Eline Le Menestrel joins the international Salewa team
The 22-year-old French climber joins the South Tyrolean brand’s international team of athletes with a clear vision of sustainability.
Hers is a well-known name in the French and international climbing community, but young Eline Le Menestrel is writing an entirely new and personal chapter in her family’s history: while remaining true to her roots, the 22-year-old is part of a new generation of ambitious climbers who are confident in their skills, but at the same time sensitive and aware of the problems of contemporary society. The technical mountain brand Salewa is happy to welcome such a personality into its international team of athletes.
A young climber with an important legacy
Eline Le Menestrel was born on March 30, 1998 in Fontainebleau, Ile-de-France, about 70 kilometers from Paris. Fontainebleau – or Bleau, as it is called in the French climbing community – is the birthplace of bouldering. The young climber started out following in the footsteps of her father, Marc Le Menestrel, who was one of the pioneers of climbing in this area, solving some of the most complicated problems – such as L’Alchemiste, the first 8b in Fontainebleau. Born in 1967, Marc is a local legend but his fame is international. In 1980, together with his brother Antoine and other climbers of the so-called Gang des Parisiens, he opened some of the most challenging and renowned French routes, such as Rose et le Vampire in Buoux, Provence.
Three generations and a link with South Tyrol
But Eline’s link with climbing and the Dolomites starts even earlier. His paternal grandfather was also a passionate mountaineer: “In 1960, when he was 22 years old like me, my grandfather came to South Tyrol to climb the Tre Cime di Lavaredo”, Eline explains with a touch of pride. On that occasion he completed the Hasse-Brandler and the Comici-Dimai, two routes of the Cima Grande (2,999m) which today are considered classic mountaineering routes. Sixty years later, at the same age, Eline had a plan for this summer: “I wanted to climb the same routes that my grandfather completed many years ago, and I wanted to do it together with my father – explains Eline – but at the moment I still don’t know if he will be able to reach me in Europe. I remain confident and continue my preparation for our family project in the Dolomites: to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps on classic climbing routes”.
