Pierre Kohlmann

Pierre Kohlmann was a French mountaineer born on August 24, 1935; he died of exhaustion on July 16, 1961, at the age of 25, on the Italian side of Mont Blanc. Originally from the Paris region, Kohlmann completed several significant first ascents in the Alps and was a friend and climbing partner of Pierre Mazeaud. In the late 1940s, Kohlmann discovered rock climbing in the Fontainebleau forest alongside René Desmaison—who was five years his senior—while both were living in Antony, near Paris. In the spring of 1958, Kohlmann met Pierre Mazeaud; the two became friends and climbed together, notably at Le Saussois, where they established several new routes. It was there, in 1959, that they prepared for a successful first ascent—achieved with Desmaison and Bernard Lagesse—of the overhanging north face of the Cima Ovest in the Dolomites (the Couzy route). Kohlmann completed several first ascents in the Alps (often accompanied by Mazeaud) as well as in the Hoggar mountains.