Dhaulagiri, South Ridge. It was the goal for Jean-Noël Roche and me to climb the south ridge or spur of Dhaulagiri with no support whatsoever. The route had been climbed by a heavy Japanese expedition in 1978. A film crew of Philippe Lallet and Anthoine Morat accompanied us to Camp I at 5600 meters at the beginning of the climbing difficulties. Above that, we filmed our climb ourselves. My wife Annie, Mélanie Roche, Dr. Jean Loup and Claude Roche completed the team. In the first 1000 meters of the spur we fixed 700 meters of rope to assist the descent. On October 1 we set out on the final push and bivouacked at 6400 meters. Our second bivouac was at 7100 meters. The difficulties above Camp I had begun with a 300-meter rock face, followed by a ridge bristling with snow mushrooms and unstable snow. At 7000 meters we confronted an overhanging rock step which we bypassed on the left on icy 60° slabs. On the 3rd we advanced up a vast gentle plateau, perhaps two kilometers long. We kept plodding along because somewhere deep down we felt we must. Finally we reached the summit, my third 8000er. Bivouacs on the descent were at 7400 and 6400 meters.

Pierre Beghin, Groupe de Haute Montagne