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

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Alpinist Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

, who claimed to have summited 13 of the

Eight-thousanders The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise defi ...

in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

s. 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. La Roche-sur-Foron sta ...

near

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

in the department of

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He disappeared near the summit of his 14th Himalayan peak,

Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...

(8586m) on 5 October 1995 with photographer Pierre Royer and their

Sherpa SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organisation originally set up in 2002 to run and manage the SHERPA Project. History SHERPA began as an endeavour to support the establishment of a number of open ...

Riku. Three of his

eight-thousander The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise defin ...

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 (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...

*1983: Huascaran South in Peru

Solo ascents

*1985:

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II (; ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and ...

(8036m) on 15 June and

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I, originally surveyed as K5, and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located between Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and Tashkurgan in the Xi ...

(8068m) on 22 June. *1986:

Broad Peak Broad Peak (; ) is one of the eight-thousanders, and is located in the Karakoram range spanning Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. It is the 12th highest mountain in the world with elevation above sea level. The first ascent of t ...

(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 Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...

(8126m) via Diamir at 23:00 on 7 July.

Expeditions leading the team l’Esprit d’Équipe

*1988:

Annapurna Annapurna (; ) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the 10th highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its as ...

(8091m) via the South Face on 10 May. Five men of the six-man team reached the summit. *1989:

Manaslu Manaslu (; , also known as Kutang) is the List of highest mountains#List, eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in west-central Nepal. Manaslu means "mountain of the ...

(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 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 Him ...

(8201m) on 30 April. Everyone in the seven-man team reached the summit (this ascent has been disputed by

Elizabeth Hawley Elizabeth Hawley (9 November 1923 – 26 January 2018) was an American journalist, author, and chronicler of Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. Hawley's ''The Himalayan Database'' became the unofficial record for climbs in the Nepalese Himal ...

). *1990:

Shishapangma Shishapangma, or Shishasbangma or Xixiabangma ( zh, s=希夏邦马, p=Xī xià bāng mǎ), is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at above sea level. The lowest 8,000 metre peak, it is located entirely within Tibet. Name Geologist Toni H ...

(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 Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...

(8848m) on 29 September. *1993:

Dhaulagiri Dhaulagiri, located in Nepal, is the seventh highest mountain in the world at above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country. It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition. Annapur ...

(8167m) on 6 October. *1994:

Lhotse Lhotse ( ; ; ) is the List of highest mountains#List, fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of Chin ...

(8516m). *1995:

Makalu Makalu (; ) is the fifth-highest mountain on Earth, with a summit at an elevation of AMSL. It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, on the China–Nepal border. One of the eight-thousanders, Makalu is an isolat ...

(8481m) on 7 May (this is disputed by

and is not formally recorded). *1995: Disappeared on

(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 People from La Roche-sur-Foron Sportspeople from Haute-Savoie Missing person cases in India Summiters of K2 Summiters of Broad Peak French summiters of Mount Everest Deaths on Kangchenjunga