Bertrand Roche

Biography

Bertrand Roche, better known by his nicknames Zébulon or Zeb, is a French mountaineer, high-mountain guide, and paraglider pilot born on March 4, 1973. A major figure in free flight and Himalayan mountaineering, he made a name for himself at a very young age through ascents and high-altitude paragliding flights that have left their mark on mountaineering history. From a deeply mountainous background, Bertrand grew up alongside his father, Jean-Noël "Pap's" Roche, a renowned mountaineer and paraglider pilot, with whom he discovered mountaineering, ski touring, and paragliding at a very young age. At 11, he had already reached the summit of Mont Blanc, then quickly followed up with other major climbs, demonstrating an early adventurous spirit always on the move, hence his nickname, Zébulon. As a teenager, he undertook numerous expeditions: ski touring across the Alps, exploring great walls like the Nose on El Capitan, and his first major trips to the Himalayas. In 1990, at just 17, he climbed Everest with his father, becoming one of the youngest mountaineers to reach the summit of the world, making a lasting impression with this family ascent, which received extensive media coverage. A few years later, he also distinguished himself in competition, winning a national title in ski mountaineering and joining the French paragliding team, which allowed him to participate in major international competitions in the sport. Passionate about free flight, Bertrand simultaneously developed a career as a mountain professional: he became a high-mountain guide, a state-certified paragliding instructor, and a versatile pilot (paraglider, microlight, helicopter, airplane). He specializes in expeditions combining technical ascents and tandem paragliding descents, linking high-altitude flights over major peaks: Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Denali/McKinley, Elbrus, Vinson, Everest, and Kosciuszko, completing the "Seven Summits" project with his then-partner, also using paragliding as a starting point. Over the years, Zeb has achieved several firsts and records, notably the first tandem paragliding takeoff from the summit of Everest with Claire Bernier in 2001, after having already completed a historic flight from the South Col with his father. He also remains the only Frenchman to have climbed Everest from both sides, Nepalese and Tibetan, confirming his reputation as a specialist in challenging high-altitude expeditions. In the 2010s, he joined an adventure team for a major paragliding brand, continuing his expeditions and technical flights on prestigious peaks such as Ama Dablam, where he achieved a particularly remarkable tandem high-altitude takeoff. In parallel, he developed guiding activities, courses, and seminars through his company Antipodes, offering adventure trips and mountain and flying experiences around the world. With his partner, the guide and climbing champion Liv Sansoz, they embark on high-level mountaineering and flying projects, sharing a common vision of adventure and pushing their limits. In July 2024, they successfully climbed K2 without oxygen before taking off from the summit in a tandem paraglider, achieving the first ever tandem flight from this peak and thus entering the history of mountaineering and free flight.