Jean-Claude Droyer

Biography

Jean-Claude Droyer, born in 1947, is a climber and mountaineer, a mountain guide, and a former member of the Groupe de Haute Montagne (GHM). A pioneer of free climbing in France, he trained at the climbing schools of Fontainebleau and Saussois and distinguished himself in 1965 by solo climbing the Pentecôte route at Glandasse. Since 1974, he has been a spokesperson for free climbing and Anglo-Saxon ethics, attracting some enmity for his sometimes "forceful" methods (unscrewing routes without consultation). Upon returning from a trip (a meeting organized by the British Mountaineering Council in 1973) to climb in Wales with British climbers, he realized that on the other side of the Channel, the Super Gratton was a unanimous favorite. In France, climbing was still practiced with heavy-duty ropes, with lugged Vibram soles, and smooth-rubber climbing shoes were only used in Fontainebleau. Jean-Claude Droyer, a great advocate of free climbing, created the event in 1975 by climbing the newly constructed Montparnasse Tower. To achieve this challenge, he brought a pair of Super Grattons with him. The shoes provided him with all the grip he needed to complete the ascent of the Montparnasse Tower with his climbing partner, and photos of the achievement were seen around the world. Following the attacks of Jean-Claude Droyer, Laurent Jacob, and Jean-Pierre Bouvier, the end of the 1970s marked a turning point in climbing on the Saussois cliffs. The goal was to free up aid routes by climbing with minimal protection and removing pitons. Other pitons protecting falls were instead preserved and sealed with mortar, and classic aid routes were gradually refined and freed up. Frictions broke out with mountaineers—nicknamed "randonno-pitonneurs"—who wanted to keep the pitons for the nail puller and the original equipment. But the tenacious defenders of free climbing, led by Jean-Claude Droyer, held firm. Droyer quickly began freeing old artificial routes, first on cliffs, opening the first 6bs in 1976, then the first 6cs and the first French 7a at Saussois in 1977. In the mountains, he made the first solo ascent of the American Direct on the west face of Les Drus in 1971, the east face of Grand Capucin, where he was forced to leave nine aid points (1977), and the north faces of Cima Grande (1978) and Cima Ouest (1979). Subsequently, he devoted himself increasingly to rock climbing. In 1980, he joined the team of climbing shoe manufacturer EB as a technical advisor for the development of new climbing shoes. In 1982, with his technical assistance, a second legendary product, the Maestria shoe, was launched. Its success stemmed from its new, thick 7 mm sole, made for the first time from resin rubber. In 1986, he published the book "Escalade, les plus belles falaises d'Europe de l'Ouest" (Climbing, the Most Beautiful Cliffs in Western Europe), published by Denoël.