François Damilano

François Damilano is a French mountaineer, mountain guide, writer and filmmaker, born December 30, 1959 at le Mans in France. He is known for his many ice climbing openings in the 1980s and 1990s. On May 9, 2008, after climbing Putha Hiunchuli, a 7,242m peak, he made the first solo ascent of a 6,182m virgin peak in the Dhaulagiri group. He named it in honor of Elizabeth Hawley, Pic Hawley.

On May 25, 2014, he climbed Everest (8,850 m) via the north ridge. Hyperactive and gifted, François Damilano was the forerunner of ice climbing in the 1980s with his friend Godefroy Perroux. It was his way of stepping into the spotlight, he, the young boy from Le Mans, nourished by the stories of his elders and the outings of the French Alpine Club organized by his parents.

He invented a destiny, even seven lives, to fulfill his exclusive passion for the mountains, writing down the names of the most beautiful peaks in his race diary very early on. François Damilano never hesitated, declining the possibilities around this dream life of adventurer. If he became a guide, to measure himself against others and himself, his acute sense of action led him to explore the mountain in all its forms, combining a high level, solid and demanding practice, between solos and expeditions, between the Alps and the Himalayas, with the desire to make his universe better known and “think” about it.

In icefall We owe him several reference topos in particular: François Damilano, Mont Blanc 4808 m: 5 Routes for the summit, JMEditions, 2004, François Damilano, Snow, ice and mixed – Volume 1, JMEditions, 2006, François Damilano, Snow, ice and mixed – Volume 2, JMEditions, 2006... He now mainly devotes himself to making films. In particular, he has written extensively in the media, participated in the “Ushuaia” program alongside Nicolas Hulot, hosted the Grenoble Mountain Cinema Meetings and accompanied certain equipment manufacturers in their research.

Today, if he is also an editor, filmmaker, author of topos, he remains faithful to his vocation as a guide. François Damilano had seven lives. Not one less, with a beating drumbeat, in addition to the one everyone is experiencing.