Louis began rock and ice climbing at the age of 15. Between 1999 and 2010, he undertook several expeditions in the Andes, Alaska, and the Yukon. These early journeys allowed him to accumulate several ascents of mountains over 6,000 meters. Starting in 2007, he began focusing on the major 8,000-meter peaks of the Himalayas. While keeping his feet firmly on the ground and persevering in his university studies, he slowly but surely climbed every step to achieve his dreams, carving out a place among the world’s elite mountaineers. For example, he opened new routes on Nanga Parbat (8,126m), Gasherbrum I (8,068m), and Broad Peak (8,051m). He also attempted K2 (8,611m) three times without oxygen bottles. Currently, Louis travels the world in search of unknown technical summits with the goal of opening new routes or climbing unexplored faces.
Mountaineering Curriculum
- Summer 2007: Summit of Broad Peak (8,051 m)
- Summer 2007: Ascent up to 7,350 m on K2 (8,611 m)
- Summer 2009: New route on Nanga Parbat (8,126 m – first Canadian ascent)
- Summer 2009: Two attempts on K2 (up to 8,300 m)
- Winter 2011: Gasherbrum I (8,068 m) via a new route on the south face (first winter attempt)
- Summer 2011: Attempt on Gasherbrum I (up to 7,950 m) via the Japanese couloir route
- Summer 2011: Ascent of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m – first Canadian ascent)
- Summer 2012: Gasherbrum I, up to Camp 2
- Summer 2014: Khan Tengri (7,010 m), Kyrgyzstan
- Spring 2017: Tilicho (7,134 m), Nepal
- Summer 2019: Attempted new route on the south ridge of Broad Peak (8,051 m)
- Summer 2019: Ascent up to 8,350 m on K2 (8,611 m)
Career Highlights
Nanga Parbat
Country/City: Western Himalaya, Pakistan
Grade: Austro-Canadian Northwest Buttress, first ascent, first Canadian summit
Length: 8125 m
Climbing a new route on Nanga Parbat in 2009 together with some Austrian mountaineers taught me that the most important is how we want to climb. I like challenges, the feeling of high altitude and full self-sufficiency. All these aspect are really important for me, more significantly than reaching the summit itself.
Gasherbrum I
Country/City: Baltoro Muztagh, Pakistan
Grade: New route on the South Face, First Winter Attempt
Length: 8086 m
It was the first attempt to climb the South Face of Gasherbrum I in winter. Temperatures were like in Quebec (-20 to -30°C) so our spirts were high. Although we were not able to summit due to hard ice and winds of 80km/h, it was a great experience.
Directissima, The movie
This movie project came from one clear idea: The splendour of winter climbing and the unique scenery of Quebec has to be discovered and promoted to the world climbing communities! We wanted to show how we fulfill our dream of adventures here on the gently rolling hills of eastern Canada and how we recreate the emotional rushes of alpine climbing. In Directissima, you will discover the Saguenay (Cap Trinité) and the Charlevoix (Mont du Gros Bras) regions. They are both terrific hardcore training ground for greater mountain ranges and it’s also at the cutting edge for winter climbing. The difficulty levels, high winds, spindrift snow, cold factor, frostbitten fingertips and remoteness make these grounds world class.
Directissima_ENG from Louis Rousseau on Vimeo.
In spring 2017, Adam Bielecki (Poland), Rick Allen (Scotland), Felix Berg (Germany) and Louis Rousseau (Canada) planned to open a new route in alpine style (no fixed ropes, no O2, self-supported) through the North Face of Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain on earth.
It was a dream team with a dreamed plan but on the other hand, everything has not happened as we had wished from the beginning. Packing gear the evening before in a tornado of family and professional engagement, missing flights, missing luggage full of crucial high altitude equipment, on top of a denied entry into Tibet because our passports contained visas from Pakistan.
Our dream expedition in the highest country in the world ended before it had started. Apparently some days before our arrival in Kathmandu, the Chinese introduced a new regulation barring entry to Tibet to travellers with recent Pakistani visas. As mountaineers, we had all travelled before in Pakistan
The next evening we sat in the hotel garden with the laptop, looking for a new line which would inspire us. We choose the northwestern flank of Annapurna. More than 2000m of steep, mixed ice, snow and rock. It was our new goal, but we needed a peak on which to acclimatize if we were to achieve our objective in true alpine style. So, we looked at the map for a 7000m peak near our main goal, a gentle mountain where we can exercise our ice axes and crampons and multiply those precious red blood cells to prepare for high altitude climbing. Tilicho Peak, 7134m has to be our preparation for Annapurna.
Annapurna One – Movie from Louis Rousseau on Vimeo.
