Painting the mountains

In the final season of the original 119-year-old Le Refuge de la Charpoua, hutkeeper of eight years, Sarah Cartier, and her two children, embrace the high life and all its history in the mountains near Chamonix, France. The timeworn little building, set to be rebuilt in the same place in 2023, is surrounded by towering granite walls and alpine light providing them with a mystical setting to do all the dailies of cooking, cleaning and climbing; a place to breathe in the freedom of the high life while the sights and sounds of the busy world below fall away.

The history of the Chamonix Guides Company is inseparable from that of mountaineering and the valley where it was born. For 200 years, guides have risen to multiple challenges, making their organization a legend. Today, they are the actors of a changing mountain: overcrowding, global warming, loss of freedom—the causes are multiple. This film is at a crossroads. Between tradition and modernity, it traces the history of the Chamonix Guides Company, evoking the incredible challenges it has met with dignity and those it now faces.

This documentary follows four friends who hunt for crystals together and make an exceptional discovery in the Mont Blanc mountain range.