Claudine van der Straten-Ponthoz

Claudine van der Straten-Ponthoz (Etterbeek, 25 September 1924 - Himalaya 2 October 1959) was a pioneering Belgian-French mountaineer, who died on October 2, 1959, while taking part in a women-only expedition to climb Cho Oyu, 8,188 m (26,864 ft) and the sixth-highest mountain in the world.

She and the leader of the expedition, Mme Claude Kogan, and two Sherpa porters perished in an avalanche.

[1] Dorothea Gravina then took charge of the expedition.

Baroness Van der Straten-Ponthoz was a former skiing star and the daughter of the Belgian count Roger van der Straten Ponthoz (1888-1972).

[2]