Founded in 1934, Snell Sports may be the best alpine mountaineering shop in the world. You could show up, fresh from the Geneva airport in your shorts and sandals, and with one stop shopping, you could rent everything you need to climb the Walker Spur, or do the Haute Route. Over the years, the Snell family became very friendly with the hard-core Brits (Douglas Haston, Don Whillans, Chris Bonnington, Joe Brown, Doug Scott) of the late 1950s and 1960s. Because of this, Snell’s was one of the few places that English speaking dirtbags would not rip off. The family also owned a plot of land that dirt bag mountaineers - including me - used to squat on - before and after their climbs (see below). Every so often the gendarmes would come through and boot everyone out.
So, English speaking alpinist will always have a warm spot in their heart for Cham and Snell's.
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