Catherine Destivelle climbing on the Adrachti tower in Greece
Personal information
Nationality
French
Born
(1960-07-24) 24 July 1960 (age 63) Oran, French Algeria
Occupation(s)
Professional rock climber and mountaineer, and publisher
Height
5 ft 4 in (163 cm)[1]
Spouse
Erik Decamp (m. 1996)
Website
www.catherinedestivelle.com
Climbing career
Type of climber
Traditional climbing
Sport climbing
Competition climbing
Free soloing
Alpine climbing
Big wall climbing
Ice climbing
Highest grade
Redpoint: 8a+ (5.13c)
Known for
First female to climb sport 7c+/8a , and 8a+ (5.13c), and second to climb 7b+ (5.12c)
First female to climb the Bonatti Pillar (1990)
First female winter solo ascent of the north face of the Eiger (1992), Grandes Jorasses (1993), and Matterhorn (1994)
First female to free climb Nameless Tower (1990)
First female to climb southwest face of Shishapangma
First female to win the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Award (2020)
First ascents
Voie Destivelle (VI 5.11b A5) on the Petit Dru (1991)
Losar (ice grade WI5), in Namche Bazaar (1994)
South Face (TD: V 5.10) of Peak 4111 (1996)
Named routes
Voie Destivelle in Petit Dru
Medal record
Women's competition climbing
Representing France
Sport Roccia
Winner
1985
Lead
Winner
1986
Lead
Winner
1988
Lead
Updated on 12 December 2022.
Catherine Destivelle (born 24 July 1960) is a French rock climber and mountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important female 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 female to redpoint a 7c+/8a sport climbing route with Fleur de Rocaille in 1985,[a] and an 8a+ (5.13c) 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 female 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.
^Roberts, David (June 2012). "A Mountain of Trouble". Men's Journal. Retrieved 12 December 2022. 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.
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southwest face (not reaching the main summit), Erik Decamp (France), CatherineDestivelle (France) 1996: 9 October, Anatoli Boukreev completed a solo ascent...
followed the path of earlier female sport climbers like Lynn Hill and CatherineDestivelle, freeing old aid climbing routes into major new multi-pitch traditional...
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dominated in the 1980s by American climber Lynn Hill and French climber CatherineDestivelle who set new female grade milestones and also competed against each...
became the first alpinist to climb the "Trilogy" in winter, and solo; CatherineDestivelle was the first female to complete the solo winter Trilogy in 1992–1994...
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Important female climbers emerged in the 1980s including Lynn Hill and CatherineDestivelle and climbing journals began to chronicle milestones in female first...
actress 1958 – Jim Leighton, Scottish footballer and coach 1960 – CatherineDestivelle, French rock climber and mountaineer 1961 – Kerry Dixon, English...
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