Mountaineering: Sophie Lavaud, first French woman to climb the fourteen peaks at more than 8,000m
On Monday, June 26, mountaineer Sophie Lavaud became the first French woman of all kinds to have climbed the fourteen summits of the world at more than 8,000 meters. She realizes this dream thanks to the summit of Nanga Parbat.
French mountaineer Sophie Lavaud, during an expedition to Nepal, in 2018. © Wikimedia Commons
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Nanga Parbat, at 8,126m, in Pakistan, was the last mountain over 8,000 meters missing for Sophie Lavaud, 55. "The more I climb these big mountains, the more I realize that we are nothing compared to the immensity of the Himalayas," she told AFP before the climb.
Born in Haute-Savoie, this mountaineer has triple French, Swiss and Canadian nationality. She completed an extraordinary project: that of climbing these fourteen summits, the highest in the world. This project began to take shape in her mind in 2012, when she reached her first 8,000, Cho Oyu, a Tibetan peak.
«
In 2015, I resigned from my last job (director of an event company, editor's note) to take the plunge and devote myself fully to this goal (...) I love the adventure that is part of each expedition, I love the countries, the villages we cross, the meetings, the life on the base camps " she had detailed.
Twelve hours of ascent
No Frenchman had pursued this ambition to the end, despite attempts. In 2012, the adventurer began with Cho Oyu, a Tibetan peak. Two years later, she tackles Everest, the roof of the world. This Monday, June 26, with a team of twenty other climbers, she reached the Pakistani summit of Nanga Parbat after twelve hours of ascent.
It is at 8126 meters above the ground that Sophie Lavaud's dream comes true. Only a few dozen have succeeded, including a handful of women. Perhaps another will join them. The expedition was led by Kristin Harila, the Norwegian mountaineer who seeks to climb the same fourteen peaks, in less than six months.
Forty men and women around the world have climbed the fourteen Himalayan giants, according to the online database The Himalayan Database. The Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner, in 1986, was the first to do so. But Sophie Lavaud is the only Frenchwoman, of all genres, to have accomplished such a feat.
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