Sophie Lavaud succeeded in climbing Lhotse, 8516 m, on May 14, with her sherpa Dawa Sangay. With this twelfth 8000 m in the pocket, she still has two summits to reach, the Nanga Parbat and the Shishapangma, to complete the fourteen 8000 m, a quest that has been fatal to the previous French climbers. But the Franco-Swiss himalayist is optimistic, and above all, patient. From Kathmandu, she told us about her expedition to Lhotse, before leaving for Islamabad and the Nanga Parbat.
It was a beautiful day in Chamonix, in the salons of the Plan B, base camp of the Chamonix Film Festival, last June. Sophie Lavaud was telling us about her passion for high altitude. Her progression, from Mont Blanc in 2004 to the Central Shishapangma in 2012. Then this quest for the fourteen 8000. 2020 was a year without. A year without 8000. Covid and closed borders.