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30 août 2014

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sophie_lavaud

Mountainer / Speaker / Author
Completed 14 x 8000m | 𝟏𝐬𝐭 , 𝟏𝐬𝐭 , and 𝟏𝐬𝐭 woman
Climbing Annapurna II, III, IV in 2025!

🧗‍♂️ Quand je ne grimpe pas, je partage 🙌 (version anglaise en commentaire)

L’alpinisme occupe une grande place dans ma vie — mais ce n’est pas la seule!
Le week-end dernier, j’ai eu l’opportunité de prendre la parole lors de l’événement Les Mystères de l’UNIL 2025 🎓, un grand rendez-vous organisé par l’Université de Lausanne autour du thème « Les Intelligences » ✨.

Mon intervention portait sur la notion de « followership » ou l’éloge du savoir-suivre: un concept que je considère aussi essentiel que le leadership.
🏔️ En montagne, rien ne se fait seul.
C’est souvent la force de l’équipe qui détermine le succès d’une expédition 🤝.

Intervenir dans ce type de conférences fait partie des façons dont j’aime transmettre ce que j’ai appris lors de mes expériences en haute altitude ⛰️.
La salle était pleine — environ 500 personnes 👥 — et l’échange a été très enrichissant ✨.

La session s’est conclue par une discussion sur la physiologie en altitude avec le Professeur Grégoire Millet, suivie d’un moment de questions-réponses avec des journalistes de 24Heures, partenaires de l'événement🎙️, puis d’une séance de dédicace 🖊️ des livres
📘 Les quatorze 8000 de Sophie Lavaud co-écrit avec François Damilano , Éditions Glénat Livres)
📗 Une femme, sept sommets, dix secrets, Éditions Favre.

🙏 Merci aux Mystères de l’UNIL, à toute l’équipe de l’université, et à Bertrand Carlier pour ces magnifiques photos 📸 — ainsi qu’à toutes celles et ceux qui étaient présents 💬.

#SophieLavaud #LetsGoSummit #MysteresUNIL #UNIL2025 #LesIntelligences #Conferences #Followership #MountaineeringAndBeyond #WomenWhoClimb #14x8000er #lesquatorze8000desophielavaud #unefemmeseptsommetsdixsecrets

25 May — Everest

& Cho Oyu

Sum

📅 25 May — Everest 🏔️ & Cho Oyu 🗻 Summit Memory, and a Tribute to Junko Tabei👑, the Pioneer!

On this day in my expedition logbook:
🗓️ 25 May 2012 — Cho Oyu (8188 m), my second 8000er
🗓️ 25 May 2014 — Everest (8848.86 m), the highest point on Earth🌍

Both were important chapters in my journey, each mountain teaching me lessons I still carry today — about timing⏱️, patience🧘‍♀️, exposure🌬️, and what it means to truly commit💯 to the path upward.

This year, 2025, also marks the 50th anniversary of Junko Tabei’s historic Everest ascent 🏅— the first woman to stand on the summit, in 1975. In 1969, she established the Women’s Mountaineering Club in Japan 🇯🇵 after being denied by male climbers at the time. The club's slogan was "Let's go on an overseas expedition by ourselves." - something that she eventually led by example💪🌍 .

She never wanted to be branded as the First Lady. She was happy to have climbed Everest and be the 36th person to do so. In her own words, 💬 "I did not intend to be the first woman on Everest."

As we reflect on these milestones, I hope all women and girls who seek out the mountains — whether for adventure, discovery, or inner strength — find in Junko’s story, and those that followed, a quiet motivation to keep going and to dare➡️!

📸 @sophie_lavaud & @dendi___sherpa & @francois_damilano

#SophieLavaud #LetsGoSummit #Everest2014 #ChoOyu2012 #JunkoTabei50Years #8000ers #Mountaineering #WomenWhoClimb #Himalaya

Makalu, 23 May — A Day of Ascent and Remembrance

Why do we climb at night? One common questio

May 15 - A Special Day to Celebrate!

(Fre

May 15 - A Special Day to Celebrate! 🎉🎂 (French version in comment 🇫🇷)

A year ago today, I gracefully received the distinction of Chevalier de l'ordre national du Mérite (Knight of the National Order of Merit) 🎖️ from the French Republic in recognition of my contribution to Alpinism 🏔️.

Sharing this memory today, which also happens to be my birthday 🥳, with a thought — when you commit to something over time, it can create a meaningful ripple in society 🌍✨.

In mountaineering, there are no shortcuts. It is a pursuit grounded in hard work 💪, endurance 🧗‍♂️, consistency 🔁, and selflessness 💙.
Risk is constant ⚠️, the consequences are often fatal, and the process is slow. But when you keep going, recognition eventually arrives — not just in medals, but in how your work is valued and understood 🙌.

Just as the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950 inspired a generation and sparked the golden age of Himalayan climbing, we continue to draw meaning from the mountains — and from those who walk before us 👣.

Thank you 🙏 to all my sponsors, partners, teammates, friends, and family ❤️. Your support has made it possible to keep moving forward ➡️.

Looking ahead to the journeys to come ✨.

📸 @bertrandcarlier_photographe

#Gratitude #Alpinisme #Montagne #OrdreNationalDuMérite #LetsGoSummit #148000ers #Mountaineering #Annapurna2025 #celebration #recognition #transmission

Nanga Parbat’s Kinshofer Wall

The classi

Back Home — Reflecting on Annapurna IV and the H $Back Home — Reflecting on Annapurna IV and the Himalaya in General Back home now after our Annapurna IV expedition 🏔️ — safe 🙏 and with time to go through the photos and memories from the past weeks 📸. Looking back, I’m revisiting all the lessons from this climb 🧗‍♂️. The mountain was unusually dry, with large fractures and impassable crevasses that forced us to turn back 🔁. And hearing about the recent summit push difficulties elsewhere — including Annapurna I and rope fixing challenges on Everest — I can’t help but relate it to our own experience. It makes me wonder about the broader changes happening in our high mountains 🏔. Especially in 2025, declared the UNESCO International Year of Glacier Preservation 🌐, it feels like the right time for the mountaineering community to pause, reflect, and mobilize 🤝. The effects are frightening 😟 as 2024 was observed as the warmest year on record, and in 2023, glaciers suffered the largest recorded mass loss in five decades. The future of our mountains and glaciers concerns us all — climbers, guides, local communities and beyond 🌎. Thank you for your work and your involvement in this great cause Dr. Heïdi Sevestre & Matthieu Tordeur - Explorateur 📷 @sophie_lavaud & @dawasangay_ #SophieLavaud #LetsGoSummit #AnnapurnaIV #MountainsMatter #Himalaya #Glaciers2025 #yearofglacierspreservation #UNESCO$