About Jean-Christophe Lafaille
Jean-Christophe Lafaille (31 March 1965 – 27 January 2006 [presumed]) was a French mountaineer, alpinist and rock climber who was noted for difficult first ascents and first solo winter ascents, in the Alps and in the Himalaya, as well as setting new milestones in free solo climbing. Considered one of the strongest alpinists of his generation, he is also remembered for what has been described as "perhaps the finest self-rescue ever performed in the Himalaya", when he was forced to descend the mile-high south face of Annapurna alone with a broken arm after his climbing partner had been killed in a fall. He climbed eleven of the fourteen eight-thousanders, many of them alone or by new climbing routes. He disappeared during a solo attempt to make the first winter ascent of Makalu, the world's fifth highest mountain. == Early career == Born in Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Lafaille's background was in sport climbing, and as a teenager he climbed extensively at Céüse and played a part in turning it into one of the world's best known sport climbing venues, this included his 1989 bolting of Realization/Biographie, which would become of the most notable routes in rock climbing history when Chris Sharma ascented it in 2001. In 1987, he became the first-ever climber to free solo an 8a+ (5.13c) graded route in history with Rêve de gosse, and he redpointed routes up to grade 8c (5.14b). In the early 1990s, Lafaille qualified as a mountain guide and began mountaineering and alpine climbing in the Alps. He made a number of difficult ascents on the Mont Blanc massif, including the first solo ascent of Divine Providence (900m, ED4, 7b+), on the Grand Pilier d'Angle, considered one of the hardest alpine climbing routes on the massif. == Self-rescue on Annapurna == On the strength of his climbs in the Alps, Lafaille was invited on an expedition to Annapurna by Pierre Béghin, one of the leading French climbers of the day. The pair attempted the mountain's vast South Face following the monsoon season in October 1992 in Alpine style, with no Sherpa support, pre-stocked campsites or fixed ropes on the upper mountain.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.