François Petit (born March 27, 1975) is a French professional

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

who specialized in

competition climbing A climbing competition (or comp) is usually held indoors on purpose built climbing walls. There are three main types of climbing competition: lead, speed, and bouldering. In lead climbing, the competitors start at the bottom of a route and must c ...

, and who is known for winning the Lead Climbing World Championship in 1997 and the Lead Climbing World Cup in 1995 and 1999.

Career

Born in

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

, near the

Vanoise National Park Vanoise National Park (french: Parc national de la Vanoise) is a French national park between the Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys in the French Alps, containing the Vanoise massif. It was created in 1963 as the first national park in France. ...

, Petit started climbing when he was a child, encouraged by his passionate parents. He shared his passion with his older brother and also the 1996 Lead Climbing World Cup winner, . He sport climbed on routes up to , but primarily focused on

indoor climbing A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

. He retired from international competitions in 2004. Since 2010 he has been the trainer of the French

bouldering Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help sec ...

team. He is also the director of Le Mur de Lyon,Le Mur de Lyon
/ref> one of the largest

gyms in France, located in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Rankings

Climbing World Cup

Climbing World Championships

Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup

Lead

Rock climbing

Single-pitch routes

8c+/5.14c: :* ''Superplafond'' -

Volx Volx (; oc, Vòus) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Population See also * Coteaux de Pierrevert AOC * Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal: ''Lebe ...

(FRA) - 1995 - bolted by

Jean-Baptiste Tribout Jean-Baptiste Tribout, or J.B. Tribout (born 14 December 1961) is a French rock climber and sport climber. Climbing history Tribout started climbing aged seven in Fontainebleau, France with his grandfather, a mountaineer, and also joined the you ...

in 1994 :* ''Le Bronx'' -

Orgon Orgon (; ancient: ''Urgonum'', ''Castrum de Urgone'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Geography Neighbouring villages and small towns include Les Baux-de-Provence, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Cavaillon. Or ...

(FRA) - 1994 - first ascent

Multi-pitch routes

* ''Bonington'' -

Torres del Paine The Cordillera Paine is a mountain group in Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. The cordillera is located north of Punta Arenas, and about south of the Chilean capital Santiago. It belongs to the Commune of Torres del Paine i ...

( PAT - January 2007 * ''Eternal Flame'' -

Trango Towers __NOTOC__ The Trango Towers ( ur, ) are a family of rock towers situated in Gilgit-Baltistan, in the north of Pakistan. The Towers offer some of the largest cliffs and most challenging rock climbing in the world, and every year a number of expedi ...

( PAK) - July 20–22, 2005

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petit, Francois French rock climbers 1975 births Living people IFSC Climbing World Championships medalists IFSC Climbing World Cup overall medalists French competition climbers