De La Ferrière Laurence (France)

De La Ferrière Laurence

Laurence of Ferrière was born in Casablanca in 1957.She has about twenty years when she discovers the high mountain. She gives up then the flute traversière and the medicine to set out to conquer the highest summits of the world.

Laurence is the first and the only woman in the world to have crossed in its entirety Antarctica.

On November 23, 1999, Laurence of Ferrière leavesthe pole South. She has for only equipments of progress a pair of skisand sails, for only links connecting her with the civilization a telephone satellite and a beacon Argos. Harnessed in its loins, a sledof containing 140 kilos of what to assure the subsistence in totalautonomy. In front of her, white area as far as the eye can see of an earth where no animal life or vegetable is possible, and about 3000 km to be crossed (completely unexplored 1664 km of which) under temperatures being able to come down as low as - 50 ° C ...

Nobody before her had even dared to imagine such a crossing. On February 6,2000, she reaches the base of Dumont d'Urville at the edge of the ocean. During 73 days she knew cold, wind, waves of ice, fear, thirst, exhaustion, extreme solitude but also the magic of a landscape which no human glance embraced before her, the will to survive, the desire to to push away its limits and to progress at all costs.

The book "Only in the wind of ices" published at Robert Laffont, redraws every day, with poetry and humor this exceptional adventure in accordance with the forces of the nature and which joins in a surprising prize list.

Publications

1986 - "8000 metres and some dreams" Publisher BUEB AND REUMAUX
1997 - "The Woman of Antarctica" Publisher PLON
2000 - "Only in the wind of ices" Publisher ROBERT LAFFONT

Games

2002 - "Cap on Antarctica".

Films

2000 / 2003 - "Only in Antarctica" French and English GÉDÉON PROGRAMME version
Around thirty distributions in France and abroad on Canal +, 5-th chainand National Geography Channel in USA and North countries.

Personal Investments

Giving up performances and individual exploits, Laurence suggests putting her knowledge of the cold extremes and the survival in circles hostile to the service and to the highly-rated of the Polar Paul Emile Victor institute, to achieve a scientific project of scale which will takeplace in 2007, on the occasion of the fiftieth birthday of the year international geophysics.

By waiting to start again in the biggest desert of the world, the interventions within companies under the shape of an exchange "questions answers " following on the projection of images, gain a deep success. The testimony adapted to the requirements of the techniques of management allows to illustrate with a lot of force and the truth certain constant values as well in Antarctica as in the company: commitment, team spirit, risk-taking, new technologies, durabledevelopment, surround...

In the same spirit, she ends at present the settling of a range of clothes thought and made in association with the LESTRA company, tested in particular in Antarctica and adapted for the most rigorous conditions.The registered trademark wears the name of "Géographique South Pole -Laurence of Ferrière".

Last but not least, following what she starts with her sponsors in 1997 (lectures in schools in Haute Savoie), she is working very hard on an international project whom ultimate objective is to invest in the education of the children to allow them learning to respect environnement and to discover the notions of effort, perseverance and courage.

List of major accomplishments

1984 - YALUNGKANG - KANGCHENJUNGA 8505m - Summit on October 20 (Pakistan).The first without oxygen of the southeast aisle Feminine world record of height without oxygen.
1984 - ANNAPURNA 8091m. - wintry Attempt (Nepal)
1985 - NANGA PARBAT 8125m - Summit on July 8 (Pakistan)
1986 - GASHERBRUM II 8035m - Height reached in 7800m (Pakistan)
1989 - BROAD PEAK 8047m - Height reached in 7600m - Descent ski (Pakistan)
1991 - EASTERN SIBERIA. Investigation on the ice floe of the Bering Strait in harnesses of huskies
1992 - MCKINLEY 6200m. Summit on June 1-st (Alaska)
1992 - EVEREST. Feminine world record of height without oxygen in 8700m (Nepal)
1993 - KILIMANJARO 5890m - Summit on March 14 (Tanzania)
1993 - CARSTENSZ 5040m - Summit on November 1-st (New Guinea)
1994 - ACONCAGUA 7012m- Summit on February 14 (Argentine)
1995 - SPITSBERGEN. Crossed in total autonomy
1995 - GREENLAND. Complete crossing in total autonomy and in the sail from the West to the East coast.
1996 / 1997 - ANTARCTICA. First French crossing solo from the coast to the South Pole. 1400 km in 57 days, from November 24, 1996 till January 19, 1997.
1999 / 2000 - ANTARCTICA. First crossing solo of Antarctica from the South pole to the Earth Adélie by way of Dome C. 3000 km in 73 days by means of sails and skis. A world record.