Citizens discovered the Alps at the end of the seventeen hundreds, pushed by the spirit of scientists and romantics. After Haller, Rousseau and the first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786, the nineteenth century bourgeoisie became passionate about the “delicious horrors” of the Alps, sojourning at the first hotels and hiring alpine guides. Tourism began with the advent of mountain climbing at a time when locals could never have imagined that those eccentric visitors would usurp their culture and history.