Catherine Destivelle

Catherine Destivelle

Catherine Destivelle (born 24 July 1960) is a French rock climber and mountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important 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 woman to redpoint a 7c+/8a sport climbing route with Fleur de Rocaille in 1985, 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 woman to create a new extreme alpine route, also on the Petit Dru, which was named Voie Destivelle in her honor. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in 14 different languages on Wikipedia. Catherine Destivelle is the 44th most popular mountaineer, the 149th most popular biography from Algeria and the most popular Algerian Mountaineer.

Catherine Destivelle is most famous for her pioneering achievements in rock climbing and mountaineering, particularly her solo ascents of challenging routes in the Alps and her contributions to the sport in the 1980s and 1990s. She is recognized for her exceptional skills and has been a prominent figure in promoting women's participation in climbing.