Refuge Alfred Wills is a

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...

. The current shelter, bearing the same name, was built in 1981. At in altitude, it is the site of the former pasture Anterne more commonly called "Cottages Anterne". It is surrounded by five private cottages. The shelter is named after

Alfred Wills Sir Alfred Wills (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club, from 1863 to 1865. Early life Wills was the second son of W ...

, a British

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

and judge of the High Court of England and Wales, he was also a passionate climber. He tackled many Alpine glaciers, wrote several books about his exploits, and became the third president of the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

, serving from 1863 to 1865. Arriving at Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval in 1850, Wills fell in love with the area and wanted to build a chalet. In 1859 construction began of what he named "Eagle's Nest", what the inhabitants later called "the Castle". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when France was under Nazi occupation, it was uninhabited and looted. After the war, repair costs proved to be too high, so the family put it up for sale.

References

* Wills Alfred, ''Le Nid d'Aigle et l'ascension de Wetterhorn'', Paris, éditeur : C. Meyrueis, 1864. ASIN : B0019S0GL0 * Hubert Ducroz, ''Les débuts de l'alpinisme à Sixt (Haute-Savoie)'', fascicule édité par l'Association des Amis de la Réserve Naturelle de Sixt Fer-à-Cheval, 1986

External links

Mountain huts in the Alps Mountain huts in France {{France-geo-stub