 Catherine Destivelle climbing on theAdrachti tower in Greece | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | French | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1960-07-24)24 July 1960 (age 65) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Professional rock climber and mountaineer, and publisher | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Erik Decamp (m. 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 inPetit Dru | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 12 December 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Catherine Destivelle (born 24 July 1960) is a Frenchrock climber andmountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important climbers in thehistory of the sport. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s forsport climbing by winning the first major femaleclimbing competitions, and by being thefirst woman toredpoint a7c+/8a sport climbing route withFleur de Rocaille in 1985,[a] and an8a+ (5.13c) route withChoucas in 1988. During this period, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world along withLynn Hill, however in 1990 she retired to focus onalpine climbing.
In 1990, she made the first female alpine ascent of theBonatti Pillar on thePetit 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 namedVoie Destivelle in her honor. From 1992 to 1994, Destivelle became the first female to complete the winter alpinefree solo of the "north face trilogy" of theEiger, theGrandes Jorasses, and theMatterhorn. She made Himalayan and high-altitude ascents such asNameless Tower in 1990, the southwest face ofShishapangma in 1995, and the south face ofPeak 4111, in Antarctica, in 1996.
As well as her Alpine free solos, she made other notable free solos, such as theDevils Tower in 1992, and theOld 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 2009Banff Film Festival. In 2007, she was made a Knight of theLegion of Honour, and in 2020, became the first female recipient of thePiolet d'OrLifetime Achievement Award.
Catherine Destivelle was born inOran, inFrench Algeria, to French parents, Serge and Annie Destivelle. Catherine was the eldest of six: four sisters Florence, Sophie, Martine, and Claire, and one brotherHyacinthe (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 inSavigny-sur-Orge.[2][3]
At the age of 12, Destivelle became a member of theClub alpin français, and startedbouldering inFontainebleau,[4] multi-pitchbig wall climbing inBurgundy, and alpine climbing in theMassif des Écrins.[2] By 1976, aged 16, she was spending her summer in theVerdon Gorge, with climbing-partner, Pierre Richard. In that year, Destiville made alpine ascents of theCousy-Desmaison Route (ED) on the north face ofl'Olan, and theDevies-Gervasutti Route (TD+), on the northwest face ofAilefroide.[4] The following year, in 1977, she ascended theAmerican Direct Route (ED1), on the west face ofLe Petit Dru inChamonix.[4]
From 1980 to 1985, Destivelle focused on studyingphysiotherapy at theEcole 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-foot multi-pitch sport routePichenibule inVerdon, which was only the second-ever female ascent in history of a7b (5.12b) route;[2][4] after the film, she was offered sponsorships.[3][6] In 1985, Destivelle made what was thought to be thefirst female breakthrough into the8a (5.13b) grade withFleur de Rocaille, however, its grade was subsequently softened to 7c+/8a.[a][2]
Destivelle initially rejectedcompetition climbing, co-signing the 1985Manifeste des 19 [fr], but then changed her mind and won atSportroccia in 1985, the first international climbing competition (held inBardonecchia andArco), which later became theRock 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 an8a (5.13b) route withFleur de Rocaille (later downgraded to 7c+/8a), and winning again at Sportroccia, beating her main rivalLynn Hill.[2][5][8]
1988 would be the pinnacle of Destivelle's sport climbing career when she redpointedChoucas inBuoux, thefirst female ascent of an8a+ (5.13c) graded route.[4][9] She had repeated several8a (5.13b) routes that year in preparation, includingRêve de Papillon,Elixir de Violence,Samizdat, andLa Diagonale du Fou.[3] She also beat her fellow French rivalIsabelle Patissier to win her third Sportroccia title.[2][4] In 1989, Destivelle won the first international climbing competition held in the US, organized byJeff Lowe atSnowbird, 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, Destivelle came to international attention[11] with the first female ascent of theBonatti Pillar (TD+: 5.9 A1) on the southwest face of the Petit Dru, which she completed as afree solo in 4 hours; in 1955Walter Bonatti spent six days on the route as he made what became regarded as one of the most famous ascents inhistory.[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 theVoie Destivelle (orDestiville Route) (VI 5.11b A5). Her 11-day free solo of the route, which bears her name in her honor, was captured in the film11 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" ofIvano Ghirardini).[13] She started in 1992, making thefirst female solo ascent of the1938 Heckmair Route (ED2) on the north face of theEiger in 17-hours (and featured in the 1992 climbing film,Eiger).[4][13] In 1993, she made the first female solo ascent of theWalker Spur (ED1, 5.8 A1) on the north face of theGrandes Jorasses.[4][13] In 1994, she completed the 'winter solo trilogy'climbing theBonatti Route (ED2/3) on theMatterhorn.[4][12][13]
In 1999, she completed the first female free solo of theBrandler-Hasse Route (ED-: 5.10c A0), on the north face direct of theCima Grande di Lavaredo; her last major alpine climb.[4]
In 1990, Destivelle went on an expedition with Jeff Lowe andDavid Breashears to try a new route onNameless Tower in theKarakoram inPakistan, however, poor conditions forced them to change plans and they instead made the second free ascent ofYugoslav 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 ofLatok I, in theKarakoram, but was forced back due to severe storms.[15]
In 1993, she went on an expedition to the west face ofMakalu withJeff 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, she and Decamp made a successful ascent of theLoretan-Troillet-Kurtyka Route on the southwest face ofShishapangma.[17] In 1995, the pair were less successful in attempting to open a new route on the south face ofAnnapurna, beside the oldBonington Route.[18] In January 1996, after the pair successfully completed a new route on the south face ofPeak 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 ofEl Matador5.10d (6b+) on theDevils Tower in Wyoming, andSupercrack5.10b (6a+), inIndian Creek, Utah (both are captured in the 1992 climbing film,Ballade à Devil's Tower), and in 1997, while four months pregnant, free soloed theOld 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 withRock & 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 theAlpine 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'OrLifetime 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 they 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 have a son.[4][24] After her son was born, 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. By 2000, she 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 bestsport climbers.[5]
Destivelle was also one of the few rock climbers who practicedfree 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]
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
