Sylviane Tavernier

Born in 1958, Sylviane Tavernier was the first woman to join the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix in 1985. That day, an entire institution was turned upside down, the profession of guide then very masculine became more feminine. "Little Viking" as his colleagues call him, has just received a bouquet of flowers on the church square on the day of his tenure. This is also the first time that the president of the Compagnie des Guides has offered such a present to a newcomer. Sylviane wanted the mountains from an early age. Originally from Servoz, his mountaineering imagination was first created alongside his father. As a teenager, it was in high-level cross-country skiing that she flourished. At the same time, she trains in secret to hope one day to pass the probationary high-mountain guide, she realizes these first solos and these first openings in the Mont-Blanc massif. She also prefers the Italian side because "it is more difficult to climb there". Also in the 80s, she opened many routes: Abominette with Gabarrou and Profit, Petit Viking at Pointe du Domino and Fil à Plomb at Rognon du Plan. She will also perform several major solos: Cervin, Grandes Jorasses, Pilier d'Angle. Then comes the time of distant expeditions: opening on the South face of Chopicalqui in Peru with René Desmaison in 1987, opening at Lhotse with an expedition organized by Reinhold Messner in 1989, attempted opening at Everest with a Russian expedition in 1992. She gets along with Patrick Berhault, Christophe Profit, crosses the 80s and 90s with Escoffier, Boivin and so many others. "Once a guide, always a guide", for Sylviane, being with the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix means being part of a brotherhood. "I think I'm lucky. Becoming a guide was a life mission". Always on an equal footing with men, she does not put herself forward, and it is perhaps this humility that makes Sylviane Tavernier an icon at the Compagnie des Guides. She opened doors and it is now up to us to follow in her footsteps.