Topo di Falesia – Jerry Moffatt

Competitive and ambitious, to the point of not mincing his words about his own life choices.

A man who nonetheless, like so many mountaineers and climbers of his kind, had to toil and suffer for the exceptional results he achieved.

If you are not convinced by the manner and character of Dougal Haston (Versante Sud, I Rampicanti no. 16), if you were not convinced by the method of the eclectic Jim Bridwell (Versante Sud, I Rampicanti no. 18) and perhaps the charismatic Steph Davis (Versante Sud, I Rampicanti no. 17) does not thrill you, then the character of a crag rat (topo di falesia) like Jerry Moffatt might rub you up the wrong way too.

Competitive and ambitious, to the point of not mincing his words about his own life choices. A man who nonetheless, like so many mountaineers and climbers of his kind, had to toil and suffer for the exceptional results he achieved.

“In climbing, where there are no Olympics, medals or trophies for the hardest routes, making a first ascent is fundamental. A new problem is like a monument, a testament to skill and determination carved into the rock for ever.”

And of course the glory that comes from it is so evanescent and fleeting. How many people will remember Jerry Moffatt for his first ascents? The memory will never reach far, deep into history, and he knows it. But the satisfaction of a first ascent is a trophy above all for oneself.

All the more admirable when you think that the ambitious Moffatt achieved all this living on a pound a day, eating out-of-date food and living in the worst shacks among rats and filth... He earned his conquests with pride, out of the need to be the first, a deep need in a world that, even in climbing, laughs behind your back, to run you down and beat you before you have had the chance to prove you were up to it.

A somewhat difficult book, partly controversial, full of very strong contrasts. The translation leaves a little to be desired: the text lacks that narrative looseness that helps the reading flow. Structure, quotations, words, topics: all of it, though, fits within the more or less explicit “language” of its author.

More portraits of the leading figures of climbing in Uomini e Pareti 2.