Benjamin Védrines

Benjamin Védrines (born 25 June 1992) is a French mountaineer and alpinist. He is the fastest man in the world to climb a peak over 8,000 meters, called an eight-thousander.^[1]

Benjamin Védrines

Benjamin Védrines at the summit of Brevoort Point on the Grande Ruine in 2018.
Personal information
Nationality	France
Born	(1992-06-25) June 25, 1992 (age 33) Die, Drôme, France
Occupation	Mountain guide
Climbing career
Type of climber	Alpine climbing Ice climbing Mixed climbing Ski mountaineering
Known for	Speed records in the Alps and Himalayas

Biography

Védrines grew up in Châtillon-en-Diois, in a family of five siblings. His mother is a medical secretary, and his father, a doctor, is a departmental elected official. Both have practiced mountaineering.^{[citation needed]}

He discovered mountaineering at age 16, along with steep skiing. In 2008, he completed his first high mountain route (Escarra route, North summit of Olan, 3,440 m, PD+) with Pierre-Emmanuel Robin, a farmer passionate about mountains.^[2][3]

After obtaining his baccalauréat, he began sports studies in Gap but left university after three weeks to travel to Nepal. There, he completed the Annapurna Circuit solo and spent a few days in Langtang.^[3]

He then took on odd jobs before joining the Chamonix guide school. In 2012, at age 20, to mark the 50th anniversary of the route, he climbed the direct North Face of La Meije (TD+) with Mathieu Perrussel. In 2013, he soloed and skied down the Bonnaski line on the Northeast Face of Pic Coolidge (5.3+). That same year, he passed his probationary guide exam.^[3]

In April 2016, he participated with the National Excellence Mountaineering Group (GEAN) of the FFCAM in a 17-day expedition on the Ruth Glacier in Alaska. After repeating the Trailer Park gully (WI6, M6+, 1,000 m), he took part in the ascent of the East Pillar of Mount Bradley (5.9, 1,600 m).

Benjamin Védrines is also a UIAGM high mountain guide, graduating from ENSA in 2016. He combines his passion for the mountains with paragliding.

In 2017, he joined the Military High Mountain Group but left after a year to maintain greater freedom.

From October 16 to 18, 2017, he completed the first ascent of the Northeast Face of Pandra, an obscure 6,700 m peak east of the Kangchenjunga region in Nepal, with Mathieu Détrie and Pierre Labre. This new route, named Peine Plancher, consists of 1,200 m of ice and slabs (W16, M6, ED).^[4]

From December 24 to 25, 2017, with Léo Billon and Max Bonniot, he completed a winter ascent of the Emil Soller-Gustave route on the North Face of Civetta in the Dolomites. This climb was undertaken as part of the Military High Mountain Group, which he had joined earlier that year.

In 2018, still with the Military High Mountain Group, he climbed the Nose route on El Capitan in Yosemite with Léo Billon in 8 hours and 40 minutes.^[5]

In October 2019, he attempted a first ascent on the Northeast Face of Chamlang in alpine style with Nicolas Jean, including a bivouac. They climbed the Northeast Couloir (1,500 m, M3/M4, 65°) up to 7,240 m before retreating.^[6]

In 2020, thanks to the use of paragliding as a descent method, he achieved record-breaking link-ups in the Écrins Massif. On June 1, in six hours, starting from the Pré de Madame Carle parking lot, he successively climbed the Dôme de Neige des Écrins and Pelvoux. On July 28, starting from the church in La Grave, he completed the entire traverse of La Meije and returned to the starting point 4 hours and 38 minutes later, without using the paraglider.

In May 2021, he completed Raide d’Écrins, a 55° south-to-north route he designed to connect Valgaudemar to the neighboring Haute Romanche valley. The 10,600 meters of positive elevation gain were covered in six days by climbing ten steep slopes.^[7]

From October 10 to 13, 2021, he opened a new route on the north face of Chamlang with Charles Dubouloz over four days. À l'ombre du mensonge (In the Shadow of the Lie) is a committing route between the 2019 Czech route and the north pillar. The name of the route is an initiative to spark a debate about the accuracy of technical data for routes opened in the Himalayas. On October 13, they stood at the summit at 7,319 meters. Rated 5+, M2, 90°, 1,600 meters, the route is one of the major achievements of the year in the Himalayas.^[8]

From January 12 to February 9, 2022, he completed the first trilogy with Léo Billon and Seb Ratel of the three great north faces of the Alps (Eiger, Grandes Jorasses, Matterhorn) via their direct routes: Harlin route on the Eiger, Directe de l'Amitié on the Grandes Jorasses, and Gogna route on the Matterhorn.^[9]

On March 1, 2022, he completed the first non-stop ski traverse of the Écrins Massif with Nicolas Jean, from Lac de Serre-Ponçon to La Grave in 28 hours, covering 100 km and 10,000 meters of elevation gain.^[10]

During the summer of 2022, Benjamin Védrines completed the ascent of Broad Peak (8,051 m) in Pakistan in 7 hours and 28 minutes, followed by a descent by paraglider.^[11] Nine days later, he attempted K2 but lost consciousness at 8,400 m. He was found by other mountaineers who helped him descend.^[12] It was François Cazzanelli, an Italian mountaineer, guide, and rescuer, who saved his life.^[13]

In 2023, Benjamin Védrines made headlines in the alpine world with the breadth of his achievements. He began the year with a ski traverse of the Queyras on January 6 and 7, covering 12,330 meters of elevation gain over 138 km in two days.^[14] With Nicolas Jean and Julien Cruvelier de Luze, on January 28 and 29, he opened a new gully route on the Barre des Écrins, named De L'Or en Barre (1,000 m, M7 max, A1, 5+ ice, ED+).^[14] On February 15, with Léo Léo, he and Léo climbed the legendary Serge Gousseault and René Desmaison route in fifteen hours from Chamonix to reach the summit of the Grandes Jorasses.^[15] On March 21, he completed a ski traverse in the Écrins Massif, linking three major peaks in a single day: Pelvoux, Dôme des Écrins, and the eastern La Meije, with a cumulative elevation gain of approximately 7,000 meters. On April 10, he broke the Chamonix–Zermatt ski record in 14 hours and 54 minutes with Samuel Equy.^[16]

On June 23, 2023, with David Goettler, Benjamin Védrines attempted to climb Nanga Parbat (8,126 m, Pakistan) in alpine style via the Rupal Face. At 7,500 meters, the team stopped; David Goettler was too weak to continue. They descended together, despite the opportunity for Benjamin Védrines to make a new solo attempt the next day from 7,100 m.^[17]

On July 10, 2023, he completed the Peuterey Integral solo in 6 hours and 51 minutes, setting a new reference time.^[18] On July 27, he soloed the Madier route on the Aiguille Dibona (3,130 m) from the parking lot in 1 hour and 24 minutes.^[19] On August 11, he completed, with Nicolas Jean and Julien Cruvellier de Luze, the opening of Pulsations on the 4th tooth of La Meije (650 m, ED+, 7c+ max, 7a obligatory), a route started two years earlier with Nicolas Jean.

From January 29 to 31, 2024, his link-up of Drus–Droites–Grandes Jorasses, with Léo Billon, marked a milestone in mountaineering history. Featured on the cover of Vertical magazine, a detailed article described them as "mountaineers of the future". The French team completed three iconic ascents in three days: the north face of the Drus via the Guides route in under 10 hours, for the first time in a single day, followed by the Rhem-Vimal route on the north face of the Droites in 7 hours and 14 minutes, and finally the No Siesta route on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses in 12 hours.^[20]

On February 18, 2024, with Nicolas Jean, Benjamin Védrines climbed and skied five faces of Montagne des Agneaux (3,664 m) in the heart of the Écrins massif in a single day. This new 6,000-meter vertical ascent was completed in 15 hours.

On February 21, 2024, still with Nicolas Jean, he skied steep slopes on the south face of Ailefroide (5.2), the south face of Pic Sans Nom (first repeat, 5.2), and the south face of Pelvoux (Rochers Rouges, 5.2) in 14 hours and 30 minutes, covering a 5,000-meter vertical ascent.^[21]

In preparation for his ascent of K2, scheduled for July 2024, he completed the entire tour of the Serre Chevalier valley in two days on March 1 and 2, 2024. He covered sixteen peaks over 110 km with an elevation gain of 11,850 m.^[22] On May 26 and then May 28, 2024, Benjamin Védrines and Nicolas Jean skied the steep slope of the Plaques route on the northwest face of the Ailefroide and then opened a new route on the eastern Ailefroide. Next to the plaque is rated 5.5, E4.^[23] On June 6, 2024, they continued this exceptionally snowy season with four couloir descents on the north face of the Meije in the Écrins: the Z, the Gravelotte, the Corridors from the Doigt de Dieu, and the direct north face of the Meije Orientale, all in 16 hours for a total of 4,000 m of elevation gain.^[24]

The web series Back to K2, directed by Benjamin Védrines, retraces his training for a one-day attempt at climbing K2. Episode 1 recounts his physical and mental preparation at the limits of the effort, with Léo Viret for the physical aspect and Fabien Dupuis for the mental aspect.^[25] Episode 2 is devoted to preparing for a paragliding flight from the summit of K2 with paraglider Jean-Baptiste Chandelier.^[26] The third episode deals with the challenge of facing the risk of hypoxia with freediver Guillaume Néry.^[27]

In mid-April 2024, during the 27th "Adventure & Discovery" film festival in Val-d'Isère, Alpine Mag organized a conversation between Sylvain Tesson and Benjamin Védrines during one of his morning training sessions. On skis, between the Col de l'Iseran and the Fond des Fours refuge, the travel writer and the mountain guide shared their vision of mountaineering. Regarding his speed record on July 10, 2023, on the Peuterey integral, Benjamin Védrines said: "I've already done it with a client in three days, so I know what this slowness means. Today, I have this burst of energy, this capacity for speed that won't last forever and which I want to take advantage of to explore new things." Regarding speed, he added: "The problem with this path is that it can lead to a form of solitude." Over the years, the gap with most other mountaineers widens. Some colleagues take the family or professional path and are forced to abandon their adolescent dreams. There are far fewer of us who take a direction like mine, which is more unstable because you have to find sponsors, be imaginative, make plans, train without any certainty of success... And you are all alone." He adds a little later: "In my valley at Monêtier, there are old people who have never left and manage to marvel at the same mountains just with the changing seasons, the lights. And when I go on skis, I am always amazed by all this beauty."^[28]

At the end of June 2024, Benjamin Védrines began his expedition for his record-breaking single-day ascent of K2. After several weeks of acclimatization in difficult weather conditions, he achieved the record ascent of K2 without oxygen on July 28, 2024, in 10 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds. Leaving at 12:10 a.m. from Advanced Base Camp, the reference site of Benoît Chamoux's previous record of 23 hours in 1986, he stood at the summit of the world's second-highest mountain at 11:10 a.m., two years to the day after his blackout at 8,400 m on this same route.^[29]

During the ascent, at 8,100 m, below the Bottleneck, Benjamin Védrines crossed paths with the rope team of Liv Sansoz and Bertrand "Zebulon" Roche, who had set off at night from Camp 3 and reached the summit without oxygen the same day at 3:55 p.m. Around 8,400 m, he also met Jean-Yves "Blutch" Fredriksen, who had set off the day before from his tent at 6,600 m via the Basque Route. He had also reached the summit of K2 on July 28, 2024, at around 2 p.m., solo, alpine style, and without oxygen, via the Cesen Spur.^[30]

Benjamin Védrines is not seeking records. In an interview with AFP on August 4, 2024, in Skardu, Pakistan, he stated: "It's not the records themselves that interest me, it's the connections I create with certain mountains, especially K2. [This summit] has fascinated many nations, many climbers, and it fascinated me from the moment I saw it," he said, evoking "a somewhat mystical atmosphere specific to K2."^[31]

A few days later, on August 12, 2024, after the four French winners of K2 in 2024 had returned without oxygen, Alpine Mag revealed another first that the mountaineering community had suspected since the announcement of their ascent.:^[32] around 11 a.m., Benjamin Védrines completed the first paragliding descent from the world's second-highest peak in thirty minutes to base camp. He was also the author that day of the highest paragliding flight ever made.^[33] After the first descent of Everest by paraglider by Jean-Marc Boivin on September 26, 1988,^[34] it was again a Frenchman who made the first paragliding flight of K2. "I put years of experience to good use on July 28, combining high-altitude speed mountaineering and paragliding mastery. Once again, I felt indescribable sensations and emotions that day" explains Benjamin Védrines. Around 5 p.m. that same day, Liv Sansoz and Bertrand Roche made the first tandem paragliding descent of K2 to the base camp, preceded by Jean-Yves Fredriksen, alone in a paraglider down to 6,600 m, next to his tent, where he collected his equipment before the final descent[43]. This first attempt had been kept secret until the French returned. After a paraglider accident on the Baltoro Glacier, Pakistani authorities had banned all paragliding flights, despite prior authorizations[.^[33]

On August 20, 2024, three weeks after K2, Benjamin Védrines made the first paragliding descent from the very narrow summit of the Grand Pic de la Meije, landing in La Grave twenty minutes later.^[35]

From February 17 to 21, 2025, he made the first solo, self-belayed ascent of the Base route on the west face of the Petit Dru (one of the most technical and challenging routes in the Mont Blanc massif, opened in 2021 by a team from the Military High Mountain Group). He describes this ascent as "one of the craziest" he has ever made.^[36]

Between April 29 and May 2, he was in Chamonix, accompanied by Nicolas Jean, to complete the three-day traverse of the Mont Blanc massif, featuring a remarkable series of steep slopes. They descended the north face of the Lée Blanche, the Dômes de Miage, and the Aiguille de Bionnassay on the first day; the Brenva, the Gervasutti at Tacul, the northeast ramp of Pointe Yeld, and the north couloir of the Col du Tacul on the second day; then the Couturier couloir (Aiguille Verte), the north face of the Aiguille d'Argentière, and the Migot spur at Chardonnet on the third day.^[37]

On May 24, Benjamin Védrines broke the record for the Mont Blanc round trip from the church in Chamonix, all routes combined. He set a reference time of 4 hours 54 minutes 41 seconds on skis, three minutes ahead of Kilian Jornet, holder of the previous record (4 hours 57 minutes), on foot.^[38]

See also

• Dani Arnold
• Ueli Steck