Alppikarpo pääsi melko tuoreltaan haastattamaan Alan ”Mamuallu” Goldbetteriä, joka kiipesi tiiminsä Tess Smith ja Aniek Lith kanssa alppityylisen nousun Trollveggenin reitille nimeltään ”Suser gjennom Harryland”. Alanin projekti sai osan rahoituksestaan Finnish Alpine Awardilta, jonka kuvaus palkitun projektin tavoitteesta kuuluu seuraavasti:
”Projekti vakuutti raadin erityisesti, koska se hakee historiallisesti merkittävää nousua kunnioittaen alkuperäistä alppikiipeilyn tyyliä ja koska sen tavoitteena on kunnianhimoinen ja harvinainen talvinousu pohjoismaiden jyrkimmälle ja korkeimmalle seinälle.”
Mutta mitä kyseinen alppikauris tuumaili itse onnistuneesta projektista?
Please enlighten Karpo readership about the background of this trip!
Sure! In short, it was about three friends attempting one of the ”easiest” aid climbing routes on the iconic Trollveggen, in winter. Teknokiipeily, heavy packs, long nights, mini discoball raves, cold, kinda scary, and time-consuming climbing made up the general vibe.
Please describe Trollveggen a bit
Trollveggen is (in)famous for being the tallest vertical/overhanging rock face in Europe, and one of the tallest in the world. It should be noted that those stats are for the central part of the wall, where as we climbed something much less substantial.
How about the route
Suser Gjennom Harryland (VI, A3, 5, 600 m) was the route of choice. This route climbs the steep buttress on Trollveggen’s left side, and ends on the ridge which makes up the Trollryggen route, about half way up the total height of the wall. While Trollveggen has a reputation for being terribly loose, we specifically chose this route due to its reportedly (mostly) solid rock.
You climbed with your usual partners Tess and Aniek, how did you end up with the ladies? Any roles within the group?
Through sheer luck! Aniek and I first connected via Instagram after she found a post from one of my early failed winter Blåmann attempts (at the time, she had a similar hobby of attempting Blåmann in winter). As the pool of people interested in these kind of adventures is small, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves trying it together (but only after your’s truly recommended me to her!)
Tess and I met through our mutual friend, former boss, and climbing mentor, Arthur. We both worked as climbing guides for his school in the U.S., though during different seasons. He saw a similar drive in us, and made the connection happen. With this Trollveggen trip, Tess and I celebrated our 10-year ”belaytionship” anniversary. It’s crazy to think that for a decade I have had the privilege of spending time in the mountains with such an incredible partner. I am not convinced that there is anything better in the world, and I could not be more grateful for those opportunities.
When this trip was forming, Tess specifically requested the role of ”Wall Mom”, meaning that she would be in charge of everything but the leading. From hauling to water melting, rebolting to waste management, Tess was the unsung hero of this trip. She came into the trip with a hernia, so the decision was made early on that she would descend once the final wall camp was established. As we did not have enough ropes to fix the entire wall, the final camp was the ”point of no return”, where an emergency retreat would be a trip-ending mission, versus simply rappelling the fixed ropes to the ground.
This left Aniek and I to manage the actual climbing! As the trip went on, the majority of the harder pitches ended up falling to me, but that should in no way undervalue the work, commitment, and dedication of the others. This was a team success, and without all of us, nobody would have reached the top!
Was it obvious do the route in winter or did it just suit the schedule?
The decision to climb in winter was both obvious and intentional. It is no secret that Trollveggen is falling down. Already some routes, such as the Rimmon, have had entire pitches fall off. We hoped that by climbing the wall in winter, the rock features would be frozen together, increasing the chances of them staying in place.
Additionally, after our winter ascent of Stora Blåmann (December 2021) Aniek and I were both looking for our next winter bigwall challenge. Trollveggen seemed like that obvious, albeit significant, next step.
Please describe the ordeal in total a bit?
Over a period of 20 days, between Feb 21st and March 11th, the three of us moved a couple hundred kilos of food and equipment to the base of the wall, climbed the route, and reversed our way out. Out of those 20 days, we spent 12 consecutive days and 11 nights living on the wall. The route was climbed in capsule style, meaning that we had camps (3 in total – 1 at the base of the wall, 2 hanging portaledge camps) from which we worked out of and returned to each evening via fixed ropes. The first handful of pitches were quite loose, but beyond that, the majority of the wall was overhanging, making for more solid rock, clean falls, and quite some exposure. Days were often of reasonable length, between 10-12 climbing hours, leaving some time in the evening to enjoy the wild position and top-notch company.
Then the climbing itself, how techy did it get?
The climbing was nearly entirely aid. Pitches seemed to fall into one of two categories: hooks or beaks. Both of these made for slow going, sometimes as slow as 5 meters per hour. The maximum grade was A3, with lots of A2/A2+ pitches. I found the climbing challenging but fair, though the crux pitch was a beast! We were not able to unlock it it in a single day, but had to come back the following morning with fresh motivation (desperation?) in order to finish it off.
The free climbing that was there went at about grade 5, which doesn’t sound too hard until you remember it’s mostly done bare-handed on snow-covered rock while wearing double boots. Thankfully Aniek, our free climbing queen, quickly dispatched these with ease.
If you would compare Trollveggen in winter to Store Blåmannen in winter what is the difference?
Quite a lot actually! Firstly, our strategies were very different. Stora Blåmann was a (torturous) sprint. Trollveggen was a marathon. What we learned on Blåmann was just how incredibly slow everything becomes while winter bigwalling. Want to pack your sleeping bag in its stuff sack? 20 minutes. Want to take a sh*t? 30 minutes per person!. These all add up very quickly. Moving as a team of two, with minimal fixed ropes, and changing camp nearly every day as we did on Blåmann simply wasn’t an option for us on Trollveggen. For a wall of this size, we slowed things way down, brought our trusted Wall Mom along, and committed to the vertical world.
The other major difference was weather. On our successful Blåmann attempt, temperatures averaged around -20 C. On Trollveggen, we were consistently a few degrees on either side of the freezing point. While this relative warmth was a luxury when it came to avoiding the frostbite that plagued us on Blåmann, it proved detrimental on stormy days, where the wet, heavy loska snow would stick (and subsequently melt/refreeze) on everything including ropes, clothing, and even the rock itself. After getting soaked through once or twice, we learned it was better to stick to the portaledges during those conditions.
Any whopsiedobsie mouments? Any damage (there was some on Blåmannen.)?
We were extremely fortunate on this route. We had great pre- (and during) -climb support from Andy Kirkpatrick and others who had climbed the route before, which prepared us well for the challenges we would face. Also, I strongly believe that due to the ”slow climbing” nature of this expedition, we had the time needed to strategize, discuss, and reflect on our moves before making them. Tess, who was the most experienced bigwaller of the three of us, was an invaluable source of bigwall systems and knowledge. It’s also possible that Aniek and I learned a bit from our negative experiences on Blåmann as well, where we both suffered frostbite of varying degrees.
I would be remiss if I also did not mention the Finnish Alpine Award here. I was lucky enough to receive the award for this trip, and while this trip would have gone off with or without the support, having it made it possible for me to invest in trip-specific equipment like a synthetic winter sleeping bag, better food, and proper, modern hardware for the anchor rebolting we did while on the route. On a wall like this, where the safety margins are already exceedingly thin and hazards are numerous, I really believe that having the right equipment was essential for our safety and successful ascent.
All in all, our systems and equipment worked well, the rock stayed in place, and besides a blister or two, we all walked away without injury, for which I am extremely grateful.
Whats on the menu next on the bigwall 2do?
Holidays and mentorship! Despite my best intentions, I seem to have gotten some sort of reputation as a capable aid climber, so at the moment I have two tekno-grasshoppers in training – shout out Saara and Karim! Of course, I am flattered to be their mentor, and am looking forward to hopefully passing on some hard earned knowledge to them.
In May, Saara and I will go to Yosemite, with my personal goal being to make a hammerless, clean-aid ascent of El Cap’s ”The Shield” route. Maybe some bigwalling in the California sunshine will do this mamu some good!
Kolmikon edesottamuksia voit käydä seurailemassa instassa osoitteissa @mamuallu @tessgalickismith ja @anieklith