The remarkable French alpinist Chantal Mauduit would have turned 61 today, but her passion for high-altitude mountaineering led to her premature death at age 34. Here, we explore her climbs and her fatal expedition to Dhaulagiri I.
Early life
Mauduit was born in Paris on March 24, 1964. At five, she moved with her family to Chambery in the Savoie region of the French Alps. This relocation introduced her to the mountains, where she began hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
At 15, her mother passed away from cancer. Seeking solace, Mauduit turned to climbing, starting with the Alps. By 17, she had already climbed the North Face of the Grandes Jorasses, the Drus, and the Matterhorn.
In the early 1990s, Mauduit ascended the Directissime Jori Bardill route on the Central Pillar of Freney in the Mont Blanc massif with French climber Ernest Blade.
In July 1992, with Blade, Araceli Segarra, and Albert Castellet, she climbed the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru. They finished the famous 800m route in eight hours. One year later, Mauduit completed the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses in a single day from Chamonix.
In the mid-1990s, Mauduit did the Devies-Gervasutti route on the northwest face of Ailefroide Occidentale (3,954m) in the Ecrins massif. This 1,050m line is known for its remoteness and technical difficulty.
Chantal Mauduit on Pointe du Domino in the Alps. Photo: Collection Chantal Mauduit
Next, Mauduit went to the Andes. She climbed 5,495m Nevado Urus and took part in an expedition to 6,768m Huascaran. She made the Sajama Traverse in Bolivia (6,542m) and ascended Mount William in Antarctica.
Himalaya and Karakoram
Her focus then shifted to the Himalaya, where she chose to climb without supplemental oxygen.
“Climbing without oxygen is my ethics. When you use [oxygen] during an ascent, you necessarily miss very strong, very intense moments, both visually and audibly. All the senses are then heightened,” she told Le Monde newspaper.
On Aug. 3, 1992, aged 28, Mauduit summited K2 via the Abruzzi Route without supplemental oxygen. She became just the fourth woman to do so.
Her descent was harrowing. A storm caught her near Camp 4 at around 8,000m, and she became snowblind. Americans Ed Viesturs and Scott Fischer — who had struggled to scrape together enough money for their expedition — abandoned their summit bid to save her.
Controversy
Back at Base Camp, Mauduit didn’t thank Viesturs and Fischer but instead celebrated her summit success as if the rescue had never taken place.
“So now Chantal was celebrating with the Russians. We’d hear their cheers and revelry as we [Viesturs and Fischer] lay silent in our tents. Scott and I hadn’t been invited to the party,” Viesturs wrote in his book No Shortcuts to the Top.
Ed Viesturs. Photo: RMI Guides
More big peaks
In 1993, Mauduit summited Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu without supplemental oxygen, burnishing her 8,000m reputation.
On April 28, 1996, Mauduit topped out on 7,138m Pumori. After that, she climbed two 8,000m peaks in the same season. On May 10, she climbed Lhotse and reached the top alone, leading some to question her summit success because of a lack of proof. This climb took place during the infamous 1996 Everest disaster, and Mauduit witnessed the tragedy that killed several climbers, including Scott Fischer.
Ed Viesturs told Elizabeth Hawley of The Himalayan Database that he had seen Mauduit enter into a gully and return soon after, casting doubt on her summit. Mauduit’s sponsors were likely pressing hard for her to succeed after her failure one year earlier on Everest. However, the summit was officially accepted, and she became the first woman to summit Lhotse.
Two weeks after Lhotse, Mauduit summited Manaslu, topping out alone again. According to Hawley, Mauduit was accompanied by Ang Tshering Sherpa, but Ang Tshering ran out of energy on their final push on May 24. He had been breaking trail for hours in deep snow. Mauduit’s summit marked her fifth 8,000’er.
Her sixth 8,000m summit came in 1997 on Gasherbrum II, again without bottled oxygen.
In the autumn of 1996, Mauduit attempted Annapurna I but aborted above high camp in bad conditions.
Chantal Mauduit. Photo: Andre Velter
Seven attempts on Everest
Between 1989 and 1995, Mauduit made seven attempts on Everest without bottled oxygen. She never summited the world’s highest peak.
On her last attempt in 1995, she suffered serious altitude sickness. After almost collapsing during a summit push, she was carried down by fellow climbers and needed extra oxygen. This event, like the K2 rescue, drew criticism for her reliance on others.
Mauduit always pushed very hard, but on several occasions, she started strong but ran out of energy and needed help.
Despite these incidents, Mauduit’s successful 8,000m climbs without supplemental oxygen place her among the elite of her era.
Death on Dhaulagiri I
Mauduit had already attempted Dhaulagiri I in the autumn of 1997, but she aborted above high camp. In the spring of 1998, she returned to try again.
This was her last expedition. Mauduit and 45-year-old Ang Tshering Sherpa died, possibly between May 11 and 13. Climbers found their bodies in their tent at Camp 2 (6,500m). Ten Sherpas brought her body down, and it was flown to Kathmandu and then on to France.
During a summit push, other teams on the mountain had retreated to Base Camp because of avalanche danger and bad conditions. Yet Mauduit and Ang Tshering stayed in Camp 2.
Mauduit in Base Camp. Photo: Chantal Mauduit
An autopsy in France confirmed the cause of death as a broken neck, likely from a rockfall or small avalanche. The Italian climbers who found her body also believed this was the most likely cause of death.
Ed Viesturs was also on Dhaulagiri that season and suggested carbon monoxide poisoning from a stove could have killed her. He reasoned that there were no clear signs of an avalanche at Camp 2.
The Italian climbers had found Mauduit and Ang Tshering’s tent covered in snow. They had to dig the tent out to look inside and found the pair in their sleeping bags. This accumulated snow might have broken Mauduit’s neck, the Italians suggested. Yet Ang Tshering’s neck was not broken.
Mauduit’s family and friends chose to trust the results of the autopsy.
Chantal Mauduit. Photo: Chantal Mauduit
A poetic soul
Mauduit studied physiotherapy but abandoned it for a life in the mountains, living nomadically between expeditions. She carried books by Rimbaud and Baudelaire on climbs, wrote poetry on her tent, and spoke about her experiences with lyrical depth.
In 1997, she published J’habite au Paradise (I Live in Paradise), a book blending impressions of her climbs with reflections on the cultures she encountered.
“Chantal Mauduit was a very interesting woman,” Elizabeth Hawley once wrote. “When she arrived here, she named each of her expeditions after a flower she had drawn on her tents. She was flamboyant.”
Mauduit’s tent. Photo: Chantal Mauduit
Mauduit’s approach to mountaineering was unconventional. She prioritized personal experience over logistical teamwork. But her infectious optimism and comfort in the mountains earned her admiration. Viesturs wrote that everybody loved Mauduit for her happy character.
After her passing, friends and family founded the Association Chantal Mauduit Namaste, which established a school in Kathmandu, honoring her generosity toward Nepalese communities.
Below is a short video showing something of her character.
