Legendary Chamonix Guide Christophe Jacquemoud Died Doing What He Loved

Every January, we share a tribute to members of our community who we lost last year. Some were legends, others were pillars of their community, all were climbers. Read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2025 here.

Christophe Jacquemoud, 52, September 12

Christophe Jacquemoud didn’t like stick clips. “He was a ground-up kind of climber,” close friend and fellow ENSA instructor Phillipe Collet recalled. “You go from the ground to the belay. Everything else is a distraction, he would say.”

École Nationale de Ski et d’Alpinisme, or ENSA—the National School of Skiing and Mountaineering—is an 80-year-old, elite mountain guiding school in Chamonix, France, that is notoriously difficult to complete. Jacquemoud, or “Jack” as he was known at ENSA, was part of a group of roughly 30 instructors at ENSA who taught and guided students through rigorous tests and training exercises.

Jacquemoud was born on February 24, 1973, in Sallanches, France, and grew up skiing the hills above Saint Gervais. Later, he entered a sports-study program at the Lycée du Fayet, where he met friends Arnaud Boudet (known as “Nono”) and Frederic Gentet (“Titi”). “The three of them formed a wild trio, thirsty for ascents, where humor was just as important as performance,” Collet said.

Jack immediately took to mountaineering, quickly ticking off routes on Mont Blanc, Aiguille du Midi, and the south face of Aiguille du Fou.

Later in life, Jack’s favorite climbing areas were Doran near Chamonix and Saint Leger du Ventoux in the South of France. According to Collet, Jack loved climbing at Doran because of its rock quality and technical difficulty, and because many of the routes were bolted by his friend, Titi, who passed away in a rockfall accident in Greece in 2021.

Collet says Jack was best known in Chamonix for his steep skiing. “Jack was really amazing on skis with an extremely good mountain sense,” Collet recalled. “Many steep skiers in Cham knew how strong he was, but only from word of mouth; he wasn’t into showing off on social media. ‘You need to focus on your skis, not on your camera,’ was a rule that we both shared.”

One year, he finished second in the Derby de la Meije, a notorious downhill cannonball run, where nearly anything goes. Other extreme descents include Mallory-Porter (Chamonix), the Frendo Spur (Aiguille du Midi), the Lagarde Couloir (Les Droites), the Couturier Couloir (Aiguille Verte), and the Nant Blanc (La Verte), among many others.

“A true mountaineer, Jack was also adept at ice and mixed climbing,” Collet said. “He completed the Colton-MacIntyre on the Grandes Jorasses, as well as the La Lyre (WI7; 550m) with Titi.” When La Lyre was first led by Thierry Renault in 1992, it was considered the hardest ice route in the world.

ENSA’s main job is to train the next generation of mountain guides, and Collet says it was a position that Jack took very seriously. “Over 25 years as a guide, I’ve witnessed nine losses to the team. Which drives me to think, you not only have to be trained, efficient, focused, wise, and determined, but you also need a bit of luck.”

On September 12, 2025, Jack passed away on the Aiguille des Grands Charmoz, an 11,300-foot tall peak in Charmonix, France.

In December 2025, Collet remembered Jack in an email to Climbing:

“Jack joined ENSA in 2008 as a professor in the mountaineering and skiing departments. He became coordinator of the Mountaineering Department in 2014, a position he held effectively for four years.

A thoughtful and demanding instructor, Jack was passionate about the mechanisms of decision-making in human interactions. He was very active in the discussions that led to the redesign of initial training on this topic.

It was during an ENSA mission to secure and re-equip the descent of the Cordier Pillar, while setting up the last rappel, that his fatal accident occurred.

He loved the mountains with simplicity and passion.

Talented, sensitive, and curious about everything, he had been involved in improvisational theater for the past two years. He was the father of two children, Ninon and Ulysse.

He now rests at the foot of Mont Joly, which he mischievously called ‘The most beautiful mountain in the world.’”

Read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2025 here.

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