Benoît Chamoux (19 February 1961 – 6 October 1995) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Alpinist, who claimed to have summited 13 of the Eight-thousanders in the Himalayas. Three of these climbs are disputed and are not formally recorded (Makalu in 1995, Cho Oyu in 1990 and Shishapangma in 1990). His official recorded number of ascents is 10.

Biography

Chamoux was born in

La Roche-sur-Foron La Roche-sur-Foron (; Arpitan: ''La Roche'') is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is located about 23 km (14.2 mi) southeast of Geneva, Switzerland. In 2018, it had a popula ...

near Mont Blanc in the department of Haute-Savoie, France. He disappeared near the summit of his 14th Himalayan peak, Kangchenjunga (8586m) on 5 October 1995 with photographer Pierre Royer and their Sherpa Riku. Three of his

eight-thousander The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...

ascents were to either their fore-summits or the plateau, and are disputed. The non-profit "Foundation Benoît Chamoux" was created under the auspices of the Foundation of France with the mission to educate Sherpa children who have lost their fathers in mountain expeditions.

Principal achievements

*1982: Diamond couloir on

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...

*1983: Huascaran South in Peru

Solo ascents

*1985: Gasherbrum II (8036m) on 15 June and Gasherbrum I (8068m) on 22 June. *1986: Broad Peak (8051m) at 16:00 on 20 June and K2 (8611m) arête des Abruzzes at 23:00 on 7 July in just 23 hours of climbing. *1987: Nanga Parbat (8126m) via Diamir at 23:00 on 7 July.

Expeditions leading the team l’Esprit d’Équipe

*1988: Annapurna (8091m) via the South Face on 10 May. Five men of the six-man team reached the summit. *1989: Manaslu (8156m) via the South Face on 12 and 15 May. Everyone in the eight-man team reached the summit in four teams of two. *1990:

Cho Oyu __NOTOC__ Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur ...

(8201m) on 30 April. Everyone in the seven-man team reached the summit (this ascent has been disputed by Elizabeth Hawley). *1990: Shishapangma (8013m) on 12 May. Everyone in the seven-man team reached the summit. (this was the central (west) summit and not the true summit, and is not recorded).

Scientific expeditions

*1992: Measurement of Everest (8848m) on 29 September. *1993: Dhaulagiri (8167m) on 6 October. *1994:

Lhotse Lhotse ( ne, ल्होत्से ; , ''lho tse'', ) is the fourth highest mountain in the world at , after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu ...

(8516m). *1995: Makalu (8481m) on 7 May (this is disputed by Elizabeth Hawley and is not formally recorded). *1995: Disappeared on Kangchenjunga (8586m) with Pierre Royer and their Sherpa on 6 October near the summit.

References

External links

Benoit Chamoux The Montagnes Website

Fondation Benoit Chamoux
(in French)
"La Grande Neige"
(in French) book about the repercussions of Benoit's disappearance written by his widow, Fabienne Clauss {{DEFAULTSORT:Chamoux, Benoit 1961 births 1990s missing person cases 1995 deaths French mountain climbers Missing person cases in India Mountaineering deaths Sportspeople from Haute-Savoie