>> April - May 2004
The Old Benchmark
After a layoff due to injuries, Scotsman Malcolm Smith seems to have
recovered without losing any of his old power. The first sign was the completion
of his long-time project at Kyloe in the Woods. The Monk Life weighs in
at, according to Smith, “bottom end V14.” The problem had attracted
the attention of many of Britain’s best boulderers. Smith followed
with a trip to Cresciano, Switzerland and the 8th ascent of Dream Time.
Controversially, Smith feels that Dream Time, generally considered to be
benchmark V15, is only V14. The normally reserved Smith said “there's
loads of room in 8b+ for absolutely sick things which are harder than Monk
Life. I can't see any reason to give anything 8c. That grade is unbelievable
and I struggle to believe anyone around can climb it. We've got to be sensible
about these things."
The New Benchmark
Hot on the heels of Dai Koyomada’s possible V16, comes word
from former world champion Mauro Calibani of his new problem Tonino’78,
for which Calibani has boldly proposed V16. Originally a problem named Leonardo
Da Vinci V14, a steep prow done by Calibani the previous year, Tonino ’78
adds a further five move V10 to the start. During the course of working
the problem, which took months, Calibani broke a crucial crimp in the original
V14 portion, leaving a bad sloping pinch. Due to the length of time spent
working on the problem, and the fact that it is in his favoured style on
his home ground of Meschia, Italy, Calibani firmly believes Toninio ’78
warrants the grade of V16. This bucks the current trend of cutting edge
boulderers to be deliberately vague or avoid ratings entirely. French boulderer
Julien Nadiras, who has done the original Leonardo before the hold broke,
say that the new problem is “very far away, on another planet really,
when it comes to difficulty.”
Rock and Ice
Scotsman Dave Macleod took time out from repeating some
of the hardest mixed lines (up to M12) in Switzerland for a few days of
bouldering. Showing his versatility, Macleod easily made the switch from
endurance nightmares to power fests. In just three days, Macleod sent La
Soucoupe V13, Flaky Roof Problem and Serre Moi Fort, both V12, as well as
three V11s and flashes of a V10. The adaptable Scotsman is also an accomplished
trad climber with ascents on gritstone up
to E9.
Hueco Revival
After a few years out of the limelight, with attention focused on
new school areas such as Bishop, bouldering cognoscenti seem to have rediscovered
Hueco tanks. This winter, the former mecca saw transplanted Brit Claire
Murphy do the second female ascent of Chblanke V12. The current bouldering
world champion Christian Core flew in from Italy and impressively dispatched
the old Fred Nicole test piece Slashface V14 in under an hour. It isn’t
just the Euros who have invaded Hueco, American Matt Wilder sent a host
of V12s, culminating with a flash of Martini on the Rocks sit down start,
also rated V12. Fellow American James Litz, who seems to be on an unending
road trip, blew through Hueco and dispatched Esperanza V14 and Algherita
V13, both old Fred Nicole test pieces, as well as a host of V12 and V11
too numerous to list. With the renewed attention, Hueco Tanks may yet reclaim
its crown as the premier bouldering destination of North America.–Andre
Cheuk
Mountaineering Museum
Opens in Nepal
The International Mountaineering Museum opened on February 8, 2004
in Pokhara, Nepal, at a reported cost of 1.35 million dollars. The opening
was delayed for several months due a lack of available exhibit material.
Funding for the museum came largely from the Nepalese government, various
Alpine clubs from different corners of the world and several small private
donations.
Included in the museum are models of the world’s most majestic mountains,
mannequins of famous climbers and tonnes of memorabilia from past expeditions.
Unfortunately, the Museum opening coincides with recent reports of renewed
Maoist insurgencies in the mountaineering and trekking paradise. The Asia
Times online recently reported new Maoist activity, with guerillas treating
“decadent” Westerners with a somewhat strange irony.
Often, the People’s Army has been demanding, but certainly not limiting
itself to, mandatory pass fees, the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars, in
exchange for not brutalizing or kidnapping the adventure seekers. Upon payment,
trekkers have been given receipts, with an appreciative note of thanks for
their help in the fight against “feudalism, imperialism, expansionism
and all types of reactionaries.”
Regrettably, for some unlucky foreigners, incidents of bludgeoning, torture
and killing have certainly occurred. Since 1996, when Comrade Prachanda,
the Nepalese Maoist leader, aimed to replace the country’s army with
a people’s democracy, over 8,000 people have been killed. Ultimately,
Prachanda aims to revert the already economically stagnant nation back to
year zero, much like the socialist aims of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in
the late seventies.
Russians Get Piolet
D’or For Controversial Nuptse East
Climb
Valeri Babanov and Yuri Koshelenko recently received the Group de
Haut Montagne and Montagne magazine’s Piolet D’or for their November
2, 2003, summit of the South Pillar of Nuptse East, formerly the world’s
highest unclimbed peak.
The ascent of the 7804 m peak was Babanov’s third attempt up Nuptse
East. For Babanov, the Golden Ice Axe was his second, the first coming in
2002 for his solo ascent of Meru Peak. Bagging Nuptse East raised considerable
controversy in the Alpine world due to Babanov and Koshelenko’s use
of fixed lines. The duo used lines left from Babanov’s second summit
attempt to plow through The Diamond Tower, the route’s lower 5.9-5.10
A3 section. After finishing The Diamond Tower, Babanov and Koshelenko had
to contend with steep M4-M5 climbing in order to summit.
Mark Twight, who with climbing partner Jeff Lowe made the first alpine-style
attempt of the route in 1986, criticized the Russians’ style. “Success
on the pillar by a two-man team is worthy for the sheer volume of work and
the endurance demanded by such a long difficult route. Ultimately though,
fixed ropes shrivel commitment.” Nuptse East was widely regarded as
the last great Himalayan prize left to
be summited.
The Russians named their route Moonlight Sonata. They climbed using fixed
ropes up to 6700 m, then returned back to Lukla before climbing for four
straight days in order to summit. They free climbed from 6900m to 7804 metres.
Koshelenko later described the climb as “the greatest ascent of my
life.
Glowacz and Jasper’s
Patagonian Lost World
Stefan Glowacz and Robert Jasper successfully put up a new route
on the North Pillar of Cerro Murallon, a massif on a remote inland Patagonian
ice cap. The team’s progress was severely impeded by drastic snowstorms,
making the approach to the ice cap difficult and tiresome. After several
weeks, they finally reached the peak, but were then forced to hide in an
ice cave for a few days to wait out another storm. Finally they emerged,
and after two days of non-stop climbing, they established The Lost World,
a steep 1100m mixed route they graded at M8/7+. The route was done on Dec
3 and 4th and took a total of 26 hours to complete.
New Light Shed on
Messner Debate
The discovery of a 30-year-old frozen fibula by South Tyrolean mountaineer
Hanspeter Eisendle has perhaps laid rest to one of mountaineering’s
longest running controversies. On Monday, Jan 26, the Italian press reported
that anatomy pathologist Eduard Egarter confirmed that the unearthed tissue
belongs to Gunther Messner, younger brother of South Tyrolean alpinist Reinhold
Messner. The remains were discovered at the foot of the West Face of Nanga
Parbat, confirming that Gunther was swept down the Diamir Face by avalanche,
and not left behind at a higher altitude as insinuated by some expedition
members.
According to Reinhold, the two brothers successfully climbed Nanga Parbat
in Pakistan’s Western Himalayas via the Rupal Face in 1970. While descending
down the then unclimbed Diamir Face, Gunther was swept away by an avalanche
leaving Reinhold frantically searching for his lost brother. After several
days, the remaining expedition members abandoned base camp and Reinhold
eventually rejoined them, alone.
Messner’s account of the epic in the Naked Mountain, his book about
the 1970 ascent released last year, renewed controversy over the incident.
Last year after the release of Messner’s book, fellow expedition member
Hans Saler issued a statement on the Internet saying “not even the
emergency condition of (Messner’s) exhausted brother could keep (him)
from (his) ambitious goal.”
Other expedition members accused Messner of abandoning his younger brother
for his own selfish summit pursuits. After the Naked Mountain was published,
two similar tales of the 1970 expedition were released, one by Saler and
another by team member Max-Englehardt von Kienlin, both accusing Messner
of wrongdoing during the decent down the Diamir Face.
Messner maintains that after having summited Nanga Parbat, Gunther was too
weak to return. He wanted to descend the Diamir Face, despite the route
being unclimbed and the dangers largely unknown. That evening, the brothers
remained near the summit and survived a perilous bivouac. The following
day, with Gunther suffering from the high-altitude, exhaustion, and an inability
to move, Reinhold emerged from the bivi in search of help.
Eventually, he spotted expedition members Felix Kuen and Peter Scholz, rising
from the Merkl Couloir following Messner’s ascent route from the previous
day. From roughly 100m away, Messner shouted with Kuen discussing their
respective situations. Confused by high winds and the large distance between
them, Kuen concluded the duo were fine, and despite Reinhold’s efforts,
they proceeded and eventually summited Nanga Parbat later that day.
Reinhold and Gunther eventually descended the Diamir, struggling through
rugged unknown terrain. After a second bivi, totally exhausted, the brothers
continued down the Mummery Rib with Reinhold always slightly ahead. Assuming
the worst was behind them, Reinhold and Gunther split up. Reinhold never
saw his brother again and the following day, after finding avalanche debris
in close proximity, assumed his brother lay buried underneath.
Von Kienlin tells a different tale, purporting that Messner chose the unknown
more dangerous descent route because he knew survival and a successful traverse
of an 8000m peak insured fame. Despite the DNA confirmation, he is absolutely
certain that Reinhold mercilessly left his brother to die. Reinhold maintains
that his 1971 marriage to Von Kienlin’s ex-wife, Ursula, has a lot
to do with the ongoing feud.
Sonnie Trots with
Death
Toronto native Sonnie Trotter recently made the second ascent of
Eric Decaria’s Eldorado Canyon testpiece You Must Be High 5.13c/d R/X.
Decaria, known for his climbing antics in the Eldo area, first led the climb
a year ago. The line has a notorious reputation, with a bunch of locals
claiming certain death from any big falls. After top-roping the climb three
times, Trotter readied himself for the 20 m endeavour. “I was so fucking
psyched,” recalls Trotter. “I’ve never felt such a calm rush
before. I was focused and scared shitless at the same time. To get through
the crux, the climber has to slap-up this column for like 5 m then lunge
for an undercling finger lock. It’s brilliant.” The second ascent
is generating a considerable buzz as it’s considered one of the hardest
trad routes in Colorado. After sending the climb, Trotter maintained that
it was one of the finest he’s ever seen.
Firth Puts Up World’s First M13?
Canadian Ben Firth established The Game on January 26, the world’s
first mixed route of probable M13. The route lies just left of Musashi M12,
a line established in late 2001 by Will Gadd and follows a huge blank passage
through the large Cineplex roof. According to Firth, what makes it more
difficult than Musashi is the large pulls required for the send, one being
almost 3 m long. Firth explained in recent conversation that “the pulls
combined with the pump required for all difficult mixed routes made The
Game quite a bit harder than any other sport mixed line out there.”
As far as the grade, Firth never attached the M13. The American magazines,
he says, attributed that. “All I can say is that it is definitely harder
that M12.”
Gadd, Firth’s partner on Musashi, commented on the M13 attached to
The Game by Climbing magazine. “The real question now is, what the
hell do M Grades mean. I flat out don’t believe in mixed grades anymore,
the technology is advancing so fast that the grades are basically rendered
meaningless. Trying to grade mixed climbs is sort of like trying to grade
strippers after six beers; cause for a lot of talk but ultimately a waste
of time.”
Also, in a recent interview, alpinist Raphael Slawinski discussed the world’s
first M13 and said he has a hard time taking the whole discussion seriously.
“Grades should ultimately reflect consensus. Until others repeat The
Game, it would be more constructive to talk about the nature of the route,
rather than focus on the number.” Until that time, Slawinski agreed
to call it “M8+++ and call it good.”
Correspondent: Mark Cohen
Rosaasen Kicks
Ass In Salt Lake City
This January’s highly anticipated PCA Slam II in Salt Lake City
put last summer’s champ, Saskatoon native Nels Rosaasen, up against
longstanding champion Chris Sharma. After Rosaasen’s win last summer,
many Sharma-ites had difficulty accepting the loss, claiming Chris had been
too busy meditating and not pulling on plastic in order to properly train
for the event. As Rosaasen once again came away the clear winner, those
same apologists were sent scurrying for excuses.
The men’s division was obviously a competition between Sharma and Rosaasen,
and while many of the others were fun to watch, they failed to present significant
threats. Sharma floated up the first problem, struggled on the second but
succeeded and then failed on the third and fourth, while Rossaasen sent
number one, failed on number two and onsighted number three in dramatic
style, pushing him past Sharma in points. Other notable performances were
by newcomers Keita Mogaki of Japan and Canadian Simon Villeneuve, who cracked
the top ten with a sixth place finish.
Meanwhile, after finishing first in the qualifying round, Lauren Lee dominated
the women’s open division. Defending champion Alex Johnson climbed
well but could not compete against Lee. Canadian Lisa Dumper was in the
top five while relative newcomer to the event, Calgarian Vikki Weldon was
pleased with her ninth place finish.
While the Slam was a powerful display of some of North America’s strongest
boulderers, many now wonder whether Rosaasen will set his sights on Europe
and World Cup Competition.
Squamish Access:
The World Is Run By Those Who Show Up
Most climbers who have visited Squamish over the last couple of years have
probably developed some awareness that the BC government intends a major
reconstruction of the narrow, winding highway from Vancouver to Whistler.
Interest, tinged with concern has been growing among climbers as to what
will unfold at Murrin and The Chief, but so far there is little public understanding
of how dramatic the changes will actually be. Plans call eventually for
four lanes freeway-style from Vancouver to Squamish, and three lanes on
to Whistler, both with central turning lanes where needed.
When the first phase is completed over the next four years, the full impact
of the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project (as it is called) will be
the biggest external event to affect climbing at Squamish since the highway
was built in 1958. No climber will be untouched by it.
The impacts can be broadly divided into three categories: the Murrin Park
area; The Chief and Malamute and everywhere else. The end result for climbers
could be anywhere from disastrous at Murrin, a sketchy mess at The Chief
(and possible strip development), to outstandingly good at both places.
At the bad end of the spectrum–as laid out in preliminary designs–the
Murrin Park canyon would be blasted out for the eventual five lanes, with
several important crags destroyed and a high wall of shattered stone down
the east side. Worse even, the Murrin canyon would become a giant boom box
of roaring freeway traffic–conservatively forecasted to double over
the next 25 years. Getting into and out of The Chief would become a rubber-burning
sprint for southbound traffic. Access across to the Malamute would become
another sprint on foot across five lanes of freeway traffic–a less
heartening prospect than climbing a stone-raked couloir. Elsewhere, parking
areas such as at Rogues Gallery could disappear entirely.
While we rack up or shoulder a pad to head for the rock, single-mindedly
oblivious to the world, the engineers are hard at it in city offices: drawing
plans, measuring, budgeting, surveying, loading the drill rigs, stacking
the dynamite warehouses, and generally deciding what climbers (and everybody
else) will have to live with for the next 30 years, give or take a decade
or two. They have a job to do and they are getting on with it.
The highway project team is not ill-intentioned, they genuinely wish to
do a good job, they are trying to listen and are conscious of the immense
scale of what they are aundertaking. But they, like everyone else, are not
aware that the well-being of climbing can be measured by the well-being
of the crags and good access to them.
Collectively, we have a poor record when it comes to speaking out as
advocates for the stone and mountains we love so much. “They’ve
always been there, so what’s the problem?” We speak with passion
and eloquence of our experiences, but only within our own tribe. To the
influential press and television of the Vancouver media, high mountains
and crags represent something very different to what they mean to us. In
short: not much. Not a single journalist in the mainstream media writes
about mountain culture on a regular basis, and that in one of the world’s
most famous alpine regions.
Most of the urbane, cappuccino-sipping media define the mountains of British
Columbia pretty much by what they see from their office windows: low forested
peaks full of dangers that rim the horizon around Vancouver, and the cash
machine beyond called Whistler. That is an astonishing paradox and a sad
indictment of
narrow-minded laziness. Climbing rarely makes the media radar, and only
then typically by a death, or from its attraction to a usable personality,
or in the advertising industry by the search for profit from their favourite
tool: the extreme thing.
So goes government too. Politicians and civil servants are, like most people,
influenced by what lands on their desks, their own agendas, what they see
on television, and while driving along. “Crags? Mountains? Charming,
but come on, not really that important.”
Whilst there are many deep historical reasons for this, the one of most
immediate relevance to climbers today is that we have not objected to it,
nor collectively sought to change their view: we’re too busy climbing.
The old approach of “ignore it and hope it will go away” or “don’t
bother me, I’m a climber” or “there’s always another
place to go” is now coming back to haunt us badly. And not just for
the highway to Squamish, all crown lands outside of provincial parks in
the vast Squamish Forest District are now under the hammer of the government’s
Land Resource Management Plan process. Important backroads to the alpine
frontcountry are being eliminated or left to rot, and the last few mountain
areas set aside only for self-propelled activity are basically up for sale
to heli-tour operators. Listen in to the committees... “The next topic
on the agenda is mountains. Does anyone climb these things?” If all
they hear is silence, or a faint wail in the far distance, their conclusion
is that no one does.
Being pre-emptive, enquiring into processes, studying government website
documents, developing reports, writing an email to a deputy minister (you
might be surprised what they say in reply), learning what’s going on,
demanding to be heard, and publicly claiming our crags, is neither sexy
nor is it climbing. But it lies at the heart of the advocacy that can ensure
the places and values we hold in high esteem will be protected from loss
and erosion. Put another way, when the hair of today’s generation of
20-something climbers is turning grey, can you hear a child’s voice.
“Mommy, where were you when they blew up Murrin Park? Daddy says you
just went climbing. Say it isn’t so, Mom.”
It is not enough to say “Those guys at the Access Society can deal
with it—let’s go climbing.” The Access Society will remain
under-powered and ill-equipped unless more climbers and businesses step
forward to act on behalf of their own values. You are the Access Society.
Take some time out to be an advocate for your own values and the places
that matter to you, not “for climbers,” or “to give something
back.” They are worthy motives, but the most sustainable and motivating
reason is because it really matters to you personally.
The Climbers Access Society of BC recently published a lengthy report by
me, presented to the provincial government’s highway project team in
January, describing the full scale of the impacts of what is proposed in
the current designs, and the full weight of their consequences. The report
also covered in detail the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities the highway
rebuild can bring to both better itself and climbing. Read it, see what
you think, and talk it up.
There is a famous saying: “The world is run by those who show up.”
It is profoundly true on many levels, from active to passive, well-intentioned
to otherwise. Both the media and the government react to this golden rule,
but unlike the media, government is required to respond to and acknowledge
those who show up when they have established committees of inquiry. Climbers
in large numbers have never shown up to claim their crags and mountains,
but the time to do so has arrived. Check out that report on the websites,
get yourself on the email news list, check out the Access Society website,
and express your view to the decision-makers in government.
By doing so, you show up and speak for your own climbing. No one else will
do it for you.
Correspondent: Kevin McLane
