Jean-Christophe Lafaille(1965-2006)

Jean-Christophe Lafaille was a French mountaineer. He got an impressive record of achievements in the fields of rock climbing and mountaineering. Among his notable ascents, in 1987, he completed the free solo ascent of "Rêve de Gosse", a route graded 8a+ at La Roche des Arnauds (France). At the time, it was the hardest free solo ascent ever achieved. In 1989, he free-soloed "Le Privilège du Serpent", a route graded 7c+ at Céüse (France). In 1990, he made the first free solo ascent of "Divine Providence" on the Grand Pilier d'Angle, a route then considered the hardest in the Mont Blanc massif. He sought to become the first Frenchman to summit all fourteen peaks exceeding 8,000 meters in altitude, but he disappeared on the normal route of Makalu (8,485 meters) between his last bivouac at 7,600 meters and the summit, while attempting a solo winter ascent. There has been no word from him since January 26, the day he was reported missing. His track record includes eleven 8,000-meter summits reached without supplemental oxygen, most of them achieved solo. He still needed to climb Everest (8,849 meters) and Kangchenjunga (8,586 meters) to become the first Frenchman to summit all fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters in altitude.