Georges Bettembourg

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Georges Bettembourg was a French mountaineer and skier. He came from a family of climbers and guides, [1] and is regarded as an elite alpinist who made numerous significant ascents in the French Alps, North America, the Himalayas and Karakoram including a two-man ascent of Broad Peak (1978); Kangchenjunga (descended prior to summiting) (1979); Kusum Kangguru (1979); Nuptse (1979); and Shivling (1981). [2] [3] He also made numerous ski descents of big mountains including Broad Peak, Makalu II and Mont Blanc. [4]

He climbed and/or skied with other luminaries of his era including Doug Scott, Joe Tasker, Peter Boardman, Greg Child, Yannick Seigneur and Patrick Vallencant.

Bettembourg's 1981 autobiography is The White Death. [5]

He died aged 32 on 18 August 1983 by stone fall on Aiguille Verte. [4]

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References

  1. Child, Greg (1998). Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas. Mountaineers Books. p. 154. ISBN   9781594856907.
  2. Dean, Steve (30 May 2019). "Kangchenjunga 1979". Boardman & Tasker. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. Steffen, Will (2010). Himalayan Dreaming: Australian mountaineering in the great ranges of Asia, 1922–1990. Canberra: Australian National University Press. ISBN   9781921666162 . Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 Nyka, Jozef (1984). "In Memoriam". The Himalayan Journal. 40 (26): 45. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. Bettembourg, Georges; Brame, Michael (1981). The White Death. Reynard House. p. 309. ISBN   978-0932998057.