Movies: French climbers

In 1983, the French Mountain Federation (FFM) organized a landmark climbing gathering in Saussois and the Verdon, bringing together generations of the greatest climbers of the time, including Patrick Edlinger, Jean-Claude Droyer, Jerry Moffatt, Jean-...

A documentary portrait of the legend Eric Escoffier at the height of his mountaineering career. A true athlete, Escoffier has comprehensive, cutting-edge preparation in three different climbing disciplines: rock climbing, ice climbing and solo free c...

“The Conquerors of the Impossible: Group Portrait” is a documentary on free climbing which takes place in the Verdon Gorges and Toulon. It was directed by Bernard Dumont in 1986 and produced by Les Films du Soleil. It is part of the series The Conque...

On May 23, 1971, a French expedition led by Robert Paragot successfully climbed Makalu via its west pillar. Makalu is one of the five highest peaks in the world, located in the Himalayas on the Nepalese-Tibetan border. Jean-Pierre Janssen and Lucien ...

Released in 2016, the short film by Keith Ladzinski, Josh Povec and Andy Mann traces the origins of sport climbing in the legendary Verdon Gorges, which Americans inevitably compare to the US Grand Canyon. The Verdon is where climbing flourished in t...

Robert Paragot, a mountaineering legend, was also a great Bleausard. In addition to his far-flung alpine-style expeditions (the south face of Aconcagua, Tour de Mustagh, Jannu), he is the very image of the modest city dweller who devoted himself pass...

Lucien Berardini and Edmond Denis are two mountaineers who took part in the French expedition to Aconcagua (Andes Mountains) in 1954. Both suffered severe frostbite to their fingers and toes, and three years later, they set out to climb the Aiguille ...

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The film shows Catherine Destivelle's trip to Dogon Country, in Mali, where she will make spectacular free solo rock climbing ascents in the sun-warmed cliffs of Bandiagara. Destivelle is accompanied on this trip by a friend climber, Lucien Abbet. A ...

In this film, following in the footsteps of Patrick Edlinger, Christian and Olivier build the legendary roof of La Piade (Toulon, France) solo in deep water. Up to 18 m high, the two climbers are keen to work the route without a rope. The Piade site ...

At the peak of her career as a rock climber, Catherine Destivelle goes to the United States to get away from the competitions and to recharge batteries. There, Destivelle travels by car through Utah and Wyoming to make spectacular free solo ascents i...

Documentary on climbing in the famous Verdon gorges, a mecca for world climbing. From Bernard Vaucher to Catherine Destivelle, from Bernard Gorgeon to Lionel Catsoyannis via Enzo Oddo and Fabien Ristori, relive the evolution of climbing in Verdon thr...

A film about the 1979 expedition to Nanga Parbat in Pakistan, led by Lyon native Jean-Pierre Frésafond. After a city tour, they set off by bus and then on foot with Sherpas to base camp. Having set out to attempt the Rupal Pillar, the expedition was ...

The film of the first ascent of Mont Foraker (5,304 m) in the Denali chain in Alaska, by the southeast ridge of independence in 1976, which remains years after an unequaled sporting and human adventure. The 7 members of the expedition, Henri Agresti,...

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This film - without commentary and simply accompanied by local music - relates the 1969 ascent of the north face of Kohe Shakhawr, a Himalayan peak located on the border with Afghanistan, by mountaineers Benoît Mathieu, Jacques Soubis, René Thomas, J...

A legendary film in the history of rock climbing in the Verdon Gorges, shot in 16mm between the autumn of 1978 and the spring of 1979 by Henri Agresti, a high mountain guide. For the first time, acrobatic shots were taken on the walls of the Verdon. ...

It's one of the hardest routes on a north face that's not lacking in them: No Siesta on the Grandes Jorasses, 30 pitches of mixed, ice and rock, sometimes dubious, sometimes compact. Opened in 1986 by Jan Porvaznik and Stanislav Glejdura, No Siesta h...

The French Alpine Club's film about the French expedition to conquer Makalu (8481m) via the west pillar in Nepal, which began on February 24, 1971. Composed of 11 mountaineers, Robert Paragot (expedition leader), Georges Payot, Lucien Berardini, Yann...

È Pericoloso Sporgersi is Robert Nicod's first short film, shot in 1985, featuring four young climbers, two women, Catherine Destivelle and Monique Dalmasso, and two men, Alain Bultel and Marc Lecomte-Durouil, in the Verdon Gorges. In a natural setti...