
Patrick Edlinger (15 June 1960 – 16 November 2012) was a professional French rock climber. Edlinger is considered a pioneer and a legend of sport climbing. He was the second-ever climber in history to ascend routes of grade 7c (5.12d) with Nymphodalle (1979), and grade 7c+ (5.13a) with Le Toit (1981). He was the first-ever climber in history to onsight routes of grade 7b+ (5.12c) with Captain crochet (1982), and grade 7c (5.12d) with La Polka des Ringards (1982). Patrick Edlinger was born in 1960 in Dax, Landes, in southwestern France. He was barely a teenager when he began climbing and, after attaining his first job as a truck driver, decided he loved cliffs more than highways. In 1983 he made the first ascent of Ça Glisse Au Pays des Merveilles at Buoux, one of the first 8a (5.13b) in France. He won some of the first climbing competitions in history: Sportroccia in 1986, Rock Master and Snowbird in 1988. He is also known to the world for his films on soloing in the steep, 500m Verdon. "Le Blond" had a smooth and beautiful style of climbing that lent itself to film. He became famous in 1982 after La Vie au bout des doigts, a documentary by Jean-Paul Janssen depicting him free-soloing in Buoux. After a near-fatal fall in 1995 from a steep-sided cove in southern France, Edlinger suffered a brief cardiac arrest. Following this he retired from the extreme forms of free climbing and co-founded the magazine Roc 'n Wall, which served as a bible to the burgeoning European "free solo" climbing movement. He settled close to Verdon Gorge, where the vacati...more
Movie | Edlinger, la liberté au bout des doigts | Self | 2023-01-12 |
Movie | Le Grec - Georges Livanos | Self | 1994-01-01 |
Movie | The Beautiful Story | Self | 1992-03-18 |
Movie | Among Wolves | Patrick | 1985-12-31 |
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