Jean-Louis Lechêne

Biography

Jean-Louis Lechêne is a high mountain guide, born in Hautmont (Nord) in 1947. He is known for his commitment to Pyreneism. An ice gully bears his name at Petit Vignemale. After a difficult childhood due to his father's brutality, he was separated from his family at the age of 9. Thanks to his good grades, he benefited from a stay in a youth camp in Cauterets, in the Pyrenees, where he discovered the mountains in 1961, at the age of 14. At 16, settling permanently in Cauterets, he became a mason, one of the rare trades practiced in the villages of the Pyrenees at a time when ski resorts were barely being built. In this capacity, he participated in the construction of the Marcadau and Oulettes refuges. Under the sponsorship of Etienne Florence, former French cross-country skiing champion, he learned the profession of guide, and obtained his diploma from the ENSA in Chamonix in 1971, then his diploma as a ski instructor in 1976. Becoming involved in the Pyrenees movement, he joined the GPHM (Groupe Pyrénéiste de Haute-Montagne), founded by Robert Ollivier, of which he would become the last president. He achieved many firsts in the Pyrenees, notably at the Pic de Monné and in the Vignemale massif, the highest peak in the French Pyrenees, of which he became a great specialist, climbing the summit more than 300 times by its North face7. In particular, he gave his name to an ice gully in the North face of the Petit Vignemale, as well as to a spur at Cap d'Aou (Vallée d'Aure). He is the stunt double for Kirk Douglas in the film Veraz, by Xavier Castano, released in 1991.