April - May 2006
world news
Difficult Historic Line on Central Tower of Paine Repeated
In 1991, Wolfgang Gullich, Kurt Albert, Berndt Arnold and Norbert Batz completed Riders on the Storm, a 1,200 m VII wall on Patagonia’s Central Tower of Paine. It included free climbing up to 5.12d, the hardest yet done in the Paine group.
In January, Belgians Nicolas and Oliver Favresse, Sean Villanueva and Michael Lecomte made the probable third ascent of the climb. On their 11-day push, they found superb rock ranging from runout slabs to cracks of all sizes and freeclimbed all but three of the 36 pitches while failing to redpoint two others.
Spanish Boulders Get a New V14
The boulders of Spain are one of the most underrated pebble wrestling venues in the world. Germany’s Christian Core’s new route on the granite boulders of Albarracìn, famous for their big overhangs and faces, will make more boulderers take notice. He worked a project discovered by Hector del Campo, finding dynamic movement between crimpers up overhanging rock. Beautiful Mind hasn’t been repeated, but Core has given it an 8b+ (V14) grade.
Cufar Joins Shortlist
With her ascent of Vizija at Misja Pec, Slovenia, World Cup veteran Martina Cufar has joined the select group of women who have climbed 5.14b or harder. The onsight and competition climbing specialist first tried the 35 m long gently overhanging line in the spring, and picked it as a project because it played to her strengths. The route starts with a bouldery section of tufas and crimps; once through these, Cufar had to hang on for the 5.13b/c endurance finish. With the interruption of the World Cup season, Cufar had to wait until late fall to continue the redpoint process, finally sending the climb in late December.
Young Guns
The standards of climbing have always progressed as each generation built upon the achievements of the previous one. The statement “today’s projects will be tomorrow’s warm up” is a cliché for good reason. The next generation of superstars are already hard at work obliterating today’s benchmarks. Recently, Austrian David Lama had a productive visit to Spain: at Mont Sant, Lama onsighted Extensio and L-mens, then Kalea Borroka at Siurana, all 5.14a, as well as flashing el Koala at Santa Linya. With these latest onsights, 15-year-old Lama’s results rival those of many of the best sport climbers in the world. Czech phenom Adam Ondra, still only 12-years-old, has been improving at an unbelievable pace. His latest hot redpoint, Alien Carnage 5.14c at Castilon, France, makes him the youngest climber ever to redpoint the grade, a record he already holds for 5.14a and 5.14b. Britain’s Tyler Landman has repeated Jerry Moffat’s seminal The Ace V13 at Stanage Plantation, making its fourth ascent. Landman sent the problem after just a few visits, whereas all previous ascensionists worked the problem extensively. With their latest effort, the three youngsters show that they will be setting the benchmark for years to come.
Old Hand
If climbing is a young person’s game, then no one told Maurizio Zanolla of Italy. This winter, the 47-year-old achieved a personal and a world’s best with his redpoint of Switzerland’s Bain De Sang, 5.14d. Zanolla, along with fellow Italian Ricardo Scarrian, also sent this 1993 Fred Nicole testpiece. The first half of the 20 m climb is very slightly overhanging and marginally less physical, followed by a rest that leads to the crux upper slab portion of crimps, monos and almost non-existent footholds. According to Zanolla, the upper portion gave the most trouble: “the smallest of errors results in a fall: lose your interior rhythm and subtleness for a fraction of a second and you’re off,” he said, comparing his movement on his redpoint to climbing “on eggshell.” With this ascent, Zanolla, who has been at the forefront of climbing for 30 years, having redpointed 5.13b way back in 1983, becomes the oldest person to have climbed 5.14d.
Hueco Tanks
With the arrival of a number of top boulderers, including an on form Dave Graham, this past winter at Hueco probably saw more hard problems go down since the free-for-all days. Swiss veteran Fred Nicole got the ball rolling by sending a longstanding project to the left of Diaphanous Sea V12. The problem starts out on Diaphanous Sea and climbs into Terre de Sienne, climbed by Nicole last winter and given V14/15. Nicole describes the new link-up, christened Terremer, as the hardest thing he has done and says it could warrant the grade of V16.
Nicole’s ascent was merely the opening salvo; the real fireworks came with the arrival of Graham, who started by dispatching Nicole’s Esperanza V14 in a day. He then proceeded to devour Terre de Sienne and El Techos de los Tres B V14, both put up by Nicole. Graham, along with Ben Moon, worked out a different and slightly easier sequence he called Terre de Sienne and suggested a grade of V13/14. Graham finished off by repeating an old Sharma problem, Diabolic V13, a short roof problem on bad slopers and small pinches. The perennially strong Ben Moon rounded off the list of hard sends by flashing Diaphanous Sea, Free Willy V10 and A Woman with a Hueco in her Hair V10 as well as a fast ascent of The Full Monty V12.–Andre Cheuk
alpine + ice news
Gadd Continues to Push Mixed Standards
In the Rockies, Will Gadd added a new route in the Cineplex cave, home of the hardest mixed lines in the world, including his own extension to The Game, M13+. He describes Steel Koan as “the hardest mixed climb I’ve ever done.” It has “intricate body movement” up 55 ft of radically overhanging terrain leading to a “wild ice curtain” protected by screws driven straight up into the ice.
Gadd made the ascent “bareback” style, without heel spurs because “that style of climbing is way more fun.” Gadd also commented that the route “may get upgraded to M14 in the future, but who knows.” Grade inflation, which Gadd sees as a “problem he wants to have nothing to do with,” is complicated by the fact that routes may later be downgraded after subsequent ascents that may increase the size of the holds.
The bareback style has also been revived elsewhere. Austria’s Game Over, M13 is Europe’s hardest mixed line. It was first climbed in 2005 by Albert Leichtfried and saw second and third repeats by Scotland’s Scott Muir and Leichtfried, both climbing without heel spurs. Also in Austria, sport ace Markus Bendler sent Hell’s Angel Paradise M13, in the same style.–Staff
Big Plans for Canadian National Mountain Centre
Canmore Alberta is already home to some of the keenest climbers in the country, and if plans for a proposed $30 million National Mountain Centre top out, it would also be home to the biggest facility in the world devoted solely to mountains.
In addition to a gallery, gathering wing, theatre, lecture wing, library and archives, it would host the country’s biggest indoor and outdoor climbing wall reaching 30 m at its high points – with a refrigerated section for year-round ice and mixed climbing.
Not only would it be the only facility in the country capable of hosting World Cup competitions, says Geoff Powter, veteran climber, editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal and one of the centre’s founding directors, but it would also serve as a year-round training facility for Canada’s competitive climbers complete with coaches and trained staff.
“This would be a dedicated training facility, as well as a recreational gym, with people employed to coordinate training for competition climbers,” Powter says. “Generally, we’ve got some fantastic talent in the country, and they’re doing really well as things are, but with a dedicated training facility, let’s see how far we can really go.”
The climbing wall, however, would only serve part of the centre’s aspirations to enrich Canadians’ and visitors’ knowledge and appreciation of mountain biology, ecology, culture and climbing history. Ideally situated right off the Trans Canada Highway, the centre would serve as a single point information centre, an essential stop for visitors entering the Rockies with route descriptions, recreation options, updates on trail closures, weather and avalanche conditions. The resource centre and library, Powter adds, would house volumes on climbing in Canada and the world’s great ranges.
As well, the facility would provide a public presence for key mountain organizations, including the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, the Alpine Club of Canada and the Canadian Avalanche Association. Constructed as much as possible from green technology, the outside of the building would mirror its mountain surroundings, with visitors entering through a “canyon” feature, and with interpretive paths leading to the roof or “summit” lined with exhibits and displays embedded in stone describing the mountains’ geological formations. “We want to be certain it is definitely an architectural icon,” Powter says. “If you mention ice climbing in Canada in Scandinavia, Britain or the U.S., the instant response is – oh, Canmore! This community has an opportunity to recognize what an important role it plays on a world stage. In terms of mountaineering history, this is the centre of the country.”
Currently undergoing a $250,000 feasibility study to determine if the centre would generate sufficient revenue, Powter says if it can’t be self-sustaining, it won’t happen. If the results of the study are encouraging, construction could begin as soon as the summer of 2007. While the research, training and slide show facility would naturally benefit local climbers the most, Powter says the centre would help elevate the profile of climbing throughout the country. “What’s good for climbers in the valley, overall, is a good thing. Anything that’s good for a few climbers is good for the whole community. We’re hoping that bringing climbing and understanding of climbing into the public eye will serve us all.”–Lynn Martel
Jean Christophe Lafaille Dies on Makalu
Last December, Lafaille made the first winter solo of an 8,000 m peak when he climbed Shishapangma; this year he turned his attention to Makalu (8,840 m). After establishing a camp at 7,600 m Lafaille made a push for the summit on January 26, after which he was no longer in contact with his base camp. On January 31, he was presumed to have died, possibly after falling into a crevasse.
Lafaille was one of the greatest French climbers and most experienced mountaineers in the world. The support team was slow to give up hope, for good reason. In 1992 while descending from an attempt on the South Face of Annapurna with Pierre Beghin, Beghin pulled a rappel anchor and fell to his death. Lafaille showed up in basecamp several days later, after he had been given up for dead. Sadly, he did not return from his Makalu climb. (See Obituaries, page 20).
Long Projects on Stanley Headwall
The home of many long hard, steep projects from the 90s continues to yield cutting-edge lines. Experienced locals Sean Isaac and Dave Thomson completed their 1998 project to the right of The Day After les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot. Dawn of the Dead is four pitches long with an M8+ first pitch followed by four pitches of steep ice, joining The Day After les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot. To the right, Chris Brazeau, Jon Simms and Jon Walsh took a ramp with hard mixed climbing to ice mushrooms, a drytooling crux and the final ice curtain to complete Drama Queen, 170 m M7 WI6.
Another Controversial Piolet D’Or
The Piolet d’Or is awarded by an expert panel appointed once a year by the French magazine Montagnes for the most significant climb of the previous year. In the past it has attracted both praise and criticism. This year was no exception.
Americans Steve House and Vince Anderson won for their new route on Nanga Parbat’s Rupal Face. They made the climb, which included hard rock and mixed climbing in alpine style, over six days. House, nominated in 2005 for his solo new route on K7, had been a critic of the award when he lost to a Russian team who made a siege ascent of a long and difficult new route on Jannu.
Another climb under consideration was Kazakh Serguey Samoilov and Russian Denis Urubko’s alpine-style new route on Broad Peak. It was generally thought to be of equal difficulty to the House and Anderson route, and there was some speculation as to whether this year’s award was influenced by last year’s decision. Urubko commented that he “wasn’t surprised by the decision” to award the prize to the Americans.
Rolando Garibotti, Ermanno Salvaterra and Alessandro Beltrami’s, Arca de los Vientos on Cerro Torre was also in the running. It took the line claimed as the 1959 first ascent route by Italian Cesare Maestri. They found no evidence of his ascent, on which he claimed to use 70 bolts, and the climbing world has generally rejected Maestri’s long-contested claim. The night before the award, however, the panel received legal documents from the 76-year-old Italian climber, claiming they could not award the prize for a first ascent since he and Toni Egger had first climbed it in 1959.
Garibotti, Salvaterra and Beltrami simultaneously asked to have their climb withdrawn. Garibotti stated that the prize can “divide climbers as much as bring them together,” and that “the alpinism hierarchy…benefits the most…But for the majority, those who practice mountaineering as amateurs, the benefits are elusive and perhaps non-existent.” Their withdrawal left the field wide open for the septuagenarian Maestri to claim his prize for the supposed first ascent of the same route, but, as described, he was bested by House and Anderson.
Festiglace 2006
Feb 18–19, Pont Rouge, Québec
“It was cold, but I do my best,” said Ukrainian competitor Evgeny Krivotsheiv, pacing back and forth in the warm-up tent after the Saturday route comp. He pointed to the misleadingly coy-looking Québec competitor, the only female in the comp, Audrey Gariepy. “Audrey climbed hard, so I said maybe Evgeny climb hard, too.”
Actually, he climbed very hard, as did all of the competitors. The overhanging, horizontally bedded shale laced with thin streaks of ice has become eastern North America’s leading centre of sport mixed and the comp gave everyone a chance to see the routes sent by some of the best mixed climbers in the world. Competitors for the Saturday comp operated in teams of two drawn from a hat, and given an hour and a half at each of two sectors to climb as many hard routes as they could. Individual and team scores were tallied at the end of the day (see sidebar for results).
The -30 C temperatures on Saturday gave the competitors some serious challenges with frozen hands, but the pace of the sends was unabated. Watching Guy Lacelle, Will Mayo and many of the other competitors hooking their way up the steep shale and ice, it was clear they were all near the top of their game.
At the end of the day, Krivotsheiv won first, as he did at Festiglace 2006, and his partner Gariepy beat 11 of the 17 male competitors. Along with Ines Papert’s victory last year at Ouray, this is more evidence that women are consolidating their position in mixed comps, even when competing against men.
The presentations were, as usual a mixture of the dull and the sublime. The Fédération québécoise de la montagne et de l’escalade (FQME) gave out its prizes recognizing the achievements of Québec climbers on Friday. TheYves Laforest prize, named after the first Québecois climber to summit Everest, went to Louis-Phillipe Menard and Maxime Turgeon for Spice Factory, their radical new route on Alaska’s Mt Bradley. Their presentation included a hilarious clip in which the two practice squeezing into a bivy bag. Two climbers with most of their experience in Québec bagging a major coveted alpine route displays the impressive breadth and maturation of the province’s winter climbing scene.
There were other presentations, but the most memorable was Québec Givré, one of the best road-trip climbing movies to emerge in a long time. It follows Mathieu Peloquin, Guillaume and Chamonix guides Erwann Le Lann and Sam Beaugey on an ice odyssey across Québec. Redolent with jokes about the local customs, accent and food, it has breathtaking footage that includes a huge pillar collapsing while Guillaume is climbing it and Beaugey’s base jump from the top of their hard new route in Lac Walker, L’Appartement.
The usual partying, dancing and highjinks, powered by the Red Bull and Vodka, now ubiquitous at extreme sports parties, continued into the early hours of Sunday morning. On Sunday the professional speed competition was held, but for most climbers, it was time to squeeze in a last route before the long drive home.
On Sunday morning, Jean-Luc from Montreal led his first 5+. He had to rest from his tools twice, but was pleased with his effort. As he slapped his hands against his side and stamped his feet to get the feeling back in his hands, he said, “I had never climbed a 5+ before, but when you’re here, seeing everyone climbing so hard, you kind of get inspired.” Many other participants echoed Jean-Luc, and that is the best measure of the success of Festiglace. Its positive effects on the psyche of the participants last long after the weekend is over.
Winners Festiglace 2006
Overall Individual Climbers
1 Evgeny Krivotsheiv (Ukraine)
2 Will Mayo (USA)
3 Guy Lacelle (Canada)
4 Louis-Phillipe Menard (Canada)
5 Maxime Turgeon (Canada)
6 Audrey Gariepy (Canada)
7 Roger Strong (USA)
8 Mathieu Audibert (Canada)
9 Louis-Julien Roy (Canada)
10 Ben Dubois (Canada)
Teams
1 Krivotsheiv/Gariepy
2 Will Mayo/Turgeon
3 Menard/Strong
4 Roger Codery-Cotter (USA)/Lacelle
Obituaries
Jean-Christophe Lafaille
1967–2006
Lafaillle disappeared on Makalu in the last week of January while attempting the first winter ascent (see page 16). He was one of the most accomplished all-around climbers in the world and a master alpinist. His climbs were marked for their bold style and the purity of Lafaille’s vision of alpinism. He made long new routes on the Grand Pilier d’Angle and The Frêney Pillar, following the footsteps of Walter Bonatti, the father of modern alpinism in the Mont Blanc Range. Also an expert rock climber, he soloed up to 5.13. In 1992 he made an attempt on the steep and difficult South Face of Annapurna on which his partner Pierre Beghin was killed by falling rock. In 1994 he made a solo winter ascent of Shishapangma, garnering some criticism for making it outside of the calendar year definition of the winter season, but within the Nepalese Winter Permit season. At the time of his death, Lafaille had climbed 11 of the 8,000 m summits.–Staff
Aidan Oloman
1976–2005
Aidan Oloman, a leading female climber and resident of Squamish, died on January 14. Oloman was working as a ski guide and checking avalanche conditions near the Island Lake Lodge and was overwhelmed by an avalanche, despite being in an apparently safe area. Oloman was one of only three women to be certified as rock guides by the ACMG. She is survived by partner and fellow guide Sean Easton, her parents Mab and Colin and her sister Rowan, as well as her many friends. See page 44 of this issue for an article about Oloman’s expedition to China with Katy Holm and Katherine Fraser.
Aidan, there is so much I would like to tell you. You are beautiful and strong. You live lit by a glow that everyone around you can see and feel. You are genuine and warm with people. A tense situation or mood is easily defused when you laugh and make some silly comment. It is always a good time being with you.
Aidan, grounding your lightness is a solid core of strength and determination. You apply a lot of energy to all the important aspects of your life. You try really hard to be good to the people you love. You try really hard to excel at the activities you love. And you spend a lot of thought and energy at being good at guiding and teaching.
You have a huge talent for being in the mountains. You float when you move: lithe movements up steep rock or fast, skiing downhill; whooping for joy as you pass by. Your decision-making is sure but it is easy for you to listen to the opinions of others. You have not created a false ego to hide behind. You are honest about your fears. You are conscious about moving past them, believing “I will” statements until you complete what you set out to do, victorious.
Aidan, you have nurtured an amazing relationship with Sean, your life partner. The two of you have spent eight years gaining a fine balance between your busy lives and the time that really matters: being together. The respect and adoration you feel for each other is equal and mutual. Your family is your foundation. Your parents, Mab and Colin, gave you and your sister Rowan unconditional love and the encouragement to grow up strong, free-spirited and caring. The warm smile of your sister Rowan is mirrored in yours; your bond is as close and easy as it was when you were young girls, swinging in trees.
You are an integral part of a large community of friends who treasure the days we get to be out playing in the hills with you. You motivate everyone to climb better and to laugh more. Aidan, you truly appreciate these gifts but you still aren’t satisfied. You are always ready for more challenges. You are always trying to be a better person. You are always trying to be the best that you can be.
I never got the chance, never took the opportunity, to say these things. The avalanche that took you came unexpectedly, unpredictably. It caught you while you were checking weather at work. The location of the weather plot, set up on a knoll, sheltered by old growth trees, should have been safe. The fast response of your lodge was unable to save you. Just the week before, you were telling me how lucky you were to be going to work, to do something you loved.
Aidan there is no sense to why you died. You were not meant to go. You were meant to be with us, to keep us inspired and laughing and loving. We are shattered without you, left grasping around us, trying to pick up the pieces. Everyone you touched will cherish memories of you. But memories won’t fill the huge hole that is created by your absence. You have affected our lives deeply. I will carry your spirit with me: you will teach me to be better than I am. I will be kinder and more tolerant, as you were. I will try harder and take myself less seriously, as you did. Thank you, Aidan, for the gifts that you have left us. Thank you for showing us how to live lightly and powerfully.–Katherine Fraser
The Aidan Oloman Fund is being established to empower women to gain physical and personal strength through outdoor pursuits. Those wishing to donate to the Fund may do so at www.vancouverfoundation.bc.ca/donate/donateonline.asp
Heinrich Harrer
1912–2006
At the age of 93, on January 7, Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer died in Karnten, Austria. Harrer was an influential figure in alpinism, who made first ascents of the North Face of the Eiger, Mts Deborah and Hunter in Alaska, and wrote The White Spider, and Seven Years in Tibet that are amongst the most popular mountain adventure books ever written.
He is also the last member of the first ascent party of the North Face of the Eiger to die. The Eigerwand was a revolutionary new climb, made in 1938, up a vertical 1,300 m limestone face on which many had died. The leader of the party, the immensely talented Anderl Heckmair, died last year in Bavaria.
Interned in India while on a climbing expedition in 1939, he escaped with Peter Aufschnaiter to Tibet. There he became a tutor to the young Dalai Lama and began to form the observations that he would use in his popular and unsentimental view of that country, Seven Years in Tibet.
His later decades were plagued by controversy when during the publicity for the film version of Seven Years in Tibet, it came to light that he had been a member of the Nazi SS in Austria prior to the overthrow of the National government by the Austrian and German Nazis. A close associate of Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Nazi governor of Austria and then Holland, and Chairman of the German Alpine Club, Harrer was deeply connected with the Nazis. However, he spent the most terrible years of Nazi rule in Tibet and was never associated with any crimes. Also, many believe that by popularizing Tibetan spirituality and civilization he had done a great deal to counter the racist character of his past. Despite his flaws, Harrer made great contributions to climbing and to culture, and his passing will be mourned by many within and outside of the climbing community.–Staff
