Marc-André Leclerc

Marc-André Leclerc (October 10, 1992 - March 5, 2018) was an accomplished Canadian rock climber and alpinist. He is most well known for his daring solo ascents of many large mountains around the world, including the first winter solo ascent of the Torre Egger in Patagonia, and the Emperor Face of Mount Robson. Leclerc is regarded as one of the best alpinists of his generation.

Early life

Marc-André Leclerc was born in Nanaimo, B.C. to his mother Michelle Kuipers and his father Serge Leclerc. He was introduced to climbing at the age of eight when his grandfather bought him a book called Quest for Adventure by Chris Bonington. Marc’s first climbing experience came a year later in Coquitlam, B.C, on an indoor climbing wall inside a shopping mall. Leclerc fell in love immediately and later that year he joined a gym in Abbotsford called Project Climbing. When his family moved to Agassiz, near the Cascade Range peaks, Leclerc began teaching himself how to mountain climb. Leclerc would ride his bike out to Harrison Bluffs to climb and spend the night there alone. When he was 15 years old, his mother bought him a copy of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. The book inspired him to join the British Columbia Mountaineering Club, through which he quickly made a name for himself in the mountaineering community. He started competing and quickly began winning age-group competitions, and later went on to win the Canadian Nationals in 2005.

Personal life

Leclerc resided in the Fraser River Valley of British Columbia, Canada, with his girlfriend Brette Harrington, an accomplished soloist and alpinist. The pair met in Squamish, B.C., in 2012 and began dating after a year of climbing and adventure. Together they established Hidden Dragon (5.12b) on the Chinese Puzzle Wall across from Mount Slesse.

Evident through his personal blog, Leclerc placed more value on the spirituality, self-discovery and philosophy of his lifestyle as an explorer, and less value on media coverage and the competitiveness of the sport. When recounting his ascent of the Emperor Face of Mount Robson, he wrote:

"As a young climber it is undeniable that I have been manipulated by the media and popular culture and that some of my own climbs have been subconsciously shaped through what the world perceives to be important in terms of sport. Through time spent in the mountains, away from the crowds, away from the stopwatch and the grades and all the lists of records I’ve been slowly able to pick apart what is important to me and discard things that are not."

Climbing Accomplishments

Some of Leclerc’s most notable climbing accomplishments occurred in 2015 while spending a great deal of time in southern Chilean Patagonia. On February 21st, he completed his first solo ascent of The Corkscrew (5.10d A1) on Cerro Torre. Leclerc wrote on his blog that soloing The Corkscrew “felt like a brief ‘step into the future’ so to speak…” in his efforts to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an explorer. Argentinian climber and mountain guide Rolando Garibotti wrote that Leclerc’s ascent of the Corkscrew was one of “earth-shifting proportions, by far the hardest route ever soloed on Cerro Torre and only the seventh solo overall.” Later that year, Leclerc completed the second known free solo ascent of the Tomahawk / Exocet link up on Aguja Standhardt in Patagonia and then proceeded to conquer the Torre Egger, completing his Torres solo trifecta.

In 2016, Leclerc completed the first solo ascent of the Infinite Patience route on Mt. Robson’s Emperor Face. After completing this climb, he wrote on his blog that he “was intimidated by [the Emperor’s] strong aura but in the end we became friends and the King generously shared his wealth leaving me a much richer person indeed. Thank you.”

Death

On March 5, 2018 Marc-André Leclerc and climbing partner, Ryan Johnson, successfully completed a new route on the North face of the Mendenhall Towers, just north of Juneau, Alaska. The duo was expected to make it back to base camp by March 7 but never arrived, prompting Juneau Mountain Rescue to begin searching for the missing climbers. The search was interrupted for a few days due to poor weather conditions and when the storm had finally passed, the search team discovered ropes at the bottom of the climbers’ descent route. It was presumed that the climbers were struck by an avalanche, falling rock, or cornice from above. Their bodies were never recovered. Following Marc’s death, a memorial service was held with Leclerc’s family, friends, and fellow climbers to celebrate his life of adventure.

Selected notable climbs

2013 - The Temptation of St Anthony, Squamish, First Free Ascent (5.13a)

2015 - Free Ascent of the Muir wall on El Capitan (5.13c)

2015 - The Corkscrew – Cerro Torre, Patagonia, First Solo Ascent (5.10d)

2015 - East Pillar – Torre Egger, Patagonia, First Solo Winter Ascent (5.10b)

2015 - Reverse Torre Traverse, Patagonia – First Ascent (5.10a)

2015 - Directa de la Mentira – Cerro Torre North Face, Patagonia, First Ascent (5.10)

2015 - Tomahawk/Exocet link up – Aguja Standhardt, Patagonia, – Onsight Free Solo (5.8)

2015 - Mount Slesse, Cascade Range – Northeast Buttress, Free Solo in winter, 2nd Winter Ascent, First Winter Free Ascent (5.9+)

2015 - Mount Slesse, Cascade Range – Triple Link-up of East Pillar Direct (5.10+), Navigator Wall (5.10+), Northeast Buttress (5.9+), Free Solo in 12 hours, 4 minutes

2016 - Mount Tuzo, Canadian Rockies – Northeast Face (M7+ WI6+R, 1,110 metres). First Ascent of the face

2016 - Mount Robson, Canadian Rockies – Infinite Patience (VI 5.9 M5 WI5, 2200m). First Solo Ascent

2017 - Ha Ling Peak, Mount Lawrence Grassi - Cheesmond Express (5.10), Premature Ejaculation (5.10+), Northeast Face (5.7) Free Solos

2017 - Rim Wall, Canadian Rockies - Pinko (5.10). First Free Solo Ascent

2017 - Echo Canyon, Canadian Rockies - Tall Storey (5.11c) First Free Solo Ascent

2018 - The Theft, British Columbia, Canada. (M7 WI6+) Second Ascent

2018 - Jupiter Shift on Station-D in the Slesse Cirque

2018 - North face of the Main Tower, Mendenhall Towers. First Ascent