Eric Escoffier

Éric Escoffier is a French mountaineer born on August 9, 1960 in L'Arbresle in France and died in the mountains, at Broad Peak, on July 29, 1998 in Pakistan. "Escoff", the gymnast converted into climbing, was a pioneer, one of the leaders of this generation who revisited the great routes of the Alps, dividing the timetables by two, three or four, and chaining at the same time two, three or four main routes during the day thanks to hang-gliding or paragliding; of a generation now largely decimated, who, at the start of the 1980s, practiced "excessive" mountaineering, making him take such a leap forward that some people today wonder if he has really recovered . At 25, he became, with Christophe Profit, the star of a demanding system. The scene of this confrontation in the shadow of sponsors and helicopters was the winter trilogy. At the beginning of March 1987, Profit succeeded where Escoffier had failed, the latter having gotten lost on the north face of the Eiger, where he had refused to do a reconnaissance. Escoffier was constantly inventing new challenges: lining up the summits, taking part in the Monaco rally, flying hang-gliding or paragliding, practicing free solo climbing... In 1985, among some of his many exploits, he succeeded in overcoming three eight thousand meters in the Himalayas, Gasherbrum 2 (8,035 meters) Hidden Peak (8,068 meters) and K2 (French premiere, 8,611 meters). Above all, the life of Eric Escoffier, a motor racing enthusiast, changed six months later, on September 18, 1987, when his car rolled over in the Arly gorges, leaving him hemiplegic for more than six months. By force of will, thanks, he said, to his habit of training, Escoffier fought against this handicap, a word he refused to pronounce until quite recently. He had relearned to walk, overcame two new serious accidents, falls in a paraglider (in 1988) and in a crevasse of Mont Blanc (in 1996). He swallowed up kilometers on a mountain bike, but walking on uneven terrain (scree…

Known for

Acting

Born

1960-08-09 · L'Arbresle, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

Died

1998-07-29