In Memory: Rene Desmaison

© Desmaison
Rene Desmaison, 77, passed away last week after a long battle with illness. He is remembered as a prolific mountaineer with over 1000 peak ascents including 114 first ascents of routes in the Alps, Andes and Himalaya to his credit.

Desmaison began climbing in Fontainbleau as part of the third generation of young Parisian mountaineers and climbers known as the "Group of Bleau." There, in 1954, he met Jean Couzy, a young aerospace engineer and test pilot, with whom he climbed extensively in the Alps, particularly on the west face of the Petit Dru. He made the fourth ascent of the Dru's original route, as well as both the first winter ascent and the first solo ascent of the same route. With Couzy, who died tragically in 1958, he added also a new line--the all time third--on the Marguerite spur of north face of the Grandes Jorasses.

Read more at Alpinist.com


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29 Sep, 2007
"It's so difficult to accept nothingness... You would like to know how things really are beyond life, be sure it's not all a big joke, but, as big as it may be, how can a joke survive for millennia? Look how beautiful are the stars in the coal black sky, those little twinkling gems, those little fantastic worlds. You've Creation before your eyes, here, on this same mountain that's taking your life and you can't hate, not even now. And what if truth is really here, amongst these pyramids of granite?" (excerpt from Desmaison "342 hours on the Grandes Jorasses") http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/141408.jpg
29 Sep, 2007
Yes, the "class of '30", the best year for a climber to be born last century. Of that class, I may think of Bonatti and Joe Brown as still being with us...
29 Sep, 2007
Yes, the consequences of the '66 Dru rescue - and expecially the '71 Jorasses mess were defining moment of his life. In many ways the latter is still a question to be resolved...
29 Sep, 2007
29 Sep, 2007
One of the giants of post-war Alpinism. His description of the Jorasses tragedy remains the most achingly real and vivid piece of mountaineering writing I've read. I suppose that for a true Alpinist to pass away in bed at a ripe old age, after a life well lived and a cutting-edge tick-list as long as his arm should be considered a good outcome.
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