From Gripped Magazine · Brandon Pullan · · 1m 40s
Solo on Arctic granite: the climb that changed everything
Charlie Porter spent 9 days alone on a frozen 40-pitch wall in the Arctic, redefining what's possible in big-wall climbing.
In brief
Charlie Porter spent 9 days alone on a frozen 40-pitch wall in the Arctic, redefining what's possible in big-wall climbing. Porter's 1975 solo ascent of Mount Asgard's northwest face was so difficult and dangerous that it became climbing's first grade VII route, done without fanfare or self-promotion. Originally…
Yosemite's boldest big-wall climber
In the early 1970s, Charlie Porter was establishing himself as one of Yosemite's leading big-wall climbers, putting up new routes on El Capitan including the solo ascents Zodiac and New Dawn.
Arctic walls on a different scale
In 1975, Porter traveled to Baffin Island, where Mount Asgard rises 2,015 metres as two enormous towers. The east coast contains some of the world's highest cliffs, cut by deep fiords.
A month of solo logistics
Porter spent about a month ferrying equipment to Asgard's base, moving loads across the glacier on skis with a pole for crevasse protection. He accumulated everything needed for a major wall ascent alone.
Nine days on 40 pitches of ice
Between September 1 and 10, 1975, Porter climbed the northwest face alone, covering 3,000 feet across 40 pitches graded 5.10 A4. He bivouacked in a makeshift Whillans Box built from scrap lumber.
Frostbite, frozen ropes, licked jumars
Near the summit, weather deteriorated and Porter's feet froze in rock shoes. Ice formed on ropes, so he licked his jumars to make them grip. He descended with severe frostbite and trench foot.
“To make his jumars grip the frozen lines, he had to lick them.”
The world's first grade VII route
Porter's ascent was graded VII, the world's first, reflecting not just technical difficulty but length, isolation, weather, and the consequences of attempting it alone. Doug Scott called it the greatest achievement in the Arctic.
“the greatest achievement in Baffin, the Arctic and probably anywhere.”
What to remember
Porter's 1975 solo ascent of Mount Asgard's northwest face was so difficult and dangerous that it became climbing's first grade VII route, done without fanfare or self-promotion.
