generate a wild interior richness. Ultimately, there is no way of reconciling these contradictions. All I can do it try to live within their margins, in the narrow boundary between joy and horror. Everything on this earth is a balancing act." Over four weeks in December and January, he hauled loads up the mountain, entirely alone above his advance base camp at 5300m, but was forced to retreat from the col at Makalu La by strong winds, which destroyed his tent and twice blew him into the air. However, after two weeks at base camp the weather improved, and on 24 January he set off up the mountain. His only means of communication was a satellite phone, which he used to speak to his wife several times a day. By the morning of the 27th he was camped on a small ledge around 1000m below the summit, and told his wife that he would try to reach the top that day. He was never heard from again. Alone on the mountain in winter, with no climbers in the world sufficiently acclimatised to reach his high camp, there was no possibility of a rescue attempt. His base camp team gave up hope of him returning alive after he had been missing for a week, and a later helicopter flight over the mountain failed to find any sign of him. His body has not been found and his exact fate is unknown. He left his wife, Katia, and 3 children (2 from previous marriage and 1 from Katia, as Ed Viesturs writes in No Short Cuts to the Top) . See also Biographie, a route bolted by Lafaille that later became the world's first consensus climb, Realization. References 10. No Short Cuts to the Top, by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts (Broadway Books, 2006), p. 223-248. Description of Annapurna Expedition led by Ed Viesturs, April - May 2002. Viesturs abandoned the climb on the long east ridge, while J.C. continued and summited on May 16, 2002. An exploit labeled by himself as "the hardest thing he'd ever done in life", and by Viesturs "one of the most remarkable ascents of modern times." External links Lafaille References 1965 births 2006 deaths People from Gap, Hautes-Alpes Free soloists Ice climbers French rock climbers French mountain climbers Mountaineering deaths Sportspeople from Hautes-Alpes