Jacques Soubis

Jacques Soubis, born on 01/26/1928 in Clérac in Charente-Maritime (France) and died on 09/24/2016, is a renowned high-level mountaineer, opener of many routes and summits, but also a marathon runner and triathlete. Jacques Soubis was a dentist by profession.

The call of the mountains was felt from the age of 20 (1948) by this student who was simultaneously studying dentistry and law. A dynamic and sympathetic priest had brought him to the bell tower of Aragnouet (Hautes-Pyrénées) to carry out a memorable abseiling before making him practice climbing on the cliff of Cenon as a tri-weekly training. The discovery of the impressive northern slope of Vignemale was then a determining moment which encouraged the young man to climb it immediately and without too many problems. He joined the French Alpine Club of Bordeaux and tackled the difficult slopes of the Pyrenees but also those of the Alps. In 1951, dental studies completed, the young mountaineer joined the EHM (High Mountain School) to do his military service there, until the fall of 1952. Then, for 35 years, all the great French mountains, but also worlds, were the object of his conquest.

Jacques Soubis was the rope companion of big names in French mountaineering: the brothers Jean and Pierre Ravier, the three of them frequently met at the Grande Aiguille d’Ansabère (2,377 m). In the Pyrenees, 89 peaks of 3,000 m have been conquered there by the people of Bordeaux. Five deserve the citation, while in the Alps seven were selected. In 1959, three more distant peaks are listed in bold in his list; in the Caucasus, the northern ridge of Koshtantau (5,145 m), the southern spur of Dykhtau (5,198 m) and Elbrus (5,633 m). In 1964, with Lionel Terray they conquered Mount Huntington in Alaska (3,731 m), the feat was broadcast on the program “Les Coulisses De l’Exploit”. Maurice Herzog, Louis Lachenal, Jean Couzy were among his alpine companions, as well as Jean-Paul Paris, with whom he climbed the Shakaur in India in 1969 (7,116 m). In 1972 he tackled, with Pierre Buttin as expedition leader, Gurja Himal in Nepal (7,193 m), in 1975, Gasherbrum II in Pakistan (8,035 m) where his companion Pierre Villeret died in the storm at 7,650 m altitude. It was in 1983 that his career as a professional mountaineer came to an end due to age (55) and family obligations (five children and early widowhood). In 35 years he will have climbed six peaks over 7,000 m. When he stopped high-level mountaineering, Jacques Soubis took up running and in the end completed 55 marathons, posting his best time of 3:25 at the age of 63 (1991)! In 2002, at the age of 74, he took part in the Foulées De La Soie in China. He then moved on to triathlon and twenty-nine competitions and won several Aquitaine champion titles.

Jacques Soubis died on September 24, 2016 in Pessac (Gironde), his funeral was celebrated on Wednesday September 28, 2016, in the Sainte-Clotilde du Bouscat church (Gironde), France.