Lilliane and Maurice Barrard
Encyclopedia
Liliane Barrard and Maurice Barrard (1941? – June 24, 1986) were a French couple who made a brief celebrity career climbing at high altitude, mainly in the Himalayan
and Karakoram
ranges, and emphasising 'Alpine', 'fast and light' style ascents.
Billing themselves as the 'World's Highest Couple', they successfully climbed Gasherbrum II
(8,035 m/26,360 ft) in 1982 with Liliane's brother, Alain Bontemps, and Nanga Parbat
(8,125 m/26,658 ft) in 1984 (first female ascent of this peak for Liliane). Although narrowly failing to make the summit of Makalu
(8,462 m/27,765 ft), they nevertheless put the finances together to attempt K2
(8,616 m/28,268 ft) in 1986 with a small team consisting of themselves, Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz
and French climber Michel Parmentier.
and Parmentier arrived at the K2 motel at about the same time as Alan Rouse
's British expedition, then headed to Base Camp.
The Barrards' expedition ascended the mountain very slowly, spending nights at 6300, 7100, 7700, 7900, and 8300meters (20,669; 23,294; 25,262; 25,919; and 27,250 feet, respectively) on the climb. They spent their last night before their summit attempt bivouaced with a tent but no sleeping bags. The Barrards, Rutkiewicz, and Parmentier all summited successfully by 11:00am on June 23, 1986. Wanda Rutkiewicz
was the first female ascender of K2, a mere 30 minutes before Liliane Barrard. Both women summited K2 without using supplemental oxygen.
The four climbers descended only as far as their bivouac site from the night before, near the Bottleneck (a treacherous terrain feature at around 8,300 m/27,250 feet). The Barrards and their group had run out of fuel for their stoves (which are necessary to melt snow for water in order to prevent dehydration at high altitude). Parmentier descended first, to try and borrow some stove fuel from a nearby pair of Basque
climbers, Mari Abrego and Josema Casimiro. The others descended after him. Rutkiewicz caught up with Parmentier; the Barrards lagged behind. The Basque climbers had also run out of gas, and accompanied Parmentier and Rutkiewicz back to the French Camp Three, at 7800m/25,600 feet.
Rutkiewicz and the Basques continued down the mountain, and Parmentier waited for the Barrards to reach Camp Three. The weather was deteriorating. A French climber climbing with an Italian
expedition, Benoît Chamoux
, tried to convince Parmentier to come down, without success, and left him a radio before turning around and heading back toward Base Camp. Eventually Parmentier, who had tried to wait for some sign of the Barrards, began to descend, in white-out conditions and gale-force winds. Parmentier was eventually guided down the mountainside via radio directions from Base Camp, about 3000m/9,843 feet below, based on the few landmarks he could find in the blizzard.
Rutkiewicz, suffering from frostbite, and Parmentier both reached Base Camp alive. The Barrards were never seen alive again. The morning after summiting, Maurice had been very tired, and he and Liliane had left their tent after their climbing partners. It was windy and visibility was poor. The most likely scenarios are that the Barrards wandered off-route in the storm; that they fell; or that they collapsed from exhaustion and possible hypoxia
and died.
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
and Karakoram
Karakoram
The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...
ranges, and emphasising 'Alpine', 'fast and light' style ascents.
Early life
The couple met while climbing in South America, having previously worked mainly in teaching.Billing themselves as the 'World's Highest Couple', they successfully climbed Gasherbrum II
Gasherbrum II
Gasherbrum II , also known as K4, is the 13th highest mountain on Earth, located on the border of Gilgit-Baltistan province, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China...
(8,035 m/26,360 ft) in 1982 with Liliane's brother, Alain Bontemps, and Nanga Parbat
Nanga Parbat
Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain on Earth, the second highest mountain in Pakistan and among the eight-thousanders with a summit elevation of 8,126 meters...
(8,125 m/26,658 ft) in 1984 (first female ascent of this peak for Liliane). Although narrowly failing to make the summit of Makalu
Makalu
Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world at and is located southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and China...
(8,462 m/27,765 ft), they nevertheless put the finances together to attempt K2
K2
K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest...
(8,616 m/28,268 ft) in 1986 with a small team consisting of themselves, Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz
Wanda Rutkiewicz
Wanda Rutkiewicz was a Polish mountain climber. She was the first woman to successfully summit K2.-Early life:Rutkiewicz was born in Plungė, Lithuania...
and French climber Michel Parmentier.
K2
The start to the Barrards' K2 expedition was not a promising one: Maurice and Liliane "had left their entire expedition budget--thousands of dollars plus airline tickets and passports on the backseat of a taxi!" Everything was sorted out in due course, and the Barrards, Wanda RutkiewiczWanda Rutkiewicz
Wanda Rutkiewicz was a Polish mountain climber. She was the first woman to successfully summit K2.-Early life:Rutkiewicz was born in Plungė, Lithuania...
and Parmentier arrived at the K2 motel at about the same time as Alan Rouse
Alan Rouse
Alan Paul Rouse was the first British climber to reach the summit of the second highest mountain in the world, K2, but died on the descent.-Education:...
's British expedition, then headed to Base Camp.
The Barrards' expedition ascended the mountain very slowly, spending nights at 6300, 7100, 7700, 7900, and 8300meters (20,669; 23,294; 25,262; 25,919; and 27,250 feet, respectively) on the climb. They spent their last night before their summit attempt bivouaced with a tent but no sleeping bags. The Barrards, Rutkiewicz, and Parmentier all summited successfully by 11:00am on June 23, 1986. Wanda Rutkiewicz
Wanda Rutkiewicz
Wanda Rutkiewicz was a Polish mountain climber. She was the first woman to successfully summit K2.-Early life:Rutkiewicz was born in Plungė, Lithuania...
was the first female ascender of K2, a mere 30 minutes before Liliane Barrard. Both women summited K2 without using supplemental oxygen.
The four climbers descended only as far as their bivouac site from the night before, near the Bottleneck (a treacherous terrain feature at around 8,300 m/27,250 feet). The Barrards and their group had run out of fuel for their stoves (which are necessary to melt snow for water in order to prevent dehydration at high altitude). Parmentier descended first, to try and borrow some stove fuel from a nearby pair of Basque
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
climbers, Mari Abrego and Josema Casimiro. The others descended after him. Rutkiewicz caught up with Parmentier; the Barrards lagged behind. The Basque climbers had also run out of gas, and accompanied Parmentier and Rutkiewicz back to the French Camp Three, at 7800m/25,600 feet.
Rutkiewicz and the Basques continued down the mountain, and Parmentier waited for the Barrards to reach Camp Three. The weather was deteriorating. A French climber climbing with an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
expedition, Benoît Chamoux
Benoît Chamoux
Benoît Chamoux was a French Alpinist, who climbed 10 of the Eight-thousanders in the Himalayas.Chamoux was born in La Roche-sur-Foron near Mont Blanc in the department of Haute-Savoie, France...
, tried to convince Parmentier to come down, without success, and left him a radio before turning around and heading back toward Base Camp. Eventually Parmentier, who had tried to wait for some sign of the Barrards, began to descend, in white-out conditions and gale-force winds. Parmentier was eventually guided down the mountainside via radio directions from Base Camp, about 3000m/9,843 feet below, based on the few landmarks he could find in the blizzard.
Rutkiewicz, suffering from frostbite, and Parmentier both reached Base Camp alive. The Barrards were never seen alive again. The morning after summiting, Maurice had been very tired, and he and Liliane had left their tent after their climbing partners. It was windy and visibility was poor. The most likely scenarios are that the Barrards wandered off-route in the storm; that they fell; or that they collapsed from exhaustion and possible hypoxia
Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
and died.