Jean-Claude Droyer

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 clim…