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2023/06/28
Sophie Lavaud: the first Swiss woman to climb all 14 Himalayan and Karakoram peaks over 8000 metres

REYL Intesa Sanpaolo is proud to support Sophie Lavaud, a mountaineer who climbed the Nanga Parbat, located in the Himalayan range in Pakistan, on Monday. She reached her goal of climbing both her 14th and final summit of more than 8,000 metres, eleven years after setting it.

 

Sophie Lavaud reached the summit of Nanga Parbat (8,125 metres) in Pakistan on Monday 26 June, after a 12-hour climb in challenging conditions, with lots of snow and wind.

 

The mountaineer, a Swiss, French and Canadian citizen, has been supported by REYL Intesa Sanpaolo since 2017 and is the first woman to climb the 14 peaks over 8000 metres in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges.

 

After a career as a manager in the hotel, luxury and event industries in Geneva, Sophie Lavaud made a remarkable entry into the world of mountaineering in 2012. She had successful climbs just ten days apart at Central Shishapangma (8'012 metres) and Cho Oyu (8'201 metres). Her climb of Everest in 2014 and first attempt to climb K2 in 2016 were the subject of films directed by French filmmaker and guide François Damilano ("On va marcher sur l'Everest" and "K2, une journée particulière"). In 2019, she successfully climbed mounts Annapurna, Kangchenjunga and Gasherbrum I. In April 2023 she climbed mount Shishapangma (8027 metres).