Patrick Edlinger was a professional French rock climber.
11 Facts About Patrick Edlinger
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Patrick Edlinger was born in 1960 in Dax, Landes, in southwestern France.
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Patrick Edlinger was barely a teenager when he began climbing and, after obtaining his first job as a truck driver, decided he loved cliffs more than highways.
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Patrick Edlinger won some of the first climbing competitions in history: Sportroccia in 1986, Rock Master and Snowbird in 1988.
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In 1988 Patrick Edlinger won the first ever climbing competition in the US, at the 1988 International Sport Climbing Championships, Snowbird, Utah.
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Patrick Edlinger is known to the world for his films on soloing in the steep, 500m Verdon.
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Patrick Edlinger became famous in 1982 after La Vie au bout des doigts, a documentary by Jean-Paul Janssen depicting him free-soloing in Buoux.
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Patrick Edlinger settled close to Verdon Gorge, where the vacation rental he ran with his Slovakian-born wife Matia, Gite l'Escales in La Palud-sur-Verdon, became a starting-point for rock climbers.
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Patrick Edlinger died at age 52 after falling down stairs at his home.
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Patrick Edlinger is survived by his wife, Mata, and their daughter, Nastia, who was 10 years old at the time.
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Patrick Edlinger was the first to establish climbing as a true discipline of live art, paving the way for many to climb with respect for nature.