Joelle might have seemed shy, but those who got to know her one-on-one remember her as a tender woman who was always interested in other people. Joelle was fiercely driven and thrived on healthy competition. She often spontaneously egged on those she climbed with - which was one of her most effective ways of training and would inevitably make everyone else stronger. Family was important to Joelle and she was very proud of her roots in Berne Switzerland. Her strong technical climbing background from her youth in the Alps translated smoothly to big mountain travel and helped to ignite her love for summiting 8000m peaks. On those ominous mountains, Joelle was known to keep up cheer with pop songs while waiting out storms. It was always easy to know which tent was Joelle’s - it housed all the candy wrappers as she was known to have a vicious sweet tooth. Though she was a tough, hard and mega determined climber, she was always pure, sweet and young at heart.

Achievements

• 12th world summit, Road Peak, 8,051 m, Pakistan-China
• Seventh world summit, Dhaulagiri, 8,167 m, 2007
• Sixth world summit, Cho Oyu, 8188 m, Nepal-China
• 13th world summit, Gasherbrum II, 8,035 m, Pakistan-China
• Fifth world Ssmmit, Makalu, 8,485 m, Nepal-China, 2011"