After more than three years of trying, Austrian climber David Lama has finally realised his dream of becoming the first person to free climb the infamous Compressor Route on Patagonia's Cerro Torre.
It was a case of third time lucky for 21-year-old Lama, who conquered the east face of the 3,128m-high mountain on Saturday, January 21.
“This first free ascent of the south-east ridge of Cerro Torre is the end of probably the greatest adventure in my life so far,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “I’m especially proud having it done without adding any bolts.”
Cerro Torre has been dogged by controversy since the Italian climber Cesare Maestri claimed to have climbed the mountain in 1959. His attempt came at some expense. Maestri's partner Toni Egger died along the way and, after Maestri's account of the climb was scrutinised, the Italian was discredited.
“The fact that Hayden and Jason had chopped Maestri’s bolts a couple of days earlier made my endeavour even more challenging” – Lama
Maestri returned to Patagonia in 1970 armed with a petrol-powered compressor drill. He finally conquered the mountain but left hundreds of bolts and the compressor itself in his wake, upsetting conservationists.
Fast forward a few decades and Cerro Torre has become the ultimate challege in free climbing once again. Just days before David Lama’s own free climb, American Hayden Kennedy and Canadian Jason Kruk were the first to climb the mountain by "fair means", removing about 100 of Maestri’s 40-year-old bolts along the way.
This forced Lama and partner Peter Ortner to re-think their strategy: “The fact that Hayden and Jason had chopped Maestri’s bolts a couple of days earlier made my endeavour even more challenging,” said Lama, “especially mentally as the protection was poor and I had to do long run outs.”
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Using only mobile devices to secure his route, David free-climbed for 24 hours and despite a few falls and freezing conditions, pitched a bivouac on the Ice Towers of Cerro Torre ahead of his final assault on the summit the following morning.
“Climbing on hollow and loose flakes, we followed the original Compressor route for three pitches. About 20m below the compressor, we traversed to the right and then reached a system of cracks and corners that led us to the summit.”
His conquest of Cerro Torre is the latest landmark in the remarkable career of this young climber. At just 15, Lama became the youngest winner of the Climbing World Cup. After scaling the most difficult routes in the Alps, Lama set his sights further afield and last year completed a first ascent in the Himalayas. The sky is the limit for Lama.
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