Gaston Rébuffat

Gaston Rébuffat (; 7 May 1921, Marseille – 31 May 1985, Paris) was a French alpinist, mountain guide, and author. He is well known as a member of the first expedition to summit Annapurna 1 in 1950 and the first man to climb all six of the great north faces of the Alps. In 1984, he was made an officer in the French Legion of Honour for his service as a mountaineering instructor for the French military. At the age of 64, Gaston Rébuffat died of cancer in Paris, France. The rock-climbing technique, the "Gaston", was named after him. A photo of Rébuffat atop the Aiguille du Roc in the French Alps is on the Voyager Golden Records.

Early life Gaston Rébuffat was born on 7 May 1921 in Marseilles, France. He began climbing at the age of 14 in the Calanques near Marseilles.

Climbing career

Instructor and guide During World War II, Gaston Rébuffat attended Jeunesse et Montagne, a French youth training organization. The expedition was led by Maurice Herzog and also included French mountaineers Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray. The expedition began in March 1950, with the actual ascent of Annapurna 1 beginning in May. During the ascent, a base camp and four intermediate camps were set up, with the highest being about 7400 meters in altitude. The summit itself was completed on 3 June 1950 by Herzog and Lachenal. While traveling down from the top camp, the four mountaineers were unable to locate the next camp and were forced to spend the night in a crevasse. All members survived the expedition, but Herzog and Lachenal later lost several fingers and toes due to severe frostbite. Although Rébuffat did not summit the mountain, he was instrumental in ensuring his injured colleagues returned safely. The expedition is known to be the first ascent of any mountain over 8000 meters and was the highest mountain climb ever at the time.

Flammes de Pierres 1953. Étoiles et Tempêtes with Maurice Baquet and Georges Tairraz 1955 Entre Terre et Ciel with Pierre Tairraz 1960-61 Les Horizons Gagnés with René Vernadet 1974

Rébuffat also was second unit director on the Walt Disney mountain film Third Man on the Mountain.