Audiences in Banff and throughout North America are familiar with Catherine Destivelle's fluid rock-climbing style and her lonely north face epics, many told on camera. From the 1985 Robert Nicod film E Pericoloso Sporgersi which featured Destivelle in the Verdon Gorge, to Pierre-Antoine Hiroz's two award winners Seo filmed in Mali, and Ballade a Devil's Tower filmed in the United States, she has dominated the big screen with her talent and her charm.

Although Destivelle appears to climb effortlessly, and to have no shortage of projects, sponsorship, fame or success, she is not a stranger to fear and injury. She suffered a 35-meter fall into a crevasse resulting in a broken back which took years to fully rehabilitate, and which developed into a healthy fear of solo glacier crossings. She is currently rehabilitating from a fall in Antarctica which required a remote self-rescue of epic proportions and resulted in a compound fracture.

As a young Parisian, Destivelle learned to climb at Fontainebleau, the bouldering area near Paris. She quickly developed her skills and before long was alpine climbing in the Chamonix area. Even as a teenager, she led many of the alpine classics such as the American Direct on the Dru.

Destivelle entered the competitive arena and dominated it for several years, winning the most important competitions at Bardoneccia, Italy from 1985 to 1987 and Snowbird in 1988 and 1989.

She was also soloing at a very high level (12a), and this combination of ability and focus would enable her to envision and carry through some future ambitious projects. In 1990, she succeeded with Jeff Lowe in doing the second free ascent of the Yugoslav Route of Trango Tower, a climb which was also made into a film. Her four hour free-solo ascent of the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru in 1990 was also captured on film. She returned to the Petit Dru to tackle a new line which required extensive aid climbing. As this was not a technique with which she was familiar, she trained for a month in the United States, learning big-wall and aid techniques before her eleven-day breakthrough on the Dru. Although this climb was not Destivelle's favourite alpine experience, it remains a major first ascent by a woman on an extremely difficult route (A3 and A4).

Her ability to conceptualize a project, and then focus on all that is required to succeed was a major determining factor in her success in 1988 when she soloed the north face of the Eiger by the 1938 first-ascent route. She trained and ice-climbed in Canada for weeks prior to her Eiger climb. It was the first female solo ascent of this north face, and audiences around the world had the opportunity of experiencing her most decisive moments as the climb was captured on film by a helicopter crew.

Her winter solos continued in 1993 as she did the Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses - a first winter solo by a woman, and a winter solo ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn on the Bonatti route.

She has climbed in the Himalaya several times including Latok, Makalu, Annapurna and Shishapangma. Although she didn't summit, she considers some of these high-altitude and very lightweight expeditions both successful and rewarding experiences.

In addition to being one of the world's most accomplished all-round climbers, Destivelle excels at communicating her experiences through her films, books, television appearances and lectures. She is one of the most recognized faces in France, and is an admirable role model for the next generation. Her signature style is disarming, amusing, vibrant, enthusiastic and..."tres charmant".

Catherine Destivelle opens the 21st Annual Banff Festival of Mountain Films with a presentation on Friday, November 1, 1996 at 8 p.m. at The Banff Centre.

Source--The Banff Centre