Also on Mountain.RU Valery Babanov: A man is the very weak work of God Chomo Lonzo FFME Expedition. 2005. "Infinite Direct" on MacKinley SouthWest Face. Valeri Babanov. Nuptse. Polemics Jury Koshelenko. Winner 13th PIOLET D'OR Nuptse East, 7804. Valery Babanov & Yury Koshelenko Valery Babanov. Nuptse East. Third Attempt The Unclimbed North Face of the peak Meru in Garhwal Himalayas. Valery Babanov. SOLO! News release of Valery Babanov’s press conference

Interview with Valery Babanov on June, 14 2006

MR (Mountain. RU): From short messages about expedition running the picture of your "fight" was absolutely unclear. Tell us more in detail about the course of your expedition and the reasons forced you to change your plans?

Valery Babanov

V.B. (Valery Babanov): Having left from Katmandu on April, 15, I expected to get Base camp under Chomo Lonzo already on April 21. But in practice because of setting in for snowfalls we had to stay three days more in the area of the settlement of Kharta: we had not time to get with a caravan of yaks through Shau La pass at 4950 meters. This time delay was went against me. I reached BC only on April, 24. For these three days of bad weather a lot of snow fell in the mountains: the next day during my attempt to make a reconnaissance of Chomo Lonzo West Face for 8 hours of heavy climb I managed to overcome only half-way of the planned route. I was really damped by this failure. I had to make some hard climbs hauling my gear to organize high-altitude camp, so-called ABC, at 5900 meters. I expected that ABC should become my basic camp where I would spend the most part of the time: acclimatization, ascent, etc., therefore I needed to get a lot of things in it.

Already in the first push upward I understood that actually all the approaches were not too short and I would need at least one week to organize ABC. The things turned out to be in this way. I finished setting the high-altitude camp on May, 2. Weather did not allow to relax as well. Since the morning it was usually sunny, then, in the afternoon clouds gathered and at about three one o'clock in the afternoon it started snowing.

Unstable weather and time delay from the initial schedule had set thinking above the chosen object of ascent.

Nevertheless, in the morning on May, 3, I started to climb Chomo Lonzo Main (7790m) West Face. I had in view of some days and my rucksack turned out heavy. But this attempt was over in less than no time. I managed to make three pitches above a bergschrund when a heavy snowfall pushed me into the corner and forced to descend to ABC and then downwards, in Base camp (4750 m). Good rest was just the thing for me.

Chomo Lonzo from the North

Next time I came back to the Wall on May, 9. That day I managed to get up 6500 meters and even to spend the night in quasi-sitting position. Next day, I added up 100 meters of altitude and understood that this time I would not have this Wall. It was uncompromisingly abrupt, that demanded me to be belayed on each pitch. Accordingly, my climb upwards was slow to and I did not want to become reconciled to that in any way. I just did not organized myself for that. In view of solo-climb the route would have demanded at least 6-7 days of work. I catastrophically lacked any place for a bivy, even for sedentary sleeping position. In such cases a portaledge is usually used for spending the night, but it was outside my plans too.

Abrupt, firm as glass ice alternated with slabs of yellow granite. In general, it loooks like mountain Ak-Su but higher than 6000 meters.

Base camp

I descended to ABC and ask myself the tough questions about the running situation. I did not have much time up to the end of the expedition. The surrounding walls demanded several-day working, and the weather... The weather was dreadful.

Just then a thought about climb Chomo Lonzo North (7200m) via a new route from the West came suddenly to me. The route started from that glacier where my high-altitude camp had been pitched and was well looked through an abrupt ice couloir leaving upwards and blocked above by a rock belt. Altitude difference of the wall from the bergschrund up to the summit was about 1200 meters. There were some visible variants to get the summit ridge through the rocks. The ridge seemed to be simple. There were two routes on Chomo Lonzo already opened on the West face by last year's French expedition. In case of a successful climb of the chosen route it should become the third line to this summit.

The prospective line looked very logical and safe. As the route was mostly ice my speed of climb should be enough high. I planned to spend no more 2-3 days for the all ascent, therefore I did not take a lot of food. Basically I ate energy candy bars. And I could economize on weight by some camp gear.

Having descended to BC located at 4750 meters, and having had a good rest, I returned to ABC at 5900 meters on May, 15 again. I planned to set off in the morning of the next day, on May, 16.

Having packed into a rucksack two ropes: «Ice Line», 8,1mm, and "Cobra", 8,6mm, (on 60 meters everyone), a hammock - tent, a light sleeping bag, a gas stove, a parka, at 7 o'clock in the morning I crossed the bergschrund and started to climb the wall. As the top part of a route went on rocks I took rocky equipment too: friends, stoppers, rocky pitons. I need to tell that all of this was useful. Especially rocky pitons on the descent route.

I did not use the rope climbing up to 6300 - 6400 meters. Then the ice became more rigid and abrupt. My rucksack (though I tried to minimize its weight before climb) all the same turned the scale at 15 - 16 kg. Due to this it became really dangerous to balance on abrupt ice. I pulled out one of the ropes. The second one tailed after me during all my ascent. I made use of it only on descent. In the couloir I climbed fast with minimal protection arranging the tokenistic belay with two ice-screws at the stations at a distance of 60 meters, more often with nothing in between.

In the high-altitude camp

As usual in the afternoon snowfall started. Nevertheless, I was well-motivated to continue my climb. At nine one o'clock in the evening I approached to the rocks started from 6800 meters. It was getting dark. Up to the iron blackness I managed to climb about thirty meters upwards a rocky-ice couloir. It became clear that I had to finish work for today.

Having not found any convenient place for spending the night I nestled anyhow semi-sitting- stepped-lying and couldn't get to sleep that night. All the night long the cold nibbled in the ribs. At 8 am I got out of my hammock-tent, boiled some water and began to prepare for the next push. In an hour I was already climbing the fixed rope that I had pitched the day before. By my estimations, I needed about 7-8 hours to get the summit from the place of spending the night. Therefore I decided to leave my bivy gear taking along the most necessary. But distances in mountains are frequently very deceptive. And again I assured myself of that. By 8.00 pm I still was not at the summit at all but did not reach the summit ridge. The sleepless night and increasing altitude during afternoon effected: my feet leaden, my body became to be wadded and my consciousness was covered by a slight mist of unreality. And one more unexpected thing - the top part of the route technically appeared much harder, than it was supposed from below. Sometimes sites of abrupt ice did not concede on hardness to granite. Some times I had to hold on ice only on ice-axes. The blunted crampons slipped into the void unsupported.

Chomo Lonzo Rocky terrain

The more altitude I added the more anxiety distracted me. I understood that my descent would be already in darkness. I obviously did not like such prospect. Especially I was strongly disturbed with slanting traverses. They were really unpleasant during my ascent. And I know the danger of night rappelling, especially when you are along and strongly tired - It is dangerous in double measure. You are without any supervising from outside, already exhausted, with your head working badly... In such condition it is very easy to make a fatal mistake...

No human power can withstand to Himalaya beauty temptation

The last pitch up to the ridge I made already in coming twilight. Again clouds veiled the mountains, and it started snowing. When at nine one o'clock in the evening I got out the ridge, in my laden with weariness head a switch flicked: «That does it! Stop! You got the dead line. Go downwards». And I did not resist to this command at all. I just listened to my inner voice and followed it.

In the high-altitude camp

Thus, the all ascent from tent to tent took 47 hours. Actually climbing in itself took 26 hours. Perhaps it is not a long distance of time, but on deepness of experiences it can contain some years of life.

Resume:

Mt. Chomo Lonzo Northern (7200m)
New route: «Little Prince». Solo.
Up to the summit ridge, 7100 meters. Without summit.
Grade: 5B (Russian classification), TD + (1100m, M4 +) (IFAS).

MR: How difficult "to catch" the right moment when you should to turn back?

New route on Chomo Lonzo North West Face

V.B.: Sometimes that moment just cannot be caught. Much turns on a climber, on his ability to distinguish hardly heard "inner voices". But, the more time somebody is in touch with the nature or in contact with extreme, the more delicate perceptional abilities he has. People of this category are more intuitive. All that help to take a decision. Sometimes to turn with halfway to the aim requires much more efforts and will than to continue a climb. It's clear that that one who can listen to his inner voice has more chances to make the right decision in an extreme situation and more chances to survive. But once again I want to repeat that all this is very individual. And one more note: in fact it is impossible to check up and find out what would have taken place if you had continued to climb ignoring your internal "voice". Perhaps, nothing…

MR: Tell about psychological problems you suffered during this expedition?

V.B.: To some extent this expedition was a «leap in the dark». Yes, I have climbed solo a lot, and in the Himalaya too. But all the same, somewhere below, always there were my familiar or close people keeping in touch with me. Sometimes I had a portable radio set on and I could contact them. But this time, everything went in another way. I was absolute alone, only my cook was below, in Base camp, but he hardly spoke English and our dialogue was strongly limited. Even when I descended to BC after staying above in absolute privacy for some days all the same the feeling of loneliness and isolability from the whole world completely did not disappear. I think I elementary was lacking of communion with somebody. Be honest, never before I had been such as isolated as during this expedition. It was not feeling of remoteness, but just feeling of isolation. Seclusion from the world: your home, people, native language etc.

In the big mountains, when you are alone, you feel completely unprotected. Especially this feeling becomes strained, if something starts to go wrong way or you start to make mistakes. You feel like on the other planet. Mountains always constitute a real danger. It doesn't matter whether we want that or not they goes frightening mountaineers with that. High mountains will always stay something alien for us being created not for our existence. Therefore, when you turn out face to face to the mountains you can frequently feel inexplicable melancholy or even depression. I think that it goes from our defencelessness in front of something much stronger than we are, and we intuitively feel that.

Prayer flags above Chomo Lonzo

In the other life pulsing through a city we forget about our nakedness to the elements whether they are mountains, deserts or something else. It seems to us that we are «kings of the nature». And only when we manage to escape from daily vanity, and to get the place where you are in private with the nature, understanding of real things, our opportunities and vulnerability in this world comes. I am not exception of that. All these feelings: melancholy, loneliness - are familiar to me, and all of these moments I passed through during my expedition. But I am grateful to this, to the unique opportunity given to me by my fortune to visit the most beautiful Himalaya corner. And I appreciate very much the opportunity "to rummage" in my ideas and experiences, to learn about myself something else, to go through the whole scale of new feelings impossible in ordinary life during my single stay in this seldom visited area. The more force we apply to get something new the greater importance we attach to it.

MR: What about pleasant moments?

V.B.: By the end of the expedition after my staying in the Himalaya for a whole month when collected psychological weariness began to supersede all other feelings, perhaps, the most light moment was an arrival of yaks in Base Camp. I understood that with their arrival the expedition was close to end and in some days we would come back to Katmandu. Returning home, to the civilization, is always pleasant and desired moment.

MR: You are engage in mountaineering quite a long time (all your life?). What evolving stages of your progress as a person and a sportsman would you like to mention? What is this getting a new level related to? What about landmark evidences?

V.B.: Almost all my life:) Actually for the first time I got in Ural mountains when I was 12. Then I was engaged in mountain hiking. Well, and in mountaineering and rock-climbing started to be engaged since I was 15. Let's count... I have given more than half of my life to the mountains. It's clear, that my engaging in mountaineering in the first 10 years was not such intensive, as at the present time.

There was a lot enough events somehow had an effect on the further course of my engaging in mountaineering. Probably I might write a noteworthy book on the subject. Here I would like to tell only about the main as you speak - "sign" events.

Himalayas, 1996. I am higher than 8000 m for the first time

The first one. When I managed to pass successfully the first and the second ion rounds in the Russian Himalaya Cho Oyu ( 8201m) Expedition in 1989-90. Though finally I did not have the luck to go to the Himalayas, but experience of talking with the best at that time climbers: N.Zaharov, E.Vinogradsky, V.Pershin and many others was much more valuable than all the rest of that. That time I saw that all our celebrities were not supermen, but the same people in our life, as well as all others: with their cares and problems.

The second. In 1990 I got in Central Asian Military District (CAMD) under auspices of Il'insky E.T. It was the real "smithy" of high-altitude mountaineering. It was my good fortune to climb in a team with such people as V.Khrishchaty, J.Moiseev and others. I got acquainted with A.Bukreev. I spent a lot of time in Alma-Ata. We trained and climbed a lot. During some months I was staying in the mountains. In general, since 1990 I already began to do that professionally. By 1993 I had already 7 ascents on Soviet "7-thousanders", two from them - high-speed. We quickly collected technical routes of the hardest grade (6). The team was very strong. A.Ruchkin, P.Shabalin, D.Grekov - we were in one team. For those three -four years of ascents in the CAMD-team I learned very much especially got the feel of organization of expeditions.

The third. In May 1993 I soloed my first long (900m) route. It was Barber's line, 5B-graded, Peak Svobodnaya (Free) Korea, North face, Tien-Shan. This climb cardinally changed my attitude and completely affected at my choice of solo ascents and determinated my mountaineering way for the next ten years.

I opened the "other" mountaineering: mountaineering «on the razor's edge» where only you take full responsibility for every your decision. Your life is completely in your hands. My solo climb Peak Svobodnaya (Free) Korea, North face, and those experiences I found there made such strong emotional influence on my mentality that it became just boring and not interesting for me to climb in a team. I was lacking of sensory acuity and adventure in comparison with a solo climb. Single ascents became like a strong drug that you fail to "come off" it. Yes, in general, I did not want to do this.

1998 Petit Dru, West face

The fourth. 1995. February. I managed to raise money and to get the place I had dreamed for many years - Chamonix, France. I arrived there with my head full of arrogant projects: Petit Dru, Grand Capucin, Grand Jorasses and many other summits. I dreamed to climb all of them solo. It is necessary to tell, that I managed to do that for several years. The French Alps and Chamonix became my second home. My new projects and ideas leaped into my mind there. Many of them I managed to put into practice for the next years. My living in the West, solo ascents - all of this gradually changed my attitude to mountaineering as a whole. Preferences aside "light" style, speed, solo or in a two-man team ascents - all of these gradually superseded the capsule-style and lasting many days siege of a mountain. I graduated the ENSA - the French guide school in Chamonix in 2002. That became a certain evolutionary point in my life. Since that moment I realized that I was able to earn money by my experience, training, rescue and teaching skills. It seems that it is a dream of many climbers

And I consider 1997 year evolutional too . It was the first year when I got to the Himalayas in a structure of the Russian National Himalaya team aiming to make the full traverse of Lhotse - Lhotse Shar over the yet unclimbed Lhotse Middle. That time we managed to summit only Lhotse Main, 8516 meters. Thus I received enormous experience that became useful to me on the following Himalaya expeditions. Since that expedition I have just got ill with the Himalaya. These mountains became my favorite. I used any opportunity to get there. I can add, that all the major events in mountaineering, whether victories or defeats, take place right there.

MR: What do you think the most interesting to you in the Himalaya mountaineering?

The Himalaya, 2003, at Nuptse SE ridge

V.B.: In my opinion now in the Himalaya mountaineering there is a pronounced tendency of climbing technically complex extended walls of the mountains less, than 8000 meters. I should to add, that they try to make that in very small groups of 2 - 3 climbers. Around "8-thousanders" we can only see fights playing, basically, by commercial expeditions. Few people are able to make something interesting on "8-thousanders".

1998 Petit Dru, West face.

And then, there are remained not a lot of logical and safe unclimbed route to their summits. Weather you have to climb under hanging ready to fall in any second seracs, or to try to open a super-direct line like via still unclimbed Makalu West Face Center. But for today, perhaps, only a big team would climb it in the siege style. Really the choice is very limited, if we speak about the light style and a small team.

But there are a great variety of the mountains in a range between 7000 and 8000 meters. And even much more amount of possible variants of the routes leading to their summits.

Probably, the further development of Himalaya mountaineering will be accented on climbing of super-complex routes to the mountains hardly lower 8000 meters by small groups. Personally I vote for such development.

That is why, while I have forces and opportunities, I will come back to the Himalaya to pass "mad" beauty and hard walls and buttresses... Alone, or in a two-man team. In my understanding, that is the mountaineering I called «on the razor's edge».

MR: Well and a standard question about your plans, it stands to reason for summer - autumn.

V.B.: Well, my plans. Summer: July - August - I will work in Chamonix as a guide. Further - it is not clear yet, therefore there is no sense to speak about it.

I climbed my first wall-route when I was 17	1996. My hands after solo climbing El Capitan	Spring 1996. Khumbu ice-fall
The Himalaya. Mt. Lhotse	The Himalaya. 2000.	The Himalaya. Spring 2006. During Chomo Lonzo West face ascent
The Himalaya. Kangtega North face	The Himalaya. Nepal. Sacred hierographics	Mysterious Tibet
Valery.2001.	Valery.1997. Chamonix	Kammerlander, Weimer, Messner and Valery Babanov
The Himalaya. The country of the World behind the looking-glass	Grand Jorasses	Caravan of yaks
Chamonix.1997. Solo - climb on an ice-couloir	Chamonix. Climb on a frozen falls	Chamonix. France. Ascent
The Himalaya. Nuptse SE ridge	2001. Meru peak ascent	Meru peak , 6310, Himalaya
Petit Dru, West face	French Alps. Grand Jorasses	Over 20 routes solo climbed in the French Alps

Sponsors: «BASK», «SCARPA», «GRIVEL», «BEAL», «JULBO».
Valery Babanov site: www.babanov.com