Patrick Edlinger

Verdon Gorge, where Edlinger lived

Patrick Edlinger was born in 1960 in Dax, Landes, in southwestern France. He was barely a teenager when he began climbing and, after attaining his first job as a truck driver, decided he loved cliffs more than highways.[3]

In 1983 he made the first ascent of Ça Glisse Au Pays des Merveilles at Buoux, one of the first 8a (5.13b) in France.[4] He won some of the first climbing competitions in history: Sportroccia in 1986, Rock Master and Snowbird in 1988.[5][6]

He is also known to the world for his films on soloing in the steep, 500m Verdon. "Le Blond" had a smooth and beautiful style of climbing that lent itself to film. He became famous in 1982 after La Vie au bout des doigts, a documentary by Jean-Paul Janssen depicting him free-soloing in Buoux.[7]

After a near-fatal fall in 1995 from a steep-sided cove in southern France, Edlinger suffered a brief cardiac arrest. Following this he retired from the extreme forms of free climbing and co-founded the magazine Roc 'n Wall, which served as a bible to the burgeoning European "free solo" climbing movement. He settled close to Verdon Gorge, where the vacation rental he ran with his Slovakian-born wife Matia, Gîte l'Escales in La Palud-sur-Verdon, became a starting-point for rock climbers. His final years were marked by a long battle against depression and alcoholism, which he described as the "greatest challenge of my life."[3][8]

Edlinger died at age 52 after falling down stairs at his home. He is survived by his wife, Maťa, and their daughter, Nastia, who was 10 years old at the time. The French minister of sports and youth, Valérie Fourneyron, said of Edlinger, "Patrick was a pioneer in France for free climbing at a high level, a man who had a thirst for the absolute challenge. He refused to compromise and disdained conventions. He dedicated his life to his passion – climbing. He was the first to establish climbing as a true discipline of live art, paving the way for many to climb with respect for nature."[2][3][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

The following list is a summary of his notable ascents:[1][16]

• 8c/5.14b:
  • Maginot Line – Volx (FRA) – 1989 – Second ascent of Ben Moon's route (1989)
  • Azincourt – Buoux (FRA) – 1989 – Ben Moon's route (1989)
  • le Minimum – Buoux (FRA) – 1989
  • Asymptote – Saint-Crépin (FRA) – 1989 – Second ascent of Antoine Le Menestrel's route (1987)
  • Les spécialistes – Verdon (FRA) – 1989 – Second ascent of Jean-Baptiste Tribout's route (1987)
  • Are you Ready? – Châteauvert (FRA) – 1988 – First ascent
• 8b/5.13d:
  • Les sucettes à l'anis – Cimaï (FRA) – 1988 – First ascent
• 8a+/5.13c:
  • La Femme Blanche – Céüse (FRA) – 1985
  • La Boule – Sainte-Victoire (FRA) – 1984 – First ascent
• 8a/5.13b:
  • Orange Mécanique – Cimaï (FRA) – 1989 – Free solo ascent
  • Sphinx Crack – South Platte, Colorado (USA) – 1985[17]
  • Ça glisse au pays des merveilles – Buoux (FRA) – 1983 – First ascent[18]
• 7c+/5.13a:
  • La Femme Noire (7c/7c+) – Céüse (FRA)
  • Fenrir – Verdon (FRA) – 1982 – First ascent
• 7c/5.12d:
  • Medius – St. Victoire (FRA) – 1981
  • La Polka des ringards – Buoux (FRA) – 1980 – On-sight, first 7c (5.12d) on-sight in history

• Patrick Edlinger, Berhault and the climbing game on Vimeo (Video interview during Trento Film Festival 2009)