Catherine Destivelle

Catherine Destivelle is a French rock climber and mountaineer, born on 24 July 1960 in Oran, then part of French Algeria. She is regarded as one of the most important climbers in the history of the sport. In the mid-1980s she rose to prominence in sport climbing by winning the first major women's climbing competitions at Sportroccia, and she became the first woman to redpoint a 7c+/8a route with Fleur de Rocaille in 1985 and an 8a+ route with Choucas in 1988. She retired from competition in 1990 to concentrate on alpine climbing, making the first female ascent of the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru, opening the new route Voie Destivelle in 1991, and completing winter solo ascents of the north faces of the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses and the Matterhorn between 1992 and 1994. She was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2007 and in 2020 became the first woman to receive the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award.