René Desmaison

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René Desmaison (born April 14, 1930 in Périgord ; † September 28, 2007 in Marseille ) was a French mountaineer who made a name for himself in the 1950s and 1960s with extreme winter and solo ascents on rock and ice.

Life

Desmaison, who comes from the Périgord , went to Paris with his godfather after the death of his mother , where he met the Bleausard , a group of climbers who trained on the boulders in the forest of Fontainebleau . In 1954 Desmaison made the acquaintance of the alpinist Jean Couzy and won in him a touring partner with whom he achieved numerous sensational tours in the following years. Desmaison became known nationwide primarily through winter ascent of difficult walls, which in the 1950s were the declared goal of many extreme mountaineers. B. by the winter ascent of the Dru west face (1957) or the Olan north face (1960). In 1966 he was excluded from the mountain guide association in Chamonix because he had rescued two German climbers without permission. Desmaison experienced a tragedy in 1971 on the Walker pillar of the Grandes Jorasses , when he and his companion Serge Gousseault had to seek shelter in a snow hole. Desmaison was rescued after 15 days, Gousseault died shortly before.

René Desmaison was not only in the Alps, but also in the Andes and the Himalayas , where he succeeded in the first ascent of Jannu (7710 m) on April 28, 1962 together with Paul Keller , Robert Paragot and the Sherpa Gyalzène Mitchung .

Mountain climbs

René Desmaison has climbed a total of more than 1,000 mountains, 114 of which were first ascents .

First ascents

Western pinnacle , direct north face

His most important first ascents include the following:

  • Aiguille Noire -NW edge (1956)
  • Pointe Bich (1957)
  • Grandes Jorasses , Pointe Margherita, N-Wand (1958)
  • Western pinnacle , direct north face (1959)
  • Grandes Jorasses, Linceul ("Shroud"), lasted from January 17th to 25th, 1968!
  • Grandes Jorasses, Pointe Walker-NO-Wand (1973, also 1st winter ascent)

Solo ascents

Fonts

  • Mountains, my passion , Müller Rüschlikon Verlag 1973, ISBN 3-275-00511-1 .
  • Three hundred and forty-two hours in the Grandes Jorasses , Müller Rüschlikon Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-275-00563-4 .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Desmaison, René
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French climber
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Périgord
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 2007
Place of death Marseille