Catherine Destivelle

Catherine Destivelle (born 24 July 1960) is a French rock climber and mountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important 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 woman to redpoint a sport climbing route with Fleur de Rocaille in 1985, and an 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 woman 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 solo attempts 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 solos, she also made 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.

Early life and education 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 (born Laurent). 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. In 1985, Destivelle made what was thought to be the first female breakthrough into the grade with Fleur de Rocaille, however, its grade was subsequently softened to 7c+/8a. (Fleur de Rocaille was initially considered to be the first 8a route, however, its grade was later softened to 7c+/8a; the first 8a is considered to be 's 1986 redpoint of Come Back.)

1988 would be the pinnacle of Destivelle's sport climbing career when she redpointed Choucas in Buoux, the first female ascent of an graded route. She also beat her fellow French rival Isabelle Patissier to win her third Sportroccia title. 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. On a 1992 tour to the US, she free soloed the second half of El Matador on the Devils Tower in Wyoming, and Supercrack , 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).

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". She said of her Eiger 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". In 2014, the former editor of the Alpine Journal, Ed Douglas, called her "the world's most famous woman alpinist during the 1990s".

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.

Awards In 1993, Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite in France. In 2008. In 2020, 12th Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award, she became the first female recipient and its youngest-ever recipient.

Notable climbs

Sport climbing During her competition years, Destivelle was considered one of the world's best sport climbers. 1985 – Pichenibule , Verdon, France, the second-ever female 7b+ in history (captured in the 1985 climbing film, E Pericoloso Sporgersi). 1988 – Rêve de Papillon , Buoux, France, the fourth-ever female 8a in history.

Free solo rock climbing Destivelle was also one of the few rock climbers who practiced free soloing at extreme grades. 1989 – Phi Phi Islands in Thailand (captured in the 1989 climbing film, Solo Thai). 1992 – El Matador , Devils Tower in Wyoming (captured in the 1992 climbing film, Ballade à Devil's Tower). 1997 – Old Man of Hoy sea-stack in Orkney Islands, Scotland (captured in the 1998 film, Rock Queen).

Alpine climbing Destivelle was the first woman to complete the following solo alpine climbing and big wall climbing ascents: 1992 (March) – 1938 Heckmair Route (ED2), north face of the Eiger, first female winter free solo (captured in the 1992 climbing film, Eiger). 1993 (February) – Walker Spur (ED1: 5.8 A1), north face of the Grandes Jorasses, first female winter free solo. 1992 (August) – North Ridge, north face of Latok I, Karakoram, unsuccessful attempt with Jeff Lowe that retreated at 5,800-meters due to storms. 1993 (May) – West Pillar, west face of Makalu, Nepal, expedition with Jeff Lowe (who tried a different route); Destivelle and Erik Decamp reached 7,600-metres before retreating due to heavy snow. 1994 – Losar (VI, ice grade WI5), Namche Bazaar, Nepal, first ascent of the 700-metre frozen waterfall with Erik Decamp (captured in the 1997 climbing film, La Cascade). 1995 (October) – South Face of Annapurna, Nepal, Destivelle and Erik Decamp reached 7,800-metres on a new route (right of the Bonington Route), before retreating due to heavy snow. 1996 (January) – South Face (TD: V 5.10), of Peak 4111, Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica, first ascent with Erik Decamp; suffers compound leg fracture after a 20-metre fall on summit cornice.