‘Climbing is my first love’: Catherine Destivelle, one of the unique alpinists of our time

She raised the standards of rock climbing and revealed the beauty and grace of the ascent.

People always ask her why she began to climb. She says, ‘I’m in love with mountains. I like touching the rock and reading the face of the rock. I feel comfortable and at home on the side of a mountain. I prepare well before I go so I’m never worried.’

Climbing some of the biggest routes in the Alps in her teen years, Catherine had a staggering evolution in sport climbing in the ‘80s, becoming soon the first woman to redpoint 8a.

With a genuine passion for free soloing, Catherine Destivelle has broken gender barriers in alpinism with her solo winter trilogy:  the north face of the Eiger in 1992, the Walker Spur on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses in 1993, and the Bonatti route on the north face of the Matterhorn in 1994.

‘I always follow my instincts and they rarely let me down,’ she says.

Is it instinct alone that brought her this far this fast, with many dazzling successes and the good sense to abandon the occasional project?

A Legend in Her Own Time

Catherine Destivelle was born in 1960 in Oran, in French Algeria, to French parents, Serge and Annie Destivelle. Her father was an amateur climber and mountaineer.

As a young teenager, her family moved to Paris, France. She was introduced to climbing at a young age in the Forêt de Fontainebleau on the outskirts of the city. By the time she was 15 she could climb the toughest rocks. At 17 she was spending her weekends scaling the highest peaks in the Alps. Around the age of 20, she settled down to a career as a physiotherapist. But after five years, her love for the mountains prevailed and she decided to become a professional mountain climber. She also started competing in international climbing competitions.

From 1985 to 1988 she was considered the world’s best woman climber.

In 2020, Catherine Destivelle was awarded the Piolet d’Or Carrière for her lifetime achievements and contributions to the world of mountaineering. She is the first woman to be honoured with this award.

Catherine’s Notable Achievements

In 1990 she free-climbed with Jeff Lowe the Yougouslaves route on the Nameless Tower at Trango Towers in the Karakoram, Pakistan and then solo climbed the Bonatti Pillar at Les Drus in 4 hours.

June 1991, she opened a new route up the famous west face of the Drus, during a remarkable 11-day solo-climb.

August 1992, attempt with Jeff Lowe of the North ridge of Latok I (Karakoram, Pakistan), a route still unbeaten to this day.

In March 1992, she climbed the legendary north face of the Eiger solo in winter in 17 hours via the Heckmair route, without any prior scouting (on sight). She says, ‘I think that my solo winter ascent of the North Face of the Eiger is definitely the closest to my heart, because before this achievement, I did not really consider myself a true mountaineer. I was making mainly rock climbing and didn’t do any mixed wall climbing, I was not doing much ice climbing nor snow terrain climbing, thus I considered myself incomplete as an alpinist. Consequently, after the North Face of the Eiger I confirmed to myself that I was capable of climbing north faces. This was in ’92.’

In summer 1993, in the company of Erik Decamp, she attempted an alpine-style ascent of the west pillar of Makalu (8481 metres). Makalu is the fifth-highest mountain on Earth, located on the China-Nepal border.

March 1994, first repetition of the Bonatti route on the north face of the Matterhorn, a winter solo ascent.

In 1994, with Erik Decamp, repeat of the Kurtyka-Loretan-Troillet route on the south face of Shishapangma, 8013 metres, in Tibet.

In 1996, first ascent with Érik Decamp of the “unnamed” Peak 4111 (4,160 m) in the Ellsworth Range in Antarctica. An accident forced her to return early from this expedition.

In June 1999, Catherine made a solo ascent of the Brandler-Hasse route on the north face of Cima Grande in the Dolomites. Catherine was once again the first woman to make this solo ascent.

She is still to this day the only woman to have soloed the Grandes Jorasses, the Matterhorn and the north face of the Eiger.

She began to cut back on solo climbs in the late 1990s and developed an active career as a lecturer and writer.

Destivelle is an extremely accomplished speaker, and gives inspirational presentations where she challenges and inspires her audience to re-focus their goals to achieve success by sharing her visions and startling achievements. She powerfully illustrates with slides, video footage and films the necessary vision, belief and self-determination needed to reach her full potential.

She publishes books and produces films about the mountains. She provides technical advice about mountaineering gear.

Catherine organizes corporate and team-building seminars for companies. Breathtaking pictures help her listeners grasp the keys to success. Part of her seminars and conferences are climbing excursions and trips into the high mountains. These are not meant to be testing ordeals, but rather opportunities which help the participants to find out more about themselves, others and the world around us in a sociable environment.

Destivelle has been the subject of several documentaries, including French director Rémy Tezier’s, ‘Beyond the Summits’, which won the award for best feature-length mountain film at the 2009 Banff Mountain Film Festival.

‘Climbing is my first love and my favorite pastime – in the mountains, on cliffs, in competition, while travelling, anywhere in the world.’

By Alex Arlander | ENC News