Chloé Graftiaux (18 July 1987 in

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

– 21 August 2010 in

Courmayeur Courmayeur (; ; Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in northern Italy, in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. History The toponym ''Courmayeur'' has been mentioned as ''Curia majori'' (1233–1381), ''Corte Maggiore'' (1620), ''Cormoyeu'' (1 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) was a Belgian

competition climber Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock-climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly ...

and

alpinist Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

who fell to her death on the

Aiguille Noire de Peuterey The Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (3,773 m) is a mountain of the Mont Blanc massif in Italy, forming part of the Peuterey ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at th ...

in the Mont Blanc massif, aged 23. In the 2010 season of the IFSC Bouldering World Cup, she won Gold at the World Cup events in

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the nume ...

, and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, and finished third in the overall 2010 standings. Graftiaux was also a multiple

lead climbing Lead climbing (or leading) is a technique in rock climbing where the 'lead climber' Glossary of climbing terms#clip in, clips their rope to the climbing protection as they ascend a pitch (climbing), pitch of the climbing route, while their 'seco ...

champion, and had redpointed to , and boulder climbed to . Graftiux was a strong

, climbing to mixed grade M11 and

ice climbing Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. ...

to grade WI6, and the French Alpine Club selected her for the 2008-2009 Groupe Excellence Alpinisme. In January 2010, she won the Ice Master-Worldcup

competition in Valle di Daone in Italy. On 21 August 2010, she climbed the

with her climbing partner, Nicolas. While descending the south face of the mountain a boulder came loose. She was not roped up and she fell to her death. In 2011, a non-profit foundation, "Chloé Graftiaux Passion Together", was created to give scholarships to young climbers. In June 2020, Belgian rock climber Anak Verhoeven established Belgium's hardest sport climb and first-ever 8c+/9a route and named it ''Kraftio'' in her memory.

References

External links

Official website
*
VIDEO:Tribute to Chloe Graftiaux
''

Rock & Ice ''Rock & Ice'' is a magazine published by Outside focusing on rock and ice climbing. The first issue came out in March 1984. The first publisher was Neal Kaptain. George Bracksieck worked for him, beginning in January 1984, and the two became e ...

'' (2011) 1987 births 2010 deaths Belgian rock climbers Belgian mountain climbers Mountaineering deaths Sport deaths in Italy Sportspeople from Brussels Belgian female climbers IFSC Climbing World Cup overall medalists Boulder climbers Belgian competition climbers Deaths on Mont Blanc 21st-century Belgian sportswomen {{Belgium-sport-bio-stub

See also

References

External links