{{Short description|French mountaineer and mountain guide}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} '''Patrick Gabarrou''' a.k.a. '''"Le Gab"''' (born 19 July 1951 in Évreux), is a French mountaineer and mountain guide who is credited with more than 300 first ascents, most of them in the Mont Blanc massif.
He has been the president of the international environmental NGO Mountain Wilderness from 2006 to 2010. He is mostly an ice climber, and is considered to be a pioneer of the modern wave of ice climbing.<ref>"State of the Art, The Alps", ''American Alpine Journal'', Vol. 43, Issue 75, 2001, pp 140–47</ref>
He also opened routes in several other regions like Canada, Bolivia and Patagonia.
==First ascents==
===Mountain routes=== * ''Boivin-Gabarrou'' on the north face of Les Droites (with Jean-Marc Boivin), 1975 * ''Supercouloir'' and Gabarrou-Albinoni on Mont Blanc du Tacul * ''Hypercouloir'' on Mont Blanc (with Pierre-Alain Steiner), 1982 * ''Divine Providence'' on the Grand Pilier d'Angle, 1984 * ''Gabarrou-Silvy'' on the Aiguille Sans Nom, 1985 * ''Directissime'' on the Grandes Jorasses (with Hervé Bouvard), 1986 * ''Aux amis disparus'' on the Matterhorn (with Lionel Daudet) * ''Directissime de la Margerita'' on Monte Rosa (with Christian Appertet), 1992 * ''Alexis'' on Point Whymper of the Grandes Jorasses (with Benoît Robert), 1993 * ''A Leï'' on the Grandes Jorasses (with Philippe Batoux and Benoît Robert), February 2003 * ''Heidi'' on the Grandes Jorasses (with Philippe Batoux and Christophe Dumarest), 17–21 March 2005 * ''Ciao Walter'' on Mont-Blanc (with Simon Deniel and Ben O'Connor-Croft), 2012 * ''Brigite'' on the Arête des Grands Montets (with his wife Franca et Philippe Lansard), 5 April 2013<ref name=Moisy/> * ''René Croft'' between the ''Boivin-Gabarrou'' and the ''Barnoud-Marsigny'' on the north face of Les Droites (with Ben O'Connor-Croft), 25–26 April 2013<ref name=Moisy>{{cite news|last=Moisy|first=Pauline|title=Patrick Gabarrou ouvre trois voies dans le massif du Mont-Blanc|url=http://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2013/05/04/patrick-gabarrou-ouvre-trois-voies-dans-le-massif-du-mont-blanc#jimage=AC3E2E05-3F10-4471-8B4C-B1429BFE96BB|access-date=2013-05-05|newspaper=Le Dauphiné|date=2013-05-05}}</ref> * ''Padre Pio, Une Echelle Vers le Ciel'' on the south face of Matterhorn, 2015 (see Alpinist article) <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web15y/wfeature-a-stairway-to-heaven-matterhorn|title=A Stairway to Heaven on the Matterhorn - Alpinist.com|website=www.alpinist.com|date=20 November 2015 |accessdate=16 April 2023}}</ref>
===Ice climbs=== * ''Cascade Notre Dame'', 700 m, V, WI6 (with François Marsigny), 1984 * ''Freneysie Pascale'', 1984 * ''Abominette'', 700 m, IV, 5.8, WI3 (with Christophe Profit and Sylviane Tavernier), 1984 * ''Fantomastic'', 700 m, V, WI6 (with François Marsigny), 1985 * ''Patagonic'', 700 m, M6, V+, WI6, A1 (with Christophe Dumarest), 2003
===Skiing=== * First descent of the north face of the Col de Peuterey, with Jean-Marc Boivin, 1977 * Winner, French championship of ski-mountaineering 1989, together with Pierre d'Alboy * Sixth place, Pierra Menta 1989, together with Pierre d'Alboy * Fourth, Pierra Menta 1991, together with Lionel Mailly * First descent of the south face of the Tour Noir, with Ben O’Connor-Croft, 16 April 2013<ref name=Moisy/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links== * [https://patrickgabarrou.fr/ Gabarrou's personal web site] * [http://www.summitpost.org/fact-sheet/254187/the-finest-alpinists-in-the-world.html Summitpost on Gabarrou]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabarrou, Patrick}} Category:Alpine guides Category:French mountain climbers Category:French male ski mountaineers Category:Sportspeople from Évreux Category:Living people Category:1951 births Category:Tibet freedom activists Category:Ice climbers Category:20th-century French sportsmen