Jean Afanassieff, born in Paris and died in the same city on January 10, 2015, is a French mountaineer and director of Russian origin, considered one of the best climbers of his generation. On October 15, 1978, he was one of the first French ministers to reach the summit of Everest, with Pierre Mazeaud and Nicolas Jaeger accompanied by the Austrian Kurt Diemberger, altitude cameraman.

Grandson of the Russian emigration of 1917, having fled the Crimea, son of Igor Afanassieff engineer at Thomson, Jean Afanassieff was born on February 17, 1953 in Paris. He discovered climbing in Fontainebleau with his family before his parents enrolled him at the age of fourteen in the French Alpine Club. He made his first races two years later [ref. necessary] then left at the age of eighteen for Chamonix where he made several first solo ascents. Became a high mountain guide at the age of twenty, a member of the Chamonix guide company, he was the first to climb Mount Ross with Patrick Cordier in the Kerguelen Islands in 1975. The same year, he founded with Patrick Cordier, Gilles and Patrice Bodin, the independent association of Mont Blanc guides (AIGMB).

On October 15, 1978, Jean Afanassieff, Nicolas Jaeger and Pierre Mazeaud were the first three French people to reach the summit of Everest. Jean Afanassieff and Nicolas Jaeger then made the first descent of Everest on skis, from an altitude of 8,300 meters2. This descent on skis (cable bindings) is done without oxygen. Jean Afanassieff makes documentaries by first filming the expeditions in which he participates, including four expeditions to Everest, K2, Broad Peak and Nanga Parbat, two to Fitz Roy in the Andes of Argentina and Chile. He then moved away from mountaineering, traveled with the Antarctic schooner around the Antarctic and devoted himself to his new job as a documentary filmmaker. He makes documentaries on various themes, especially in Russia where his family was from.

Jean Afanassieff died of pancreatic cancer on January 10, 2015 in Paris at the age of 61.

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Jean Afanassieff

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