Barmasse tries again: ‘A winter 8000. Which? The weather will decide

Not even the time to return home from Pakistan and the Rupal face of Nanga Parbat that Hervé Barmasse, at the end of last January, had already decided to return to an 8000m peak, to climb one in winter in pure alpine style, a situation that has never happened in history of mountaineering. «A week after returning, David (the German Goettler, his expedition partner a year ago and today; ed) and I were already moving to try again», says the 45-year-old Aosta Valley member of Team The North Face from Nepal. “Because we felt physically very good. Although we had been on the largest wall in the world, we had reached an altitude of 6200 (later they were forced to give up because of the Jet Stream currents of up to 120 km per hour; ed) but starting from 3500, a difference in altitude which, if you like, it’s like starting from Everest Base Camp and arriving 800 meters from the summit. Not only that: at an altitude of 6200 there would have been another 150 meters of difficult terrain, then it would have been more “quiet”. As quiet as it can be in winter at that altitude.’

How accurate are the forecasts available to mountaineers today?

«Last year they surprised us with such precision. They told us in time that the Jet Stream would be there for a month and a half and it was like this, even after our return. And the Jet Stream, when it comes, it doesn’t go away in a couple of weeks, it’s almost worse than bad weather from snowfall.

“Now we are in Nepal, in the Everest Valley, to acclimatise. As soon as we have reached, hopefully, the summit of a 7000m, we will consider ourselves ready to attempt the ascent of an 8000m. One of Nanga Parbat, Dhaulagiri or Annapurna. We will choose based on the weather. Once the mountain has been baptized, we will reach it with very little material and we will attempt the climb».

«The backpack will weigh a maximum of 13 kilos: 50-60 meters of rope, 4 ice screws, 4 rock pitons, 5 friends, sleeping bag and tent».

As with Shisha Pangma in 2017 and Rupal a year ago, it will move in alpine style. How much do mountaineers like this clean style?

«The sporting mentality, in our world, is unfortunately still mediocre. We still think about: I’m going to the top, I plant the flag, I was good. But that doesn’t certify an enterprise, it certifies a climb. So much so that today in the Himalayas or in the Karakorum eight-thousanders are climbed as in the 1950s, but with better technology».

Is this the origin of mass mountaineering?

“Exactly. Last summer there was the massification of K2 that everyone imagined impossible 10/15 years ago, instead there were queues like on Everest. Even before Covid there had been signs of this type, this time it was evident and the problem is that somehow the mountain continues to get dirty ».

Why isn’t there a turnaround?

«Because in mountaineering, as in other sectors, the ego is the strongest obstacle, so the idea of ​​saying “I can do it on my own”, is not in fashion. Our society says: you must win in any way and by any means. But it’s not like that, going to the top of a mountain is not a war. It is a more than aware choice that professionals often try to cover with terms such as “he rose to autonomy”, but the autonomy of what? You also attach yourself to the rope and the rope had been placed there by others».

Who inspired you in choosing the alpine style?

«From the generations of the 80s and 90s, but we started talking about it with Hermann Buhl, who at Broad Peak, in 1957, was left stranded by high-altitude porters, so he and his companions were forced, as they said at the time , to go up as in the Alps, up and down. They succeeded. From there it began to be understood that that style could also be chosen from the base of the mountain. But the great protagonist was, of course, Reinhold Messner. After him, the examples have increased, one above all the Rupal, climbed in the summer of 2005 by Vince Anderson and Steve House. They opened a route with a six-day stay at high altitude with some very difficult technical mountaineering sections».

Compared to last year, have you changed your preparation?

«In general no, but for my whim I introduced more mountain climbing sessions on technical rock. This is because if a mountaineer dedicates himself a lot to the Himalayas, the technical level risks going down, you do a lot of aerobic training (I use bikes, running, cross-country skiing, swimming) but you lose a lot on the other. In the last three months I’ve done two workouts a day, one dedicated to climbing and the other to mountaineering».