The Biography

Serge Gousseault (May 12, 1947 in Tours, France - February 21, 1971, Mont-Blanc massif, France) was a French mountaineer, high mountain guide, who died of cold and exhaustion on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. Serge Gousseault, who did his military service in the 27th Alpine Hunters Battalion in Annecy, had been awarded the third of his promotion for the mountain guide diploma and had registered, in particular, on his list: the Walker by the Cassin route in the Grandes Jorasses, the Gervasutti pillar, solo, races and climbs in the Pyrenees, the creeks of Marseille and the Verdon gorges. In the 1960s, until his death, Serge Gousseault was part of the local EEDF group in Tours. It was during the ascent of the direct route from Pointe Walker (4,208 m) via the north face of the Grandes Jorasses in the Mont-Blanc massif that he died. A first winter attempt in duet with the experienced guide René Desmaison. Blocked in their ascent by bad weather, out of food, Serge Gousseault's hands frozen, limited to pitons and ropes, they failed 90 meters from the summit, after having climbed a wall of 900 meters. He died of exhaustion and cold after 11 days of hard struggle against rock, ice, cold and bad weather. René Desmaison survived him and was rescued in extremis. Their dramatic rope had, at the time, aroused controversy, especially on mountain rescue. The exact date of Serge Gousseault's death remains uncertain: René Desmaison, the only witness, declared just after his rescue that he died on Saturday February 20, then he affirmed that his death had occurred on Sunday February 21 and finally he wrote that his companion's death occurred on Monday February 22, 1971.