Amazing: Ueli Steck Solos Matterhorn’s North Face in Under Two Hours

Ueli Steck has scaled the North Face of The Matterhorn in 1 hour and 56 minutes.  Over the past year, Steck has been pushing the boundaries of speed climbing and ascents.  Steck took the Schmidt Route up the Matterhorn and topped it in a time of just under two hours.  Three weeks prior to this amazing climb, Steck put up a time of two hours, 21 minutes on the North Face of Grandes Jorasses.  Prior to that, Ueli Steck had scaled the North Face of The Eiger in two hours and 47 minutes.  These are some incredible climbs on some of the tougher routes in the world.

Climbing.com’s Dougald MacDonald has the full report.  UKClimbing.com has some video of Ueli’s amazing Matterhorn summit.  I am still waiting to see what Ueli will post on the Hardwear Sessions blog.  I am hoping we will get a full report within the next day.  This is still some amazing stuff that Ueli is accomplishing.  he is putting up some very fast times.  It will be interesting to see if others will attempt to knock these times down even further.

Is Speed Climbing the wave of the future?  There is definitely starting to be some interest drawn for these types of climbs.  They definitely add a new competitive aspect to climbing, but I am guessing that the danger level also rises with such an attempt.  Your thoughts?

Inaki Ochoa: What Really Happened on Annapurna?

There has been a lot of talk going on in regards to the recent events on Annapurna.  Inãki Ochoa, one of the premier climbers in the world, tragically perished.  Once it was learned that Inãki Ochoa was in trouble, a massive effort was undertaken to rescue the fallen climber.  He was stranded high in the deathzone, with only his climbing partner, Horio Calabasanu by his side.

During the hours and days that followed, many of the world’s top alpine climbers would make a heroic effort to reach Ochoa and bring him down to safety.  Up to this point, there has not been much information as to what actually took place between Horio Calabasanu’s first call for help and the death of Inãki Ochoa de Olza.  That is, until now.

The Hardware Sessions Blog, the adventure blog from the Mountain Hardware Team, has recently put up a piece written by Edi Erstermannn who goes in to the details of what actually transpired on Annapurna just a couple of weeks ago.  It should be noted that Ueli Steck, who was able to reach Ochoa on Annapurna is sponsored by Mountain Hardware and was recently awarded the Eiger Award, in part for his efforts in this rescue attempt.  Steck should not be the only one recognized for the incredible effort to reach Inaki Ochoa as Simon Anthamatten, Horio Calabasanu, Denis Urubko, and Don Bowie all put up a heroic effort to save a friend in need.

I am going to warn you, the Hardware Sessions piece is quite emotional, but to truly understand the events that took place, you need to hear from those who were there.  For the first time, most of the participants speak out and let us in to a miraculous attempt that unfortunately ended in tragedy.  A special thanks needs to go out to Patricia Bamert and Cynthia Houng for translating this wonderful piece.  Click below to read the article.

On Annapurna

Ueli Steck Scales New Heights With 2008 Eiger Award

By Jo Adams

OF all the mountains, in all the ranges across the world, few have provoked the myriad of feelings that the north face of the Eiger has.

All at once, terrifying, magnificent and inspirational, the Eigernordwand is as steeply enriched with history as it is with limestone and it is this history that has time and again lent mountaineers to show tenacity, courage and unlimited self-confidence every time they step foot on it.

In doing so, prepared as they are to take that extra step, they motivate us and encourage us, forcing us by their own deeds to take a more introspective look on life than we ever normally would.

Whether or not the mountaineers themselves acknowledge this would vary from one to another as generally speaking they are a modest and reticent band when it comes to talking about their achievements in life, preferring instead to let the mountains tell their story.

When the Eiger Award for 2008 was announced in Grindelwald at the end of May it was no different a scenario as the recipient, Ueli Steck, looked as if sprinting up the north face of the Eiger was a doddle in comparison to standing on a podium in front of his peers.

Swiss born Steck (31) has been appropriately recognized not only for a solo ascent of the north face of the Eiger (which saw him register an incredible speed record for the notoriously difficult vertical face), but for his mountaineering in general, his personality and of course his courageous attempt to rescue stricken Spanish climber Iñaki Ochoa on Annapurna just 10 days before.

Modest in the extreme,  Steck described his climb to Ochoa (along with fellow Swiss alpinist Simon Anthamatten) as ‘just something you do’.

“If you were walking down the street and you saw someone who needed help you would give it to them.”

Hardly an apt comparison for the two climbers who not only immediately headed up the storm ravaged Annapurna face to 7,400m, but did so ill-equipped, as they had already stored their gear for their own attempt while waiting for the weather to show some signs of kindness.

“We couldn’t climb up and get all our gear, come back down and then go again, it would have been impossible. So we climbed in regular boots, ones you would use for a summer climb in the Alps.” Steck said.

“We left base camp and got as far as 6,900m but when we got there because we didn’t have the right climbing boots on Simon had to stay put. I was only able to go on because the Russian climber Alexi Bolotov came down from the summit and he swapped boots with me. Luckily they were a size 45, if they had of been 42 it would have been Simon who went on alone.”

Were any thoughts given to the dangerous circumstances?

“We took every care up there. It was no more or no less dangerous than at any other time. We went high and we went fast but we still took every possible care.”

Prior to the rescue attempt, which threw Steck’s name into the worldwide media, he was starting to gain a somewhat unfair reputation as a ‘mad’ climber for his speed records and his solo ascents.

“There were some people who were saying I was mad, crazy, for setting speed records and doing so many solo ascents but it’s really good to know that there are some people out there who understand what Alpinism is all about.

“To win the Eiger Award is great, but like reaching a summit for the first time, it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

The Eigernordwand solo speed record was previously held by Christoph Hainz when in 2003 he climbed it in 04:30.00, but then Steck came along in 2007 and registered 03:45.00.

Not content with that he returned in February 2008 and proceeded to shake the life out of his own time by registering a mind blowing 2:47:33.

“It’s a very special mountain to me, I’ve climbed it so many times and while I would never lose respect for the mountain, to me it is my playground.” said Steck.

“The Heckmair route is no less difficult now than it was in 1938 (first ascent).

“What has changed is the equipment we use and the skills of the individual mountaineers, the dangers are still the same.

“When I first climbed the north face I took two 250m ropes to make sure I could get back down if I needed to.

“Now I take a 35m rope and I know that that is sufficient for me to descend if I need to. That’s a change in me though; the mountain hasn’t changed at all.”

Steck first stepped onto a mountain at the age of 12 and has never looked back.

Along with Stephan Siegrist he opened the ‘Young Spider’ (1800m M7/Wi6; 7a/A2) route on the Eiger in 2001 and later becoming the first to climb it solo in 2006.

Well known for his extreme alpine style, meaning no fixed ropes or supplemental oxygen, Steck also has other numerous solo first ascents to his name including Cholatse North Face 6440m, Tawoche East Face 6505m and Mount Dickey, Alaska, first ascent (1700m M7+/Ai6 5.9/A1) to mention just a few.

“I prefer the alpine style of climbing. To me that is real mountaineering, it is the biggest challenge.”

A noted solo climber there are times when Steck is more than happy to climb with a partner and he and Anthamatten completed a first ascent of the 6,500m high Tengkampoche in May.

“Simon is a very strong climber and after we had climbed together in Canada I knew he was the one I wanted as my partner for Annapurna.

“We make a good team, we speak the same language and he’s pretty smart.

“He hasn’t got any 8000ms yet so he leaves all the decisions on the mountain to me. If I say we do something he doesn’t argue he accepts and so we work well together. He has to be able to trust me but I also have to be able to trust him, it works both ways.”

“We get on really well together and even when sitting around in base camp for one, two weeks at a time waiting for the right weather window, we got along fine.

“Well apart from the breakfast table! I like to lounge back and relax and Simon hates that, he thinks we should sit upright at the table. He gets very annoyed about that, but that’s the only thing!

“Relationships are very important in climbing and you need to take that with you when you climb. If you can’t get along with someone on the ground it is going to be so much worse on a wall.”

Steck will now take time out to recover from his arduous Himalayan trip and right now he has no plans for any big expeditions.

“I am not giving up on the south face of Annapurna, we will get back there one day, but there’s no rush, it’s not going anywhere. Now I rest, recover and let my body get over the last few weeks. Simon and I will definitely climb again together but I will also solo as well.

“I love the aspect of being alone on a mountain. When you are up at 6,000m and there is no way of going down you are totally alone and I feel very, very small then.

“But that gives you a total respect for the mountain. It opens up your senses, there’s no feeling like it, it is so intense. Then when you go back down into the valley it leaves. So, we keep going, we keep looking for more challenges in the mountains.

“If I didn’t climb I would find something else that I would follow with the same passion. I want to live life no matter what.”

For a man who ‘just’ climbs mountains Ueli Steck has done himself proud and with his name now in the history books of the Eiger in indelible ink, he has already more than made his mark.

Editor’s Note:  This is a Special Report from the 2008 Eiger Awards.  Jo Adams, who wrote this great piece for The Adventurist, retains all rights to this article and the photos contained.  For reprint rights, please contact Jo Adams at siula.grande.peru@gmail.com.  Jo Adams is a Freelance Sports Journalist based out of Dorset, England.  Thank-you Jo for this special report.

©2008 The Adventurist.  All Rights Reserved.  This article may not be republished or redistributed without contacting the Author or Publisher for further arrangements.

Legendary Climber Inaki Ochoa Dies on Annapurna, Ueli Steck By His Side–May 23, 2008

Heroic efforts to rescue climber Inaki Ochoa, unfortunately were not enough. Inaki Ochoa passed away at 12:30 pm local time. Ueli Steck, who was in the process of helping to carry out a high-altitude rescue on Ochoa, was with him and continued to try to revive him until the very end.

Sorry guys. I am a bit choked up. I think many of us believed that the rescue efforts would be a success, but unfortunately, today, that was not the case. Over the past couple of days, as this rescue effort played out, many people had been watching, hoping, and praying for Ochoa, one of the leading mountaineers in the world. His struggle on Annapurna began with no warning, and ends quite the same. I think many of us are shocked. My heart goes out to Inaki Ochoa’s family, friends, and associates. Let’s not forget Ueli Steck, who made an amazing effort to rescue the struggling climber. Even if the rescue did not come out as we all hoped, Ueli Steck and the other individuals who were struggling to get up Annapurna to rescue Ochoa–quite frankly, they should be treated as heroes for their personal ethics in helping a fallen comrade.

I will have a bit more information and make another post later on today. In the meantime, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments–prayers for Inaki Ochoa, all involved in these efforts, and for Inaki’s family.

To catch up on news and information, you can read my previous posts on this rescue effort HERE, HERE, and HERE. For the latest Update, head over to ExplorersWeb.

Once again, Inaki Ochoa has died on Annapurna–May 23, 2008

The Adventurist: A Call to All Outdoor Writers and Photographers!

I have just put the finishing touches on a new “Submit & Contact” Page here at The Adventurist.  I am hoping that this new feature will be accepted and used by all of my great readers.

This page goes into detail about a few things I am looking for here at The Adventurist–and ways you might be able to get involved.

Do you love Adventure Writing or perhaps Great Outdoors Photography?–Help me share your incredible talents with a much bigger audience!

Head on Over to the “Submit & Contact” Page, found on a tab right up above this article, and Share your Adventures with the World!

Also, if you are looking to put me to work, there is info there as well….

Cheers-

J. Alan Hendricks, Editor

Climbing Accidents, Mt. Hood, News Reports, The Internet and Dale Earnhardt?

 

I am hoping that as you visit this site you are paying a little bit of attention to the far right-hand column.  A week or so ago I had the priviledge of putting up some great RSS feeds–so that you may be more informed.

I want to draw your attention to a post that was recently put up on DailyCamera.  First off, DailyCamera is a great RSS feed offering many “Outdoors” columnists one place to express their viewpoints.

The particular article that I want to draw your attention to is “Scott-Nash:  Looking at Accidents in the Internet Age” by Mark Scott-Nash.

This piece goes into some detail about a recent climbing accident and how it was covered on the Internet in relation to other media.

More and more people are turning to the fastest news source that there has ever been–The Internet.

Last December, if you have been coming here for awhile, I had the opportunity to cover the Mt. Hood disaster.  I was actually quite surprised that in the process of The Adventurist covering this story–I was able to dig up details and information a heck of a lot faster than CNN, FOXnews, and MSNBC–who actually had correspondents on the scene– Read more

ExplorersWeb Taking a Stand…The Adventurist: A Call for Change

ExplorersWeb has published a very strong editorial today about people dying on Everest…Here is a question they pose:

“The questions is though, how many times will we have to witness a Kazakh, a Pole, a Spaniard or any other of the world’s foremost climbers rescue people in the death zone while we keep hearing amateur climbers (preferably Anglo-Saxon) and Everest business folks repeating into Discovery’s cameras that it’s impossible? “

This question of Ethics from such a highly public site as ExplorersWeb will definately be reverberated throughout the climbing community in the days ahead.

This Editorial comes on the heels of one I put up yesterday examining the same issue, yet in a slightly different way.

“David Sharp HAD to Die” goes in to detail about how the death of David Sharp is currently influencing the thoughts and a slight change of attitude that I think is taking place, regarding these high-altitude rescues and leaving people to die.

It is a controversial issue, I agree.

ExplorersWeb has called out a couple of people and expedition companies for the way that they handle their “business”, not only on Everest, but in the climbing community in general–when it comes to someone in trouble on the mountain.

I feel like change is starting to take place in the way people are now seeing these incidents–for years people have been told that in the Death Zone, that there is no chance for rescue…

Let me say that they may be right…but, how do you know that a life can not be saved unless you actually stop and give an effort?

Forty People walked by David Sharp.  Forty.  All on their personal mission to the summit.

I like to think that perhaps my editorial influenced ExplorersWeb to also express themselves publicly on this issue, but perhaps it isn’t an “influence”.  Perhaps there are more of us out there that are tired of seeing these people die needlessly–than was previously thought. 

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE

In 2007, you can not tell me that we can not develope a system to get these people off of Everest or any other mountain where someone has been injured.

The technology is out there if people are willing to put it together in order to save a life.  The way rescues are carried out today is almost the exact same as it was twenty years ago.

A lot of people are influenced by what they hear–when they hear someone can’t be brought down from the Death Zone–they take that as fact, without questioning it, or for that matter, without trying.

The summit is the most important thing to those that are trying their luck at Everest.  Some that have been there say it isn’t, some that fail say it isn’t, but you would not spend that kind of cash to not have a shot at the summit–plain and simple.

Everest brings immediate fame and noteriety to those that succeed.  Everest is still portrayed as inaccessable, yet well over 200 people made it to the top last year alone.

If those 200 people had made a sacrifice of something that will still be there tomorrow–Everest’s Summit–then perhaps they could have saved even one life from perishing.

What is more important, The summit or a life?

Right now there are at least 4 different people having a lot of issues on Everest, according to their daily reports.  Some of them are so sick that they can do nothing but throw up, yet the summit lingers in their minds.  The summit. 

I can’t put all of the blame on the the one’s not in trouble.  The one’s in trouble sometimes put themselves in the position that they eventually find themselves in.

If you are unhealthy.  If your sickness has lasted longer than 2 days…then get off the mountian.  Your body obviously is already at the breaking point.  Suck it up and make a decision, get down to a lower level, and live to climb another day.

Everest eats people.  If you aren’t prepared in every way possible, you stand a good chance of dying come summit day.

Everyone needs to come together on this issue and take a stand.  People have died needlessly–people have been left behind.  Without making a second guess about these situations, people will continue to die needlessly.

David Sharp HAD to Die on Everest

People die on Mt. Everest.  That is a fact.  In fact until the last few years the statistic was that for every four people to make the summit, one would die.  In recent times (the 2007 Everest climbing season involves close to 1,000 individuals) that number has grown to one in twenty.

Last season brought the tragic death of David Sharp and the controversy of climbers not helping a fellow climber in need to the forefront of media institutions around the world.  Perhaps this is because people never  really knew what went on at 28,000 ft. or they never really thought about it until the media picked up the story.

I am not going to go in to detail on what happened to David Sharp.  By now the world over knows this story and  a year later it still lingers in the minds and bemoans an outpouring of controversy.  Everyone has an opinion.  I will leave it at that.

What I would like to mention is that David Sharp has not been the only climber to be left behind.  It has happened before and more than likely it will happen again.  Read more

Sir Edmund Hillary: Your Thoughts, Your Prayers

It is being widely reported today that Sir Edmund Hillary has been injured in a fall.  Sir Hillary was the first person, along with his climbing sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to summit Mt. Everest.  It has been noted that Hillary is not suffering “Life-Threatening” injuries and that his progress is going well.

Hillary is 87 years old and has recently taken up walking with a cane.  It is also being reported that Sir Edmund Hillary has been suffering from High Altitude Sickness for a number of years now.

In due respect for what Sir Edmund Hillary has come to mean and represent in the climbing community, I thought that it would be a good time for all of my loyal readers here at The Adventurist to wish Sir Edmund Hillary the best.  Today we keep you in all of our thoughts and prayers! 

You, the reader, may post your thoughts, prayers, and good wishes upon Sir Edmund Hillary here, as we all come together to wish him a fast recovery

The Complete Coverage! Everest 2007!

The Complete Coverage!  Everest 2007!  Click here!

As many of you might know, a couple of months back I mentioned that I would be setting up a Page on The Adventurist for the Everest 2007 Climbing season.

This page will be similar to the page covering the Mt. Hood Tragedy I covered in 2006 offering up all the links and stories as we publish them in one easily located space.

What this does is it allows all of my loyal readers an easier way to follow along with the Everest 2007 season as it happens, as well as lets you keep track of what HAS happened up to the latest story.  At the top of this site, you will now see a headline that reads “The Complete Coverage!  Everest 2007!  Click Here!”, by clicking this, you will now have access to every story concerning the 2007 Everest Climbing season.

I hope you enjoy this convenient way of staying on track with the happenings on Everest this season.  It is really shaping up to be a great season with many stories breaking daily.  You will now find them all here!

Next Page »