Georges Bettembourg was a French mountaineer and skier. He came from a family of climbers and guides,[1] and is regarded as an elite alpinist who made numerous significant ascents in the French Alps, North America, the Himalayas and Karakoram including a two-man ascent of Broad Peak (1978); Kangchenjunga (descended prior to summiting) (1979); Kusum Kangguru (1979); Nuptse (1979); and Shivling (1981).[2] [3] He also made numerous ski descents of big mountains including Broad Peak, Makalu II and Mont Blanc.[4]
He climbed and/or skied with other luminaries of his era including Doug Scott, Joe Tasker, Peter Boardman, Greg Child, Yannick Seigneur and Patrick Vallencant.
Bettembourg's 1981 autobiography is The White Death.[5]
He died aged 32 on 18 August 1983 by stone fall on Aiguille Verte.
. Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas . 154 . Greg Child . Mountaineers Books . 1998 . 9781594856907.