Through the testimonies of great Himalayan mountaineers, journalists, historians on the attempt to open a new route on the Amnye Machen (Tibet), the author tries to understand the desire to go "up there", despite the risk of never coming back. With testimonials from: Jean-Michel Asselin, Christine Janin, François Damilano, Pierre Mazeaud, Jean-Christophe Lafaille, Patrick Berhault, Reinhold Messner, Bertrand Roche dit Zébulon, Katia Buffetrille, Elizabeth Hawley, Junko Tabei, Sylvie Braud, Kurt Diemberger.

Là-Haut, Un supplément d'âme

L'Homme qui revient de haut

During his thirty-year "career", Patrick Berhault has collected original creations, spectacular firsts and major undertakings, while imposing his humanity, his humility and his ethics. An extraordinary character, he was somehow unique. A true vertical artist whose disappearance in 2004 on the slopes of the Dom upset the mountain community. Beyond the magnificent trace he left, do we know who Patrick Berhault really was, a dubbed and revered hero of several generations of mountaineers and climbers, amateurs and professionals alike? And why was he unanimous, or almost so, in an environment where pettiness and jealousy are commonplace? These questions are implicitly answered by this intimate portrait of a rare man.