Vaucher, Yvette (1929—)
Vaucher, Yvette (1929—)
Swiss mountaineer. Born Yvette Pilliard in Vallorbe, northeast of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1929; married Michel Vaucher (a mountaineer), in 1962.
Made first direct ascent of North Face of Dent Blanche (1966); made first female ascent of North Face of the Matterhorn.
Yvette Vaucher joined the disastrous 1971 International Everest Expedition during which one man died of exposure. Reports of squabbling sullied many reputations unfairly, including that of Vaucher. In 1951, she began rock climbing at the Salève. Four years later, she moved to Neuchâtel, took up free-fall parachuting, and made over 100 descents. Then, she formed a climbing team with Michel Vaucher. Yvette made many important climbs: the North Faces of the Matterhorn, Piz Badile, Triolet, Drus, Dent Blanche, Eiger, and Grandes Jorasses. She also climbed Ninagougo in Zaire and the West Ridge of Mt. McKinley in Alaska.
sources:
Birkett, Bill, and Bill Peascod. Women Climbing: 200 Years of Achievement. London: A.&C. Black, 1989.