Italians Dario Eynard, David Bacci, Giacomo Meliffi, and Enrico Bittelli are off to open a new route in Canada’s Cirque of the Unclimbables. This cluster of remote, vertical granite walls is, in the words of Pat Goodman for the American Alpine Journal, actually very climbable. The walls offer excellent rock, incredible atmosphere, several levels of difficulty, and near-endless potential new lines for those who don’t mind a long trip and isolation.
Cirque of the Unclimbables, Canada. Photo: Dario Eynard
An adventurous return
After the climb, the Italians will paddle down the Nahanni River for roughly 500km in packrafts. They are carrying the inflatable boats folded into their backpacks.
This ingenious means of transportation is an increasingly popular choice for exploratory climbing expeditions to remote areas. Packrafts are light, portable, sturdy, easy to navigate, and eco-friendly, as the boats are human-powered.
It is not clear exactly how the climbers will reach the MacKenzie Mountains, roughly 500km west of the city of Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Usually, climbing teams charter an aircraft from Whitehorse to Glacier Lake and then hike for around seven hours.
The team during a packraft training session. Photo: Dario Eynard
A pure approach
A 1995 expedition to the area by Stefan Glowacz, Kurt Albert, Gerd Heidorn, and Leo Reitzner inspired the Italian team. The 1995 German expedition had opted for a “purer” approach to the massif, without the use of aircraft. They combined paddling in canoes with hiking sections. Here is a summary of that expedition published by the American Alpine Journal:
“[The team] parked their rental car at Flat Lakes, near the Tungsten Mine in Yukon Territory, then paddled canoes down the Little and South Nahanni rivers to the confluence of Brintnell Creek for approximately 80 miles [129km], before setting off on another 13 miles [21km] of rugged foot travel. Their exit strategy would be to follow the overland path back to the South Nahanni River, where they would paddle another 250 miles [402km] to reach the Liard River. While in the Cirque, they established Fitzcarraldo (V 5.12b) on the north pillar of Mt. Harrison Smith, thus becoming the first group of modern climbers to eschew air support to open a big-wall route in the Cirque of the Unclimbables. Yet their loads included many pounds of bolts — they placed 50 on the 16-pitch route.”
