Catherine Destivelle started climbing at a very young age. At the end of the 80s, she was one of the best climbers in the world. In the 90s, she undertook a shift towards mountaineering with expeditions to the Himalayas. Subsequently, she became the first woman to climb the three great north faces of the Alps in winter alone: the Matterhorn, the Grandes Jorasses and the Eiger.
At the microphone of Bixente Lizarazu, Catherine Destivelle looks back on his passion for climbing and his exploits.
Horror at 4,000 meters above sea level
Among the emblematic climbs made by Catherine Destivelle, there is that of Drus in 1991, where for 11 days, she opened a new route on the West face alone. An ascent that the mountaineer qualifies as “long and tedious” because of a smooth rock difficult to climb, which is not among his best memories.
But that’s nothing compared to the misadventure which she suffered in Antarctica in 1996, and which almost cost her her life.
After climbing to the top of a 4,000 meter mountain, Catherine Destivelle decides to immortalize the moment by being photographed by her companion Erik Decamp. “I had lowered my guard, I was no longer concentrated, I thought that nothing could happen to me because I had passed the biggest difficulties. Having the rope made me feel safe”, analyzes the mountaineer. By putting her foot on soft snow that she thought was hard, Catherine Destivelle tilts back and slides several meters.
While taking the photo, I moved too fast, I tipped over and fell 20 meters – Catherine Destivelle
Fortunately, Erik Decamp succeeded in grab your rope to break the fall, But the damage was done. She quickly realizes that she has an open leg fracture. “The horror at 4,000 meters above sea level, far from everything, we inevitably tell ourselves that we are going to die”, she recalls. To survive, without any means of communication, there was only one solution: to go down. “He came down to me at the end of the rope like a potato sack. Every 20 meters, I put a relay and it joined me “, explains Catherine Destivelle.
In total, they put 4 p.m. to descend by minus 30°C. Once they reached the bottom, they were able to reach their tent where their radio was waiting for them to call for help. These could only come three days later, blocked by a storm.