Maurice Barrard

Maurice Barrard, born January 18, 1942 in Paris and died June 24, 1986 on K2, was a French mountaineer, Himalayan and specialized educator. Maurice Barrard discovers mountaineering in an initiation camp. He cut his teeth in the Alps before taking part in campaigns in Greenland and South America in particular. Later, he will be elected president of the Himalayan Committee of French expeditions.

In 1973, he met his future wife Liliane while organizing an expedition to Peru. Maurice and Liliane will see each other again and their common passion for extreme climbs brings them closer together. They get married and settle in Francourville in 1977. In 1979, Maurice Barrard was part of the French national expedition to K2, a team supervised by Bernard Mellet and composed of Pierre Beghin, Dominique Chaix (doctor), Patrick Cordier, Jean Coudray, Xavier Fargeas, Marc Galy, Ivano Ghirardini, Thierry Leroy , Daniel Monacci, Jean-Claude Mosca and Yannick Seigneur.

In 1980, in the company of Georges Narbaud, he made the first ascent of Hidden Peak South (7,069 m) by a fairly steep route on the south-west face, then from there the first traverse of about five kilometers to Hidden Peak (8068 m), mainly with cross-country skis. A first success at Gasherbrum II leads the Barrards to set themselves the goal of becoming the highest couple in the world by climbing the Nanga Parbat without oxygen.

The couple persisted before giving up after 19 days, undermined by bad weather. A year later, in 1984, after intensified physical and mental preparation, they tried their luck again with two other people, including a doctor. The weather is better, in four days the Barrards become the first couple to ride an "8,000". A year later, it was at Makalu that the Barrards attacked.

After fourteen days of approach to base camp at 6,700 m, they thus confirm their designation as the highest couple in the world. In 1986, the Barrards set their sights on K2. Faced with the enthusiasm for the second highest mountain in the world, you have to wait your turn to climb the southern slope: Maurice and Liliane will team up with Polish Wanda Rutkiewicz and RTL reporter Michel Parmentier.

After five days of extreme effort, exhausted, they reach 8,400 meters. For the last 211 meters remaining to climb, the bivouac group in a single tent, without down, without sleeping given the cold and the lack of oxygen. At noon the next day, they reach the summit. During the descent, Parmentier, the least exhausted is in the lead and ahead of the others.

Then Wanda arrives at camp, thinking the pair are following. But the storm rises on K2 and the Barrards do not arrive. At the first light of day, Parmentier, worried, resumed the ascent, braved hell to meet his friends who had probably been forced to bivouac. The snow has covered all human traces. In radio contact with Benoît Chamoux, from an Italian expedition, the latter finally convinced him, not without difficulty, to come back down on June 26, two days later.

On July 30, an expedition finds the body of Liliane Barrard, she was 38 years old. Maurice Barrard's body was not found until July 1998, at the foot of K2, in a crevasse, he was 45 years old.