Catherine Destivelle - Passion des Cimes

Catherine Destivelle, born July 24th 1960, Algeria, is a French climber and mountaineer.

Her parents left Algeria in her first years to live in France. It was on the Fointainbleu forrest that she discovered climbing. At fifteen, she dominated the hardest rocks, and at seventeen, she left to the Alps without the knowledge of her family. Between twenty and twenty-five years, she leaves her passion to become a physiotherapist.

Major Achievements

Climbing:

* She was regarded as the best climber in the World between 1985 and 1988.
* In 1986 she climbed the first 8a with a female lead in 8a+.

Mountaineering (Alps):

* 1st woman solo:
* 1990 - ascent of the Bonatti Pillar in the Drus in 4 hours;
* June 1991 - opening a new front west of the Drus in 11 days;
* March 10 1992 - climbes the north face of the Eiger in 17 hours;
* early 1993 - Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses in 3 days;
* Winter 1994 - Bonatti route across northern Matterhorn.

To this day, she’s the only woman to have climbed solo the Big Jorasses, the Matterhorn and the north face of the Eiger.

Mountaineering (Abroad):

* In 1990, she free climbs the Trango Tower in Pakistan;
* Climbed the Loretan/Troillet Shishapangma route, Tibet, with Erik Decamp;
* Opened the massif of Elsworth in Antarctica with an ice face of 1700m high with Erik Decamp;
* In 1995, south west face of Shishapangma.

She also stared on several mountaineering documentaries and movies, such as “Catherine Destivelle - La passion des Cimes” that you can watch right here. Enjoy the art of big wall climbing.

Tags: alps, catherine destivelle, climbing, mountaineering