S C I T S A N M Y G K C O R P I R G G N I S O L T U WITHO
“Chamois hunting is one of the most necessary and yet most difficult and dangerous pastimes of a very special kind. The hunters can make no use of dogs. The hunter often has to jump from one steep rocky pinnacle to another himself. His equipment consists of a poor-quality smock, gun, powder and shot, a bag, which contains some dry bread and meat or cheese, and a pair of boot irons, which he can fit to his boots to climb steep rocks or glaciers. His hostelries are the Alpine farms where he finds replenishment in the form of milk and dairy products. Here he can also spend the night, often simply lying on the ground. Frequently he will go out to hunt in the morning, and either never come home again, or have to be carried away in bits. He often falls such a great height over rocks and mountains that he is never found again. The animals are often driven by the hunter, or several hunters, into a corner that is hardly half a boot-width wide, a high rock wall in front and a bottomless precipice behind. When these animals see that they cannot move forward and their enemy is behind them, they suddenly start jumping in panic from one rock to another, past the hunter, who they push into the abyss. In such dangerous situations the hunter either lies flat on the ground so that the chamois can jump over him without contact, or he stands upright as close to the wall as possible so that the animal can jump past him.” It was not until the early 1900s that the first significant innovations came along as far as footwear for rock climbing was concerned. At that time the Dolomites were not only a challenge for the best climbers, but were also a centre for innovation in mountain sport. The two-man mountain guide team, Michele Bettega and Bortolo Zagonel – unmatched back then – were asked by an English woman to accompany her on the first ascent of the Marmolada south wall. The team worked well together having successfully climbed other first ascents and they were familiar with the steepest rock. They also carried new types of equipment with them: bolts and lightweight climbing boots. Beatrice Tomasson, from the home of English rock climbing, was at the time employed as governess for Edward Lisle Strutt in Innsbruck, where she joined the Alpine Association in 1894. The two of them climbed many mountain routes together. Later, E. L. Strutt was even the second leader of the British Mount Everest expedition in 1922. He climbed to an altitude of almost 7,000 metres. For Tomasson, the most important thing was experience in rock climbing. Did the well-connected lady have new boot soles from the colonies in her box of tricks? In 1898 together with Luigi Rizzi they were the second team to climb the crumbling west wall of the Laurinswand, which at the time was reckoned to be the most difficult rock climb in the Dolomites. At the top of the route her mountain guide used iron bolts that he had hammered into cracks in the rock during the first ascent. In 1900 the daring lady and Luigi Rizzi successfully climbed the south wall of Daint di Mesdi in the Sella Group and following their first ascent of Torre del Sass da Lec in the same area, she and her guide risked a reconnaissance of the Marmolada south wall. On 1 July 1901 she then undertook her greatest adventure, first ascent of the south face of Marmolada di Penia: 600 metres of smooth, almost vertical rock. But how? Her brilliant guide Luigi Rizzi from Campitello in the Fassa Valley had to give up because it was too difficult. And did not Otto Ampferer and Karl Berger – who successfully managed the first ascent of Campanile Basso in the Brenta Group – also fail in attempting to climb the Marmolada south wall? Yes, but with climbing boots with Manchon soles. These important excursions in the
The main thing was to complete the climb quickly. All three of them wore climbing boots and carried lightweight backpacks. Michele Bettega, 48 years old, does well in the melt water-formed chimneys. From the first ledge he leads the team into a large left-hand arc linking up with the second terrace. In the middle, however, the weather turns nasty. It hits the climbers on the upper section of the wall. Beatrice Tomasson is hit by falling stones. Bettega hands over the lead to Zagonel, who manages to climb the icy summit wall. In a snowstorm. Twelve hours after Tomasson, Bettega and Zagonel left Obretta Pass, they are standing on the summit, from where their support team – Dal Buos and Soppelsa – guide them across the Marmolada glacier back down into the valley. They are all wearing nailed boots, which grip well in slush and ice. So it was better climbing boots that heralded the start of the age of “modern” climbing, difficulty grade alpine climbing. Over the next century more and more equipment and techniques were developed with ever more daring routes attempted. Although this development was criticised as “careless and pointless rock gymnastics” at the 1901 German and Austrian Alpine Association General Meeting in Meran (pointless climbing sport compared to serious mountaineering), the search for better grip continued. Alpine history is never just philosophical history; it also involves aspects of a technical nature: experience, development of equipment and techniques. They determined the art of climbing from the very start. Since the beginning of the 20th century climbers have worn especially soft shoes with felt or Manchon soles, similar to today’s special climbing shoes, although these offer many times more friction. Back then, however, there were already climbing shoes available with rubber soles. “Red Indian Rubber Soles” were apparently in use by 1888. Irishman G. Scriven and the mountain guide Michele Bettega used them on Pala di San Martino, for example. Protection included open-hook bolts, quickly followed by karabiners and snap rings that allowed the rope to be clipped into the bolts. Beatrice Tomasson, who climbed many summits in the Dolomites with her favourite guide, is full of praise for Bettega: “He conquered all of these summits without making a single mistake. We never had to turn back and always managed to successfully finish everything we started. It is actually superfluous to praise a mountain guide who is capable of such ascents and I can say that I am extremely satisfied to have had the great luck of accompanying such an excellent guide again and again.” But no mention of the “Rubber Sole”. In autumn 1902 the best climbers of the day from the Wilder Kaiser, Georg and Kurt Leuchs, climbed the Marmolada south wall, bivouacked and then reached the summit directly via the final wall. Georg Leuchs said: “A small cave offered emergency refuge. Pulling together all our strength and skill, at the same time as exercising the greatest of caution, the next day we managed to slowly but surely climb the snow-covered wall. It was a deliverance from anxiousness and doubt as we finally caught sight of a black triangle shimmering through the mist to the right of us.” Today’s climbing shoes offer a completely different dimension in friction efficiency compared to those worn by Bettega, even though their shape and design are not dissimilar to the cut used at the time. Rugged mountaineering boots, like the ones we wore in my childhood – on extreme rock as well as on the north face of the Matterhorn – are out, as are hobnailed boots too.
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Every important piece of equipment – from hobnailed boots to crampons and bergstocks – was adopted by the first mountaineers from mountain farmers and chamois hunters in the Alps, as the “Travel diaries”, Berlin 1768, explain:
Dolomites in 1901 – Beatrice Tomasson with mountain guides Michele Bettega and Bortolo Zagonel – were not only organised by a woman, as the initiator of this first ascent Beatrice Tomasson was also responsible for the right guides and the best equipment. Bettega is most creative at finding the right line, while Zagonel, 15 years younger, is the ideal climber if the weather takes a downturn. But neither of them are capable of miracles. Tomasson, Bettega and Zagonel left behind two other guides – their support team – after spending the night at the Ombretta Alm. The support team carried the nailed boots and warm clothing to the summit of Marmolada di Penia. To the east of the Ombretta Pass, Bettega started climbing the system of chimneys that rises up to the right below the first ledge. The team were equipped with everything that was available at the time, including some important new kit. Bettega had mastered the rope traverse, he had rubber soles on his climbing boots, he was fine-tuning a method of rappelling, and he used bolts as protection mid-pitch. All that at the end of the 19th century!
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REINHOLD MESSNER