>> October- November 2004
World
News
Pilgrimage
Malcolm Smith has completed a link-up
of the entire Parisella’s Caves at the Ormes in Wales. The problem
required ten separate visits and a total of 500 km of driving before Smith
tasted success, hence the problem was given the name Pilgrimage. Smith feels
that the difficulty of the link-up is comparable to his other recently completed
project Monk Life V14 at Kyloe in the Woods; however, given the length of
the problem, feels that a grade of 5.14d more appropriately represents the
effort needed.
Yeah Man
Having achieved the highest levels in sport climbing, Basque
climbers Josune Bereziartu and Rikar Otegui have turned their attention
to difficult routes in the mountains. This summer, the pair made the first
ascent of Yeah Man, a 300 m long multipitch sport climb in the Swiss Alps
with climbing up to 5.14a. The climb, originally bolted by two Swiss guides,
is typical of alpine sport climbs of the Alps, with long run out sections
of difficult climbing and variable weather both adding to the challenge.
New 5.13 in the High Sierra
The standards of the High Sierra in California took a huge
leap forward this summer with Air Stream 5.13a, put up by Peter Croft with
partner Dave Nettle. The climb, an independent line up the Incredible Hulk
formations, is situated between Positive Vibration and Sunspot Dihedral
with a crux face pitch of 5.13a, described by Croft as some of the hardest
face climbing he had ever done. Croft considers the 1500 foot line to be
the most difficult first ascent of his prolific career.
Realization Repeated – Again
Having come close to sending Realization at the end of
last season, Patxi Usobiaga was tipped by many to be the first to repeat
the coveted climb at Ceuse. Though he was pipped at the finish line by Frenchman
Sylvain Millet, the Basque climber nevertheless returned following his strong
second at the Serre Chevalier Masters invitational and made short work of
the route. The on-form Usobiaga also had a string of 5.14a onsights and
fast 5.14d repeats to his credit this spring.
-Andre Cheuk
New Route on Titlis
In early July, German climber Stefan Glowacz and partner
Markus Dorfleitner established an impressive new route, Last Exit at Titlis,
in central Switzerland. The 13-pitch 500 m alpine sport route ranges in
difficulty from 5.12+ to 5.14 and is graded at 5.13c. It’s located
on the isolated Titlis Peak 3020 m, Sustenpass, in the Urner Alps.
Glowacz, part owner of Red Chili’s climbing shoes, continues to personify
the spirit of the pioneering first ascensionist. Last December, with mixed
climber Robert Jasper, he established Lost World, an M8 5.11 1100 m route
on the north wall of the Murallòn in Patagonia.
Violent New Breed
British climber John Gaskins has completed Violent New
Breed at Giggleswick South. Gaskins believes it might be as hard as 5.15a.
The line was first spied by Gaskins nearly 15 years ago, but he was unable
to do one move, deeming the line impossible at the time. Having turned his
focus towards bouldering in the intervening years, Gaskins revisited the
line this spring and found he was able to complete the move. The name refers
to the short and powerful nature of the climb, which runs counter to most
modern high end sport routes which are usually stamina affairs. Gaskins
has also claimed two V15 first ascents as well as the second repeat of Hubble,
the first 5.14c in the world.
K2 Sees a Barrage of Summits
More than 40 climbers summited the world’s second highest
peak over a period of three days in late July, fifty years after
Italian mountaineers Lino Lacedelli and Achille Campagnoni first summited
Chigori, the 8611 m king of mountains in 1954.
The bicentennial of K2 has drawn an unparalleled number of aspiring ascensionists
to the Karakorum this season. Before 2004, only 198 individuals had reached
the summit and two years had elapsed since the last successful summit.
The uncharacteristically low fatality rate enjoyed by climbers this season
was undoubtedly aided by the use of fixed ropes. This practice is usually
reserved for commercially guided expeditions on Everest and has generated
a considerable amount of controversy. The Spanish and Japanese expeditions
have both defended their use of fixed ropes, while others, like the Italians
led by climber Agostino de Polenza, have expressed their adverse opinions.
“We don’t like their style. We want to climb without fixed ropes,
without altitude porters, and without supplementary oxygen.”
Women Establish New Yosemite Speed Records
Not to be outdone by the new Zodiac speed record, climbers
Heidi Wirtz and Vera Schulte-Pelkum established speed records of their own,
breaking the old women’s records on Astroman, Leaning Tower, Half
Dome and El Cap. Previously, Abby Watkins and Vera Wong maintained the women’s
records on El Cap and Half Dome at 16 hours, 30 minutes and 9 hours, 45
minutes respectively, both set in 1996. Wirtz and Schulte-Pelkum climbed
the Northwest Face Route on Half Dome in 5 hours, 19 minutes and the Nose
in 12 hours, 15 minutes.
Death on Khan Tengri
A group of 11 mountaineers including five Czechs, three
Russians and three Ukrainians, were killed on Khan Tengri (6995 m) in Kyrgyzstan
after an ice avalanche overwhelmed the group of climbers early on the morning
of August 5.
By August 10, 40 Russian climbers believed to be in the avalanche prone
region remained unaccounted for. Hopes dimmed as rescue attempts were impeded
by consecutive days of snow and fog. Khan Tengri, or Lord of the Spirits,
is one of the highest peaks in the Tien Shan mountain range and straddles
the Kyrgyz, Chinese and Kazakh borders.
Kyrgyzstan has become a favored destination for foreign mountaineers and
trekkers since it became independent after the Soviet Union’s collapse
in 1991. Khan Tengri and its neighboring summits have a history of deadly
avalanches. This latest accident occurred in the same area as a 1993 avalanche
that took the lives of four people. In 1990, the deadliest alpine disaster
in mountaineering history occurred when 43 climbers were killed on Peak
Lenin, also in Kyrgyzstan, in a powerful avalanche.
Huber Brothers Eclipse Zodiac Record
In 2003, German climbers Alex and Thomas Huber established
the first free ascent of the 16-pitch Zodiac route 5.13c on El Cap. Seemingly
dissatisfied with their speed record of 2 hours and 31 minutes, the brothers
returned this season, insistent on their ability to improve.
After four previous ascents this season and a near memorization of the route,
on June 17 a crowd of Yosemite faithful watched as the Hubers managed to
send the route in 1 hour, 51 minutes and 34 seconds, shaving 40 minutes
off last year’s first ascent time.
Later, Alex admitted that “this time we really had the feeling that
it was fast enough.”
Sean McColl Sends 14c
Canadian teen climbing phenom and two-time world junior
champion Sean McColl has had a productive start to his summer with numerous
hard ascents in the Squamish boulders and on the local sport routes. On
July 16 Sean completed the second ascent of Superman, a 5.14c rated route
first climbed by Sonnie Trotter in 2002. Superman may be called the ultimate
local link-up but is also the most impressive line on the Big Show wall
at Cheakamus Canyon. Superman links the crux moves of Pulse 5.14a, Captain
America 5.14b and Gom Jabbar 5.13b before cutting left up into the crux
of Patience 5.14a. Having redpointed Patience only the week before, Sean
sprinted through the crux portion at the bottom of Superman. He then stayed
in a large rest position below the crux of Patience long enough to start
making up boulder problems on the features nearby before cruising to the
top. What's next? Sean is training hard to repeat as the world junior champion
in Scotland in September and hopes to compete at the North American Championships
in Mexico in November.
Trotter and Caldwell
do Shadow, Grand Wall and Freeway in
a Day
Sig Isaac’s incredible link-up of the Grand Wall,
University Wall and Freeway almost a decade ago set a landmark in Squamish
enchainment. On Sunday, August 8, Trotter and Tommy Caldwell added a new
page to the story when they climbed The Grand Wall 5.13b,10 pitches in 3
hours, The Shadow 5.13b 8 pitches, in 6 hours and Freeway 5.11d 10 pitches
3 hours, creating a new link-up they called The Grand Slam.
“We started late, around 8:15,” says Trotter, “we only
passed one party, so it went really smoothly. We could have done it faster,
but we wanted to enjoy it so we paced ourselves well.” There is potential
for even more link-ups, as Trotter says “it is very possible to throw
in two more long routes. I think we are only scratching the surface of long
free link-ups.”
Despite their success and the fact that neither fell, Trotter still says
“Sig [Isaac] still holds the belt, he covered way more ground and
led every pitch, that’s super proud.”
Hard Free Route
in Waddington Range
Matt Maddaloni and John Furneaux completed the first ascent
of the south face of The Incisor on Mt Combatant near Mt Waddington with
their route The Smoke Show ED2 5.12d 1pa. Belligerence ED3 5.11 A3+ is the
only other route to climb the Incisor. Greg Child, Greg Collum and Steve
Mascioli climbed the route in 1994, taking eight days capsule style with
two days spent in a storm. Maddaloni and Furneaux spent two days fixing
lines on the Incisor to work out a 5.13 thin crack/face pitch and a 60 m
5.12b 3.5 Camalot offwidth.
On July 17 the pair left their camp at the base of the 450 m Incisor at
6 am, bringing only one 70 m rope, and climbed to the top of Mt Combatant
for a total of 36 pitches in 11.5 hours. Maddaloni was able to free all
the moves on the 5.13 face but fell as he touched the final hold. He gave
the rating 5.12d with one point of aid. Furneaux then cruised his 5.12b
offwidth for the first redpoint. Jugging each other’s pitches to conserve
energy the pair continued on above to the top of the Incisor for 250 m of
new terrain. Having not brought boots the pair downclimbed a 500 m couloir
and a 600 m icefall with down booties over their rock shoes and crampons
duct taped on.
-Mark Cohen
Obituary: Darryl
Hatten
Darryl Hatten, a prominent Squamish climber in the 70s,
died in Victoria on August 21 as a result of injuries sustained in a fall
from a tree. He was in his late 40s, and leaves a brother, sister, mother,
girlfriend, other family and innumerable climbing friends. Darryl started
climbing in the early 70s, and made many significant ascents at Squamish
and in Yosemite, particularly with Eric Weinstein. His forte was aid and
wall climbing. At Squamish, he climbed Up From the Skies, Cerberus, Getting
Down on the Brown, Pan Granitic Frogman and Son of Pan. He made the first
free ascent of the Split Pillar on the Grand Wall in 1975. His ascents in
Yosemite included the North America Wall, very early ascents of the Zodiac,
the Shield and Electric Ladyland, and the second ascent of El Capitan’s
Pacific Ocean Wall, then the hardest big wall in the world. Darryl was well
known for his energy and enthusiasm, his loyalty to his friends, his beer
drinking capacity and his occasional exuberance. He was also a skilled tree
topper and later tree surgeon, sometimes known as Doug Fir. Darryl had occasional
brushes with the authorities, most famously for riding a bicycle through
Yosemite Valley’s Four Seasons restaurant, a stunt which led to his
being banned from the Park. A longer tribute to Hatten will appear in the
next issue of Gripped
-Anders Ourom
Gondola on the
Chief: Now the Fight is for Real
The BC Provincial government has recently announced it
intends to allow a group of Whistler-based ski developers to formally solicit
public support for their proposal to build a sight-seeing gondola to the
Centre (Second) summit of the Chief. This proposition has been mooted for
much of the last year, but of late had appeared to be dormant. Now it is
coming forward with the encouragement of the BC government.
The gondola would have its base at the large gravel pit beside the Highway,
south of the Chief campground, and would employ 15 or so towers to reach
the Centre Peak where the summit area would be fenced off for tourists to
shop and unload their money. The lift would hold 22 gondola cabins, look
rather like the Excalibur lift on Blackcomb, and carry 880 tourists per
hour to the top. It would cross over the Backside trail several times, and
skim close by the South summit on its way to the top of the Centre Chief.
Ironically, the place chosen for the top station, shopping and restaurant
is precisely where, over the years, the ashes of many people have been spread,
including Ben De Menech. Climbers descending off Bellygood Ledge would be
greeted as they exit the trees by gondolas skimming close overhead with
gawking tourists, and people on the South Summit would actually become a
tourist attraction for those passing by on the gondola. It is quite reasonable
to speculate that over time, the Chief would become branded as a de facto
private enterprise, marketed and sold, and what is presently a public space
would slowly become a private domain.
A new Squamish community group headed by Megan Olesky, The Friends of the
Chief, is developing a campaign to try and derail the gondola, but very
considerable support from a coalition of interests will be needed. If you
wish to be placed on their email broadcast list, please write to Megan at:
friendsofthechief@yahoo.ca.
-Kevin McLane
For now, we suggest emails be sent to
the following:
Hon. Bill Barisoff, Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection:
(250) 387-1187 WLAP.Minister@gems9.gov.bc.ca
Mayor Ian Sutherland: 877-892-5217 isutherland@squamish.ca
Hon. Gordon Campbell, Premier: (250) 387-1715 premier@gov.bc.ca
