Born in Paris in 1906, Frison-Roche (IRL Roger Frison-Roche) left the French capital at 17 for Chamonix where he devoted his life to the mountains.
Many specialized magazines soon focussed on this talentuous guy (which got the first ever monitor-diploma delivered by the ESF, the French School of Ski) and, in 1935, he took part in the first raid in the Saharian mountains&snbp;: He related this history in his first renowned book: "L'appel du Hoggar" ("The Call of Hoggar").
He went back there in 1937, then settled in 1938 as a journalist in Algiers where he wrote his famous "Premier De Cordée" ("First of the cord") which has since become a classic in French Literacy.
War correspondent in 1942 on the Tunisian front, he got caught by the Germans, was transferred in France, where he escaped and gained the Maquis in Savoy.
Frison-Roche ended the war as a lieutenant of Alpine Hunters.
Back in Algeria, he spent his time between his journalistic activities and a new book : "La Grande Crevasse" ("The Large Crack") (1948).

During his many stays in the Sahara, George Tairraz helped him to realize a surprisingly beautiful album : "Le Grand Desert" ("The Big Desert") which sold out, and a large Saharan novel: "Bivouacs sous la lune" ("Camping under the Moon") which consisted of the following 3 parts : "La Piste Oubliée" ("The Forgotten Track") (1950), "La Montagne aux Ecritures" ("The Writings Mountain") (1952), "Le Rendez-vous d'Essendilène" ("Rendez-vous in Essendilen") (1954).

After "Retour à la Montagne" ("Back to the Mountain") (1957), which gives some new visions of alpine dramas, our globetrotter published two very beautiful novels on Lapland: "Le Rapt" ("The abduction") and "La Dernière Migration" ("The last migration").

"Montagnards de la nuit" ("Mountaineers of the night") which was about the Resistance in Savoy, appeared in 1968.
Around this time, Frison-Roche also published 2 books about the Arctic world : "Peuples chasseurs de l'Arctique" ("Hunters of the Arctic") (1966) and "Nahanni" (1969). These books are about his adventure in the Canadian Far North and relate 2000 kilometers in sledge with huskies, rowing to the sources of the "Men-Eating-River", discovering the Indians and the Eskimos.
Frison-Roche died on 1999, December 17th. His family dedicated a virtual memorial to him : the web site http://www.frison-roche.com