Ailefroide, altitude 3954

An autobiographical tale, scripted by Olivier Bocquet, "Ailefroide, altitude 3954" recounts Jean-Marc Rochette’s youthful passion for the mountains and mountaineering. Introduced to the sport by Pierre Sempé, the two friends vowed to one day climb the north face of the Ailefroide, the legendary peak in the Écrins. Face after face, the young Rochette completed one ascent after another with this goal in mind, as well as his ambition to become a mountain guide, until the day everything changed. Seriously injured in the head by a falling rock, the illustrator gave up his dream, swapping his crampons for a pencil, and the author began to sketch the first strokes of what would become a great career. With a style that lies halfway between drawing and painting, his powerful inking and minimalist colour palette, Rochette does not merely paint the mountains; he understands them and, for the reader’s enjoyment, captures their power and majesty.