UKC

Patagonia kept its fickle temperament under control for the most part this season, which allowed for some remarkable achievements - Psycho Vertical saw its first repeat after 29 years, Torre Egger was soloed for the first time and more recently the Torre Traverse was completed in 20 hours and 40 minutes by Colin Haley and Alex Honnold.

Natalie Berry asks Colin about the initial ascent in 2008, his two more recent attempts and about climbing with relative alpine newbie - despite being one of the strongest and boldest rock climbers in the world - Alex Honnold.

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In reply to UKC News:

I really enjoyed that interview and am surprised it hasn't attracted more comments. Colin's attitude comes across really well, as does his partnership with Honnold.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Far fewer than the Skye Ridge winter record piece, but I guess there must only be a handful of Brits who's climbed Cerro Torre, so hard for us to relate to. Whereas many will have personal experience of the Cuillin Ridge for example.

The Colin Haley interviews on Enormocast are worth a listen too. Some bloody team the two of them. Thanks UKC for doing the interview.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Not a lot to say, perhaps, world class performance, I just clicked the like button.

Interestingly on Pataclimb, Rollo expresses amazement on how things have moved on since 2008 and the first Torre Traverse. However if you take the activities of Haley, Caldwell, Honnold and Leclerc out of the equation, it looks a completely different recent history.

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In reply to UKC News:

I know it's the Fitz Traverse, but A Line Across the Sky is well worth watching for a clearer picture of the scale and difficulty of ridge traverses down there. It's quite obvious that Haley & co (incl Rolo) are on an entirely other level in terms of ability and knowledge.

It's interesting that (apart from a few facebook comments) nothing has been reported yet of Marc's efforts in Scotland a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps the most impressive 6 days of climbing that this country has witnessed? Which, in turn, helps to put what he's doing in Patagonia (and elsewhere) into perspective.

In reply to Patrick Roman:

Firstly, how can I watch "A line across the sky", I can't seem to find it online to buy/rent?

Secondly, what has "Marc" done in Scotland, you are being as evasive as the "media"?

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

It's hard to say much more than, "Wow!".

In reply to galpinos:

To be fair, it took me a few days just to lift my jaw from the desk when I first heard the news - 'wow' summarises my own thoughts/feelings exactly.

In reply to galpinos:


Not sure about buying/downloading it, but it's being shown at film festivals - I saw it at Banff. 40 minutes long, very funny, very impressive!


That made me chuckle! Yeah, I guess I am, I don't mean to be. I just didn't want to go into details as I don't have the full picture but basically he (Marc-Andre Leclerc) soloed a ton of ice and mixed routes on the Ben and SCnL (up to Scottish 7), before rounding off his visit with an onsight of Happy Tyroleans (IX, 10).

This is a clip of him talking about his day on SCnL:
youtube.com/watch?v=R0nr9pa5To4&

And a link to Jon Walsh's report on what the rest of the Canadians got up to:
http://alpinestyle.ca/

There was a thread a while back with the above link but it seemed to be largely missed/ignored.

In reply to galpinos:


It's on Reel Rock 10, I believe.

In reply to Tom Last:

Cheers Tom, I shall investigate. More climbing films to bore the family with....

In reply to Patrick Roman:
Cheers, I'll enjoy reading that Canadian write up. Having read of "Marc's" exploits in Alpinist over the years, he does seem quite a talent.

In reply to galpinos:

Yes, if you google it you'll end up at a vimeo page where you can buy it for $20. Well worth it.