Yannick Graziani

Yannick Graziani, born on October 24, 1973, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, is a mountaineer and high-mountain guide who has been a member of the Chamonix Guides Company since 2000.

Graziani completed numerous climbs in the Mont Blanc massif, notably the *Directe Américaine* on the West Face of the Drus, the *Gamma* route on the South Face of the Écrins, the *MacIntyre*, *No Siesta*, and *Desmaison-Gousseault* routes on the North Face of the Grandes Jorasses, the *Directe du Nez de Zmutt* on the Matterhorn, and the *Frêneysie Pascale* and *Hyper Couloir* ice gullies on the South Face of Mont Blanc. He then set out to explore the Andes, successfully climbing the South Face of Huandoy Sur (6,160 m) in Peru in 1997 with Jérôme Blanc-Gras—a feat recognized with an FFME Crystal award—followed by a solo ascent of Aconcagua via its South Face (6,962 m) in Argentina in 1999.

Next came the Himalayas. Graziani belongs to the generation that bypassed the era of massive Himalayan expeditions, instead fully embracing the "alpine style"—accepting the high level of commitment and the significant risk of failure inherent to that approach. He traveled to the Everest region with his friend Christian Trommsdorff in 1997 and 1998, tackling peaks in alpine style. Later, joined by Patrick Wagnon, the trio undertook a series of expeditions, forming the formidable TGW rope team (Trommsdorff-Graziani-Wagnon). For nearly a decade, Yannick Graziani and two friends pioneered new routes and claimed first ascents on 7,000-meter peaks across Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet, amassing a remarkable and eclectic list of successes throughout the Himalayas—from Makalu (via the southeast ridge and east face) to Chomo Lonzo, Annapurna, Nemjung, Chaukhamba II, and Pumari Chisch. The three climbers championed "alpine style" as the only way to go: rejecting supplemental oxygen, high-altitude porters, and the pre-equipping of the mountain.