Catherine Destivelle

Catherine Destivelle, born on July twenty-fourth, nineteen sixty, is a renowned French rock climber and mountaineer, celebrated as one of the most significant figures in the history of climbing. She gained prominence in the mid-1980s, making her mark in sport climbing by winning the inaugural major female climbing competitions. In nineteen eighty-five, she became the first woman to redpoint a route graded 7c+/8a with her ascent of Fleur de Rocaille, followed by her historic climb of an 8a+ (5.13c) route, Choucas, in nineteen eighty-eight.

Destivelle was recognized as the strongest female sport climber globally during this period, alongside the legendary Lynn Hill. However, in nineteen ninety, she shifted her focus to alpine climbing, marking a new chapter in her illustrious career. That same year, she achieved the first female alpine ascent of the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru, a feat she followed in nineteen ninety-one by establishing a new extreme alpine route, Voie Destivelle, on the same mountain.

From nineteen ninety-two to nineteen ninety-four, she made history as the first woman to complete the winter alpine free solo of the