Sophie Lavaud: On Top of the World – Le Figaro Magazine

On June 26, 2023, by reaching the summit of Nanga Parbat (8,126 m) in Pakistan, Sophie Lavaud became the first French woman to climb all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, the highest points on Earth. Neither a performer nor a collector, this exceptional mountaineer now pursues new challenges.

Sophie first approached Nanga Parbat, nicknamed “the Killer Mountain”, in 2022, enduring tremendous hardship but ultimately without success. In 2023, she tried again. Even though she felt secure with Dawa Sangay Sherpa, her high-altitude partner, Yan Giezendanner, the Chamonix-based meteorologist, and François Damilano, filming Le Dernier Sommet, she knew the Pakistani summit trapeze remained extremely dangerous. On the giants of the Himalayas, there are few, if any, second chances. Eleven years of experience and thirteen previous successes above 8,000 meters did not guarantee victory.

After two days of approach to base camp, ascending the Diamir Glacier, climbing the formidable Kinshofer Wall, and navigating the upper slopes interrupted by steep steps, as well as stays at altitude camps 1, 2, and 3, Sophie Lavaud reached the summit of Nanga Parbat on June 26, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. At 55, she completed her Himalayan grand slam: climbing the fourteen highest peaks on Earth and breaking the so-called curse of French mountaineers, who had perished attempting the same feat.

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