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22 mai 2015

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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!

When Not Climbing, I Share

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