World’s most famous female alpinist at Buxton Adventure Festival
1st Feb 2016
THE WORLD’s most famous female alpinist and rock climber Catherine Destivelle will regale an audience with her global adventures at the Buxton Adventure Festival on 24th February 2016.
Catherine shot to fame in the mid 1980s after her sport climbing and competition results gained global attention. Starting out as a mountaineering prodigy, her greatest achievements lay in her world firsts and daring expeditions in the mountains.
She climbed the American Direct on the Dru aged 17 and also conquered hard routes on the north faces of the Olan and the Ailefroide in the Écrins. She is still the only woman to have soloed the north faces of the Eiger, the Grandes Jorarsses and the Matterhorn in winter.
In the early 1990s, Catherine was also on a number of Himalayan expeditions, climbing Trango Tower free and repeating the Troillet-Lorétan-Kurtyka route on Shisha Pangma in 1994. Her last high profile expedition was in 1996, when she travelled to Antarctica to make a first ascent before badly breaking her leg.
Catherine has since been on the jury of the Piolets d’Or, launched her own publishing company, Les Éditions du Mont-Blanc, and maintains a writing and lecturing career.
An evening with Catherine Destivelle will take place at the Buxton Opera House’s Pavilion Arts Centre in Derbyshire. The event starts at 7:30pm on Wednesday, 24th February 2016.
Matt Heason, Buxton Adventure Festival Director, says: “Catherine is a megastar in the world of mountaineering and climbing, with a long list of amazing achievements to her name. She has been the subject of several documentaries for good reason and many will have memories of the incredible footage of her soloing a sandstone cliff in the Mali desert in 1987, which has been seen worldwide.
“We are very proud to present An Evening With Catherine Destivelle in the heart of the Peak District. She will present photo stories and films and illustrate her amazing career and passion for climbing. It is an evening not to be missed.”
The Buxton Adventure Festival is supported by University of Derby, Buxton Advertiser, Buxton Opera House, The Old Hall Hotel, Go Ape and Heason Events.
For a list of events in 2016, visit the What's On section of the website.
For more information and to book tickets CLICK HERE.
