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Patrick Edlinger

Patrick Edlinger

Acting

Biography

Patrick Edlinger, born June 15, 1960 in Dax and died November 16, 2012 in La Palud-sur-Verdon, was a French climber and mountaineer. Renowned for his full solo ascents, he is one of the pioneers of high-level free climbing and was, in the 1980s, one of the first media figures in the discipline. Introduced to climbing at the age of nine, Patrick Edlinger practiced regularly at fourteen to devote himself fully to it at eighteen. Spending his days on the cliff, it happens to him, for lack of finding partners to belay him, to climb solo. With his friend Patrick Berhault, he distinguished himself by difficult achievements for the time, prefiguring another way of climbing, where the physical dimension takes precedence as much as the state of mind. In 1982, Patrick Edlinger introduced rock climbing to the general public thanks to documentaries by Jean-Paul Janssen broadcast around the world: "Life At Your Fingertips" and ""Opéra Vertical". There is free climbing and, partly, full solo, routes from the famous sites of Buoux (Luberon) and the Gorges du Verdon. Edlinger exposes a philosophy of climbing where hedonism, respect and love of nature, self-transcendence and a taste for risk are combined. This way of life combined with his youthful physique will mark the public in a profound way. At the origin of the climbing craze, Patrick Edlinger, "Le Blond", is not just a media figure, he is a high-level climber, who performs solos in routes rated 8a and also opens routes of extreme difficulty for the time up to 8b+/8c. A true international star, Patrick Edlinger was, in the 1980s, the favorite personality of the French according to a survey by Paris Match magazine, which relayed his exploits. When the Manifesto of the 19 decrying the competition was written in 1985, he did not sign it. In 1986, he won the first international climbing competitions in Bardonechia, then in 1988 in Snowbird in Utah. At that time, he launched his own line of clothing which he held with a few friends. In 1988, an advertisement was broadcast featuring him to promote Grany cereal bars; it was resumed in 1998 and then in 2004. In July 1994, he took part in two official UIAA competitions: the L'Argentière master's where he finished 34th and the Serre Chevalier master's where he placed 17th. In 1995, Patrick Edlinger suffered a serious accident while climbing a cliff. While training in the creeks of Marseille on a 7b route and he jumped several insurance points, a hold breaks and he falls eighteen meters. In cardiac arrest, he was resuscitated by a doctor present on the spot and finally got away with only a few muscle tears. He then retired from high level climbing, but continued to climb in the 8th degree for fun. From 1997 to 2000, he was editor-in-chief of the rock climbing magazine Roc'n Wall, which was eventually absorbed by the magazine Vertical. He stopped practicing solo when his daughter was born in 2002 and from 2009, he ran a gîte with his wife in the Verdon. In 2011, he began writing his biography with the collaboration of his friend for 25 years, Jean-Michel Asselin. He died accidentally on November 16, 2012 at his home in La Palud-sur-Verdon, at the age of 52.

Known For

Opera Vertical
10.0

Vertical Opera is a documentary film directed by Jean-Paul Janssen, with climbers Patrick Edlinger and Jean-Paul Lemercier in the Gorges du Verdon. The film opens with a training sequence of Patrick Edlinger then he links the routes with Jean-Paul Lemercier "L'Ange en décongelation" (7a), in which he falls voluntarily to demonstrate the usefulness of the rope, then "Le Septième Saut" (7b+). Finally, the final scene, an anthology, consists of a close-up of Edlinger who climbs free solo and barefoot the route "Débiloff", still in the Verdon, above hundreds of meters of void, all to lyrical music. It is "Wie Furchtsam Wankten Meine Schritte", the aria for alto voice from Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata BWV 33, music not unrelated to the subject of the documentary: "How faltering and fearful my steps were".

Opera Vertical

1984Movie
Cateissard
10.0

A 2016 film about the Cateissard, a mountain overlooking the Val di Susa near Turin, a laboratory of innovation and evolution in Italian climbing. From the Risveglio route opened by Grassi, Bonelli and Galante in 1974, in the heart of Nuovo Mattino, to Patrick Berhault's visit in 1980 and his legendary climbing demonstration on the Nani Verdi route, to the rediscovery of these rocks by Andrea Giorda who, with Marco Croce, Fabrizio Pennicino, Aldo Tirabeni and Claudio Battezzati, Marco Bernardi, Federica Mingolla, Carlo Giuliberti and others, opened 116 new single-pitch routes, graded from IV to 8b. The success of these climbing sites is undeniable; the cliffs of Profondo Rosso, Falchi Penne and Croci, Neverending Wall, Cateissoft, Sky Wall and Cateisstrong, opened by Giuliberti and Lotito, attract dozens of climbers, even from elsewhere.

Cateissard

2016Movie
Oversand
10.0

Oversand is one of the first films about free climbing, the third film in a series of three with "Overdon" and "Over-Ice". Directed by Jean-Paul Janssen, the film was shot in 35mm in Algeria, in the Sahara Desert, in the Tamanrasset region, on the walls of the majestic peaks of the Atakor massif, central sub-region of Hoggar, mountainous heart of Hoggar, a volcanic plateau of almost circular shape, whose average altitude is 2000 meters, and which culminates at Mount Tahat (2918m), the highest point in Algeria. The Atakor is distinguished by its spectacular volcanic peaks, its needles, and its rugged landscapes, resulting from the erosion of ancient volcanic chimneys, which make it the most emblematic summits of the Hoggar, such as the Assekrem, the Ilamane, or the Tizouyag, where climbers Patrick Edlinger, Patrick Bérhault, Bernard Gorgeon, Hugues Jaillet, Jacques Perrier, Stéphane Troussier and Odette Schoënleb evolve under the watchful eye of the Tuareg caravans.

Oversand

1981Movie
Verdon-Saussois 1983
10.0

In 1983, the French Mountain Federation (FFM) organized a landmark climbing gathering in Saussois and the Verdon, bringing together generations of the greatest climbers of the time, including Patrick Edlinger, Jean-Claude Droyer, Jerry Moffatt, Jean-Claude Droyer, Robert Paragot, Lucien Bérardini, Ron Fawcett, Jean-Pierre Bouvier, and other major figures. This event symbolized the emergence of modern sport climbing as a practice in its own right in France, with the liberation of legendary routes and the rise of freestyle climbing, notably under the leadership of Droyer and Edlinger. This gathering was a key moment in the dissemination of the freestyle ethic and the evolution of grading, while Saussois and the Verdon were at the forefront of high difficulty in the world.

Verdon-Saussois 1983

1983Movie