Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
|
|
That settles it. I want to climb like a girl!
BAd
|
|
F
climber
away from the ground
|
|
Right on Brette. I soloed Austríaca also, over a decade ago. I believe it took me twice as long to do... It was a highlight of the trip to Chalten. Of course, this was before Facebook, so it never happened.
The progression of climbing in the mountains outside of Chalten the last few years is incredible, especially the solos that are happening.
|
|
couchmaster
climber
|
|
"Harrington’s is the first known free solo." 3 AM, with a cold. Wow, badass stuff.
|
|
aldude
climber
Monument Manor
|
|
Had a rope....weighted it on rappel...not a free solo.
|
|
ionlyski
Trad climber
Kalispell, Montana
|
|
Sounds like F did it before. A little quick to claim first free solo Brette?
|
|
Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
sawatch choss
|
|
You guys are classic.
Nowhere does the article say she is claiming any 'firstness', just reporting what she did. Even says right there in the article:
"According to pataclimb.com, Austríaca has seen a number of solo ascents, by Charlie Fowler in 1996, from the west, Colin Haley in 2011, from the west, and Josh McClure in 2012, as part of a solo link-up of Saint-Exupéry and Aguja de l’S—all American climbers. It’s likely that there have been other, unreported solo ascents, but Harrington’s is the first known free solo."
But snipe away from behind those keyboards!
|
|
MattB
Trad climber
Tucson
|
|
"... but Harrington’s is the first known free solo."
Kinda confusing, given the first part of the same paragraph. Were Fowler et al. roped solo or free solo? And only one exclamation point?
Edit: v it's clear, just made me say 'wait, what?' I had to read it twice..
|
|
matty
Trad climber
under the sea
|
|
^^^ It the others did not use a rope then this would not be the first known free solo. Seems clear that the other known solos did use a rope by the context of the paragraph.
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
|
|
That settles it. I want to climb like a girl!
Bad Climber may have won the internet for the day.
|
|
micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
|
|
This bothers me.
Here she is in a tank top, with a cute smile and practically no gear on her person.
I "grew up" reading about Patagonia from Greg Crouch's Enduring Patagonia.
Patagonia is supposed to be about suffering, storm and fear.
This is what Patagonia should look like.
This Brette Harrington girl is making these boys look light and these mountains look small and harmless. Shame on her! I choose to not believe her ascent so it validates the epics of the gnarly men who have gone before her and been beaten into a pulp through month long sieges on the cold, storm battered flanks of these hallowed mountains.
Pretty girls without ropes, standing on summits with smiles on their faces can do nothing but harm the egos of all of us!
|
|
MattB
Trad climber
Tucson
|
|
Awesome ascent!
^ Good question about weather pattern changes over the years ^
that seems my impression too as a northlander' less severe winters... also way improved weather forecasting
|
|
Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
|
|
You used to hear about expeditions that showed up, sat in their tents for a month and left, never having seen the mountain. Does that happen anymore?
No. Unless you don't want to stay in town and check the forecast. There used to be no town. There used to be no accurate forecast. Simply set up a base camp on the glacier, near the peak you want to climb, sit out sh#t weather, go when it feels right and bail if it turns to sh#t.
Now, the area became a destination for hikers, climbers and tourists from around the world. So there is a town to stay in. Comfortable rooms, showers...or camping. As cheap as free or as high as western prices for hotels. Weather is the big bonus. Usually know of big waves of stable weather. It is a bit crazy and could fall apart the last minute, still, but is usually fairly accurate. Three days out is fairly right on, from my short experience.
|
|
Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
|
|
Ha! She's tearing it up, whereas I was always getting torn up.
That is absolutely bitchin'. Well done Brette.
I did the route she soloed in late Jan or early Feb '96 (with a rope, thank you very much, with Robyn Bunch), and recall hitting a pretty darned hard section of iced up jamming. I was damned happy to have the rope and a belay.
A trio of condors soared through the Saint Exu/De L'S col time and again while we were climbing, then passed within ten feet of our heads when we were on top. Checking for vital signs, I always figured.
Great week of climbing for me--the Compressor Route with Charlie Fowler with a summit bivy and the most astonishing sunrise I will ever see, then Chalten to swill the summit bourbon (Maker's Mark), then back up to do De L'S and Rubio y Azul on Aguja Media Luna with Robyn.
Great week to cap two+ months of futile assaults on the Compressor Route.
Then off to Frey and Cerro Cathedral for three weeks of cragging. That place is magic.
Thinking of the "land mine" I left for John Catto in Refugio Frey still brings a smile to my face.
And I'm really, really glad I got to make my bones in Patagonia without a weather forecast.
Also, for the record, I would never have had the sand to free solo that route. I'm really impressed.
|
|
Hoots
climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
|
|
Way to go Brette! Such a fun route- it felt not dissimilar to a bigger and harder Cathedral Peak, once at the top of a super long mostly snow gully with a couple short rock sections. I rope-soloed it in 2011 and it was one of the most fun days in the mountains ever. T shirt, sweating, no wind and eating alfajors on the summit by myself on Christmas Day was a great gift. Sounds like she got a great day up there too.
|
|
F
climber
away from the ground
|
|
From PataClimb
"History. During the same trip the first ascentionists also completed the first ascent of the south ridge of Saint Exupery. The route has yet to see an ascent wearing rollers skates and boxing gloves but a number of climbers are said to be training for it, focusing particularly on their blogging skills to ensure that such a ground breaking and inovative ascent gets all the publicity and attention it will rightly deserve."
I hauled my pack on one pitch. Had the rope tied to me, and the pack, didn't place gear. Weighted the rope on the rappel from the summit. Not sure if that invalidates it as a free solo. Don't care. Rolo's commentary, which I posted above in quotes, sums it up nicely.
|
|
ecflau
Gym climber
CA
|
|
Wow thats awesome... it gives me hope, or a dream, that one day I can go climb in Patagonia. What a incredible place.
|
|
rolo
climber
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2016 - 10:45am PT
|
a 563 word article about a 3 pitch solo. 187 words per pitch...
Rock and Ice receives the 2015-16 Patagonia Season "Much Ado about Nothing" prize
|
|
F
climber
away from the ground
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2016 - 12:52pm PT
|
Geez Rolo, where is your enthusiasm for marketing and hype? Do you even Facebook?
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!