Rock Queen : Major Ascents from the World Famous French Climber

by Catherine Destivelle

In English at last, the autobiography of Catherine Destivelle is full of Gallic charm – the drama and wit of her writing show why she took the climbing and media worlds by storm. In 1990 she made a series of incredible climbs, including solo winter ascents of the three most legendary Alpine walls – the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses and the Matterhorn – making her the outstanding female climber of all time.

Genres: Climbing

228 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2015

About the author

French rock climber and mountaineer.

Reviews

[Melanie Windridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read about Catherine's climbing exploits, including candid details about her feelings and fears when on a route, little details about preparations, bivvying and swollen hands. Also enjoyed the early history, and her reflections on her lifestyle as a professional climbing, namely the conflict between her personal passion and the activities required for the media and sponsors. Nevertheless, she seems to have struck a reasonable balance. I enjoyed the book.

[Tomq · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Read in the original french)
For the past year and a half I've read a lot of autobiographical works from climbers and alpinists; this is a good one. The last chapters will be interesting mostly to alpinists and climbers, but the first ones are perhaps most valuable, because they deal with Destivelle before she found a life balance.

So we see 14 years old Destivelle surviving an attempt at violent sexual assault (by climbing on top of a boulder !); how she dealt with bulimia and the pressure to be thin in climbing. We meet her as physiotherapist, giving up climbong for years and plunging into a gambling addiction... Mostly we see the world of elite climbing from a woman's perspective: how easy it seems to be for her to tag along with much older guys that she can learn from (would a guy get that sort of treatment? Who knows...), but also how her accomplishments are not recognized, pushing her to climb very hard objectives solo, to prove to the world that she can do it without male partners!

It's a short book, which doesn't investigate those various themes in great depth. Other topics are surprisingly left untouched, for instance the sexualization of athletes, especially female ones (though male climbers are also sexualized, or at least were in these times); or her various relationships. It seems Destivelle was more interested in focusing on her professional development. But that also makes it a quick read and ensures that it focuses on the essential things. In all, it's a good use of a few hours for anyone interested in alpinism or in feminism in sports.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and to the point, this is a great little gem giving insight into the climbing world. The book can be summarised as: "mean and moody female French climber achieves great things despite hating everyone, including herself." A very honest account of some of the highlights of Catherine's life - a little technical in places for the non-climber, but still very accessible as you can easily skip over some of the details and still get the idea. It's a shame she doesn't dwell more on the present day, as the book tailed off a little bit towards the end, as if she'd run out of inspiration. Cracking read though - I romped through it in less than a day.

[Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so pleased to have found Catherine's book. She is very matter-of-fact and honest about her attitudes and feelings about climbing, and to me her approach feels so sensible (yet awe-inspiring). She isn't a hopeless romantic, quite the opposite: realistic but driven, ambitious and, plain and simple, very cool. Her accents are a pleasure to read - from a safe distance, that is - and she gives a great overview of the development of climbing as a sport from her point of view. I really enjoyed reading this.

[Peter Ferretter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing learning about Catherine’s ascents, trials, and tribulations. A handful of months ago I saw a video highlighting her 1992 free solo achievement at devils tower. That only made my feed because Morgan and I had recently climbed the tower last year. What a lucky coincidence. After watching her devils tower solo and many others, I decided to buy her book (no idea if it would show up in English or French - thankfully English, was prepared to use Google Translate). Was not disappointed!

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really enjoying it for the first 75% but then the last 25% lost me a bit. It started to feel a little disjointed and the ending could have been written better. I found it difficult to picture her climbs and I wish there was an accompanying biopic to help me visualize everything. Overall, it was a fascinating read about a really impressive individual and I’m glad I learned more about her.

[Lianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an incredible woman. One of the best climbing books I have read. I enjoyed her open descriptions of personal feelings of the
fear and insecurity that go along with climbing.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have been a big fan of CD for decades now.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Interesting stories and it gives you a good picture of her personality too.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring to read from a strong female climber. Made me want to go climb immediately. I appreciated her honesty about her fears, motives, occasional crying, and her appreciation of her time spent away from the mountains.

"Wide open spaces always act as a tonic for me."

As I PT I could relate to her rant about her work.."For goodness sake move if you don't want back pain."