In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
This just in from Steve Schneider, concerning Zack Smith and Josh Wharton's recent attempt to climb the Compressor Route of Cerro Torre in Patagonia without using the protection bolts that were power-drilled by Cesare Maestri during his 1970 attempt on the granite needle.
"just the facts, maam
well, didn´t really mean to cause an international incident. i mean, most people know me as a fun loving guy that loves to poke fun at himself and other blondes. but, here goes..
when i got to chalten i heard rumours that my friends josh and zack wanted to chop the compressor route, but seeing as how they did not say anything about it to me, i left it alone. and then i heard they were actually up there with a crowbasr experimenting with bolt removal. this, while ten international expeditions were lined up to do the route. and i just snapped and threw the wobbler of the milliniem. seems they were not really caring about me, their friend climbing the route, or all the rest of us that were there. so, what i did was ...........
walk down to bridwell and carefully remove their poles from their basecamp tent(actually bean bower´s tent), what i thought was a harmless prank, but it was a loser move, and disrespectful of zack and josh. then i went to town and verbally berated josh in front of a few people, swearing at him, and disavowing our friendship, and oh yeah, threatening him physically. that was pretty blonde of me, josh is a big guy. to his credit he sat and took it like a man, and later, when i came to my senses, told him how rad he was for maintaining his cool. next morning zack and josh took my partner, dave turner, and i out for coffee. pretty nice gesture. while i was a bit more civil, i hadn´t slept at all the last two nights and i was pretty worked up. told them to get out of town, and if they did not go get their rack soon, i would go hide it from them thinking that would save the compressor route for a year anyway. that was like loser move number three. i mean, zack, bless his blonde heart told me how when he was growing up and reading the mags that i was one of his heroes. anyway, after agreeing to disagree, they went and told their friend bean bowers and he came and found me. pulled up on his bike, i said hi bean and put out my hand. he threw the bike down and then threw me down. that guy is as quick as lightning. i mean it was over before the bell stopped ringing.
anyway, i came down pretty hard on my elbow, and thought it was broke. i was scared, crying, and pleading with him not to hurt me anymore. be curious to see the video on that one. as the ambulance took me to the hospital, i began to realize what a i had been. indeed, i am embarassed and ashamed with my actions and they way i handled it. should of just talked out our differences over a berr or three. anyway, xrays proved negative, but it was bruised and hurting, still hurts a bit, but i would be able to climb again.
so, in the aftermath, there was a huge climbers meeting that night with a discussion of whether to chop or not to chop the route. then there was a vote, and it was about ten to one in favor of leaving the route as is. so ,while i´m not pleased at how i handled it, i´m at least glad i said something because nobody else was willing to talk to zack and josh about the matter cause they are such badass climbers.
i´ve personally apologized to zack, josh, and bean (bean by email) for being such a jerk. i think zack and i are ok, he´s a pretty forgiving guy, and even let me roll a drum cigarette form his stash later on the mountain. talk about a nice peacepipe. josh and i are another matter, and i can see it in his eyes that he is less than estatic with me...and that really hurts, hope i have not blown it with him.
and about bean, someone had to knock me off the high horse i was riding, although i think he could have been a bit gentler. i´ve told him i´m sorry that my actions compelled him to do what he did. i harbor no hard feelings against this man, and ask that everybody else do the same. to those of you who were willing to toe it up with bean on my behalf, thank you, but let´s just kind of see if we can all forgive and forget. sometimes patagonia does things to people that you would not normally see at home.
and as for the compressor route...well, it ain´t no freaking via ferrata, and in fact is still an extreme route requiring skill, luck, and courage to send. this was my third expedition to climb the bitch, with a new hi9ghpoint of pitch 8, only 20 more to go...whooopie. its hard, believe me.
to bolt or not to be. i feel that the route should remain as is. you have got to respect the tradition that this route represents, that it was put up a long time ago by a world class mountaineer, and that people are lined up every year to either strut their stuff or get stuffed while strutting on this classic climb. removing the bolts would only serve to satisfy the egos of a few misguided elitist. sure, i´ve heard the arguments. the route is a desecration to the mountain, there are just a ridiculous amount of bolts, let´s make people climb the mountain on its own terms and blah, blah, blah. i say let democracy rule, i mean, ten to one in favor keeping the route the same in a vote by 6o patagonian climbers, that´s something.
another note, some people feel that this is a matter for the argentines to decide, not the american cowboys. i disagree.
tom frost once told me "nobody owns the rock steve". i think everybody has a say in the matter, especially those of us wanting to repeat the route, and the many that want to come in the future.
sincerely, Steve "shipoopoi" Schneider
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=333051&tn=0&...