리오 호울딩 금년 32세. 영국 맨체스터 일원 출신의 클라이머다.
2년전 그가 보스톤을 찾았을 때 맨하탄에서 6시간 걸려 그를 만났다.
아들 나이벌이지만 그와 나의 대화는 공감대가 있었다. 초등학교
졸업학벌의 죠브라운(Joe Brown), 칸첸즁가 초등정의 위업으로 기사
작위를 받은 클라이머,그에 얽힌 이야기로 서로를 공감할 수 있었다.
어린시절 그를 클라이밍의 정신적인 스승으로 해안절벽을 찾아
따라 나섰다고 호울딩은 기억한다. 정상의 순례자 책을 펴낼 때 글
쓴 이는 당시 영국 산악평의회 사무국장이던 데니스그레이씨를
통해 죠브라운에게 짧은 격려의 글과 최근 등반상황을 부탁했다.
크리스 보닝턴은 장문으로 죠는 짧막한 글을 보내왔던 흐뭇한
기억이 난다. 이 영국의 젊은 클라이머가 미국 요세미티에 실제로
10년 이상 도전적인 자유등반을 시도했던 것이다. 샨리어리와 함께
그의 도전과정의 dvd 속에 처절한 외침과 함께 수직의 허공으로 나
르는 반복 씬들은 전율과 함께 결코 피상적인 타 클라이머의 상황
으로만 보이지 않았다. 폭풍우가 퍼붓는 가운데 3박 4일을 기다린
자유등반 완결일, 크럭스의 손가락 반 들어가는 오버행 크랙을 다
이노로 몸을 날려 좀 몸이 편해지는 크랙으로 진입함으로서 난제를
해결한 것이다. 2010년 10월의 일이었다.
수년전 뉴팔츠 스노앤아이스에서 만난 소니 트롯터도 호울딩의
도전에 감명받아 5주간 이 루트에 매달린 끝에 재등에 성공한 것이다.
소니는 캐나다 동부출신으로 트론토,퀘벡 나아가 스퀘미쉬치프로
진출한 5.14급 클라이머다.
Houlding's Prophet Sees Second Ascent
Posted on: November 23, 2011
On November 16, Canadians Sonnie Trotter and Will Stanhope repeated Leo Houlding's famed route The Prophet (5.13dR, 600m) on El Cap. Trotter and Stanhope spent five weeks in Yosemite Valley working the route, before completing a ground-up free ascent in a three-day push that fell on both of their birthdays.
Sonnie Trotter right after he sent the crux pitch, A1 Beauty. Trotter and Will Stanhope recently made the second ascent of Leo Houlding's "The Prophet" (5.13dR, 600m). [Photo] Ben Moon
Leo Houlding and Jason Pickles dedicated nine years to the creation of The Prophet, a thirteen pitch monster. They began their attempt in October 2001, and on their first attempted ascent, Pickles fell and fractured his pelvis. Over the course of the next nine seasons, Houlding attempted the route with different partners, rappelled down the top pitches (the famous A1 Beauty pitch of Eagle's Way), and prepared himself for the first ground-up free ascent. In October 2010, Pickles and Houlding finally completed their quest over the course of six days (including a four-day storm and eighty hours of waiting on a port-a-ledge), which Houlding described as "a dream come true."
Trotter, inspired by Houlding's words and photos of his mission to free The Prophet, arrived with Stanhope in Yosemite Valley in the beginning of October, 2011. Over the next five weeks, they attempted The Prophet's first pitches from the ground five times—each time passing their previous high point. They rappelled from the top of the route to practice the route's crux pitch, A1 Beauty, a thin, left-leaning finger crack. Their climbing was spaced out with rest days in Tahoe and Santa Cruz, forced upon them by storms that rendered the Valley wet, and snowy.
The climbing was "often loose," and while working the route the pair broke off several footholds—including off a section of the intimidating Devil's Dyno pitch, a traverse that requires a 2.5-meter sideways jump.
Stymied by snowstorms, Trotter and Stanhope had almost given up on their dream of completing The Prophet this season. But on November 14, the weather cleared. The pair were the only climbers on El Cap as they began their final attempt at The Prophet. It took them three days to complete the route. Trotter redpointed the tricky A1 Beauty pitch on his second try and was "overwhelmed by euphoria." Stanhope did not complete the A1 Beauty Pitch. After falling on the pitch as the pair finished their climbing on November 15, Stanhope attempted the finger crack four times at dawn on November 16. Though he did not complete the pitch, he swore to come back next season to finish it, and the pair continued to the route's two final pitches.
Sonnie and Will Stanhope on their portaledge. [Photo] Sonnie Trotter
Trotter says that it is the "little things" that will stick with him most from the experience: friends rappelling chocolate cupcakes to Stanhope and himself on their birthdays, hearing people cheer as the pair ticked off another pitch and the camaraderie of the climbing community in the Valley. Those moments have a longer lasting impact "than the quick rush of sending," says Trotter.
This was Trotter's first route on El Cap, but he knows that he will be back. "I have fallen in love with El Cap," he says.
Sources: Sonnie Trotter, RockandIce.com, The AAJ