Jean-Pierre Frésafond

Jean-Pierre Frésafond, born in 1936 in Montfavet, Vaucluse, discovered mountaineering after returning from the Algerian War. He began his mountaineering career at the age of 25, after leaving the family farm to become an industrial sales representative. From his earliest years, he distinguished himself on major routes such as the Walker Spur in the Grandes Jorasses and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites. In 1967, he joined the Groupe de Haute Montagne (GHM), which opened the doors to international expeditions: he climbed in the Iranian Caucasus, the Hindu Kush, and the Andes, and in 1972 participated in an expedition to the Gurja Himal in Nepal. He made history in French mountaineering in 1975 by leading the Lyon expedition that successfully completed the second ascent of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m), the first peak over 8,000 meters for a Lyon team. Despite the death of Bernard Villaret during the expedition, Yannick Seigneur and Marc Batard opened the south ridge and reached the summit under his leadership. Frésafond recounts this adventure in his book Expédition au Gasherbrum 2, Lyon premier 8000 (1977). In 1979, he led a new national expedition to Nanga Parbat, stopping at 7,000 meters on the Mazenod ridge, an experience he would recount in La revanche de l’Himalaya (1980). He became president of the GHM in 1984 and organized an expedition to K2 the following year. He also serves as president of the Lyon branch of the French Alpine Club and sits on the executive committee of the French Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (FFME), spending a decade involved in the governing bodies of French mountaineering.