Catherine Destivelle
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| Nationality | French |
| Born |
July 24, 1960 Oran, French Algeria |
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Catherine Monique Suzanne Destivelle (born 24 July 1960) is a French rock climber and mountaineer. In 1992 she became the first woman to complete a solo ascent of the Eiger's north face. She completed the climb in winter in 17 hours. Her other notable climbs include the Bonatti Route on the north face of the Matterhorn and the southwest pillar of the Aiguille du Dru (the Bonatti Pillar). Destivelle has been the subject of several documentaries, including French director Rémy Tezier's, Beyond the Summits (Au-delà des cimes), which won the award for best feature-length mountain film at the 2009 Banff Mountain Film Festival.
Catherine Destivelle was born in Oran, in French Algeria, to French parents, Serge and Annie Destivelle. Catherine is the eldest of six (four sisters Florence, Sophie, Martine and Claire, and one brother Hyacinthe). Her father was an amateur climber and mountaineer, and both parents were always supportive and encouraging the family in outdoor adventurous activities. When she was a young teenager, the family moved to France, where she attended the Lycée Corot in Savigny-sur-Orge.
At the age of 12, she became a member of the Club alpin français, and started learning bouldering in Fontainebleau, cliff climbing in Burgundy, and alpinism in the Massif des Écrins. From the very start, Destivelle showed great skills, endurance and enthusiasm for rock climbing and mountaineering. At only 13, her parents believing she was bouldering in Fontainebleau, she went to spend several week-ends in the Rhône-Alpes mountains, climbing with the CAF instructor she met the previous summer, until her parents eventually discovered where she really was spending her week-ends. She then got to spend more time in Fontainebleau, meeting a lot of experienced climbers, all of them ten or fifteen years older than her. At this point she also met Pierre Richard, her first rope companion. With the Bleausards, Destivelle learned a lot about rock climbing, always keen on attempting the most difficult and challenging climbs, like La Javanaise in the Surgy cliffs (Burgundy), on the first time she went there.
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