Catherine Destivelle


Catherine Destivelle 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 free solo 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 free solos, she made other 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. 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.
At the age of 12, Destivelle became a member of the Club alpin français, and started bouldering in Fontainebleau, multi-pitch big wall climbing in Burgundy, and alpine climbing in the Massif des Écrins. By 1976, aged 16, she was spending her summer in the Verdon Gorge, with climbing-partner, Pierre Richard. In that year, Destiville made alpine ascents of the Cousy-Desmaison Route on the north face of l'Olan, and the Devies-Gervasutti Route, on the northwest face of Ailefroide. The following year, in 1977, she ascended the American Direct Route, on the west face of Le Petit Dru in Chamonix.
From 1980 to 1985, Destivelle focused on studying physiotherapy at the Ecole de kinésithérapie de Paris, and then working full-time as a physiotherapist.

Climbing career

Sport climbing and competition climbing

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 route Pichenibule in Verdon, which was only the second-ever female ascent in history of a route; after the film, she was offered sponsorships. 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.
Destivelle initially rejected competition climbing, co-signing the 1985, but then changed her mind and won at Sportroccia in 1985, the first international climbing competition, which later became the Rock Master annual competition. Later that year, she fractured her pelvis in a fall in Chamonix. Destivelle recovered and in 1986 set new records by becoming the first female to climb an route with Fleur de Rocaille, and winning again at Sportroccia, beating her main rival Lynn Hill.
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 had repeated several routes that year in preparation, including Rêve de Papillon, Elixir de Violence, Samizdat, and La Diagonale du Fou. She also beat her fellow French rival Isabelle Patissier to win her third Sportroccia title. In 1989, Destivelle won the first international climbing competition held in the US, organized by Jeff Lowe at Snowbird, Utah. 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.

Alpine climbing

In 1990, Destivelle came to international attention with the first female ascent of the Bonatti Pillar on the southwest face of the Petit Dru, which she completed as a free solo in 4 hours; in 1955 Walter Bonatti spent six days on the route as he made what became regarded as one of the most famous ascents in history.
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 the Voie Destivelle . Her 11-day free solo of the route, which bears her name in her honor, was captured in the film 11 Days on the Dru, and covered widely in the international media.
Destivelle turned her attention to completing the free solo climb, in winter, of the three greatest north faces in the Alpes. She started in 1992, making the climbing the Eiger#1990s|first female solo ascent] of the 1938 Heckmair Route on the north face of the Eiger in 17-hours. In 1993, she made the first female solo ascent of the Walker Spur on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. In 1994, she completed the 'winter solo trilogy' climbing the Bonatti Route on the Matterhorn.
In 1999, she completed the first female free solo of the Brandler-Hasse Route, on the north face direct of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo; her last major alpine climb.

Himalayan and high-altitude climbing

In 1990, Destivelle went on an expedition with Jeff Lowe and David Breashears to try a new route on Nameless Tower in the Karakoram in Pakistan, however, poor conditions forced them to change plans and they instead made the second free ascent of Yugoslav Route . In 1992, Destivelle went on another expedition with Jeff Lowe to climb the north ridge on the north face of Latok I, in the Karakoram, but was forced back due to severe storms.
In 1993, she went on an expedition to the west face of Makalu with Jeff Lowe and French mountaineering guide, Erik Decamp. Lowe tried an alternative solo route while Destivelle and Decamp tried the West Pillar, however, both groups were unsuccessful due to severe snowfall. In 1995, she and Decamp made a successful ascent of the Loretan-Troillet-Kurtyka Route on the southwest face of Shishapangma. In 1995, the pair were less successful in attempting to open a new route on the south face of Annapurna, beside the old Bonington Route. In January 1996, after the pair successfully completed a new route on the south face of Peak 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.

Free soloing

Destivelle is known for her free soloing of multi-pitch rock climbs, and both alpine big wall and alpine mixed climbs. 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, and in 1997, while four months pregnant, free soloed the Old Man of Hoy in Scotland.
During 1992–1994, she completed the winter free solo trilogy of the north faces of the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses and the Matterhorn. 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 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".

Legacy

Destivelle is widely considered one of the greatest all-around female climbers in the history of the sport. In 2014, the former editor of the Alpine Journal, Ed Douglas, called her "the world's most famous woman alpinist during the 1990s". When she became the first female recipient of the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, PlanetMountain said: "the 59-year-old Frenchwoman is considered one of the greatest climbers and mountaineers of all times". 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".

Personal life

In 1996, Destivelle and Erik Decamp were married, and have a son. 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.
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

Notable climbs

Sport climbing

During her competition years, Destivelle was considered one of the world's best sport climbers.
  • 1983 – La Dudule, Saussois, France, the third-ever female 7a in history.
  • 1985 – Pichenibule, Verdon, France, the second-ever female 7b+ in history.
  • 1985 – Fleur de Rocaille, Mouriès, France, the first female 7c+/8a; this was initially considered the first 8a, but it was later downgraded one notch.
  • 1988 – Rêve de Papillon, Buoux, France, the fourth-ever female 8a in history.
  • 1988 – Elixir de Violence, Buoux, France.
  • 1988 – Samizdat, Cimaï, France.
  • 1988 – La Diagonale du Fou, Buoux, France.
  • 1988 – Chouca, Buoux, France, the first female 8a+ in history.

Free solo rock climbing

Destivelle was also one of the few rock climbers who practiced free soloing at extreme grades.

Alpine climbing

Destivelle was the first woman to complete the following solo alpine climbing and big wall climbing ascents:
  • 1990 – Bonatti Pillar, on the southwest face of the Petit Dru, first female free solo.
  • 1991 – Voie Destivelle, west face of the Petit Dru, first free ascent and first female to free an alpine route of that level of technical difficulty; also the first major Alps route to be named after a woman.
  • 1992 – 1938 Heckmair Route, north face of the Eiger, first female winter free solo.
  • 1993 – Walker Spur, north face of the Grandes Jorasses, first female winter free solo.
  • 1994 – Bonatti Route, north face of the Matterhorn, first female winter free solo; and first female to complete Ivano Ghirardini's winter "North Face Trilogy".
  • 1999 – Brandler-Hasse Route, north face direct of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo, first female free solo of one of the six great north faces of the Alps.

Himalayan and high-altitude climbing

She also went on innovative and challenging Himalayan and high-altitude mountaineering projects.
  • 1990 – Yugoslav Route, Trango (Nameless) Tower, Karakoram, second free ascent with Jeff Lowe and David Breashears.
  • 1992 – North Ridge, north face of Latok I, Karakoram, unsuccessful attempt with Jeff Lowe that retreated at 5,800-meters due to storms.
  • 1993 – West Pillar, west face of Makalu, Nepal, expedition with Jeff Lowe ; Destivelle and Erik Decamp reached 7,600-metres before retreating due to heavy snow.
  • 1994 – Losar, Namche Bazaar, Nepal, first ascent of the 700-metre frozen waterfall with Erik Decamp.
  • 1995 – Loretan-Troillet-Kurtyka Route, southwest face of Shishapangma, China, summitted with Erik Decamp.
  • 1995 – South Face of Annapurna, Nepal, Destivelle and Erik Decamp reached 7,800-metres on a new route, before retreating due to heavy snow.
  • 1996 – South Face, of Peak 4111, Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica, first ascent with Erik Decamp; suffers compound leg fracture after a 20-metre fall on summit cornice.

Filmography

Destivelle has been the subject of several films and documentaries:
  • E Pericoloso Sporgersi, Robert Nicod, 1985
  • Seo, Pierre-Antoine Hiroz, 1987
  • Solo Thai, Laurent Chevallier, 1989
  • Nameless Tower, David Breashears, 1990
  • 11 Jours dans les Drus, Gilles Sourice, 1991
  • Eiger, Stéphane Deplus, 1992
  • Ballade à Devils's Tower, Pierre-Antoine Hiroz, 1992
  • La Cascade, Pierre-Antoine Hiroz, 1997
  • Rock Queen, Martin Belderson, 1998
  • Au-delà des cimes, Rémy Tézier, 2008; winner of the best feature-length film award at the 2009 Banff Mountain Film Festival.