Patrick Edlinger (15 June 1960 – 16 November 2012) was a professional French rock climber. Edlinger is considered a pioneer and a legend of sport climbing and free solo climbing. He was the second-ever climber in history to redpoint routes of grade 7c (5.12d) with Nymphodalle (1979), and grade 7c+ (5.13a) with Le Toit (1981). He was the first-ever climber in history to onsight routes of grade 7b+ (5.12c) with Captain crochet (1982), and grade 7c (5.12d) with La Polka des Ringards (1982). Nicknamed "Le Blond", "the Blond Angel", "God", and even "Captain Maximum" in some circles, Edlinger remains an absolute reference in free soloing and in aesthetic and ethical climbing.
Patrick Edlinger was born in Dax, Landes and raised in the Ubaye valley, Patrick Edlinger started climbing very early, often with his father, a mountain enthusiast. At 17–18 he left school to devote himself entirely to climbing, frequenting major French sites such as Buoux, the Verdon Gorge and the Calanques. It was during this period that he met another prodigy, Patrick Berhault, with whom he formed an iconic duo of the 1980s, racking up first ascensions at the highest level (grade 8 and above).
His fame exploded with Jean‑Paul Janssen’s film La Vie au Bout des Doigts (1982), a documentary by Jean-Paul Janssen depicting him free-soloing in Buoux, which showed him free soloing in the Verdon and made him the face of modern free climbing. His looks, fluid style and bare‑handed ascents turned him into an icon beyond the climbing world.
In 1983 he made the first ascent of Ça Glisse Au Pays des Merveilles at Buoux, one of the first 8a (5.13b) in France. He won some of the first climbing competitions in history: Sportroccia in 1986, Rock Master and Snowbird in 1988.NIn 1988 Patrick Edlinger won the first ever climbing competition in the US, at the 1988 International Sport Climbing Championships, Snowbird, Utah.
He is also known to the general public for his film Opera Vertical (1984) which concludes with a solo ascent in the Verdon Gorge—set to the music Wie furchtsam wankten meine Schritte from J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 33—during the final sequence.. "Le Blond" had a smooth and beautiful style of climbing that lent itself to film. In 1989, atrick Edlinger completed a free solo ascent of Orange Mécanique (8a /5.13b) at Cimaï (South of France), an extraordinary feat for the time at that level of difficulty.
In the summer of 1985, climber Patrick Edlinger—accompanied notably by Jean-François "Poil" Lignan and photographer Gérard Kosicki—embarked on a legendary road trip across the United States. Starting in Colorado in late July, Edlinger sent Grand Inquisitor at Bell Buttress and mastered the technical crack of Sphinx Rock (8a/5.13b) in just six attempts. The journey continued to Lake Tahoe, California, where his fluid ascent of the horizontal roof on Grand Illusion (8a/5.13b) impressed local climbers. The team then crossed Yosemite Valley and captured images of the perfect sandstone cracks at Indian Creek, Utah. In the Joshua Tree desert, he excelled on Asteroid Crack and Five Crying Cowboys before, among others, conquering the basalt columns of El Matador at Devils Tower, Wyoming, along with many other major routes of the era. This historic cross-country trip concluded in September on the overhangs of the Shawangunks, near New York. The story of this journey is told through images in the book Rock Games (1985) by photographer Gérard Kosicki.
On 21 July 1995, while training in the Calanques near Marseille on a route graded 7b, he skipped several pieces of protection to save time; a hold broke and he fell about 18 metres. He survived with muscle tears and a cardiac arrest, but the accident marked the end of his top‑level career and of his extreme free solos. Afterwards he gradually withdrew from competition and free soloing, turning to other projects (route development, mentoring, life in the Verdon) and co-founded the magazine Roc 'n Wall, which served as a bible to the burgeoning European "free solo" climbing movement. He settled close to Verdon Gorge, where the vacation rental he ran with his Slovakian-born wife Matia, Gîte l'Escales in La Palud-sur-Verdon, became a starting-point for rock climbers.
Haunted by old demons and by the death of his alter ego—whom he regarded as an older brother—Patrick Berhault, which occurred in 2004 following a fall in the Swiss Alps, his final years were marked by a long battle against depression and alcoholism, which he described as the "greatest challenge of my life".
Patrick Edlinger died at age 52 after falling down stairs at his home. He is survived by his ex-wife, Matia, and their daughter, Nastia, who was 10 years old at the time.
Tributes came from major climbers including Catherine Destivelle, Lynn Hill, Ron Kauk, Alain Robert, Stefan Glowacz, Ben Moon, Chris Sharma, Adam Ondra, Jerry Moffatt and many more. Lynn Hill wrote a particularly personal tribute, recalling climbing and working with Edlinger and describing him as an inspiration to her generation. At his funeral in Manosque, around 200 friends and admirers attended; among those mentioned were Jean-Paul Lemercier, Michel Béal, Jean-Michel Asselin and photographer Maurice Rebeix. The French minister of sports and youth, Valérie Fourneyron, said of Edlinger, Patrick was a pioneer in France for free climbing at a high level, a man who had a thirst for the absolute challenge. He refused to compromise and disdained conventions. He dedicated his life to his passion – climbing. He was the first to establish climbing as a true discipline of live art, paving the way for many to climb with respect for nature.
His legacy is concretized by routes and structures named in his honour: in 2012 Chris Sharma equipped a route called Le Blond in Oliana,(Spain), the climbing gym in Barcelonnette was named after him in 2018, and a 250‑metre route was opened in 2021 in the Verdon Gorge.
The following a summary of his notable ascents:
Maginot Line – Volx (FRA) – 1989 – Second ascent of Ben Moon's route (1989)
Azincourt – Buoux (FRA) – 1989 – Ben Moon's route (1989)
Le Minimum – Buoux (FRA) – 1989
Asymptote – Saint-Crépin (FRA) – 1989 – Second ascent of Antoine Le Menestrel's route (1987)
Are you Ready? – Châteauvert (FRA) – 1988 – First ascent
Les Spécialistes – Verdon (FRA) – 1989 – Second ascent of Jean-Baptiste Tribout's route (1987)