“It was the exploits of my esteemed elders, whom I read about in Paris Match magazine, that nurtured my burgeoning passion for mountaineering. I was only five when I first saw photos of Walter Bonatti, who had opened a new solo winter route up the north face of the Matterhorn. I had no idea at the time that I would soon become that an icon of that same magazine and that it would make me the “spoilt kid” of mountaineering. By covering my greatest climbs for a wide audience, as it has reported on every mountaineering legend for over 60 years since the conquest of Annapurna in 1950, Paris Match has raised the sport’s public profile and spread the triumphant and tragic tales of how the summits were conquered.”

Catherine Destivelle