Beyond your limits

An alpine winter backpack hunt for chamois in the Chartreuse Mountains.
Story: Pedro De Ampuero
Photos: Raul Del Valle and Pedro De Ampuero

After a bunch of hunts and trips cancelled during the last year, I couldn’t believe I was at the end of a road securing my bow to the outside of a fully loaded pack getting ready to start climbing up again. Is it typically then, when you feel the weight of your pack, you see the terrain in front of you, when you realize what you just got yourself into.

It is mid February and with just a few weeks left of season we couldn’t delay our adventure any further. Covid and the amount of snow had already ruined our plans earlier this year, but this time no matter the conditions we agreed with Phillipe Simon, our guide, that we will go and give it a try.

This time of the year its probably the worst time to hunt, there is too much snow which makes it harder not only for covering ground and stalking, but also for finding chamois, as they limit their activity to a minimum.

On the other side, it is the best time to experience a true adventure, as conditions will push you to your limits, something that was way more important for us than harvesting a chamois. That desire of adventure quickly came back to me, as I was getting on top of some skies for the first time in my life. There was too much snow to do the hunt on foot, and skies was the only option. I was commited to do whatever it took, and I told the guides not to worry, that I would manage.

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Phillipe owns some land in the Chartreuse Massif, located close to Grenoble in France, just a few kilometers away from the Alps Mountain Range. That separation is why the French consider the Chartreuse Chamois a different subspecies, that despite they look the same as the Alpine Chamois, the physical barrier between the mountains have isolated the chartreuse population for many years.

 In his property Phillipe built a hut big enough for four people, with all the luxuries you need in the mountains, which is some light, a roof and a stove, something that makes a huge difference specially on winter hunts. Our plan was to spend a week there with a good friend of mine Raul del Valle, which we were planing both to hunt and film each other.

 In chartreuse the tags are very limited, only issuing maybe 40 permits a year. That exclusiveness added to the recognition as a subspecies by the hunting organizations makes this chamois one of the most expensive ones, roughly doubling or tripling the price of an Alpine Chamois. With so many cancelations and restrictions, this last year was probably the best one to get a special deal, as international hunters were very restricted.

 We would start every day with the first light jumping on our skies, and covering ground in search of chamois. Animals are smart, and always tend to be where finding food is more energy efficient, where it requires them less energy to feed. With so much snow, the cliffs and very steep places were the only areas where the snow will not hold, and chamois would be there feeding. We would check every day those cliffs from the top, hoping a chamois would be in range and offer us an opportunity. When I mean steep, I mean that steepness that when you peak over you will hold your breath or you would need to crawl to feel safe, and that if you glass for a bit too long you get a bit dizzy.

Chamois are little animals with small hooked horns that are really not impressive, and if you have never hunted them you may not understand why so many people are completely in love with them. In my opinion they represent pure mountain hunting, and that insignificant trophy or that particular beauty is not by accident. God wanted to filter the true lovers of the mountains and the challenge, that search for the experience above any trophy. They live in the most complicated terrain animals can live, and survive some of the toughest winters like nothing. They are the fittest and quickest animal you will find, and you would have to work hard to deserve harvesting one.

I have chased them in all the different mountain ranges of the world, Anatolia (Turkey), Caucasus (Russia), Carpathian (Romania), Balkan (Bulgaria), Picos de Europa (Spain), Pyrenees (Spain), Alps (France),  Alps (New Zealand), except the Chartreuse Massif. Although that’s just an excuse, because after knowing Phillipe for many years, I wanted to hunt with him because we understand hunting the same way, and for both of us, chamois means way more than just an animal.

After a couple days peaking over cliffs, and seeing some chamois, I started to realize the huge challenge we had ahead. We were very limited on our stalks, as the terrain and snow conditions made most places too risky to walk, not to mention the recovery of the animals in such a place. That was a problem for later though, as we can’t control what the animals will do, so we just needed to keep peaking over the cliffs and cross our fingers for an opportunity.

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The excitement last very little, as soon as we all realized where the chamois went, and how hard the recovery was going to be. The terrain was so dangerous that my guts started to hurt just thinking about what we got ourselves into. Talking with my good friend Raul as we analyzed the options of going down, made us think about if all that was worth it for an animal, and if we just went a bit too far and we should have thought about it before taking the shot.

It was my responsibility and I was committed to do whatever it took, since we had the equipment to attempt the recovery safely, but first we had to try to understand where the chamois went. That’s when I had my only good idea on this trip, lets fly the drone up, and see if we could see the chamois!  If we couldn’t find it, at least we could check the terrain to plan our recovery. I flew the drone up and over the cliff trying to follow the tracks on the snow where we last saw the chamois. It is very hard to spot a 50 lbs bedded animal with a drone but the terrain was so gnarly that the animals could actually only have crossed the wall in one place. In that place there was a little cave in the middle of the wall that looked like a great bedding spot. With very little confidence I got close to the dark cave and when I was only a few meters away I saw the chamois laying dead inside. We couldn’t believe it!! We quickly took some photos with the drone from several angles to make sure we took the right route to the cave and to analyze what equipment was needed.

Knowing this terrain we were prepared and had all types of climbing gear on our packs, so we quickly jumped inside our harnesses. The plan was to rappel down the first cliff with a 150ft rope, then transition with the crampons and ice axe along the top of the second cut, to place a second anchor and rappel down to the cave. Getting the crampons and ropes ready makes you realize how stupid was to postpone over the last couple of years the climbing training. I should have been better prepared for this, but luckily we had the equipment and Phillipe who had a lot of climbing experience.

I have to admit I have never been so scared on a hunt in my life. Rappelling down for my first time ever with a 1000ft drop underneath me made my mouth so dry that I could barely talk. 

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To date I am still not sure what was going through my mind when I said I would manage the sky, the climbing, and the hunting, but luckily all worked out and it pushed me out of my comfort zone only to fall in love with chamois and the mountains even more. Proving that no mater how much experience you have, mountains will always put you on your place.