NYT Article: Many Piolet d’Or Winners die Climbing

[Tom_H]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/spor ... GJw1A0P968

[c9h13no3]

Yeah, I've been reading David Roberts' On the Ridge Between Life & Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined. It really delves into the themes of why climbers take such big risks. And certainly to be at the cutting edge of mountain climbing, you have to take a lot of risk. I'm nowhere near a good climber, but stuff like this does make me reexamine my motivations and practices in my own life.

[druid]

stuff like this does make me reexamine my motivations and practices in my own life.

Having kids will do that too (full disclosure: I've read your blog)

[Gogd]

Surprised by the lack of comments on this topic, given the relative adventurous nature of many of the TRs posted on HST.

While some climbers are driven by superficial competitive urges to one up the next guy, friendships and conversations with some highly skilled, gonzo, go get it climbers and my own experience has lead me to believe the vast majority of climbers are not driven by conspicuous recognition in the form of accolades such as Le Piolet d' Or. In my youth the adrenaline rush of pulling off difficult and demanding projects is what drove me to take on harder challenges. That and it slaked something that was running wild in my psyche. I found this to be the case with most I climbed with, especially climbers drawn to the more challenging outings. It was one part adrenaline junkie, one part confronting mortality, and one part Zen, being in the moment. At some point I realized the nature of the outings became such that the objective risks, not skill, were determining the eventual outcomes of my outings. A few close calls, and climbing past souls who never made it off Denali killed any desire to push it further. Starting a family precluded that spark from reigniting, and losing a few associates over the decades has exorcized any climbing demons lingering in my soul. My daughter is grown, and I intend to take up ski touring in the remote high country again. But I am now driven by beauty, not adrenaline or quirky impulses. Jack Roberts got me into mountaineering. He had that way about him. Some may mistakenly lump him in with mountaineers who climb for vanity's sake. Actually, he climbed for the love of the sport, and life itself, but equally because it was his way of calming the beast that resides within. I wish you were here, Jacques, here to share some geezer trips. I'll even let you select the range.

Ed

[Wandering Daisy]

I could not read the article; it said I had to pay. Any other website that would work?

[Gogd]

I could not read the article; it said I had to pay. Any other website that would work?

I googled the topic thread heading, then used it to google up an alternate web site. Try this:
https://therobertreport.net/2021/11/29/ ... -last-nyt/
Check out the pic of Ethan Berman on a very spicy route up Mt Robson.
Ed

[Wandering Daisy]

Yes, your link worked.

Very sad to me because I climbed with John Roskelley when I was in High School, am a friend of the family, and met Jess, his son, many times. I think Jonh would give up any award he has (and he has some significant ones) to have Jess back, not that he disapproved of the climb or his son's ambitions. The loss was devastating. High end climbers know the risks. They do it anyway. But nowadays, trying to break into top tier climbing, keeping your sponsors (best climbers nowadays usually have commercial sponsors with an unwritten expectation of radical climbs) is a lot of pressure on young climbers. It is too bad that the USA does not just pay their top climbers, like many European countries do. And it is not just mountaineering. Top rock climbers push free, un-roped climbing to the limit. Too many die. They all have amazing abilities, but chances tend to catch up with you.

[Gogd]

Yes, your link worked.

Very sad to me because I climbed with John Roskelley when I was in High School, am a friend of the family, and met Jess, his son, many times.

I am sorry you are so close to these events.

WOW, John was a giant among giants when I was mountaineering. I did not make the name association between father and son, but that explains how Jess became the high level climber he was. It is really complicated when mountaineers we knew don't make it back. Given the company you have climbed with, this likely isn't the first brush you've had, dealing with climbing sport tragedies. You are stronger than I, in that regard. I had to back way off, no longer able to be in the moment when it counts. The voices of those I lost were crowding my head, and I'd lose focus. We look back, morn their loss. As time passes, we morn less, and it becomes easier to cherish the memories of adventures shared, their character and courage. Yet we'd rather share a beer, if we only could.

I met John Roskelly in the early 1980s, just as I was getting into high altitude climbing, at a presentation he gave about his climbs in the Karakoram range, hosted by the AAC or The (Seattle) Mountaineers. He made quite the impression, making the call of high summits something I couldn't resist, like the Sirens of Anthemoessa beckoning. I assume by your post that John is still with us. Good to know he lives beyond his glory days.

I never made it to the level the Roskellys climbed. As you allude, financing that lifestyle is difficult; my CV didn't come close to warranting the attention of sponsorships. Thus I was a part time climber, self financed. I could not find work that was flexible enough for me to take extended leaves, so going on a trek often meant having to find another job when I got back home. Sometimes I did as much couch surfing as climbing. In that era very few were able to pursue climbing and expeditioning full time. Most sponsorships were granted on a project by project basis, typically covering only equipment. Sometimes expeditions could land sponsorships that covered other project related costs, and a few individuals managed to have sponsors cover their living expenses over the span of the project. Climbers that could live mostly off income from sponsorships and public engagements were exceptionally rare, particularly by contemporary standards. Most high level climbers of that era were professional guides, some managing to earn additional money on the side as motivational speakers and doing presentations covering their adventures. The smart ones were able to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Bradford Washburn, Charles Houston, Jim Whittaker, Paul Petzoldt (whom I am sure you met, via NOLS), and find outdoor related careers that didn't require mortal risk to put bread on the table.

Are the pressures on today's elite mountaineers any different than decades ago? It is a sport with minimal financial reward for most, and dangerous to elite climbers, as it always has been. Perhaps the biggest difference is how much closer to the edge the modern climber is able to tread. This does make the sport appear more dangerous, but the state of the art has also advanced, mitigating the risk with better tools, techniques, training methods, and supporting technologies. Alas some objective risks haven't changed, an avalanche or rock fall remain random events beyond the scope of our control. Otherwise much of the risk arises from choices and other human factors, as we allow the Sirens to seduce us into venturing too close to the rocks. And that risk has been with us since the ancient Greeks.

"With tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing"
- Martin Sharp

Ed