From doubtful first ascents to tense clashes at excessive altitudes, we discover 13 dramatic climbing controversies – some resolved and others much less so
There was a time when climbing controversies have been sportingly confined to the slopes. The petty trivia, the strong exchanges and the heated clashes have been simply a part of the minimize and thrust of the mountaineering world.
As the sector grew extra profitable and summiteers have been furnished with fame and guide offers, these once-discreet disputes started to spill off the slopes.
From contested first ascents to violent clashes at excessive altitude, we evaluate a few of historical past’s most fascinating climbing controversies.
Denali: Frederick Cook dinner, 1906
In 1906, explorer Dr Frederick Cook dinner took {a photograph} that may make him well-known: a flag-bearing silhouette standing atop a monochrome peak.
The determine within the image was Cook dinner’s climbing companion, Edward Barrill, on the summit of Denali in Alaska – or so the pair claimed.
In line with Cook dinner, he and Barrill discovered themselves “close to the restrict of human endurance” as they reached the summit of the very best peak in North America. ”Ultimately!” he wrote in his account of the climb. “The soul-stirring process was topped with victory. The highest of the continent was below our toes.”
Members of the crew who have been left on the decrease mountain instantly expressed doubt. It was solely in 1909, nonetheless, after Cook dinner’s North Pole dispute with Peary, that his ascent of Denali was publicly challenged. That yr, Barrill signed an affidavit stating that he and Cook dinner had not reached the summit in spite of everything.
It’s mentioned that Barrill was bribed by Peary’s backers – he did certainly settle for their cash – however the map included in his affidavit accurately situated ‘Faux Peak’, the stand-in for the precise summit.
In 1997, historian Robert M. Bryce discovered an uncropped model of the summit photograph in Cook dinner’s papers donated to Ohio State College. It confirmed beforehand hidden element and Bryce concluded that Cook dinner’s well-known photograph was truly taken on a small promontory some 4,500 metres under the summit!
Associated studying: Denali’s Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Catastrophe on America’s Wildest Peak
Annapurna: Maurice Herzog, 1950
In 1950, a French crew of climbers made historical past on Annapurna in Nepal. It was the first-ever summit of an eight-thousander – however tensions started earlier than the crew had even left Paris.
On the airport, expedition chief Maurice Herzog stunned his crew with contracts that forbade them to put in writing about their climb for 5 years, securing himself the primary phrase on their historic ascent. His guide, Annapurna, went on to promote 11 million copies.
After the five-year embargo, different members of the crew revealed their very own accounts. These apportioned much less credit score to Herzog and so started one of the vital enduring climbing controversies.
In 1999, David Roberts, writer of True Summit: What Actually Occurred on the Legendary Ascent of Annapurna, interviewed Herzog who remained unapologetic. He had thought-about letting every crew member write a chapter within the guide, he mentioned, however that may have bought 1,000 copies at most.
The rationale it had bought hundreds of thousands of copies, mentioned Herzog, was that “Annapurna is a form of novel. It’s a novel, however a real novel.”
Associated studying: Annapurna: First Conquest of an 8000-meter Peak
K2: Walter Bonatti, 1954
The 1954 Italian Karakoram expedition to K2 in Pakistan led to a climbing controversy that dragged on for 50 years. There isn’t a dispute that Italian climbers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reached the summit of the “savage mountain”. Somewhat, it was how they did it that brought about ailing will.
Walter Bonatti, the youngest member of the crew, claims that he and Hunza porter Amir Mahdi carried two 18kg oxygen units from their seventh camp at 7,440m to round 8,100m, however have been unable to succeed in the upper camp as a result of Compagnoni and Lacedelli had intentionally pitched it increased than deliberate.
In line with Bonatti, Lacedelli briefly turned on a lightweight and shouted all the way down to them to go away the oxygen and switch again. The sunshine was turned off and no extra was heard regardless of entreaties from these under. Bonatti and Mahdi have been compelled to spend an evening in an emergency bivouac. At daybreak, Mahdi raced down, however Bonatti waited till 6am earlier than descending, nonetheless with no signal of the upper tent.
Compagnoni and Lacedelli denied this, resulting in recriminations, lawsuits and defamation claims. It stays one of the vital enduring climbing controversies.
Associated studying: The Mountains of My Life
Cerro Torre: Cesare Maestri, 1959, 1970
With dizzying steepness, violent climate and an unclear line of ascent, Cerro Torre in Patagonia was lengthy deemed ‘unclimbable’. Then, in 1959, Italian Alpinist Cesare Maestri claimed that he and Austrian ice climber Toni Egger had made the primary ascent of the lethal spire.
Egger perished on the mountain, swept away by an ice avalanche to the glacier under. His physique disappeared together with their digicam. Solely Maestri lived to inform the story.
At first, the feat was hailed one of many biggest ascents of all time… after which got here the doubts. Subsequent climbs and nearer interrogation forged heavy doubts on Maestri’s claims. A climb of this problem accomplished in dangerous climate in alpine model appeared extremely unlikely given the state of mountaineering in 1959.
To salvage his fame, Maestri returned to the height in 1970, this time with a 150kg compressor-powered bolt gun and bolted his manner up the height. This gave rise to additional controversy. Mountain Journal known as Cerro Torre “a mountain desecrated” and requested, “how might a person who claimed to have climbed [it] in such impeccable model in 1959 come again and bolt his technique to the highest?”
Right now, most consultants consider that the 1959 ascent was a hoax.
Associated studying: The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre
Nanga Parbat: Reinhold Messner, 1970
Legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner has weathered one in all historical past’s most egregious climbing controversies.
In 1970, Messner and his brother Günther launched into an expedition to Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat, generally known as ‘Killer Mountain’. The brothers reached the summit through the then-unclimbed Rupal Face however have been compelled right into a harmful climb down the unknown Diamir Face. Messner barely survived and Günther was swept away by an avalanche.
Two different climbers, Max von Kienlin and Hans Saler, who didn’t attain the summit claimed that Messner despatched Günther down the Rupal Face alone as a result of he needed to aim the Diamir Face. “In impact,” they wrote, “Messner sacrificed his brother to his personal ambition.”
Messner vigorously denied these claims and was confirmed proper 35 years after the fateful ascent. In 2005, Günther’s stays have been discovered at 4,400 metres on the western Diamar face and never the Rupal as claimed. Kienlin and Saler haven’t recanted or apologised.
Associated studying: Reinhold Messner: My Life on the Restrict (Legends and Lore)
Everest: Jon Krakauer, 1996
Jon Krakauer’s Into Skinny Air is likely one of the bestselling mountaineering books of all time – however the occasions recalled inside have lengthy been contested.
Krakauer’s account of the 1996 Mount Everest catastrophe strongly criticised Russian climber and information Anatoli Boukreev for descending earlier than his purchasers and for declining to make use of supplementary oxygen.
In Boukreev’s personal account of the catastrophe, he insists that he descended earlier than his purchasers so as to put together rescue efforts. Certainly, he undertook a number of solo rescues and saved three lives within the course of.
A number of mountaineering luminaries criticised Krakauer’s account and noticed that he was sleeping in his tent whereas Boukreev was rescuing others.
Climber Galen Rowell mentioned: “Boukreev foresaw issues with purchasers nearing camp, famous 5 different guides on the height, and positioned himself to be rested and hydrated sufficient to reply to an emergency. His heroism was not a fluke.”
Reinhold Messner, in the meantime, defended Krakauer, saying that his description of Boukreev tallied together with his personal experiences and praised Into Skinny Air as “an incredible description of actuality”.
Associated studying: Into Skinny Air and The Climb
Kanchenjunga: Oh Eun-sun, 2009
In April 2010, after a profitable summit of Annapurna, South Korean mountaineer Oh Eun-sun made historical past as the primary lady to climb all 14 eight-thousanders – however her feat was nearly instantly known as into doubt.
Her nearest rival, Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban, questioned Oh’s 2009 summit of Kangchenjunga. Pasaban claimed that two of the three sherpas that climbed with Oh confirmed that she had failed to succeed in the summit. Oh’s solely proof was a blurry photograph, calling her account into additional doubt.
Elizabeth Hawley, founding father of The Himalayan Database, spoke to each climbers and marked Oh’s summit as ‘disputed’. In distinction, Reinhold Messner, the primary individual to climb all 14 eight-thousanders acknowledged Oh’s achievement after assembly along with her.
In August 2010, the Korean Alpine Federation judged that Oh “most likely failed” to succeed in the summit, concluding that her images didn’t “appear to match the precise panorama” and that “Oh’s earlier explanations on the method of her ascent to Kangchenjunga are unreliable”.
Associated studying: The Final Nice Mountain: The First Ascent of Kangchenjunga
Cerro Torre: HAYDEN KENNEDY and Jason Kruk, 2012
In 2012, North People Jason Kruk and Hayden Kennedy climbed Cerro Torre utilizing Cesare Maestri’s ‘Compressor Route’. On their descent, they eliminated 125 of Maestri’s myriad bolts, believing that they have been serving to to revive “a mountain desecrated”.
Once they arrived in El Chalten, nonetheless, they have been arrested by native police. Whereas purists agree that Maestri shouldn’t have positioned so many bolts within the mountain, the removing sparked a heated debate.
Some say that Kennedy and Kruk successfully demolished the Compressor Route, blocking lesser climbers from the height – a choice they need to not have taken unilaterally. Others argue that it was an altruistic act, declaring that nobody has a ‘proper’ to climb this savagely steep peak.
Leo Dickinson, one of many first journalists to accuse Maestri of fraud, mentioned: “Maybe the saddest piece of Maestri’s legacy is denying his fellow Italians their rightful place in historical past. Now that this ridiculous through ferrata has been eliminated, an ascent of Cerro Torre could have that means as soon as extra. It is going to take its rightful place as one of many world’s most inaccessible summits. Please let nobody put again the bolts.”
Associated studying: The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre
Everest: Ueli Steck, Simone Moro, Jon Griffith, 2013
It was a conflict that shook the mountaineering world: three European climbers “threatened by an offended mob of Sherpas” after a disagreement 7,000 metres up Everest.
Sherpas had lengthy been portrayed within the media because the tireless, ever-smiling companions of western climbers – however right here was a unique story.
The battle began when a crew of Sherpas accused three elite climbers – Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and Jon Griffith – of dislodging a block of ice that struck one of many Sherpas. The trio denied the accusation and the alternate grew heated.
When the three males later returned to Camp 2, a big group of Sherpas attacked them, punching, kicking and throwing rocks. Moro mentioned they have been advised that “by that evening one in all them could be lifeless and the opposite two they might see to later”.
The 2015 documentary movie Sherpa reveals among the heart-stopping battle. Tensions grew notably excessive after Moro insulted a Sherpa utilizing a Nepalese slur.
Fortunately, different climbers intervened, together with Melissa Arnot whom Steck credit with saving his life. The state of affairs calmed after an hour and the trio fled again to base camp.
Associated studying: Ueli Steck: My Life in Climbing (Legends and Lore)
Undertaking Attainable: Nims Purja, 2019
When Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja got down to climb all 14 eight-thousanders within the house of seven months, mountaineering luminaries mentioned it was unattainable. In a respectful nod to the naysayers, Purja named his plan ‘Undertaking Attainable’.
For sure, Purja did certainly full the feat – in simply over six months, breaking the earlier document by an unbelievable seven years and three months. Alongside the best way, he broke a slew of different data and even saved 4 lives. The achievement ought to have been universally lauded, however sadly it was not so.
Legendary mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington mentioned: “What he has performed is sort of extraordinary, nevertheless it isn’t mountaineering. Actual mountaineering is exploratory – discovering new routes as much as huge peaks … I don’t see this as a serious occasion.”
Stephen Venables, the primary Briton to climb Everest with out oxygen, mentioned: “The truth that he used supplementary oxygen detracts from the feat. I do know he additionally used mounted ropes. It isn’t precisely alpinism as I perceive it. He’s after all supremely match and decided however I discover it arduous to get enthused by what he’s performed … Within the historical past of mountaineering it’ll solely be a footnote.”
As a counterpoint, Reinhold Messner defended Purja, suggesting that purists ought to attempt to repeat Purja’s feat with out using supplemental oxygen.
The criticism did little to discourage Purja. In January, he accomplished the first winter ascent of K2, proving that he really is likely one of the greatest mountaineers in historical past.
Associated studying: Past Attainable: One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks ― My Life In The Loss of life Zone
Eight-thousanders: Kristin Harila, 2023
4 years after Purja accomplished Undertaking Attainable, Norwegian climber Kristin Harila – a former skilled skier – claimed to have achieved the identical feat in simply three months and in the future; three months and 5 days sooner than Purja’s breathtaking document.
Harila’s achievements haven’t been with out controversy. Distinguished sherpa Mingma G criticized her ascent of Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain at 8,163m, attributable to her crew’s obvious heavy reliance on helicopters to inventory camps earlier than the profitable climb.
In a 2023 interview with ExplorersWeb, Mingma G criticised Harila’s ways and urged that her crew was utilizing helicopters to shuttle sherpas to increased camps – opening the route from above slightly than working their manner up the mountain.
“This video is from yesterday. The helicopter is dropping rope, oxygen and sherpas to Camp 2 on Manaslu. [Sherpas] will open the route from Camp 2 to Camp 1,” Mingma G advised the web site.
“A brand new mannequin of climbing is creating in Nepal. It was precisely [the same] on Annapurna too. [Sherpas] dropped at Camp 3 and opened downward. I used to be stunned to learn the information of [Harila’s team] climbing from base camp to Camp 3 in a single push on Annapurna. I do know the snow and route. [Harila’s team] had three shuttles to Camp 2 and one to Camp 1 yesterday. This may break the picture of the Himalaya and the status of the sherpa.”
The rising reliance on helicopters within the Himalayas to move individuals and provides has been criticised for its environmental impacts and for decreasing employment alternatives for native mountain communities. In response, in the course of the 2023 spring season, the native authorities within the Khumbu area surrounding Everest briefly restricted air service on Everest base camp to advertise conventional transportation strategies utilizing porters and yaks.
Associated studying: Honouring Excessive Locations: The Mountain Lifetime of Junko Tabei
Shishapangma: Anna Gutu & Gina Rzucidlo, 2023
In 2023, two American ladies and two Sherpa guides died in avalanches on Shishapangma, an 8,027m peak in Tibet, China. Shishapangma is the 14th-highest mountain on the earth and the bottom of the eight-thousanders. The climbers have been racing to develop into the primary American lady to scale all 14 of the world’s 8,000m peaks.
Anna Gutu was guided by Mingmar Sherpa whereas Gina Rzucidlo was led by Tenjen ‘Lama’ Sherpa. Each Mingmar and Tenjen died roped to their purchasers on Shishapangma. The tragic incidents raised a number of questions in regards to the ethics of chasing such data.
Anna Gutu was a relative newcomer to mountaineering however shortly ticked off summits on the world’s highest mountains after she was impressed to climb by Purja’s 2021 movie, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Inconceivable.
Gina Rzucidlo had been climbing from a younger age and had accomplished a number of high-altitude treks and climbs – together with the seven summits – earlier than she determined to aim all 14 eight-thousanders round 2021. Each ladies had climbed 13 of the 14 peaks in fast succession, converging upon the identical remaining mountain on the identical day.
Curiosity in climbing 8,000m peaks has elevated over the past decade, because the proliferation of mounted ropes and bottled oxygen has made the mountains simpler to climb. Likewise, using helicopters can minimize days – and even weeks – off prolonged method treks.
This enables some purchasers to be shuttled between base camps, utilizing the acclimatisation from one peak to climb one other. A climber might doubtlessly tick off a number of peaks in a yr on expeditions that lasted simply a few weeks versus months.
Each climbers have been ready to attract on their appreciable means of their makes an attempt to attain the document. Neither Gutu nor Rzucidlo have been sponsored athletes and each privately funded their climbs which prices a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} in whole.
There was additionally some animosity between the 2 with Rzucidlo as soon as referring to Gutu as “only a typical Instagram climber”. Each ladies have been planning to doc their feats: Rzucidlo supposed to put in writing a guide whereas Gutu had a cameraman filming her climbs.
As soon as Rzucidlo realized that Gutu was closing in on the document, she contacted Seven Summit Treks and requested the assistance of Tenjen ‘Lama’ Sherpa. Tenjen, nonetheless, was already on one other climb with one other consumer, and the quantity paid by Rzucidlo to ship their star Sherpa on the final minute was important. In line with Seven Summits supervisor Dawa Yangzum, Rzucidlo paid the corporate a $30,000 deposit, and Tenjen arrived in China the next night to information her on Shishapangma.
The tragedy highlighted how the frenzy to interrupt data on the world’s highest peaks is driving climbers – and their guides – onto harmful mountains in increased numbers.
Associated studying: Everest, Inc: The Renegades and Rogues Who Constructed an Business on the Prime of the World
Harassment and assault: Nims Purja, 2024
In 2024, the New York Occasions revealed accounts from two ladies who independently alleged that Purja sexually harassed and assaulted them. In a single account, Finnish climber Lotta Hinsta mentioned that in 2023 Purja invited her into his Kathmandu lodge room below the pretence of a enterprise assembly. Right here, it’s alleged that he undressed her in opposition to her consent and began “masturbating subsequent to her”.
In one other account, California doctor April Leonardo accused Purja of creating undesirable bodily and verbal advances in direction of her throughout a 2022 expedition to climb K2 – the world’s second-highest peak – in Pakistan.
Purja’s public relations crew denied the claims through a prolonged assertion revealed on Instagram Tales following the article’s launch.
“A narrative has been revealed making heinous allegations to which Nims unequivocally denies any wrongdoing,” the assertion learn. The assertion denied any allegations of sexual abuse or harassment and mentioned the NYT story “was biased and had a pre-determined narrative and final result” and that the “allegations are defamatory and false”.
Within the days following the publication, a number of mountaineers, manufacturers and even Nepali politicians praised the ladies featured within the NYT piece and known as for motion in opposition to Purja and his Elite Exped guiding firm which takes purchasers to Everest and different excessive peaks around the globe.
Moreover, backpack producer Osprey has minimize ties with Purja and said that he’s not an Osprey ambassador. Purple Bull and Scarpa are persevering with their partnerships with the mountaineer.
Associated studying: In Her Nature: How Ladies Break Boundaries within the Nice Open air
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