Climbing is experiencing paradoxical moments: the more its popularity grows, the further it moves away from its essence. There have never been so many climbers, women and men of all ages seduced by the indoor spaces, resin holds and social communion that indoor spaces like climbing walls offer. There have never been so many climbing walls, which are popping up like mushrooms all over the planet. In parallel, sport climbing, the act of climbing in nature, on rock, is also experiencing an enormous boom, even a certain saturation: many love to be outdoors and move on equipped, safe routes, protected by fixed anchors placed with a drill. Sport climbing was born in the 80s of the last century and caused a huge fracture with tradition: the physical took precedence over the wild. Until the explosion of sports, climbers faced the walls assuming an important commitment: falling could lead to a fatal accident, especially because they themselves placed the safety devices on the fly (pitons, anchors, tapes on blocks, etc.) taking advantage of the weaknesses. of the terrain, the fissures that the rock offers. This is how it escalated for a century. Sports climbing not only brought with it the benefit of safety, but also raised the difficulty to unknown levels: now that falling had no consequences, climbers could try increasingly more difficult movements. Climbing went from being an activity of high commitment and experience to being just another sport. Traditional climbing has coexisted with sport climbing for almost 40 years, but the imbalance between the two is becoming more and more blatant.
The Italian Jacopo Larcher, professional climber for The North Face team, has become one of the great defenders of traditional climbing, a popularizer who offers his example and careful educational videos aimed at youth. “It is not that I have set out to defend traditional climbing, but to disseminate it, to remember that there was a way of climbing that is being lost. I have climbed a lot in France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and I see that traditional climbing is no longer something common, habitual. Sport climbing is widely practiced, but there are many people who are unaware of this other type of climbing. Many believe that it is very dangerous, but it doesn’t have to be. “Everyone is free to choose the way of climbing they want, but I think it is a shame that it is not known that there are other ways to face the walls,” he explains in a telephone conversation. Larcher and his partner Babsi Zangerl have free climbed, together, some of the most severe routes in Yosemite and have overcome many of the toughest routes that exist in self-protection. The challenge is not only physical, but also psychological, a nuance that changes everything: exerting force and falling knowing that nothing will happen is not the same as doing so without knowing what consequences a fall will have. “I started climbing indoors, competing, then I moved on to rock climbing and then I wanted to do something more adventurous… I felt like I needed something more and ended up in traditional climbing. He was 25 years old. What motivated me was not to reach my physical limit, but to explore more, to see different aspects of climbing, and what fascinated me was that self-protection was not only about pushing me to the physical limit, but also psychologically,” explains Larcher.
“At first I was very, very scared. I didn’t trust the protections and I was afraid of falling. Until I learned to trust the material… Then you are open to accepting risks, but you are not always open to being scared. Many people think, even very strong people, that climbing in the traditional way means risking your life every time you climb, and that is not the case.”
Jacopo Larcher considers it crucial to inform young people, “because most newcomers do not know traditional climbing, or believe that it can only be done in the mountains, far away. It is important to explain to them what it is, its ethics, tell them that the materials have changed and improved and that now it is not so dangerous, educate them in this sense. For example, I myself thought that self-protection was something dangerous, something to be feared, but then you see that a hole in a granite fissure is bomb-proof insurance, and this is the message we should send.”
Climbing in the mountains, big walls, managing risk, learning to protect yourself involves multidisciplinary dedication that requires enormous commitment… at a time when immediacy floods everything. “It is very difficult to change mentalities, especially because society tends towards conservatism, zero risk, control of almost everything, so we can only try to disseminate in the best possible way the benefits of this type of climbing, with videos, articles… or show it at the climbing walls. Before, people went to climbing gyms to train for rock climbing, but now they see it as an end in itself… I find it very curious,” Larcher admits.
Mikel Zabalza is one of the great Spanish mountaineers of this century and the director of the FEDME youth team. At 53 years old, he maintains a surprising motivation that allows him to continue opening new routes or completing his first ascents in the Himalayas. “It is true that, of all climbers, only a very small part climb in the mountains and with self-protection. Before, all of us who climbed, or almost all of us, did it in the mountains, that was the challenge we were looking for. Of all my friends with whom I started, many have left, although there are some who now return, but the normal thing is to leave well because the physical is not good, or because age makes you more cautious, but above all, because the motivation to expose yourself , to go to mudit decreases,” analyzes Zabalza.
The psychological component of traditional climbing is a great limiting factor and not always related to athletic abilities: tremendously strong climbers at the elite level of difficulty do not even want to hear about self-protection. Conversely, modest climbers move with enormous efficiency in terrain where the sense of adventure rules.
“I believe,” says Zabalza, “that there will always be people with a thirst for adventure, with a desire for psychological and physical challenges. Traditional style is not going to disappear, but it will live in a niche. For example, the young people on the Spanish mountaineering team are still motivated, but they are becoming more and more comfortable because they are used to having everything done to them. Once they get into the job, they work hard, but the initial push is less natural than in the past. In my case, I remain motivated by adventure, but it is true that I choose challenges that match my current physical and technical abilities.”
Jacopo Larcher touches almost all the climbing disciplines that exist, it is his way of growing as a climber, but when it comes to describing his love affair with tradition the speech comes out alone: “I love the feeling of overcoming fear, my fears, It is a very powerful sensation, a reward that is difficult to explain. It’s something that sport climbing doesn’t give you. And it motivates me. I love the process of moving forward despite fear, the necessary concentration, calculated movements, commitment… adapting to what the rock offers me. Being able to climb routes that are climbable but difficult to protect yourself.” It is a world in which everything takes on a shine of authenticity.
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