Marc-André Leclerc (October 10, 1992 – March 5, 2018) was a Canadian

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 ...

and alpinist. Known for his solo ascents of numerous mountains in several parts of the world, he completed the first winter solo ascents of the

Torre Egger Torre Egger is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in a region which is disputed between Argentina and Chile,From Rodrigo Jordan, "Cerro Torre", in ''World Mountaineering'', Audrey Salkeld, ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

and the Emperor Face of

Mount Robson Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of ...

. In 2021, a documentary called ''The Alpinist'' was released about Leclerc's life and climbs.

Early life

Marc-André Leclerc was born on October 10, 1992, in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

, British Columbia, to Michelle Kuipers and Serge Leclerc. When Marc was eight years old, he was introduced to climbing when his grandfather bought him

Chris Bonington Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest. Early life and expeditions Bonington's father, w ...

's book, ''Quest for Adventure''. At age nine, Marc had his first climbing experience in

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipa ...

, on an indoor climbing wall inside a shopping mall. Later that year, he joined a gym in Abbotsford called Project Climbing. In 2005 his family moved to

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

, near the Cascade Range peaks, and Leclerc began teaching himself how to mountain climb. Leclerc would ride his bike out to Harrison Bluffs, a rock climbing area in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, to climb and spend the night there alone. When he was 15 years old, his mother bought him a copy of '' Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills''. The book inspired him to join the

British Columbia Mountaineering Club The British Columbia Mountaineering Club (BCMC) is a mountaineering organization, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded on October 28, 1907 as the Vancouver Mountaineering Club, it became one of the centres of Canadian Mountaineering, part ...

, through which he quickly made a name for himself in the mountaineering community. He started competing and quickly began winning age-group competitions and later went on to win the Canadian Nationals in 2005.

Climbing career

In 2015, Leclerc spent a lot of time in southern Argentine

. On February 21, he completed his first solo ascent of ''The Corkscrew'' (5.10d A1) on

Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). The peak is the highest of a four mountain chain: the other peaks a ...

. Leclerc wrote on his blog that soloing ''The Corkscrew'' "felt like a brief 'step into the future' so to speak…" in his efforts to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an explorer. Argentinian climber and mountain guide

Rolando Garibotti Rolando Garibotti is an Argentinian and United States, American professional climber, writer, and mountain guide. He is from San Carlos de Bariloche, Bariloche, Argentina. These days he splits his time between the town of El Chaltén, Argentina, and ...

wrote that Leclerc's ascent of ''The Corkscrew'' was one of "earth-shifting proportions, by far the hardest route ever soloed on

and only the seventh solo overall." Later that year, Leclerc completed the second known free solo ascent of the ''Tomahawk / Exocet Link Up'' on Aguja Standhardt in Patagonia and then proceeded to conquer the

, completing his Torres solo trifecta. In 2016, Leclerc completed the first solo ascent of the ''Infinite Patience'' route on Mt. Robson's Emperor Face. After completing this climb, he wrote on his blog that he "was intimidated by (the Emperor's) strong aura, but in the end, we became friends, and the King generously shared his wealth, leaving me a much richer person indeed."

Death

On March 5, 2018, Marc-André Leclerc and his climbing partner, Ryan Johnson, reached the narrow summit via a new route on the North Face of the

Mendenhall Towers Mendenhall Glacier (in Tlingit language “Sít”) is a glacier about long located in Mendenhall Valley, about from downtown Juneau, Alaska, Juneau in the southeast area of the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier and surrounding landscape is p ...

(North of

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

). The duo were expected to make it back to base camp by March 7 but never arrived, prompting

Juneau Mountain Rescue Juneau Mountain Rescue (JMR) is a mountain search and rescue agency, located in Juneau, Alaska, United States. JMR is a member of the Alaska Search and Rescue Association, and facilitates rescues involving wilderness terrain, rope rescues on rock ...

to search for the missing climbers. The search was interrupted for a few days due to poor weather conditions, and when the storm had finally passed after four days, the search team discovered ropes at the bottom of the climbers' descent route. This suggests that the climbers were struck by an avalanche, falling rock, or cornice from above. Their bodies were never recovered.

Personal life

Leclerc had one older sister, Bridgid-Anne Dunning, and a younger sibling, Kellyn Kavanagh. He was raised in the

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...

, Canada, and resided in Squamish with his girlfriend

Brette Harrington Brette Harrington (born 1992) is an American professional rock climber and alpinist based in Lake Tahoe, California and British Columbia, Canada. She was featured in the 2021 film ''The Alpinist'' alongside her late partner, Marc-André Leclerc. ...

, also a rock climber, and alpinist. The pair met in Squamish in 2012, and in 2016, they established ''Hidden Dragon'' (5.12b) on the Chinese Puzzle Wall across from

Mount Slesse Slesse Mountain, usually referred to as Mount Slesse, is a mountain just north of the United States, US-Canada border, in the North Cascades, Cascade Mountains of British Columbia, near the town of Chilliwack. It is notable for its large, steep lo ...

Notable ascents

* 2013 − ''The Temptation of St Anthony'', Squamish, First Free Ascent (5.13a) * 2014 −

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

– Triple Link-up of ''East Pillar Direct'' (5.10+), ''Navigator Wall'' (5.10+), ''Northeast Buttress'' (5.9+), Free Solo in 12 hours, 4 minutes * 2015 − ''Reverse Torre Traverse'',

– First Ascent (5.10a) * 2015 − ''Directa de la Mentira'' –

North Face,

, First Ascent (5.10) Carpenter, Hayde
"Colin Haley and Marc-André Leclerc Put Up New Routes in Patagonia"
Rock and Ice. Retrieved February 2020 * 2015 − ''The Corkscrew'' –

, Patagonia, First Solo Ascent (5.10d) * 2015 − ''Tomahawk/Exocet Link Up'' – Aguja Standhardt,

, – Onsight Free Solo (5.8) * 2015 − Free Ascent of the ''Muir Wall'' on

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...

(5.13c) Franz, Dere
"Marc-Andre Leclerc Remembered"
The Alpinist. Retrieved February 2020 * 2016 −

Mount Tuzo Mount Tuzo, previously "Peak Seven" or "Shagowa", was named in 1907 after its first ascendant Henrietta L. Tuzo. It is located within the Valley of the Ten Peaks in the Canadian Rockies, along the Continental Divide, which forms the boundary be ...

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

– ''Northeast Face'' (M7+ WI6+R, 1,110 meters). First Ascent of the face * 2016 −

– ''Infinite Patience'' (VI 5.9 M5 WI5, 2200m). First Solo Ascent Ives, Kati
"Off Route and Out of Time − The Sharp End, Alpinist 56"
The Alpinist. Retrieved February 2020 * 2016 − ''East Pillar'' –

, Patagonia, First Solo Winter Ascent (5.10b) * 2017 −

Ha Ling Peak Ha Ling Peak is a peak at the northwestern end of Ehagay Nakoda — a mountain located immediately south of the town of Canmore just east of the Spray Lakes road in Alberta's Canadian Rockies. It was previously named Chinaman's Peak but t ...

, Mount Lawrence Grassi − ''Cheesmond Express'' (5.10), ''Premature Ejaculation'' (5.10+), ''Northeast Face'' (5.7) Free Solos"Leclerc Quickly Free-Solos Big Rockies Routes"
Gripped: The Climbing Magazine. Retrieved February 11th, 2020 * 2017 − Rim Wall,

− ''Pinko'' (5.10). First Free Solo Ascent * 2017 − Echo Canyon,

− ''Tall Storey'' (5.11c) First Free Solo Ascent * 2018 −

– ''Northeast Buttress'', Free Solo in winter, 2nd Winter Ascent, First Winter Free Ascent (5.9+) Franz, Dere
"Good conditions result in new winter ascents of Slesse's Navigator Wall and satellite peaks"
The Alpinist. Retrieved February 2020 * 2018 − ''The Theft'',

, Canada. (M7 WI6+) Second Ascent * 2018 − ''Jupiter Shift on Station-D'' in the Slesse Cirque * 2018 − ''North face of the Main Tower'', Mendenhall Towers. First AscentHelander, Clin
"North Face of Main Tower: Tracing the Steps of a Final Climb in the Mendenhalls"
The American Alpine Club. Retrieved February 2020.

References

External links

*
The Alpinist
', a 2020 documentary about Marc-André Leclerc {{DEFAULTSORT:Leclerc, Marc-André 1992 births 2018 deaths Canadian mountain climbers Canadian rock climbers Franco-Columbian people Mountaineering deaths Sports deaths in Alaska Sportspeople from Nanaimo Free soloists Ice climbers