>> April-May 2005
WORLD
NEWS
Dave Graham’s New Benchmark
Controversies and challenges to other climbers have a long tradition in
climbing. Henry Barber started a free climbing movement with his call to
arms, while John Bachar gained notoriety when he dared anyone to try and
keep up with him for a day.
Dave Graham has challenged everyone with his latest salvo, The Story of
Two Worlds V15, a sit-start to Dagger on the backside of the Dreamtime boulder
in Chironico, Switzerland. Claiming a new V15 is not unusual; what is unusual
is Graham’s assertion that this is the first true V15, and the most
difficult problem in the world. Graham believes there has been unchecked
grade inflation in bouldering for the last few years. With The Story of
Two Worlds, Graham has issued a challenge to all elite level climbers, especially
those who have claimed first ascents, to keep up with him.
Koyamada repeats Dreamtime
Dai Koyamada could be a candidate to take up Graham’s challenge, with
his difficult first ascents and fast repeats. On his recent European jaunt,
Koyamada split his time between Chironico and Fontainebleau. He quickly
repeated a host of problems, including flashes of Le Doigts Verts V11 and
Bock Problem V11/12 in Chironico, as well as Satan I Helvete V13 and Chaos
V14 in Fontainebleau, both in only a few tries. The big prize of the trip,
however, was a two-day repeat of Dreamtime, the fastest to date. Despite
losing some of its lustre with reports of having been chipped (not by Koyamada)
since Fred Nicole’s ascent, it is still a landmark problem. Not content
with mere repeats, Koyamada also established Fata Morgana (low start) V13
and Fata I Helvete V13/14, both in Fontainebleau.
Moon comes up Aces
Ben Moon has shown that he has not lost the form that made him a top climber
throughout the 80s and 90s by repeating Jerry Moffat’s The Ace V13
at Stanage, England. The savagely short problem, a sit start to Joker, was
established five years ago. In that time it has seen only one other repeat,
by Malcolm Smith, despite a large local community of strong and avid boulderers.
The launch holds for the dyno were so bad that until Moffat had established
the Joker, it was known as Paul’s Hang, and climbers would merely
try to hang from them.
Ondra Onsights 8b
As reported in the last issue, Czech prodigy Adam Ondra, age 12, became
the youngest climber ever to have redpointed a 5.14b with his ascent of
Mascherina 8c/5.14b, at Grotta dell’Aeronata in Italy. He has since
demonstrated his redpointing prowess again with an ascent of Missing Drink
5.14a, at Osp, Slovenia. Showing that he is equally well versed in the art
of onsighting, Ondra followed that performance by onsighting Figaro and
Zadjana Skunsjava, both 5.13c as well as an onsight of Viper Lady 5.13d,
at Osp.
Canadian Sets New Standard in South
Africa
Visiting Canadian climber Grant Campbell may have established the hardest
route in South Africa on a recent visit. Campbell completed a longstanding
open project at Oudtshoorn known as The Streetfighter Project, renaming
it Two to Win, after a bet he made to motivate himself for the ascent. Both
Campbell and Paul Brouard, who bolted the line originally, feel the climb
is probably around 5.14b. If confirmed, this will be the most difficult
sport climb in
South Africa. –Andre Cheuk
MOUNTAIN NEWS
First All-Female
Ascent of Cerro Torre
Cerro Torre’s Compressor Route is one of the classics of Patagonia
epic super alpine climbs. It has had many ascents since Cesare Maestri first
climbed it in 1970, but never by an all-female party. This season, Slovenian
women alpinists Kambic Mali and Tanja Gromvsek climbed the route in three
days. Last year Mali made the first all female ascent of Fitzroy with fellow
Slovenian Tina Di Batista.
First Free Ascent (Probably) of Omega on Petit
Jorasses
One of the hardest mixed routes in the Mont Blanc Range, Patrick Gabbarou
and Feran Patrick Latore’s 1994 Omega on the Northwest Face of the
Petit Jorasses received a probable first free ascent in three days in January.
The 13 pitch mixed line was climbed by British alpinists Nick Bullock and
Stuart Aleese. The crux, an overhanging thin smear in a groove, went at
Scottish grade 8. Bullock is considered by some to be the dark horse of
UK alpinism, with many technically difficult and committing routes to his
credit.
Piolet D’Or Goes To Jannu Ascent
The Piolet D’Or prize was founded in 1990 by the French climbing magazine
Montagnes, which, in consultation with the French elite climbing club Groupe
des Haute Montagnes presented it to those who made the most significant
alpine ascent in the last year.
Despite having said that the Piolet D’Or “no longer carries
any prestige,” is “irrelevant” and “badly out of
touch with alpinism,” American Steve House was nominated for his solo
climb of the south face of K7. House’s 2,700 m long route included
rock difficulties up to 5.10 and mixed terrain up to M6+, in addition to
complex sections of rappelling and traversing on the summit ridge. He downclimbed
the peak via his route, reaching the glacier after 41 hours.
House’s solo did not win, however. The 11-man Russian team that laid
siege to the overhanging 4,500 ft north face of Jannu (7,710 m) (Gripped
Aug 04) was awarded the prize. Although their climb was in capsule style
with fixed ropes, the route was so difficult and dangerous that several
team members were injured and the team operated at the limits of endurance.
Many climbers concede that an alpine style ascent of the wall is not presently
possible.
Other nominees included: Elio Orlandi, Lucia Fava and Horacio Codo for a
hard new route on the Northeast face of Fitzroy, Thomaz Humar and Ales Kozelj’s
alpine style first ascent of a new route on Annapurna’s South Face;
and Jean Christian Lafaille’s controversial winter solo of a partial
new route on Shishapangma.
CANADIAN NEWS
First Winter
Ascent of Mt Alberta
On Feb 19–21, Raphael Slawinski, Scott Semple and Eamonn Walsh made
the first winter ascent of Mt Alberta in the Canadian Rockies via the Japanese
Route. The team stayed in the Lloyd MacKay hut on the approach and the walk-out,
and bivyed once below the summit on the descent. The route is very committing
and involves a kilometre long traverse along the summit ridge that must
be reversed. “Given the prominent place Mt Alberta holds in Rockies
climbing history,” said Slawinski, “we felt quite privileged.”
Hard New Long Rockies Ice Routes
Valeri Babanov and Raphael Slawinski of Calgary put up a huge new ice route
on the north face of Mt Amery, Aurora 600 m WI6. The half-day approach may
keep some away, but the climbing, especially on the upper tier is reported
to be superb. Paul McSorley and Jon Walsh climbed Rivers of Babylon 400
m WI 5+ M6+, on Mt Wilson, between Mixed Master and Ice Nine. Chris Delworth,
Dave Edgar and Eamonn Walsh sent The Silmarillion, a dangerous three pitch
classic near the Stanley Headwall.
Banff Mountain
Film and Book Festivals 2004
The biggest news from the 2004 Banff Mountain Festivals didn’t break
until long after microphones were put away and screens went dark. Following
last November’s nine days of programming at the Banff Centre, per
usual, the bread-winning “Best of…” package of films was
embarking on its several hundred date world tour. In a fairy tale finish,
the year’s Grand Prize had gone to a 38-year-old black and white climbing
epic – a rediscovered 21-minute Polish movie called Odwrót
(Retreat). Shot in the High Tatra in 1967 by a student from the National
College of Theatre and Film in Lódz, the film depicted a desperate
solo climber struggling to descend and find help for his injured partner.
Alex Bertulis of Seattle, who eventually restored and entered a print in
this year’s Festival, had rescued the original master more than twenty
years ago. Bertulis gave full credit in his entry to the director, Jerzy
Surdel, but said that he had been told that the filmmaker had died. The
story made for a sentimental winner and a poignant note in press releases.
Unfortunately for Bertulis, Surdel was actually alive and living in Switzerland
during the interval of his “death,” where he had sought political
asylum after leaving Communist Poland. Now back home, his friends were congratulating
him on his “prize.”
Although he says he is happy to hear this news, Bertulis nevertheless insists
he owns the North American rights to the property, granted by the now defunct
Polish National College of Theatre and Film. Banff, on the other hand, awards
its prizes to the directors of winning films as a matter of policy. The
administration for the Festival say the cheque will go to Surdel, and that
they await the outcome of negotiations regarding Odwrót’s inclusion
in the Festival travelling program. People are being polite, but audiences
on the Banff Mountain Films tour may not get to see the film.
The other thing tour audiences seldom see are the personalities who accompany
their properties to Banff. Although the Book and Film Festivals are framed
around products – a new crop of movies and books to see and buy every
year – far more entertaining are the folks promoting them. When you’re
actually in this little mountain town for the program, you can hang with
your friends, put your foot on a bar rail, and rub up against writers, filmmakers,
and talent all at the same time. Being there is totally about the talks,
parties, and people, as it should be.
At this, the 29th Annual Festival, headliners included Alex Huber, speaking
modestly – “Go on climbing. Don’t think about anything
else” – while he made everybody pee their pants with his pictures
from Bellavista and videos of extreme free solos on the Tre Cima and at
Schleier Wasserfall.
On the same Wednesday night, George Lowe and Chris Jones aired out their
yellowing slides and reprised one of the enduring legends of North American
alpinism – the first ascent of the North Face of North Twin. Juxtaposed
with Huber, this made for an interesting evening, allowing the audience
to compare cutting-edge accomplishments made thirty years apart.
The Thursday evening downshifted to Outside Magazine and National Geographic
‘A-listers’, with recent celebrity Aron Ralston talking about
what it’s like to cut off your own arm with a Swiss Army knife, and
Conrad Anker and Rick Ridgeway alternately narrating a slick series of images
from a rickshaw camping trip spent chasing little deer through Tibet.
Daytime seminars at Banff are more intimate and discursive, bringing pertinent
topics to those who were looking for something better than simple titillation.
Geoff Powter continued his annual gig as the Dick Cavett of climbing, sporting
a lapel microphone and sitting cross-legged in an armchair while interviewing
‘Hot’ Henry Barber. Barber was the first fulltime climbing bum
and original model for modern road-trippers “I’d just stick
out my thumb,” he said, “and go to the next place.” He
still has large forearms, strong opinions, and the resume to back them up.
Bill Hatcher took everybody on an armchair expedition and talked about the
difficulty of photographing any climb you are actually part of – taking
tent shots and shooting people’s backs while roped up for glacier
travel. He also discussed the difficulty of establishing yourself as an
outdoor photographer – “I set a goal for myself and submitted
to 15 people a month for two years to start.”
Arno Ilgner preached mental training for high performance climbing, describing
the approach he takes with his book The Rock Warrior’s Way. It was
good advice and good energy, applicable to any situation. Unfortunately,
Ilgner’s enthusiasm seemed a bit of a puzzle to many of the bearded
and bespectacled crowd still holding their seats in the theatre following
a talk about a BC avalanche disaster.
Perhaps best value, overall, were the panel discussions. Several of these
were organized with varying degrees of control and orchestration. There’s
always a lot filmmakers and writers would like to say – usually about
each other – that they don’t get to put across in their movies
and books. David Roberts, arguably the most clear-eyed man in mountain journalism
today, explained how he found himself turning more and more to the moral
questions other “apologists for climbing” seem to like to avoid.
On the same panel, Terry Gifford parodied breathless and deathless expedition
prose and outlined his quest to capture the essence of the ordinary climbing
experience, for everybody, through the exegesis of fun, relationships, and
peripheral elements. Sid Marty explained how he found himself going in the
other direction, becoming more subversive and satirical as a result of his
frustration with short-sighted land managers and rightwing politicians.
As for the films and books themselves, entries ranged all over the map,
and were definitely not limited to mountain subjects. Of interest to practicing
climbers will be endearing films like Fools with Tools, which poked fun
at a group of middle-aged gymies projecting over their heads – and
eventually succeeding – on Scotland’s hardest dry-tooling rig.
Will Gadd’s Ice and Mixed Climbing: Modern Technique rightly won its
category in the book competition. Wills Young’s Hit List, highlighting
Lisa Rands’ bouldering projects, offered good kinetics coupled with
stilted and aimless dialogue – a modest success. Josh Lowell’s
Realization sported strong production values and dramatic, yet understated
editing. As an actual, real-time record of the world-changing climbing accomplishment
it tells about, it has some real significance. Not many of those around.
Get the video. Another Lowell joint from his “Dosage” series
– this one called Psicobloc – featured Klem Loskot in a too-cool,
visually stunning study in form, colour, and movement, deep-water soloing
in Mallorca. Best falls you’ll never take yourself – get this
on video, too.
Colin Wells, familiar to North Americans as Climbing Magazine’s “The
Limey”, read from his Who’s Who In British Climbing: Bite-sized
Biographies of Dead Climbers – and Some That Are Still Alive. Much
laughter was provoked by his classic Brit self-deprecating humour,
augmented in the moment by massive sound and weather effects when a windstorm
struck at the trees just outside the dining room windows. Wells was worth
hearing, his book is worth reading, and the man himself was worth seeking
out for a pint and broad-ranging conversation in the pub any evening.
For that matter, the pub in general could be one of the best parts of the
program at Banff. If you’d paid big money for a ticket up the hill,
then lined up to cram yourself into a seat in the dark theatre, it was a
delightful relief afterward to find yourself downtown at the same table
with the likes of George Lowe and Jack Tackle, and see Henry Barber blow
his mustache and say “I had no sense of humour. I probably could have
behaved like a nicer boy… But travelling, and seeing Thai birds nest
hunters, Meteora shepherds, and Faffenstein robbers roosts from the 14th
century helped me lose my ego by the late 70s. It’s why all the chipping,
gluing, and frigging around depresses me so much. What’s going to
make me happy is being able to live in my own skin. I don’t think
people understand this today.”
Join in, and hoist one in Banff yourself next fall.–Dave Dornian
The North Face
Festiglace 2005
Ice and mixed climbers of all levels, from absolute beginners to professionals,
congregated in Pont Rouge, near Québec City in late February for
three great days of climbing, presentations and parties. Conditions were
a little sparser than usual. A warm spell opened up the ice on the river,
making it a bit harder to access some of the moderate terrain, but there
was just enough for everyone.
Competitors like Erwin De Lann and Sam Beaugey of France, who were on a
month long tour of Québec ice, commented that the event gave visitors
a chance to connect with the local scene as well as go toe-to-toe with other
pros. The comp’s format was simple: climb as many routes as possible
on the steep 50 m high arc that the Jacques Cartier River has cut into the
chossy bedrock. As competitor Australian Abby Watkins, of Golden BC, said,
“There’s ice everywhere on the cliff, small amounts of it because
the rock is so porous, so it’s really unique. It looks like just rock,
but more of your placements are on ice than you’d think.”
There was plenty of action on the comp routes. Canada’s Jonathon Urness
was injured in a fall near the top of one of the routes, showing that it
is still dangerous to fall in crampons. In an amazing effort, American Roger
Strong dropped a tool near the top of a difficult line, and decided to try
to onsight the route using his hands. He was uninjured in the ensuing dive.
The party of Evgeny Kritosheitcev of Ukraine and Canadian Jonathon Urness
scored the most points. Canada’s Guy Lacelle and Benoit Gradelet came
second. Audrey Gariepy and Ian Mongrain of Québec came third.
Evening presentations in the packed community hall were excellent. Guy Lacelle
showed slides and spoke about his dream list of ice climbs (as published
in Gripped, Feb. 05). Jim Donini shared the experiences of 40 years of hard
alpinism and lamented the environmental policies of the US government. Conrad
Anker played a film on the Khumbu Sherpa climbing schools, which showed
the trials and benefits of training Sherpas in modern climbing techniques.
Seven-time Everest summiter Pete Athans’ climbing slides were eclipsed
by his photos and video of curing cataract blindness among Himalayan hill
peoples.
Indeed, the climbing is only part of what makes Festiglace so unique. Arcteryx’s
drunken bowling contest, dancing, rubbing shoulders with the famous and
the merely buff and local delicacies like guedille, dulton, galvaude and
Cinq-ans will not soon be forgotten.
New Broad Peak
Book Shines Light on First Ascent
One of the most impressive Himalayan ascents of the last century was Austrian
party of Marcus Schmuck, Fritz Wintersteller, Kurt Diemberger and Hermann
Buhl’s 1957 first ascent of Pakistan’s 8,047 m Broad Peak. This
was achieved by a small team without artificial oxygen who ferried all the
loads to the high camps. The trip ended with the tragic death of top Austrian
climber Hermann Buhl, who fell through a cornice during a reconnaissance
of Chogolisa.
Now, a book by Richard Sale, Broad Peak (Carreg, 2004) discusses the dynamics
between the climbers themselves and the effect of Buhl’s death on
the way the trip has been reported. In the past, the roles of the massively
strong Schmuck and the talented Wintersteller have been downplayed, even
though they performed brilliantly as a team and made the first ascent of
the peak.
Another little recognized aspect of such trips is the role played by liaison
officers. On the 1957 expedition, a dashing young Pakistani infantry officer,
Quader Saeed was the liaison officer. Saeed emigrated to Toronto in 1971
and now runs a grocery store there.
Saeed instantly liked the climbers, an impression made stronger when Buhl
had a pair of boots flown to Rawalpindi from Austria because the expedition
had none that fit him. Saeed saved the men from difficulties on several
occasions. “I had to explain to them that we were five men and that
there were forty porters and we were a long way from any help. They demanded
sunglasses, and one of the climbers said, ‘be tough, tell them no.’
Instead, I asked the porters why they needed these glasses now, when they
had never needed them before, in all their travels in exactly the same areas.
We had to pay them for the glasses, but avoided a conflict.”
Saeed was devastated by the death of Buhl, and tears still come to his eyes
when he describes Diemberger coming to the camp with the news. Saeed stays
in touch with Schmuck and Wintersteller and visits their homes in Austria
every few years. He has two photographs of himself and Schmuck climbing
on Broad Peak on the wall of his store and follows the climbing news about
Broad Peak. Saeed greeted Sales’ book enthusiastically because, according
to him, it is the first book to set the record straight about one of the
most impressive ascents in Pakistan’s history and one of his most
treasured memories.
OBITUARIES
J. Barry Corbet
1936–2005
Barry Corbet died in his home in Golden, Colorado on February 19. Corbet
was born in Vancouver, BC and attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire,
where he joined the famous Dartmouth Mountaineering Club, founded by Jack
Durrance. He was quickly bitten by the climbing bug, dropped out of College
and became a guide in the Tetons. In 1959, with Jake Breitenbach, Pete Sinclair
and Bill Buckingham, he made the first ascent of the Southwest Rib of Denali
in capsule style. This was the hardest high altitude alpine first ascent
by North Americans to that date. In 1963 Corbet, with Willi Unsoeld, Tom
Hornbein and Al Auten made the first ascent of the West Ridge of Everest,
although Corbet did not reach the summit. He climbed in many places, including
Antarctica. In 1968, a helicopter crash severed his spinal cord and left
his legs paralyzed. The irrepressible Corbet took up whitewater kayaking
and became a filmmaker and writer focusing on issues of disabled people.
Tom Hornbein was with him when he died.
Anderl Heckmair
1906–2005
German climber Anderl Heckmair died in his hometown of Oberstdorf, Bavaria
on February 8. Heckmair made many important ascents in the eastern Alps
in the 30s. He is most famous, however, for his first ascent of the Eigerwand
with Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Franz Kasparek. In 1951, he made
the second ascent of the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses with Hermann
Köllensperger.
Heckmair led the entire Eigerwand in a brilliant technical tour de force.
Afterwards he had several personal meetings with Hitler. After a few months
at the front in Russia in 1941 he was transferred to the Army mountain school
in Fulpmes, Austria. When the war ended, he ran a hostel in Oberstdorf and
in 1968 helped to standardize the guiding profession in Germany.
His legacy as a famous climber has been compromised by his status as one
of the most famous climbers of a period in which German climbing was so
deeply Nazified that climbing clubs were made illegal organizations by the
allies. Heckmair said in his most recent biography that his Nazism was purely
opportunistic. His connections with the Nazi elite, however, continued after
the war. His main patron in the 50s and 60s was Ernst Otto Flick, who, with
his father Friedrich, built one of the world’s largest fortunes running
Nazi steel and explosives concerns.
The only living survivor of the 1938 Eigerwand climb is Heinrich Harrer.
