Chamonix Wrap-up; Skiing

Augille du Midi

I've wondered what it would be like to live in Chamonix over the years. The town is host to one of the biggest outdoor tourism locations on the face of the planet since there is any activity to be had within about an hour from the town square. Not to mention that the best cheeses, meats and tasty beverages of all types support the gnostic experience.

A view from the Augille du Tacul

Chamonix is perhaps best known for its skiing first, and then its climbing. If funny that Gordon and I didn't even have Chamonix on our radar when planning our tour for the UIAA International World Ice Climbing Competitions in 2011. The chain of events that happened bring about a cancellation of the competition in Val Daone, Italy spurred us on to find other places to go and other things to do.

Since Stephanie was so gracious to show us around we gained far more than we ever could have form competing in Val Daone. L'Usine and the Zoo were two of the highlights, but having a chance to shoehorn in some skiing in Chamonix was great. Here's a great clip of some of the skiing we did by that Lukasz Warzecha put together:

Behind the Scenes - Skiing in Chamonix from Lukasz Warzecha - LWimages.co.uk on Vimeo.

Behind the Scenes - Skiing in Chamonix

I would have embedded the video here, but Austria won't let me do it.

Unfortunately, I also heard from Margaret Wheeler, President of the AMGA, that all Aspirant Guiding for 2011 is prohibited in France due to a major overhaul of the French program. I have heard from locals in Europe that this has to do in large part to the fact that aspirant guides were trying so hard to push the limits to prove themselves that there was a high mortality rate of aspirant guides. I can fully appreciate this since I have been there, done that, in the AMGA program. It's an unspoken peer pressure imposed by an adrenergic system fueled with one-upmanship that contributes to aspiring guides to push it too hard, too fast to reach a standard that may or may not be tenable objectively or subjectively. I lost a few friends last year to this exact issue. I'm glad they are looking at this problem.

Seoul and Cheongson, South Korea World Cup 2011

Ice, Ice, Baby. Rollin' in Seoul, we found a gem of a place to climb. An indoor ice climbing gym that includes some great mixed climbing ! The rock gym aspect isn't too shabby either, but Gordon and I had the joint to ourselves, so it was awesome.



There's loads of stores here in Seoul too. I think I've counted over a dozen small shops that carry more high end equipment than REI in Albuquerque. We were told that Korea sells more North Face equipment than all of Europe by Andrej Pejeck.

This trip to Korea wasn't so lucky in the IWC for me, but it's been a great experience to see new culture and see new places as well as meeting many new people.
We got some great photos and video that we hope to put together at some point. There's so much to see and take in.

I gave away a Beverly Mountain Guides / Strike Rescue shirt to my old friend, Alexey Dengin, from Russia. He helped me immensely last year after the competition in Rabenstein where I was able to get on some of the competition routes (something we can't do at a UIAA IWC wall), and was able to put some techniques to use and to the test for improvement for this year. He's a great guy and has good English, so we are able to chat quite a bit and have some fun.

There's definitely a separation of regions, mostly based on the languages, that takes place on the "traveling circus" (as I call it). The Euros have absorbed us from North America, and so that's generally who we hang out with. Marcus Bendler kicks ass and takes first, then the Russians pretty much run the show. They turn out in masses, 15-20 on this trip alone I believe, and that's maybe half as many as were in Kirov in 2010. It's just a small band of Euros and we bond together and support each other through good times and bad while on the tour.


This time, Angelica Rainier was wronged of her rightful win when she was pulled off her climb at this first World Competition by a judge who got overzealous that she did not clip an anchor with her rope before progressing.


They actually pulled her off the route by pulling the rope from the other end. She complained and was rightfully given a chance to repeat the route. Unfortunately, a hold broke on her when she was about 2/3 the way up the route and she fell off.

She was so cold and tired by then that she was not able to make the complaint and do yet another attempt on the route again. She was shattered emotionally. All felt that she had been stripped of a championship that included 3500 Euros (about $5000). Its a tough roller coaster for all the climbers at all levels. There's really good climbers who say that they could easily climb the routes we do, but then again, the competition aspect is a whole other animal with loads of internal and external pressures not found in recreational climbing. It seems that no matter what happens, no matter how well we did, it's never good enough.

Here we are huddled like penguins and trying to keep warm while the Korean wind blow down the canyon before the award ceremony.


Although it was great to hang out and get a good cultural exposure, I'm growing weary of being the North American climbing cheering squad. I want to make the next round and be able to climb. I need to climb smarter and harder. This is a steep learning curve. I don't think that someone (most people) will be able to show up on this platform/venue and be able to do well right away. All parties involved would like to see more Americans and Canadians involved with the IWC, but I'm sure that most people do not have what it takes to make a commitment to do well in here. Most people will never even make it out of qualification rounds. I guess I'm still throwing this out to North America: get on board and become the best mixed climber you can be.

Marc