French climber and alpinist Catherine Destivelle has been named as the 2020 recipient of the Piolet d'Or Carrière, or Lifetime Achievement Award, for her accomplishments within and contributions to the world of alpinism. Destivelle is the first woman to be honoured with this award since its inception in 2009.

The Piolet d'Or Carrière was created to honour an alpinist or mountaineer whose career has inspired following generations, in adherence to a particular set of criteria outlined by the Piolets d'Or charter.

Catherine Destivelle was a sport climbing superstar in the discipline's golden age of the 1980s. Although she received much media attention for becoming the first woman to redpoint 8a and through her multiple competition wins, including victory at the very first international event, Sportroccia (now Rock Master) in Italy in 1985 and Jeff Lowe's famous 1989 event in Snowbird, USA, Destivelle's climbing roots were in alpinism. She began climbing in Fontainebleau at the age of 12 and made secret excursions to the Mont Blanc massif with older climbers - unbeknown to her parents - where she climbed some of the biggest routes in the range as a teenager.

In 1990, Destivelle quit climbing competitions to focus on rock and alpine ascents. She made her mountain comeback with a solo ascent of the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru and established a new route on the west face of the Petit Dru over 11 days, before completing a solo winter trilogy; the north face of the Eiger in 1992, the Walker Spur on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses in 1993, and the Bonatti route on the north face of the Matterhorn in 1994.

Destivelle's bio by Claude Gardien on the Piolet d'Or website notes:

'This latter route is still rarely climbed today. It was her second big Bonatti route and the first time a woman had climbed at such a high standard in the Alps. However, Catherine didn't just want to be known as an accomplished female climber, she wanted her performances to be measured against those of any alpinist, no matter their gender. How many people could claim to operate at this standard? Catherine had proved that women could climb just as hard as men.'

Using the skills she had developed in Europe, Destivelle moved into the realm of high-altitude alpinism. In the Himalaya and Karakoram, she made the second free ascent of the Slovenian Route on Trango Tower, climbed the southwest face to the summit ridge of Xixabangma, and attempted the south face of Annapurna, the west pillar of Makalu, and the north ridge of Latok I. In Antarctica, she made two significant first ascents in the Sentinel Range.

Having achieved so much in the mountains, Destivelle turned her attention to writing about her own adventures in an autobiography and sharing those of others upon founding her own publishing house, Les Éditions du Mont Blanc, based near Chamonix.

'As with mountain climbing, [Destivelle] has gone on to leave her mark in the publishing world. Her creed has always been to keep moving forwards, without ever worrying about her status as an alpinist or an editor,' the Piolet d'Or bio reads.

Destivelle will be honoured at the 2020 Piolets d'Or Awards ceremony at the 25th edition of the Ladek Mountain Film Festival in Poland, 11-22 September, either in person or virtually, depending on the COVID-19 situation.