Bernard Pierre (1920–1997) was a French mountaineer, notable as a climber and an expedition leader.

Biography

Born in Chelles, Pierre was trained as a lawyer and ran his family's textile business, and was a mountaineer on the side. He made a number of notable ascents in the Alps, including of the north face of the

Aiguille du Dru The Aiguille du Dru (also the Dru or the Drus; French, Les Drus) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is situated to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley. "Aiguille" means "needle" in French. The m ...

and the northwest face of La Civetta. He made the second ascent of the

Piz Badile Piz Badile (3,308 m) is a mountain of the Bregaglia range in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the Italian region of Lombardy. The border between the two countries runs along the summit ridge. Its north-east face, overlooking the Swiss Val Bre ...

's northeast face, and was a lead climber on the first ascents of a route on the Aiguille des Aigles and the face of the Aiguille de la Brenva. In 1951 he climbed in the

Hoggar Mountains The Hoggar Mountains ( ar, جبال هقار, Berber: ''idurar n Ahaggar'') are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km. Geography This ...

in southern Algeria, making a number of first ascents—he returned to the mountain range in 1961. In 1952, he led a French-American expedition including

Claude Kogan Claude Kogan (1919–1959) was a pioneering French mountaineer who, after climbing a number of peaks in South America, turned to the Himalayas. After notable feats such as the first ascent of Nun (7,135 m (23,409 ft)), she died in October ...

to the Andes, and made the first ascent of

Salcantay Salcantay, Salkantay or Sallqantay (in Quechua) is the highest peak in the Vilcabamba mountain range, part of the Peruvian Andes. It is located in the Cusco Region, about west-northwest of the city of Cusco. It is the 38th-highest peak in the ...

. Also with Claude Kogan he made the first ascent of

Nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

in India in 1953. He led a French-Iranian expedition to

Mount Damavand Mount Damavand ( fa, دماوند ) is a dormant stratovolcano, the highest peak in Iran and Western Asia and the highest volcano in Asia and the 2nd highest volcano in the Eastern Hemisphere (after Mount Kilimanjaro), at an elevation of ...

for its first ascent in 1954, an expedition to the

Rwenzori Mountains The Ruwenzori, also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura, are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , and the range' ...

in 1955–1956, and to the Caucasus in 1958. Besides a climber, Pierre was an avid writer, writing a celebrated book on synthetic textiles, and a number of books on his own mountaineering expeditions and on the "great rivers of the world".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierre, Bernard 1920 births 1997 deaths French mountain climbers