Morocco

I recently returned from almost two months in Morocco where I was working on a gag for American television. The show was a Mark Burnett creation called Expedition Impossible, the trailer is above. Normally I wouldn't watch this kind of TV, but this show will showcase the incredible beauty of Morocco, and could be well worth the watch.

I traveled extensively around the country. Wow, what a great place. The diversity of environments and the rich culture make it a must-see destination.

After the stint of work was over, Elise flew and met me in Marrakech. From there we traveled to the ocean-side surf town Essaouira so I could decompress a little.

The now famous Taghia Gorge was our next stop and it delivered the goods. We cruised classic bolted limestone routes up to 2000' long. Mostly vertical or less, these were the perfect routes to condition our arms for what was to come next. On the local 'chicken run' bus out of Zaoia Ahensale, the town at the trailhead to Taghia, we fortuitously met some Spanish climbers who told us about the Akchour Valley. They described 1000' overhanging sport climbs dripping with tufas in a lush valley a stones throw from the Mediterranean. That's all we needed to hear before making the necessary travel arrangements. We were on our way to check it out.

On the way we spent a few days engulfed in the madness of the medieval Fez medina, a truly crazy place to go get lost. After a day in the ultra-cosmique town of Chefchaouen, we piled into a taxi and embarked on the windy roads north to Akchour.

Our low expectations were shot out of the park by what we stumbled upon: amazing walls lined the valley and Mr. Abdul welcomed us into his centrally-located gite, a cosmic place to hang out after a day of first-class limestone. With only time for a sampler of the routes, we made the most of it, exploring the different sectors and taking note of the great potential of the place.

I highly recommend a trip to the adventurous climber looking to sample high quality Moroccan stone, and maybe add a route of your own!

Skyler takes a photo of the traffic lines, which are usually ignored anyways. Casablanca.

Tony is a tired panda. Pablos feet stink.

Digs for a couple nights.

Pablo and I enjoying a mandatory Moroccan "Land Cruiser bumper ride". One of many.

Voldemort is hanging out in Tinghir... Just kidding, it's J Smith.

Abraheim and I chilling in the Todra Gorge. A pure soul.

Pablo doing what he does best: consuming sketchy street meat. The sketchier, the better. It's a passion.

Why isn't North America this civilized?

Our hotel in the Todra Gorge. The bigwall above overhangs the place. I wondered how many times stonefall has demoed the roof...

Todra.

Pablo sampling my nut sack. Almond heaven.

Pablo and I climbed the classic moderate of the Todra. Cams were superfluous, it had been heavily retroed.

I went skiing in Africa. Stoked!

Buff and his horse.

Shredding Moroccan gnar.

Ski extrême.

My buddy Kris lent me his sticks. Thanks Kris!

The beautiful Tolkein Canyon.

Tolkein.

The name of this village escapes me, but I truly enjoyed my time here.

The village near Tolkein.

Jimmy Orava.

Our friend Hassan in Ouzoud.

Ouidane... I think...

Tony and I put up some classic sport pitches on first class Moroccan limestone.

Aiding and bolting the steeps is hard!

Orange and blue stone, dripping with God's Own Tufas.

Tony on "Spicy Mackerel". A reference to the sub-par lunches I was eating with Jimmy and Fish.

Rollin' in my djellaba.

Patagonia 2011

nia Here are a few photos from various climbs and attempts during the 2010/11 season in Patagonia:

Pata-Snaps

Climbing photos are generally boring, so I have chosen to upload some fun non-climbing pictures. Enjoy. Regrettably, climbing photos to follow... ;)

The Geisler enjoying one of many cafe express during our epic three-day, 6 airport journey to Patagonia.

Buenos Aires is a cool town, with lots of amazing buildings around every corner.

My first Quilmes of the trip. A proud, refreshing national beer. Treated with disdain by many Argentines, not unlike Kokanee in Canada, it will always remain close to my heart, just like its Canadian blue-canned counterpart.

Domo Blanco makes the finest helado artensenal I have ever tried. Standards have risen in Patagonia, and now, the quarter-kilo is the regular indulgence. Here is Maury going all out on the full kilo. Solo, single-push. A bold send.

Tango, the Del Lago mascot.

G-man on the hike out from a Torre Valley gear-caching mission. Note: the Torre is the giant cloud covered popsicle in the photo.

The Fitz Roy massif. The (relatively) gentle giants of the range.

Geisler. Torre icefall behind.

More ice trekking. It's pretty cool though, no?

I walked over, Geisler walked under.

 

Cool forest trekking. I really like alpine climbing because it mostly involves walking, which I am way better at than climbing. 

 Someone made these and posted them throughout town. A tad harsh, I'd say.

 Then Jon Gleason showed up. Here he is with a Penguino from 'A-wanna-kank'. Usually we fill these with vino tinto, but on this special occasion he is drinking agua.

Gleason thinks a lot. This time in the Chocolateria.

Geisler's bananas didn't survive the hike into basecamp. He ate them anyways. He also let his empanadas go soggy. I thought he was supposed to be experienced at this stuff...

Colin Haley is an empanada fanatico. If he didn't go alpine climbing all the time I'm sure he would be an obese person.

Zack Smith is one bad ass hombre.

These are some bad ass waffles.

Geisler split five fingertips before we even tried Cerro Torre. I don't think he could use his hands very well after our mission.

A Josh Wharton sandwich in a gringo man shack. Coach Wharton is a model climber and human being for all. Mad respect.

Hayden turned 21!

Cerro Torre SE Ridge Attempt

Geisler and I had an epic week up in the Torre Valley.  The weather looked windy but climbable.   This would be our last chance as Chris had to leave in a couple days and Cerro Torre was still rimed and unclimbable.  Think giant Torre popsicle.  With the Torre out of condition we opted for, I think, plan C... or was that D?  We were the first ones to arrive at basecamp and dug out our cache, basking in the peace and quiet, knowing that soon Niponino would be a full circus.

We settled on trying a new route on one of the towers on the east side of the valley.  It took us about 12 hours or so, maybe more, to approach the base of the route from basecamp.  No jokes.  About 10 or so approach pitches and tons of walking in zig-zags.  Chris mostly led as I began to get really sick with the flu or some similar condition.  We finally got to the base of the route and I was able to lay down in the sun for a little bit and recharge my batteries.  I led a couple pitches - steeper and harder than expected - to the only ledge feature of the line.  We hadn't intended on stopping, but I was sick and Geisler was feeling low energy.  Our hope was that after a rest we would be able to continue the next day and top out.  We open-bivied here without stove or bivy gear, super rugged.  Needless to say we weren't feeling any better the next morning, so we bailed, which was just as complicated and time-consuming as the approach.

We cashed-in our chips, it was a mostly unsuccessful trip to Patagonia.  The next morning we packed up early as Geisler had to catch his bus that afternoon.  We shouldered our enormous loads - I am still in disbelief as to the amount of climbing gear we hiked into the Torre Valley.  On the hike out we noticed the Cerro Torre headwall had shed quite a bit in the last days of sun and we were met by reports of good weather for the next couple days.  With only minutes to make the 'should we stay or should we go' decision, it was clear, we would try what we came to Patagonia to attempt.  Geisler dropped his pack on the glacier and ran to town to change his ticket while I shuttled the packs back to camp.  He got back to Niponino at 3:30 am after the usual frustrations of last-minute ticket changing.  A 30km round trip!  We were stoked to the max!

We slept in, giving Geisler a chance to rest.  He had hiked a takeout steak up from town and we devoured it, including soggy French fries and wilting salad, for breakfast.  We left camp the next morning at 10:00 am for the Torre.  The snow was isothermic by the time we got to it so the approach pitches of mixed climbing to the shoulder required a bit of creativity.  Geisler was pretty worked after his 30km hike the night before, but at least he was able to ride the jumars for a while - albeit with the big pack.  With all that we had done in the past few days we weren't exactly setting any speed records up there.  I led and short-fixed as Chris followed with the larger pack and the jumars.  Our friends Colin Haley and Zach Smith, who were trying the same project up the SE ridge rappelled past us, bailing.  They told us it was too cold and windy and they only had lightweight sleeping bags each to bivy in.  Chris and I chatted, we only had one lightweight sleeping bag to share, but we were committed and were not bailing now.  We bivied just below the Salvaterra variation to the great bolt traverse the first night, I spent a long time chopping a ledge into the ice for us to sleep on.  The night was cold, but luxurious compared to the horrible bivy we had two nights previous.

I continued to lead the next day.  At the ice towers Chris was getting frustrated being the pack mule on the jumars so he took over the leading.  David Lama was on the Torre aid climbing up the bolts so we were being buzzed all day long by a helicopter film crew.  Truly frustrating.  It grew dark and we ended up climbing through the night on the headwall, very exciting.  We followed the wrong feature out left and eventually dead-ended after Geisler led an 8-hour pitch of techno aid, taking one whipper when the flake he was hooking on ripped.  Geisler did a lot of climbing when you were the most rad if you did the hard aid stuff.  He did early repeats of El Cap terrors and established and repeated the most serious of the Squamish bigwalls. 

Our highpoint was about 40m below the top of the headwall says Pataclimb.com.  (Climbing.com says 50m, I am not sure where they got their information for their newspiece).  A storm started, a full whiteout turned our ropes and beards instantly frosty and the winds turned nuclear up there.  We bailed quickly thanks to all the bolts.

When we arrived, basecamp was a ghost town, we were the last tent remaining.  Early the next morning Chris hiked to town to catch his bus to the airport.  I slept in and hiked out that afternoon with a crippling load on my back.  After running into Chris and hearing our story, Zack Smith and Hayden Kennedy hiked in with beer and empty packs to help me carry out my load.  A truly brotherly gesture, but somehow we missed each other on the trail.  I really could have used the medication of a litro of Quilmes.

I’ll post some photos when I leave Chalten, the internet here is shockingly slow.
Geisler must have run into Rolo before his departure, because details of our climb ended up on his website pataclimb.com.  Here’s what he had to say about it all:


In February of 2011 Canadians Chris Geisler and Jason Kruk came very close to pulling off a complete "fair means" ascent of the SE ridge of Cerro Torre, reaching a point 40 meters below of the top of the headwall without using any of Maestri's bolts for progression. They followed the Salvaterra-Mabboni and Wharton-Smith lines to the headwall, then climbed the first headwall pitch right over the bolts but without using them (free at 5+), to then move right for a pitch (they aided some but estimated it would go free at 6c), later crossing left of the bolted line to reach an obvious ledge one pitch below the compressor. From here they climbed left to a point level with the compressor but about 40 meters left of it. In the early morning, after having climbed through the night and in very high winds Geisler finished his lead by traversing back right following a thin seam, to eventually make a pendulum that took him to the third bolt down from the compressor. From that point they retreat. In the darkness Geisler failed to notice features further left that likely would have allowed him to climb a completetly independent fair means line to the top. On that last pitch, which required 8 hours, Geisler placed a single bolt climbing left and one while traversing right back to the compressor. Hats off for such a great effort!!

Chris is gone now, but I am still here and ready to try again!

David Lama to Rap Bolt Cerro Torre

Here is some background:

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web10s/newswire-david-lama-compressor-bolts
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web10x/newswire-lama-speaks-compressor
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web10f/newswire-flash-bolts-cut
http://kellycordes.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/cerro-torre-david-lama-and-red-bullshit/

This year Chris Geisler and I won the John Lauchlan memorial grant for an unconventional project.  We are in Argentine Patagonia at the moment with hopes of climbing the southeast ridge of Cerro Torre (also know as the Compressor Route) without utilizing any of Cesare Maestri's bolts.

Also planning on something similar are our friends Colin Haley and Zach Smith.  Naturally, there has been A LOT of talk about the SE ridge between us: comparing strategies, possible variations to the line, equipment, etc.  About a week ago David Lama and a crew of mountain guides and videographers arrived with intentions of resuming their project from last year - freeing the line of the Compressor Route, with Red Bull again the sponsor of the project.

The four of us as well as Rolo Garibotti have been in several dialogues with the Red Bull crew, hoping to gain some insight as to their intentions and the style in which they choose to attempt their project.  We wanted to let them know of our plans so that everyone can be accommodated on the route and to ensure that our experience wouldn't be impacted by their tactics.

It has come out today that Lama and crew plan to climb to the top of Cerro Torre following Maestri's bolt line, then rappel from the top and rappel-bolt the best line for free climbing.  Lama claims that this is the only way in which he will be able to complete the project within the next 5 years.  He also says he can take the shit storm that is sure to ensue.

I am upset, and I don't know what to do about it.

Climbing, Skiing, Patagonia, and Chris Geisler

Well, I am busy packing the full alpine arsenal on the floor of the humble cabin I share with my girlfriend Elise.  Various Arc'teryx jackets and pants cover almost the entire extent of the floor, and cams and spiky bits of ice climbing gear threaten to poke at us if we are not careful where we step.  I'm behind schedule in packing for my trip, and I will undoubtedly leave a hurricane for her to clean up in my wake... (sorry babe).

This year I applied for, and won, the John Lauchlan memorial grant for a trip to Patagonia with Chris Geisler.  John was a legendary Canadian climber who had a global impact on the sport of alpinism.  I am deeply honored to receive an award in his honor and am excited to perpetuate his spirit of adventure.

Out for a midwinter walk with Elise and Kafka the dog.

Midwinter in Squamish is feared by many residents, but I thoroughly enjoyed my short stint at a domestic life in the rain.  I find Squamish is a beautiful place to live year round, only if your happiness isn't dependent on the weather.  I haven't really climbed much in preparation for this trip, which is kinda how I like it.  Chris and I went out for a day with Jai Condon in search of elusive coastal ice to climb.  We ended up at the Suicide Bluffs just south of Pemberton, it was 0 degrees and threatening to rain.

Jia Condon photos

Geisler stemming hard on a very wet Psycho Pillar

The pillar was dripping wet, my Goretex was instantly wetted out.  In a word: miserable.  It reminded me what the very worst of coastal ice climbing feels like.  It's because of this that I prefer to go skiing whenever possible.  I believe ski touring to be some of the best cross-training possible for alpinism.  Skiing is almost always awesomely fun, it's usually hard work, and if you are scared, at least you are having fun.

Here is a video shot from footage on Tony Richardson's camera:

Rohr Shred w/ Tony Katja and Candace from Jason Kruk on Vimeo.

Check back from time to time, I will try and get some dispatches from our trip us!