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Posted
maybe they had a spare motor at the base. Someone stole the parts for use back in town. Left the frame because it wasn't needed.
Dammit, Gene, just when we were all about to give it a rest... :laf:
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Posted (edited)

I've more than once heard a story while in El Chalten that the film crew from the 1991 movie, Scream of Stone, which had delivered a large box of equipment on the summit of the Torre, had taken it upon themselves to remove and bring down the Compressor in the helicopter to El Chalten. When they did, the locals were irate and insisted that it be returned because it was historical, and it was returned on a subsequent mission. I cannot confirm the truth of this but I seem to recall the story being widespread.

 

Can anyone else confirm this?

 

I'm tempted to shoot a email to my former school "acquaintance" ( who spends his winters climbing in patagonia) and ask him if the famous "compressor" on the route was chopped as well...

 

 

 

 

Edited by Laughingman
Posted
Well sorry. I lost count!
:lmao: Well, orion_sonya is on the case now, so I'm not gonna let it bother me much more tonight. I'll see if I can scan my pic from my book and post it up this weekend, then we all can compare parts n' pieces.

 

For now, I'm gonna go fix me some Planet Killers and kick back a bit. It's a freak'n freezing ice sheet outside my home, so I'm not going out fer drinks tonight...

 

hmmm, relying on me only will lead to disappointment.

Posted

I've more than once heard a story while in El Chalten that the film crew from the 1991 movie, Scream of Stone, which had delivered a large box of equipment on the summit of the Torre, had taken it upon themselves to remove and bring down the Compressor in the helicopter to El Chalten. When they did, the locals were irate and insisted that it be returned because it was historical, and it was returned on a subsequent mission. I cannot confirm the truth of this but I seem to recall the story being widespread.

 

Can anyone else confirm this?

 

I'm tempted to shoot a email to my former school "acquaintance" ( who spends his winters climbing in patagonia) and ask him if the famous "compressor" on the route was chopped as well...

 

 

 

 

Again...I cannot recall who I heard this from but my vague recollection was it came from fairly reputable sources to the extent that I took it at face value. But you know how at 4 degrees of separation facts get watered down. I will see if I can dig up a little more on this. I know someone in Seattle who was there in that season and might know more. The crew for that film was up there for the whole season and they kind of trashed the place. There are still shards of wood all over the Torre Glacier below Niponino high camp from crates and such that the film crew left behind.

 

At 5:05 you can see some of the crew running around on the summit plateau:

 

[video:youtube]RlkXj4iAGUY

 

 

Posted

Jiminy Christmas, 1:15 to 2:00... someone allowed themselves to be in a staged fall like that in a location as remote as that? :shock: And I guess I'm a little confused by teh ropework. D00d that falls is held by rope, but second sude summits to find a Mae West adorned ice axe. Who's belaying who here? Fallen climber is belaying roped solo, and summitting climber is free soloing? WTF???

Posted
Jiminy Christmas, 1:15 to 2:00... someone allowed themselves to be in a staged fall like that in a location as remote as that? :shock: And I guess I'm a little confused by teh ropework. D00d that falls is held by rope, but second sude summits to find a Mae West adorned ice axe. Who's belaying who here? Fallen climber is belaying roped solo, and summitting climber is free soloing? WTF???

 

Alright if you want to see the movie, beta alert, don't read any further.

 

but the plot sucks and you just saw the best part so here goes:

 

Falling climber is (in real life) German sport climber Stefan Glowacz.

 

Plot is VERY loosely based on Bonatti vs. Maestri.

Basically, at the beginning Glowacz's character is a hot shot "sports climber" (blasphemy in 1990) climbing Cerro Torre and gets lanched off the mountain,partner dies, he returns claiming he summitted. The older guy and his crusty old alpinist friends who have been living in bitter anger at the base of the Torre for years trying to climb it (it's unclimbed...) don't believe him, so sport climber guy vows to solo it to prove him wrong. Starts up in a storm (while his agent, played by Donald Sutherland waits at basecamp). Crusty old alpinist decides to solo the other side in a race to the top. You see what happens in the clip, then. For some reason sporto is self belaying through the worst part of the shroom and for some reason dies from falling and hitting nothing but air. crusty old alpinist laughs maniacally cause now he knows he has it in the bag. But earlier in the movie, everyone had met this fucking totally wacked out guy in the woods missing some fingers and who claimed to have climbed the Torre solo and lost his fingers (he called the mtn. "Finger Snatcher!". Says he dedicated his climb to Mae West. Everyone thinks he's a crackpot. Well guess what...

Posted
Jiminy Christmas, 1:15 to 2:00... someone allowed themselves to be in a staged fall like that in a location as remote as that? :shock: And I guess I'm a little confused by teh ropework. D00d that falls is held by rope, but second sude summits to find a Mae West adorned ice axe. Who's belaying who here? Fallen climber is belaying roped solo, and summitting climber is free soloing? WTF???

 

I know! So how's that dude gonna get down?!?!

Crazy.

 

Posted

Read a little bit or the page, not too interested but hopefully in the near future somebody chops the bolts they placed so their route would go. Its a bit hypocritical to drill bolts "by fair means" then chop bolts on another route. Guess it's part of the self-rightious circle jerk group.

Posted
I'm gonna scan the photo from my book this w/e and post it here right next to orion's and John's pics. You guys decide if I'm fuq'd up or not in this line of thinking...

Comparison of pic from Big Wall Climbing, Doug Scott, Oxford University Press, 1974, and orion_sonya's picture side-by-side:

Maestri.jpgZZB_6252009_maestri.jpg

 

I couldn't lift the image from the GoreTex website that Coldfinger and John Frieh linked, so I'll just repost the link...

 

Picture at link provided by both Coldfinger and John Frieh

 

So it appears that we have a frame on the ground (in 1971) that looks remarkably similar in size, shape, and construction to the one that is on the wall today (which lacks the protective shields). I see three possibilities:

 

1) There were two compressors/frames, as some here have posited.

2) There was only one and it was hauled back up and reinstalled on the route, as another here has heard told.

3) There were two and locals kiped the other compressor and left the frame, as has also been hypothesized here.

 

Is this about the time we summon Occam the Barber...?? :crosseye:

Posted (edited)

Like the part about in your book arriving at a belay of 16 bolts, does say quite a bit about Maestri and co.

 

BTW Don't like option 2, they'd have to account for the motor, so you're saying they put the compressor BACK into the frame and hauled it all the way up the hill?

Edited by Coldfinger
Posted

Yeah, doesn't it?

 

"All around were cracks that would have taken normal pegs, but the place looked like someone had let fly with a heavy machine gun."

 

Pretty telling...

Posted

Holy shiite, muslim! How'd you kipe that pic? :)

 

That's some damn mighty fine lookin' granite they's got there on that there Cerro Torre... Zoom in and check it out. :)...

Posted

if it's "around 8a" I doubt he could've bolted it on lead... hopefully he drilled from hooks. If he rap bolted it like he said he was going to do last year the community will (deservedly) beat him to death with pillowcases full of soap.

Posted
Not to change the subject, but it appears David Lama has freed the ORIGINAL line!

 

Lama Frees Comporessor

 

It'd be interesting how Lama protected his ascent.

Holy shiite, muslim! :shock:

Yes, it will be interesting to learn how he pro'ed it, since Kennedy and Kruk jerked all of the bolts...

 

Man, the drama of this route in the last few weeks continues...

Posted

Btw Sobo, just read this on the Supertopo thread. Maybe it will set your worried mind at ease.

 

On the flip side, at the end of the day, I support Hayden and Kruk's right to chop the route, and at the same time the next guys right to rebolt it. I do want to suggest that this rebolting will INEVITABLY happen. I heard the Italians paid for a helicopter to tow the compressor back to the summit and then reattach it to the wall after it was cut loose. If that’s true, you can bet you're ass there will be a fully funded team perhaps already enroute, to rebolt this historic line....which would be great for keeping this supertaco thread going.
Posted

Hey, thanks for that Billy! Nice to know that you're still looking out for my worrisome mind. ;)

 

Love this part:

 

...which would be great for keeping this supertaco thread going.
:lmao:

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