![]() Catherine Destivelle climbing on the Adrachti tower in Greece | |||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | French | ||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Oran, French Algeria | 24 July 1960||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Professional rock climber and mountaineer, and publisher | ||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Erik Decamp (m. 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||
Climbing career | |||||||||||||||||||||
Type of climber | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Known for |
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First ascents |
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Named routes | Voie Destivelle in Petit Dru | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Updated on 12 December 2022. |
Catherine Destivelle (born 24 July 1960) is a French rock climber and mountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important female climbers in the history of the sport. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s for sport climbing by winning the first major female climbing competitions, and by being the first female to redpoint a 7c+/8a sport climbing route with Fleur de Rocaille in 1985, [lower-alpha 1] and an 8a+ (5.13c) route with Choucas in 1988. During this period, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world along with Lynn Hill, however, in 1990 she retired to focus on alpine climbing.
In 1990, she made the first female alpine ascent of the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru, which she followed up in 1991, by becoming the first female to create a new extreme alpine route, also on the Petit Dru, which was named Voie Destivelle in her honor. From 1992 to 1994, Destivelle became the first female to complete the winter alpine free solo of the "north face trilogy" of the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses, and the Matterhorn. She made Himalayan and high-altitude ascents such as Nameless Tower in 1990, the southwest face of Shishapangma in 1995, and the south face of Peak 4111, in Antarctica, in 1996.
As well as her Alpine free solos, she made other notable free solos, such as the Devils Tower in 1992, and the Old Man of Hoy in 1997. She is the subject of several documentaries, including Rémy Tezier's, Beyond the Summits, which won the best feature-length film award at the 2009 Banff Film Festival. In 2007, she was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, and in 2020, became the first female recipient of the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award.
Catherine Destivelle was born in Oran, in French Algeria, to French parents, Serge and Annie Destivelle. Catherine was the eldest of six (four sisters Florence, Sophie, Martine, and Claire, and one brother Hyacinthe). Her father was an amateur climber and mountaineer. As a young teenager, her family moved to Paris, France, where she attended the Lycée Corot in Savigny-sur-Orge. [2] [3]
At the age of 12, Destivelle became a member of the Club alpin français, and started bouldering in Fontainebleau, [4] multi-pitch big wall climbing in Burgundy, and alpine climbing in the Massif des Écrins. [2] By 1976, aged 16, she was spending her summer in the Verdon Gorge, with climbing-partner, Pierre Richard. In that year, Destiville made alpine ascents of the Cousy-Desmaison Route (ED) on the north face of l'Olan, and the Devies-Gervasutti Route (TD+), on the northwest face of Ailefroide. [4] The following year, in 1977, she ascended the American Direct Route (ED1), on the west face of Le Petit Dru in Chamonix. [4]
From 1980 to 1985, Destivelle focused on studying physiotherapy at the Ecole de kinésithérapie de Paris, and then working full-time as a physiotherapist. [3] [4] [5]
In 1985, Destivelle became a professional climber, which happened almost by accident after being asked to do a climbing film, E pericoloso sporgersi, that captured her making the first female ascent of the 1,000-metre multi-pitch sport route Pichenibule in Verdon, which was only the second-ever female ascent in history of a 7b (5.12b) route; [2] [4] after the film, she was offered sponsorships. [3] [6] In 1985, Destivelle made what was thought to be the first female breakthrough into the 8a (5.13b) grade with Fleur de Rocaille, however, its grade was subsequently softened to 7c+/8a. [lower-alpha 1] [2]
Destivelle initially rejected competition climbing, co-signing the 1985 Manifeste des 19 , but then changed her mind and won at Sportroccia in 1985, the first international climbing competition (held in Bardonecchia and Arco), which later became the Rock Master annual competition. [4] Later that year, she fractured her pelvis in a fall in Chamonix. [2] [4] Destivelle recovered and in 1986 set new records by becoming the first female to climb an 8a (5.13b) route with Fleur de Rocaille (later downgraded to 7c+/8a), and winning again at Sportroccia, beating her main rival Lynn Hill. [2] [5] [8]
1988 would be the pinnacle of Destivelle's sport climbing career when she redpointed Choucas in Buoux, the first female ascent of an 8a+ (5.13c) graded route. [4] [9] She had repeated several 8a (5.13b) routes that year in preparation, including Rêve de Papillon, Elixir de Violence, Samizdat, and La Diagonale du Fou. [3] She also beat her fellow French rival Isabelle Patissier to win her third Sportroccia title. [2] [4] In 1989, Destivelle won the first international climbing competition held in the US, organized by Jeff Lowe at Snowbird, Utah. [2] [4] [10] In 1990, Destivelle finished third at the annual Snowbird international competition and decided to retire from competition climbing to focus on mountaineering and alpine climbing. [4]
In 1990, Destiville came to international attention [11] with the first female ascent of the Bonatti Pillar (TD+: 5.9 A1) on the southwest face of the Petit Dru, which she completed as a free solo in 4 hours; in 1955 Walter Bonatti spent six days on the route as he made what became regarded as one of the most famous ascents in history. [4] [12]
In 1991, Destivelle completed one of her most notable alpine climbing feats by opening up a new route on the west face of the Petit Dru, named the Voie Destivelle (or Destiville Route) (VI 5.11b A5). Her 11-day free solo of the route, which bears her name in her honor, was captured in the film 11 Days on the Dru, and covered widely in the international media. [4] [12]
Destivelle turned her attention to completing the free solo climb, in winter, of the three greatest north faces in the Alpes (the winter "North Face Trilogy" of Ivano Ghirardini). [13] She started in 1992, making the first female solo ascent of the 1938 Heckmair Route (ED2) on the north face of the Eiger in 17-hours (and featured in the 1992 climbing film, Eiger). [4] [13] In 1993, she made the first female solo ascent of the Walker Spur (ED1, 5.8 A1) on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. [4] [13] In 1994, she completed the 'winter solo trilogy' climbing the Bonatti Route (ED2/3) on the Matterhorn. [4] [12] [13]
In 1999, she completed the first female free solo of the Brandler-Hasse Route (ED-: 5.10c A0), on the north face direct of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo; her last major alpine climb. [4]
In 1990, Destivelle went on an expedition with Jeff Lowe and David Breashears to try a new route on Nameless Tower in the Karakoram, however, poor conditions forced them to change plans and they instead made the second free ascent of Yugoslav Route (VI 5.12a) (and featured in the 1990 climbing film, Nameless Tower). [12] [14] In 1992, Destivelle went on another expedition with Jeff Lowe to climb the north ridge on the north face of Latok I, in the Karakoram, but was forced back due to severe storms. [15]
In 1993, she went on an expedition to the west face of Makalu with Jeff Lowe and French mountaineering guide, Erik Decamp (who would later become her husband). Lowe tried an alternative solo route while Destivelle and Decamp tried the West Pillar, however, both groups were unsuccessful due to severe snowfall. [16] In 1995, Decamp and herself made a successful ascent of the Loretan-Troillet-Kurtyka Routeon the southwest face of Shishapangma. [17] In 1995, the pair were less successful in attempting to open a new route on the south face of Annapurna, beside the old Bonington Route. [18] In January 1996, after the pair successfully completed a new route on the south face of Peak 4111 in Antarctica, Destivelle fell 20-metres through a cornice while momentarily unroped on the summit, and suffered a severe compound leg fracture. Destivelle thought she would die given their remote position, however, a 15-hour self-rescue brought her to safety. [19]
Destivelle is known for her free soloing of multi-pitch rock climbs, and both alpine big wall and alpine mixed climbs (i.e. rock climbing and ice climbing). [20] [21] On a 1992 tour to the US, she free soloed the second half of El Matador 5.10d (6b+) on the Devils Tower in Wyoming, and Supercrack 5.10b (6a+), in Indian Creek, Utah (both are captured in the 1992 climbing film, Ballade à Devil's Tower), and in 1997, while four months pregnant, free soloed the Old Man of Hoy in Scotland (captured in the 1998 film, Rock Queen). [20]
During 1992–1994, she completed the winter free solo trilogy of the north faces of the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses and the Matterhorn. [20] In a 2020 interview with Rock & Ice she said: "When I'm free soloing, I feel O.K. I always have a big safety margin, I'm not struggling. You feel quite powerful and calm. If I ever felt afraid, I wouldn't go. I don't like to bet". [20] [22] She said of her Eiger free solo: "I didn't want people to say it was the first female ascent, I wanted to be the first person to climb the Eiger onsight and solo in winter". [22]
Destivelle is widely considered one of the greatest all-around female climbers in the history of the sport. [6] [5] [11] [23] In 2014, the former editor of the Alpine Journal , Ed Douglas, called her "the world's most famous woman alpinist during the 1990s". [6] When she became the first female recipient of the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, PlanetMountain said: "the 59-year-old Frenchwoman is considered one of the greatest climbers and mountaineers of all times". [13] In 2020, Climbing magazine noted her pioneering role in competition climbing and her rivalry with Lynn Hill as their vied for the title of the strongest female sport climber, but noted that her true passion was for alpinism, and said of her achievements: "Catherine Destivelle crushed the stereotypes that top-level sport climbing and daring alpinism were reserved for men. She is one of the most well-rounded climbers of all time—from the boulders of Fontainebleau to the Himalaya—and her storied career serves as inspiration to climbers everywhere". [11]
In 1996, Destivelle and Erik Decamp were married, and their son, Victor, was born at the end of the following year. [4] [24] After the birth of Victor, Destivelle began to cut back on free solo and extreme climbs in the late 1990s and developed a career as a lecturer, speaker and a mountaineering writer. In 1998 she told The Independent : "I can't bear to leave Victor for more than an hour", and "I don't want to climb with anyone except Eric. And we could not leave Victor behind". By 2000, she has completely retired from any major sport climbing or alpine climbing activities. [24]
In 2011, in partnership with Bruno Dupety, she became a publisher at her firm, "Les Editions du Mont Blanc", a company specializing in books about mountaineering and alpinism. [25]
During her competition years, Destivelle was considered one of the world's best sport climbers. [5]
Destivelle was also one of the few rock climbers who practiced free soloing at extreme grades. [20] [5]
Destivelle was the first woman to complete the following solo alpine climbing and big wall climbing ascents: [4] [5]
She also went on innovative and challenging Himalayan and high-altitude mountaineering projects. [5]
Destivelle is the author of the following books:
Destivelle has been the subject of several films and documentaries: [36]
In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent, is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers focused on reaching the tops of iconic mountains and climbing routes by whatever means possible, often using considerable amounts of aid climbing, and/or with large expedition style support teams that laid "siege" to the climb.
Solo climbing, or soloing, is a style of climbing in which the climber climbs a route alone, without the assistance of a belayer. By its very nature, it presents a higher degree of risk to the climber, and in some cases, is considered extremely high risk. Note that the use of the term "solo climbing" is generally separate from the action of bouldering, which is itself a form of solo climbing, but with less serious consequences in the case of a fall. The most dangerous form of solo climbing is free solo climbing, which means both climbing alone and without any form of climbing protection.
The Trango Towers are a family of rock towers situated in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, in the northern part of Pakistan. The Towers have some of the world's largest cliffs and offer some of the most challenging big wall climbing opportunities. Each year, climbers from around the world embark on expeditions to the Karakoram region to climb these granite faces. The Trango Towers are situated to the north of the Baltoro Glacier and are part of the Baltoro Muztagh, which is a sub-range within the Karakoram mountain range. The highest point within the group is the summit of Great Trango Tower at 6,286 m (20,623 ft), the east face of which features the world's greatest nearly vertical drop.
Josune Bereziartu, also known as Josune Bereciartu Urruzola, is a Basque rock climber. For a decade starting in the late 1990s, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world and is regarded as one of the most important female rock climbers in history.
Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climbers climb solo without ropes or other protective equipment, using only their climbing shoes and their climbing chalk. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can be fatal. Though many climbers have free soloed climbing grades they are very comfortable on, only a tiny group free solo regularly, and at grades closer to the limit of their abilities.
Walter Bonatti was an Italian mountaineer, alpinist, explorer and journalist. He was noted for many climbing achievements, including a solo climb of a new alpine climbing route on the south-west pillar of the Aiguille du Dru in August 1955, the first ascent of Gasherbrum IV in 1958, and, in 1965, the first solo climb in winter of the North face of the Matterhorn on the mountain's centenary year of its first ascent. Immediately after his solo climb on the Matterhorn, Bonatti announced his retirement from professional climbing at the age of 35, and after 17 years of climbing activity. He authored many mountaineering books and spent the remainder of his career travelling off the beaten track as a reporter for the Italian magazine Epoca. He died on 13 September 2011 of pancreatic cancer in Rome aged 81, and was survived by his life partner, the actress Rossana Podestà.
The six great north faces of the Alps are a group of vertical faces in the Swiss, French, and Italian Alps known in mountaineering for their difficulty, danger, and great height. The "Trilogy" is the three hardest of these north faces, being the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses, and the Matterhorn.
The Piolets d'Or is an annual mountaineering and alpine climbing award organized by the Groupe de Haute Montagne (GHM), and previously with co-founder Montagnes Magazine, since its founding in 1992. Golden ice axes are presented to the annual winners at a weekend awards festival based on their achievements in the previous year. It is considered mountaineering's highest honor and is referred to as the "Oscars of mountaineering".
Rope-solo climbing or rope-soloing is a form of solo climbing, but unlike with free solo climbing, which is also performed alone and with no climbing protection whatsoever, the rope-solo climber uses a mechanical self-belay device and rope system, which enables them to use the standard climbing protection to protect themselves in the event of a fall.
In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines—bouldering, single-pitch climbing, and big wall climbing—can trace their origins to late 19th-century Europe. Bouldering started in Fontainebleau, and was advanced by Pierre Allain in the 1930s, and John Gill in the 1950s. Big wall climbing started in the Dolomites, and was spread across the Alps in the 1930s by climbers such as Emilio Comici and Riccardo Cassin, and in the 1950s by Walter Bonatti, before reaching Yosemite where it was led in the 1950s to 1970s by climbers such as Royal Robbins. Single-pitch climbing started pre-1900 in both the Lake District and in Saxony, and by the late-1970s had spread widely with climbers such as Ron Fawcett (Britain), Bernd Arnold (Germany), Patrick Berhault (France), Ron Kauk and John Bachar (USA).
Wojciech Kurtyka is a Polish mountaineer and rock climber, one of the pioneers of the alpine style of climbing the biggest walls in the Greater Ranges. He lived in Wrocław up to 1974 when he moved to Kraków. He graduated as engineer in electronics. In 1985 he climbed the "Shining Wall," the west face of Gasherbrum IV, which Climbing magazine declared to be the greatest achievement of mountaineering in the twentieth century. In 2016, he received the Piolet d'Or for lifetime achievement in mountaineering.
Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long multi-pitch routes that normally require a full day, if not several days, to ascend. In addition, big wall routes are typically sustained and exposed, where the climbers remain suspended from the rock face, even sleeping hanging from the face, with limited options to sit down or escape unless they abseil back down the whole route. It is therefore a physically and mentally demanding form of climbing.
Ueli Steck was a Swiss rock climber and alpinist. He was the first to climb Annapurna solo via its South Face, and set speed records on the North Face trilogy in the Alps. He won two Piolet d'Or awards, in 2009 and 2014. Having previously summitted Mount Everest, Steck died on 30 April 2017, after a fall during an acclimatizing climb for an attempt on the Hornbein route on the West Ridge of Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Sasha DiGiulian is a professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing, sport climbing and bouldering. She won the gold medal at the 2011 International Federation of Sport Climbing World Championships in Arco, Italy, for Female Overall, placed Silver in Bouldering and Bronze in Duel. Sasha won multi-year PanAmerican championships and is a three-time US National Champion.
Alpine climbing is a type of mountaineering that involves using any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes in an alpine environment. While alpine climbing began in the European Alps, it is used to refer to climbing in any remote mountainous area, including in the Himalayas and in Patagonia. The derived term alpine style refers to the fashion of alpine climbing to be in small lightly-equipped teams who carry all of their own equipment, and do all of the climbing.
Ines Papert is a German alpine climber, and a world champion ice and mixed climber best known for her competition ice climbing awards and difficult alpine ascents. She has made a number of first ascents and has broken difficulty grade milestones for female climbers.
Brette Harrington is an American professional rock climber and alpinist based in Lake Tahoe, California and British Columbia, Canada. She was featured in the 2021 film The Alpinist alongside her late partner, Marc-André Leclerc. She is best known for the first free solo of the 760 meter (2,500-foot) Chiaro di Luna (5.11a) in Patagonia, for her development of new alpine climbing routes, and as the star of Brette, a Reel Rock Film Tour short film.
The recorded history of climbing of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland starts in the 1800s. It is split between the pre-north face era, when the main summits and easier ridges and faces were climbed, and the post-north face era, when it became one of the greatest prizes in mountaineering. At least sixty-four climbers have died while attempting the ascent.
Barbara "Babsi" Zangerl is an Austrian rock climber who is widely considered as one of the best all-round female climbers in the world. At various stages in her career, she has climbed at, or just below, the highest climbing grades achieved by a female in every major rock climbing discipline, including bouldering, traditional climbing, sport climbing, multi-pitch climbing and big wall climbing.
On February 11th, Catherine Destivelle arrived from Chamonix. Five feet four inches tall, with curly brown hair, a conquering smile and a formidable physique, she is a superstar in France, yet fame has left her relatively unaffected.
In the early days of competition climbing the two who usually vied for first place were Hill and Catherine Destivelle, a Frenchwoman who has since turned her attention to her original passion, mountaineering.
One of the most rad free-solos caught on film in the 1990s
Catherine Destivelle was one of the first, bold soloists of the modern-era of climbing. Watch her free-solo Old Many of Hoy in Scotland in 1998, she was also four months pregnant, after rope-soloing the lower pitches