Refuge Chatelleret is now under the supervision of Charles Romero. Charles has a unique job and a special function in the eyes of walkers and alpinists.
Without him, many routes, and trails would be much more difficult to reach.
Younger, he used to ski quite a lot. At a fairly young age, he fell into the refuge keeping activity and has evolved in that world ever since.
He is famously known for his hospitality and his lentils, potatoes and peas soup. While hut keeping is a busy job, he has the chance to be in one of the most beautiful parts of the French mountains, in the heart of Les Ecrins.
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How you get to become the keeper at the Refuge Chatelleret
Can you quick tell us about your background?
I come from Aussois, a town in the Savoie region, in the Maurienne valley. When I was younger, I skied a lot. I ended up passing the exam to become a ski instructor.
When did you first get to a mountain hut? Did you get to Refuge Chatelleret straight away?
When I was 14-15 years old, I started to work as a hut-keeper assistant. I started at the refuge d’Averole. I did this for around 7 years.
After this, at around 21, I applied to become a keeper at the refuge des marches. It’s a fairly small one and can welcome 23 persons. I kept the refuge for roughly 5 years. It was only opened during the summer period.
I moved to Chatelleret 5 years ago. I wanted something a bit bigger, so when I heard the refuge was free, I applied and had the chance to become the new keeper. Refuge Chatelleret can welcome 70 persons and is opened in Spring and Summer.
How do you become a keeper?
As I quickly mentioned, you need to apply when there is an opening. There are very few openings, and there are many applicants. For the Chatelleret, for example, there were more than 60 applicants.
When you are selected, you essentially earn the right to operate and manage the refuge. You pay a rent to the Alpine club and all the money you make is yours.
What it means to be a refuge keeper
What do you do as a refuge keeper?
It’s really a hospitality job. It’s very much like having to manage a hotel. You welcome guests, operate a “restaurant”, managed rooms etc. The big difference is that you are in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the mountains.
How do you get food and supplies?
Good question. While the Chatelleret is not too far away, you need to walk 1.5 – 2 hours to get there, which means we need a helicopter to fly everything from the city. We have a delivery once a month. It’s approximately a 10-min flight (at €30 the minute). The helicopter can roughly carry 700kg of supply per flight.
What’s your day like?
It’s a tough job. You work a lot during the season. I woke up around 4:30 am and work non stop until 10 pm. You have to wake up early for the alpinists who need to leave early, and you go to bed quite late to welcome the late ones.
Why do people usually stop at Refuge Chatelleret?
You obviously have quite a lot of trails around. You will also find many rock climbing route, with la Meije being not too far away.
We have some regular customers, but not too many.
Where do you see yourself in the future? moving out of Refuge Chatelleret maybe?
Yes, ideally, my wife and I would like to get closer to where we live to be able to start a family and have kids.
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