Journal du Club Alpin Suisse (CAS), 1974.
PV sharing with us his times on the Mont-Blanc massif...
An eerie article, thinking that he would lose his life
in that massif just 4 yrs later.
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1976
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Book No4 written by Pierre Vittoz
together with one other author
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Pierre VITTOZ, Pierre JACCARD: Ladakh, Editions Artou,
Genève, 1976, 50 pages. Ouvrage épuisé (au 10 juin 2024).
ISBN-10: 8190437852, ISBN-13: 978-8190437851
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1976
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Translation of Book No4
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Pierre VITTOZ, Pierre JACCARD:
Ladakh: fuer Reisende, Alpinisten und Liebhaber
der tibetischen Kultur,
Editions Artou, Genève 1976,
Collection Artou Reiseführer.
Translated by Haia Müller.
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1976
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Paper by PV on his expedition to the French 4,000m peak
La Meije.
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"Le
Charme de la Meije", Die Alpen/ Les Alpes,
Journal du Club Alpin Suisse (SAC/CAS), 1976.
PV sharing with us the charm of his ascent to the Meije
mountain in the Parc National des Ecrins in the French Alps.
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1977
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Reflections by PV on the new "extreme skiing" trend
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"Impossible!", Die Alpen/ Les Alpes,
Journal du Club Alpin Suisse (SAC/CAS), 1977.
PV sharing with us his religious reflections on the new
"extreme skiing" fashion in elite alpinism and Saudan's
feat to ski alone down the Mt Nun.
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1977
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Paper by PV defending mountaineering handbooks.
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Pierre VITTOZ:
"Donne-moi
mon guide de montagne", Die Alpen/ Les Alpes,
Journal du Club Alpin Suisse (SAC/CAS), 1977.
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1978
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Book No5 written by Pierre Vittoz
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Pierre VITTOZ:
L'Attrait des religions orientales
et la foi chrétienne,
Collection "La Parole et
les hommes", Éditions Labor et Fides, Genève, 1978,
59 pages. Ouvrage épuisé (au 10 juin 2024).
5 editions published in 1978 in French.
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1990
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Reedition of the 1954 paper by PV on his 1953
Nun climbing.
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Pierre VITTOZ: "Ascent of the Nun", Indian Mountaineer,
Number 25, 1990.
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