Don't Look Down! A Room Near the Top
Thought Glastonbury was tough this year? Try camping on a portaledge halfway up a 4,000ft sheer cliff, as photographer Gordon Wiltsie found climbers doing in the Arctic.
Thought Glasto was tough this year? Try this…
Many a man will have traipsed around Glasto 2011, despairing at the sea of tents erected by telesales execs who arrived early. If only there had been a cliff nearby. A 4,000ft sheer drop. Yeah, that would have done the trick. You could have camped there. Seriously. You’d just need a nifty Portaledge. These portable homes have been popular with big wall climbers since the ’70s, when climbing enthusiasts began taking on nature’s challenges, like the 3,000ft vertical rock El Capitan in California, which would take days to complete. Climbers rest during the ascent of a vertical cliff and hammer in their tent. Photographer Gordon Wiltsie saw such a group in the Arctic. “It was the Arctic spring so melting snow on the summit constantly sent rocks and chunks of ice flying down,” explains Wiltsie. And yet, none of those men appeared to be screaming – how come? “They were pretty comfortable and you don’t actually see the drop below.” Totally bonkers.
From the August 2011 issue of FHM India.
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