As a real mountain geek, I really enjoy
mountain presentations. Those evenings when a talker choose a mountain subject
and then make you dream and travel through beautiful words and pictures. During
the « Alpine academy » organized by Arcteryx last june in Chamonix, I was
participating a really interesting one. A strange character from eastern
europa, not more east than Vienna but still inconvenient character ;) was
asking an wierd question : Why the hell, alpinists from 80’s and 90’s were so
much stronger than nowadays alpinists ? They didn’t have same technical gear,
same warm and light clothes, same training programs… but they were simply
rocking :
82 : South face of Shishapangma,
Alpine style by Scott, Macintyre and Baxter-Jones.
84 : South face of Annapurna, Alpine
style, by Lucas and Bohigas
85 : Gasherbrum IV, Alpine style by
Kurtyka and Shauer.
86 : Hornbein on Everest, Alpine style
by Loretan and Troillet…
Of course, There is more than only one
answer… but Luka Lindic (the really cool, strong and finally not so strange
alpinist from Slovenija ;) had a good explanation :
In those time, alpinists had a different
spirit. They were spending a lot of time in mountain, enabling them to develop
that « animal instinct » that make you feel the terrain and its dangers.
Finally they were faster, spread less energy and therefore took less risks even
if their ascents were really really commited !
In opposite, nowdays we train and prepare a
lot before going to mountain. Then we rush to tick our project on our tick
list… rush down to publish on our blogs our facebook, reports to sponsors…
Finally we go back to the gym to train again and again for next projects… At
the end we spend very few moments facing and understanding mountain’s
conditions.
It started to boil in my little head… Shit
!! maybe Linda is not so wrong ! With GMHM we are training like mules. In fact
we never did train so much and so specifically : Cardio training, musculation,
hypoxic chamber, Repeated Sprint in Altitude…
A beautiful window weather is coming in the
Alps. Why not just go to mountain, with no big objectives except spending time
up there, developing this animal instinct and enjoying our natural playground …
10 days in mountain, different supports,
differents climbing partner but always same objective : Enjoying.
26/06 : GRAND CAPUCIN. Combination « Swiss » and « O sole
mio » routes :
Grand
Capucin is maybe one of the nicest granitic needle in Mont-Blanc range. The
rock is close to perfection and the view over combe maudite is simply
breathtaking. With Ena, we have chosen the combination between « Swiss » and «
O sole mio » routes. Maybe the easiest way to reach summit of this gorgeous
peak. No speed record, no rush. We have let the bivy at the bottom of the face,
started climbing at 11 am and just enjoyed a wonderful granit day.
30/06 : MONT-BLANC INTEGRAL from
Contamines :
With
Seb Bohin, Seb Moatti and Ena we found a good trick to avoid crowded normal
routes of european summit. We started at 0H15 from « La gruvaz » parking place,
next to Contamines and we didn’t really stop until top of Mont Blanc, 11 hours
later, passing by « Plan Glacier », «
Refuge Durier », « Aiguille de Bionnassay » and « Dôme du Gouter
». 29 km, 4170m D+ … A beautiful and long day in mountain !
3/07 : AIGUILLE DU PEIGNE « normale »
and « Rébuffat » routes :
After
few days of rest, the weather is still really beautiful and warm. With Seb
Moatti and Seb Ratel we are still in a « training » mode. We decide to go to «
Le Peigne » in Aiguilles de Chamonix range without using cable car. After 5h30
of really beautiful scrambling through
normal route and even nicer climbing through « Rébuffat » route we
reached the summit of this beautiful needle. This route is not so classic but
should really become. The « splitter » pitch graded 6c in the guide book and 5b
by Sebiche… is alone worth the trip.
6/07 : Petit and Grand DRU Traverse :
Last
but not least : Les Drus. This breathtaking needle stands for rock climbing in
Chamonix. It has a strong history linked to first ascents of north face, west
face and more recently all the huge rockslides… I have never reach the top of
Petit dru, which is a shame because I can see it everyday form my balcony in
les Praz…
Arnaud
Bayol and Alban Alozy are hoping to base jump from les drus. I am motivated to
join them but as my base jump abilities
are just excelent in my dreams … I need someone to go down with me, when the
two idiots will join the valley in 2 minutes… Ena is always motivated for a
mountain adventure. Perfect.
Early
morning, we left the most beautiful mountain hut in the world, Charpoua, hold
by the nicest moutain hut keeper in the world, Sarah Cartier (Ok, she is a good
friend and I am not really neutral).
After
a really long time searching for the perfect base jump exit, lasering all
possibilities… our two friends decided the wind is too strong to jump ! We
still have a really long way to finish the route, go down to Charpoua and
finally to Chamonix in the middle of the night !
Beautiful moments, shared in nice company. No pressure of first ascent or speed record… Maybe it is simply this spirit I like in mountain. 10 fabulous days which refill batteries and motivations for next big objective in Himalaya ;)
Tonio.