Eric Escoffier
Acting
Biography
Éric Escoffier is a French mountaineer born on August 9, 1960 in L'Arbresle in France and died in the mountains, at Broad Peak, on July 29, 1998 in Pakistan. "Escoff", the gymnast converted into climbing, was a pioneer, one of the leaders of this generation who revisited the great routes of the Alps, dividing the timetables by two, three or four, and chaining at the same time two, three or four main routes during the day thanks to hang-gliding or paragliding; of a generation now largely decimated, who, at the start of the 1980s, practiced "excessive" mountaineering, making him take such a leap forward that some people today wonder if he has really recovered . At 25, he became, with Christophe Profit, the star of a demanding system. The scene of this confrontation in the shadow of sponsors and helicopters was the winter trilogy. At the beginning of March 1987, Profit succeeded where Escoffier had failed, the latter having gotten lost on the north face of the Eiger, where he had refused to do a reconnaissance. Escoffier was constantly inventing new challenges: lining up the summits, taking part in the Monaco rally, flying hang-gliding or paragliding, practicing free solo climbing... In 1985, among some of his many exploits, he succeeded in overcoming three eight thousand meters in the Himalayas, Gasherbrum 2 (8,035 meters) Hidden Peak (8,068 meters) and K2 (French premiere, 8,611 meters). Above all, the life of Eric Escoffier, a motor racing enthusiast, changed six months later, on September 18, 1987, when his car rolled over in the Arly gorges, leaving him hemiplegic for more than six months. By force of will, thanks, he said, to his habit of training, Escoffier fought against this handicap, a word he refused to pronounce until quite recently. He had relearned to walk, overcame two new serious accidents, falls in a paraglider (in 1988) and in a crevasse of Mont Blanc (in 1996). He swallowed up kilometers on a mountain bike, but walking on uneven terrain (scree, mixed, or deep snow) was a constant battle for him. He had two children, aged 8 and 10, and was expecting a third, in December, with his new partner. Not resigning himself to living in anonymity, he found himself a somewhat disproportionate challenge, combining all the fashionable challenges: he wanted to have climbed the fourteen 8,000, the summit of the seven continents (Arctic and Antarctica included) , and reached the two poles in the year 2000. By passing the McKinley, the Kilimanjaro, the Aconcagua and, above all, last September, the Cho Oyu (8,201 m), he had rediscovered the pleasure of his first roles. With his partner Pascale Bessière they disappeared while attempting the ascent of Broad Peak on July 29, 1998. A Polish mountaineer, Piotr Pustelnik, had seen them one last time on the summit ridge while a very strong wind was blowing. The day before, they had spent the night without bivouac equipment in a snow hole dug at 7,700 meters, under the pass which leads to the summit ramp. “Nothing is impossible”, Eric Escoffier liked to repeat to anyone who wanted to hear it.
Known For
No description available.
Téléthon
"The Climbers" is a six-part documentary series tracing the history of mountaineering. Directed by Chris Bonington and Richard Else, it was produced by the BBC and broadcast in 1992. The series recounts the evolution of mountaineering and the traditions of climbers in Great Britain and on the European continent: the former developed a free climbing technique, while the latter used aids such as keys, pitons, and drills to ascend otherwise inaccessible routes. The program includes archive footage of the pioneers of the sport, from the emergence of free climbing as a distinct discipline in the late 1970s and 1980s to the advent of competitions.
The Climbers
“The Conquerors of the Impossible: Group Portrait” is a documentary on free climbing which takes place in the Verdon Gorges and Toulon. It was directed by Bernard Dumont in 1986 and produced by Les Films du Soleil. It is part of the series The Conquerors of the Impossible (3-3). There we find Patrick Berhault, Patrick Edlinger, Eric Escoffier, Christophe Profit, Laurent Chevallier, Jean-Paul Janssen and other pioneers of free climbing.
Les Conquérants de l'Impossible: Portrait de Groupe
A documentary portrait of the legend Eric Escoffier at the height of his mountaineering career. A true athlete, Escoffier has comprehensive, cutting-edge preparation in three different climbing disciplines: rock climbing, ice climbing and solo free climbing, without any safety devices. Philippe Lallet's camera follows Eric in his performances and in his preparation for one of the first La Sportroccia climbing competitions, in 1985 in Bardonecchia in Italy.
Profession grimpeur, Eric Escoffier
Less than two years after his serious road accident, Eric Escoffier brought together the "Turbo" team (Frédéric Ancey, Michel Fauquet, Christine Janin and Stéphane Schaffter) with whom he will attempt to climb Everest without oxygen and without prior acclimatization in the Himalayas, the project being to complete the Paris-Everest-Paris loop in two weeks. It is also a medical experiment: the athletes spend a week at Mont Blanc, at the Vallot observatory between 4000 and 4800m, then a week in a hypobaric chamber in Grenoble. Doctors (Dr. Richalet, Herry and Bittel) perform tests throughout this training, which will learn about how the body acclimatizes to altitude and allow applications in the management of mountain-related illnesses . On September 2, 1989, they arrived at Everest base camp in China. They attempted the ascent via the North Col but could not carry out their project, prevented by bad weather.
Everest Turbo - La Tentation
March 12, 1987. The young French mountaineer Eric Escoffier prepares his equipment, very reduced in material and food. He leaves the next day and intends to chain three north faces in the Alps: Eiger, Matterhorn and Grandes Jorasses. The ascent of the first summit, the Eiger is slow, difficult and full of pitfalls. It takes 17 hours to reach it. Without recognizing the terrain -he prefers to improvise- the mountaineer continues through the Matterhorn. When night falls, anxiety is felt on Zermatt's side. Help is organized to pick him up. Despite his refusal to return, Escoffier is finally hoisted. Christophe Profit, a few hours earlier, managed the chain of three summits.
Faces Nord
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Eric Escoffier, la Fureur de Vivre
In 1983, three climbers became the first French people to reach the summit of Everest. Among them were expedition leader Pierre Mazeaud and a promising 25-year-old climber, Jean Afanassieff. Twenty years later, the two legends, accompanied by mountain guide Michel Pellé, retrace the steps of their exploit and make the trek from Kathmandu to the foot of the roof of the world. This is an opportunity to retrace the history of the successive assaults on Everest and to assess the current situation of a mountain that has become a victim of its own success: while Sherpas have been able to take advantage of Western enthusiasm and thus enrich themselves and equip the summit to make it more accessible, the site's attendance poses numerous problems, both human and ecological.
Everest At Any Cost
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Là-Haut, Un supplément d'âme
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Chamonix - Mont Blanc, Une histoire de conquêtes
Meeting in Chamonix with Éric Escoffier, famous mountaineer of the 80s, victim of a car accident in September 1987. Victim of multiple fractures and total paralysis on his left side, Escoffier managed to walk again, despite the doctors' pessimistic prognoses... The commentary on images of Éric Escoffier in his daily life in Chamonix and archive images and photographs alternates with archive documents, extracts from the films "Profession grimpeur" by Philippe Lallet and "Face nord" by Jean Afanassieff as well as interviews with the protagonist, Rémi Éric Escoffier and Michel Garcia. Great among the greatest, Éric Escoffier, who disappeared in the mountains at Broad Peak on July 29, 1998, will never have been an ordinary man.
Éric Escoffier - Portrait of a Man Who Became Ordinary
To understand the difficulties of an ascent to over eight thousand metres, it is enough to remember the almost 300 victims these peaks have claimed. The Swiss alpinist Ehrart Loretan, the third alpinist in the world to have climbed all 14 8,000, and the Austrian alpinist Kurt Diemgerger cover the whole history of the conquest of the world’s 8,000, from the fifties to the present day, together with other alpinists and film directors who have climbed them. They talk about their experienced when they ventured into the death zone.