Climbing Free : Lynn Hill in The Shield 转录 From 吴小奇的网页 http://www.climber.idv.tw/~ballki/rock/article/lynnhill.htm Quoted from R&I magazine, July 2002 翻译 by grigri ****************************************************************************** ....................................................................我 发现我们处在一个无法想像的地方 – 在我们的脚下, 除了空气之外什麽都没有 , 在我们的头上耸立着一千多尺高, 光滑的, 橙黄色的花岗岩大悬岩. 不管是我 们上下任何一边的岩壁, 都以漂亮的弯曲弧度延伸出我们的视线之外. 我们好像 是悬挂在世界的边缘!!.................................................. ****************************************************************************** 这期的Rock&Ice杂志作了一个女性的特集, 介绍女性在攀登历史 中所占的地位, 第一篇当然是 Lynn Hill的文章. 看了这篇以後让我有很 深的感触, 倒也不是性别的差异所突显出来特别, 而是它让我想起在优胜 美地的日子, 以及对这种真正大岩壁攀登的憧憬. 在今日或许於人工岩场 训练就可能可以爬到5.13以上, 一些比赛型的选手也尽量待在 gym训练比 较有效率, 因为比赛的场地本身都是人工岩场, 但是在这样追求级数的迷 思之中, 也许会少了一些攀岩本身更为吸引人的体验, 光是在gym 爬的很 厉害并不足以在攀岩历史中留下名字, 所以我并不会特别去注意现在世界 盃冠军是什麽人, 因为那已经完全变成运动层次的竞赛, 而世界上顶尖的 高手会走出户外去挑战一些不可能的路线, 那样才能真正留下什麽东西来 Lynn Hill 是我蛮崇拜的一位攀岩者, 从她的眼神就可以看出一 股坚毅的决心, 她的决心是全方面的, 她并不被定位为某一种攀登型式的 攀岩者, 不管是 sport climbing, competition, big wall climbing or aid-climbing, 她都能勇於去嚐试, 并且有着傲人的成绩. 耐心的看完这 篇之後, 你将会了解她之所以会被很多攀岩的人崇拜的特质. Ps: 翻的很烂, 请多多包含, 因为中文造诣不好而且在极短的时间内完成 这篇翻译的, 还是尽量看原文吧! ....................... grigri ========================================================================== 　 From her early days as a 16-year-old climbing gypsy in Camp4, to her years as a Hollywood stunt double, to her still unrepeated free ascent of the Nose in a day, Lynn Hill is unquestionably the world's most colorful and influential female climber. This spring, Hill released her memoir, Climbing Free: My Life i the Vertical world, which presents a vivid portrait of life as a woman in a largely male-dominated sport. 十六岁的她就已经在优胜美地的 camp 4 过着吉普赛式的野营生活, 她的经历比 好莱屋电影更加地惊险刺激, 以及她至今还没有任何人能完成的壮举: 在一天之 内以自由攀登上 El Cap的 Nose, Lynn Hill 无疑是世界上最具色彩, 也最具影 响力的女性攀岩者, 今年春天她出版了她的自传, Climbing Free: My Life in the Vertical World, 内容描绘了她多采多姿的攀岩历程, 在这以男性为主的运 动中占了一个很重要的地位. In the summer of 1979, Lynn Hill made her first-ever ascent of The Nose on El Cap with Dean Fidleman, a Joshua Tree regular, and Mari Gingery, a research biologist from L.A. and frequent weekend partner fro Hill. Shortly thereafter, Gingery and Hill decide to try their luck on a more intimidating climb, Th Shield on El Cap. 1979年的夏天, Lynn Hill 生平第一次爬上了 El Capitan (酋长岩) 的Nose, 与Dean Fidleman (Joshua Tree 国家公园的管理者) 和 Mari Gingery (一位 生物学家, 也是Hill平常周末爬岩的绳伴). 不久之後, Gingery 和 Hill 决定 再去嚐试更困难, 更具威胁性的攀登: --The Shield on El Capitan. (Written by Lynn Hill) The Nose introduced Mari and me to the cult of El Capitan. Back then, on the cusp of the ‘70s and ‘80’s, climbers viewed the experience of living for days on end on a gigantic cliff as a mystical pilgrimage. These were heady times. We indulged in these “vertical retreats”as a means of reaffirming ou belief in the virtue of abandoning material comforts in favor of the kind of character-building experiences that inevitably occur on these big-wal journeys. Through such intense experiences, you get to know your partner’s true nature without pretense. Mari and I were good friends, and we worked together well. Nose 这条路线引领着我和 Mary 两个虔诚的膜拜者走进 El Capitan(酋长岩) 的殿堂, 在那个时代, 从七零年代末期到八零年代之间, 攀岩者把为时数日的大 岩壁攀登经验当成是一种神秘的朝圣. 我们会沉浸於这种 "垂直世界的退隐" , 来重新肯定我们的信念, 对於远离物质的享受以及所培养的人格特质, 而这些都 会在大岩壁的攀登过程中显现出来. 经过这种极度的考验, 你将会知道你绳伴最 自然而不经过矫饰的本性. Mary和我是很好的朋友, 而我们在一起共事的经验也 十分愉快 The Nose had provided a good challenge for Mari and me, and we want more, so we planned another El Cap route. The Shield is a big-wall experience altogether different from the Nose. While the Nose is steep, especially in the upper third of the route in the huge corners, the Shield is so overhangin that a drop of water falling from top of the route would land in the forest 200 feet out from the base. The last chunk of the climb – a 1,000-foot featur known as the Headwall – just over the floor of the valley so dramatically that the first time I watched a party climbing up it, I was reminded of two flie crawling around the underside of a giant hot-air balloon. The only way to climb this overhanging wall is by slow and methodical aid-climbing tactics. Thoug I was more enthusiastic about the natural movement of free climbing, the dramatic, wildly exposed position that we'd get ourselves into on the Shield mad the labor of aid-climbing – which I have no interest in if taken as a style on its own – seem worth the effort. We were entering he arena of hard-cor big-wall climbing. Nose虽然对Mary和我来说是很大的挑战, 但我们还想要更多, 於是我们就着手开 始计画另外一条酋长岩的路线. The Shield 和 Nose是两个完全不同的大岩壁经 验, Nose很陡峭, 特别是路线上面约三分之一的部分, 而 The Shield则是完全 的悬出, 从顶端丢一瓶水下来可能会落在离酋长岩底部约 200尺外的森林里. 路 线後面一大段—约1000尺的完整岩壁部分被称为the Headwall – 是那麽地悬出 於谷地之上, 以至於当我第一次在地面看到一组绳队在爬它的时候, 那个画面让 我联想到两只苍蝇匍伏在一个巨大的热气球下方慢慢爬升着. 唯一能爬上这段大 悬岩的方法只有靠缓慢而实际的人工攀登. 尽管我对强调肢体动作的自由攀登有 更大的热忱, 而且也没有兴趣把人工攀登当成是一种爬岩风格, 但我们是那麽热 切地想要完成这条路线, 即使是沦为做苦功的人工攀登者, 那也是很值得的付出 . 我们即将进入真正大岩壁攀登的精髓. 　 To say we were apprehensive about doing a climb as wild as the Shield was an understatement. But once the work began, there was no more time to be nervous. At that stage in our climbing, every experience was new, so we were used to finding new ways to adapt to whatever situation we were in. We alway seemed to find new ways to make it work. On the Shield, however, we would have to find a way. Once we climbed onto the Headwall, we would have no choic about backing off; rappelling back down such an overhang becomes nearly impossible. So once we passed this landmark, we knew we would be committed. Mor common to mountaineering, this aspect of the sport is all about the mental space you occupy when you know there's no turning back. 若说我们已经完全做好准备, 要去攀爬像 The Shield 那麽狂野的路线, 那是有 点言过其实了, 但一旦这决心下定之後, 我们没有多余的时间去紧张和忧虑. 到 了这种阶段的攀登, 所有的体验都是新的, 我们也不断地试着找寻新的方法来适 应或克服可能会遭遇到的状况. 事实上, 在攀登the Shield时, 我们也必须找到 新的方式, 因为一旦我们爬到Headwall上面, 我们将没有撤退的选择: 从那麽大 的悬岩上垂降下来将是件不太可能的事. 所以当我们爬过这个地标时, 我知道我 们将形同被通缉. 这情况在真正的登山运动中是很普遍的, 到了这种层次的攀登 , 全都在考验你心智的表现占了多少份量, 特别是当你知道: 没有回头路可选择 时. The Shield Prior to setting off on the shield, we learned that two other teams wanted to jump on the route, too – Randy Leavitt and Gary Zachar, both californians, and one team from Arizona. Both teams had a wealth of big-wall experience under their belts. We agreed to let these all-male parties step in line ahead o us, and we stalled our departure for a couple of days. We figured that letting the faster, wall-hardened climbers go first was the “gantlemanly” thing t do. On our first day on the wall, we were surprised to see both teams rappel past us on their way down. First Randy and Gary came down because Randy ha gotten a splinter of metal in his eye. Then the team from Arizona followed. 在开始攀登The Shield之前, 我们得知同一时间将有两支队伍要去爬它 – Randy Leavitt 和 Gary Zachar, 两个加洲人的队伍; 还有另外一队来自亚利桑 那, 这两支队伍都拥有比我们更丰富的大墙攀登经验. 我们都同意让这两支纯男 性的队伍先攀登, 并把出发的时间往後延个一两天, 我们感到让这些快速的, 硬 底子的队伍先走是很”绅士”的行为. 但是当我们开始攀登的第一天, 我们很惊 讶地看到这两支队伍纷纷撤退垂降下来. 先经过我们的是 Randy 和 Gary 两人组 因为Randy在敲岩钉时被金属小碎片击中他的眼睛, 接着那个亚利桑那的队伍也下 来了 “What’s wrong? Why are you retreating? “ I shouted up to one of the Arizona climbers above me. I wondered if the storm of the century was bearing down on Yosemite. Yet the sky was blue. “We heard someone take one hell of a fall earlier this morning. There was a terrible scream He must be way fucked up, or dead. It kinda freaked us out, so we decided to bail,” came the reply. “你们怎麽了? 为什麽撤退?” 我叫着他们问道, 并且怀疑是否世纪的风暴即将 降临优胜美地山谷. 可是天空还很晴朗. “ 稍早之前, 我们听到一声惊人的惨叫声回荡整个山谷, 一定是有人坠落了很 长的距离, 我们猜测他一定挂了或什麽的, 那声音真有点吓人, 让我们无心恋战 , 所以我们就决定撤退", 他们回答道. “Mari and I eyed each other, then explained the story behind this blood-curdling scream. Mari’s boyfriend, Mike Lechlinski, and Yabo (the late John Yablonski) had set off at midnight to climb the 3,000-foot-long Triple Direct route on El Cap in a day. When Mari and I arrived at the parking area below E Cap early that morning and saw the two of them standing by their car, we knew something had gone wrong. Mike was arranging their gear while Yabo leane against the fender, smoking a cigarette, staring into the forest. Mari 与我不约而同地互看了一眼, 然後开始解释这血腥的惨叫声背後的故事. Mari的男朋友, Mike Lechlinski 和他朋友Yabo (已故的John Yablonski) 两 个人於这天午夜出发, 想要在一天之内爬上3000英尺高的El Capitan的路线: Triple Direct, 当稍早之前我和Mari抵达El Cap下面的停车场时, 却看到他 们两个人站在车子旁边, 我们就知道一定是有什麽事不对劲了. Mike在整理他 们的装备, 而Yabo则斜倚在车子的保险杆旁抽烟, 双眼凝视着森林的深处. “What happened?” Mari asked “Yabo took an 80-footer!” Mike shot back. At this Yabo uttered one of the staccato sniggers he was known to emit whenever nervous or unsure himself. “Yabo, are you okay?” I asked, looking him up and down from head to toe, searching for blood or bruises. He appeared unscathed. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was climbing in my tennis shoes since it was easy up there. I was climbing with a pack and a full rack of gear, but I didn't bother to put in any protection. It was 4:30 in the morning, so it was a bit hard to see. I was cruising fast until I was nearly at the top of the pitch and suddenly I realized that I messed up my hand sequence. Just then my foot popped off the face and I took a huge whipper, “ came his sheepish admission “ 你们怎麽了? “ ,Mari问. “ Yabo 他刚坠落了80尺! “, Mike叫道. 在这同时Yabo发出几声乾笑, 似乎在抒泄他内心的紧张和不安. “Yabo, 你还好吧!?” 我对着他全身上下打量着, 想要找出任何流血或淤 青的地方, 然而他似乎毫发无伤. “Yeah, I'm fine. 当时我穿着我的网球鞋在爬, 因为那段绳距还蛮简单的 , 我身上虽然挂着一堆鸡丝和装备, 可是我并没有想到要放任何固定点. 那时是 凌晨四点半, 视线还有点模糊, 我爬的很快, 但就在快到达绳距顶端之前, 我突 然发现我手的顺序错了, 接着在那一瞬间我的脚就滑掉了, 然後我的身体就腾空 了起来….”他有点不好意思地回答道. 　 “He was 100 feet up, on the 10th pitch!” exclaimed Mike. “When I saw him flying through the air, I reeled in slack through the belay device, but I could see he had no pro between me and him. I thought for sure we’d be dead, he’s gonna rip us off the wall. Strawberry jam, here we come. But then hi rope hooked around a mysterious knob or feature just barely big enough to catch his fall. If he had fallen 10 feet farther, he would have come crashing dow onto Mammoth Terraces. As soon as Yabo scrambled back down the last few feet onto the ledge, I flipped the rope and it came tumbling back down! I don’ know how the rope snagged on that chunk of rock, but if it hadn’t, Yabo would have gone another 80 feet! I knew Yabo was not badly hurt when he said “Let’s go for it. We can do it.” “他那时离我约100尺高, 在第10个pitch上 !” , Mike嚷道. “ 我看到他 腾空的坠落, 然後又瞥见他和我之间没有任何的固定点, 我想我们死定了, 他将 把我们俩扯下岩壁. 草莓酱! 我们来了!! 但是接着他的绳子奇蹟似地勾到一个 岩壁上的突起特徵, 刚好那突起大到足以勾住绳子并停止他的坠落. 如果他再多 坠落个10尺 他将会撞到 Mammoth Terraces的小平台. 就在他回到岩壁并上攀几 尺到一个小岩阶的当时, 我把绳子抖了一下, 就看到绳子从岩壁上滚落下来, 我们并不晓得绳子是如何勾住岩壁上的那块突起的, 如果没有的话, Yabo至少会 再多坠落个80尺, 到时候可能连我们的确保固定点都不保了. 我知道Yabo并没有 过度地受到惊吓 因为听到他接着说道 “让我们再试一次吧! 我们可以成功的!” Yabo laughed again in a quavering, shell-shocked way, then he lit another cigarette. I looked him in the eye and shook me head, half in disgust at his recklessness, half out of concern. This brush with death was just the latest in a slew of near misses for Yabo. In a world where people slip on the ice o their front doorstep and die, Yabo lived like a cat with nine lives, defying the consequence of gravity, doing everything the dangerous way, falling wit impunity. The Shield was still there, though, awaiting Mari and me, so after hugging the boys and saying good-bye, we started jumaring up our ropes to Heat Ledge, where we had fixed them a few days earlier. As Mari started jumaring the ropes, she said to herself, “Someday Yabo’s not gonna walk away from his craz ways.” It would take a few years, but she would prove to be right. Yabo 又再度笑了, 以颤抖和惊魂未定的声音, 接着他燃起了另一支烟. 我 看着他的眼睛并摇了摇头, 一半是怪他太过於粗心大意, 一半也是出於关心. 这 次与死亡擦身而过的经历只是他一连串与性命交关的经验其中之一. 在这个人们 於自家门前扫雪都可能滑倒而丧命的世界, Yabo像是一只有九条命的猫, 藐视地 心引力的後果以危险的行径来做任何事情, 但他都能够全身而退. 而The Shield依旧矗立在那里, 等待着我和Mari, 在跟 Mike 和 Yabo 拥抱和道 别过後, 我们开始推jumar上攀到Heat Ledge, 那固定绳是我们几天前就架好的 当 Mari 开始推 jumar 时她说道:“我想Yabo永远不会离开他的疯狂行径.” 不 出几年的时间, 事实将证明了她这句话是对的. Now that the last of the men had retreated, we had the wall to ourselves. It humored us to know that despite the more impressive range of experience that these teams had over us, we remained the determined ones, going to the top. “A wall without balls,” I jokingly said to Mari, referring to the term Bev Johnson and Sybille Hechtel had coined when they did the first all-female ascent of the Triple Direct on El Cap in 1973. The Shield, which loomed frighteningly steep over our heads, was now the sole domain of two women 现在最後的男生队伍已经撤退了, 只剩下我们面对整座岩壁. 很幽默地, 这 告诉我们尽管那些队伍的经验比我们多出很多, 我们仍然是最有决心的一队 – going to the top! “A wall without balls,” 我开玩笑地对着 Mari 说. 这是在1973年 Bev Johnson 和 Sybille Hechtel 第一支纯女性的队伍爬上 El Cap 的 Triple Direct 时所用的词. The Shield陡峭的岩壁在我们的头上呈现令人畏惧的景象, 现在全然 是两个女人独占的领域. For the first two days of the climb we inched up El Cap’s glacier-cut face, slowly gaining height by the unfamiliar mode of aid-climbing, and even more slowly dragging up our haulbag. Our bag was loaded with so much equipment, water and food that it outweighed both of us combine. So on the first few hundre feet of the wall, Mari and I rigged a two-person hauling system. We each pulled out backward with all our might on the haul line, winching the bag’s weigh through a small pulley. Our pig crawled up the wall in small surges. Our skin was rubbed raw from pulling on the rope. Sweat poured out of us 前两个攀登天我们缓慢地爬升於El Capitan的冰河侵蚀面, 以不熟悉的 人工攀登方式一寸一寸地增加高度, 背包拖吊的速度甚至还更缓慢. 我们的大墙 背包装了许多的装备, 还有这几天大岩壁生活所需的食物和水, 一开始的重量超 过我们两个的体重加起来, 所以在前几百英尺我们采用两人的背包拖吊系统, 背 包的重量缠绕於一个小滑轮上, 我们每一个人尽最大的力气往後拉着拖吊绳, 我 们的那只猪(大墙背包)慢慢地一点一滴的在岩壁上爬升着, 在拉绳子的过程中我 们的皮肤都磨破了皮, 汗如泉水般涌下. After two days on the wall, we became accustomed to living in a reality where survival required us to concentrate on each move and to evaluate the consequences of every action, whether it was hammering in a piton or clipping ourselves into our batlike hanging bivouacs. During those intense moments o total engagement, I would become acutely aware of that little voice of intuition that is so often obscured by the clutter and command of our day-to-da thinking on the ground. On the 16th pitch, while bashing a piton into an expanding crack, the thought occurred to me that perhaps I should have hammere this piton a little harder. In the next instant, after I clipped my aider and stood up in it, the piton ripped out with a loud ping. I flew 30 feet backwar before a well-placed piece of gear caught me on the rope. The fall was over in less than a breath, but the memory of the need to listen to the quiet internal voice of warning was never forgotten. 在岩壁上待了两天之後, 我们渐渐习惯了岩壁上的生活, 在垂直的世界里 , 为了生存, 你必须要集中所有的注意力於每一步动作, 并评估每一个举动所带 来的後果, 不管是敲入一根岩钉, 或是把自己扣入过夜用的悬吊式吊床. 在这种 需要极度专注的环境下, 我变的更为敏锐地能察觉到内心潜意识的直觉所发出的 小小声音, 而那些很容易在我们平地嘈杂的日常生活里被忽略. 在第十六个绳距 , 我正把一根岩钉敲进一个膨胀的裂隙, 我的脑中突然闪过一个念头: 我应该把 这根岩钉敲深一点, 就在下一刻, 当我把马凳扣进去并站上它, 那根岩钉突然” 乒”一大声被扯出来了, 我向下飞了将近30尺, 直到一个放的很好的固定点才把 我吊住. 那次的坠落虽在呼吸间就结束了, 可是所学到的教训却是一辈子也无法 忘怀的: 要去仔细聆听内心深处所发出的警告声音. Night was a precious time when we could relax, eat, drink and gaze up at the stars – but only after an hour of fiddling with our bunks. Mari had it good – she owned one of the first portaledges ever made. This newfangled gadget was a six-pound collapsible cot consisting of an aluminum frame strung wit a nylon sheet. It hung from six webbing straps all sewn together into a single loop, into which she clipped the anchor. It made a comfortable sailor-styl bunk. My bed wasn't so deluxe. It was a banana-shaped hammock in which I slumped like a caterpillar in a cocoon. My first night in this was dire. In th corner of a dihedral, I hung in a bent position all night long, shifting from side to side in discomfort. 晚上的时间是很珍贵且难忘的, 我们可以放松紧张的心情来吃东西, 喝 水, 以及仰望天上的星星 – 在我们花了一小时的时间来架设我们睡觉用的吊床 之後 – 而Mari在这方面很行, 因为她拥有第一个专门设计给大岩壁攀登用的吊 床, 这种新型的玩意儿是个重约六磅的可摺叠式吊床, 以铝作为骨架, 尼龙布作 为底, 由边缘六条平均受力的带环缝在一个单一的环上, 固定点只要扣入那个环 就好了, 张开来是一个很舒适的、平坦的帆船式吊床. 而我的床就没有那麽奢侈 了, 它只是一个香蕉状的传统式吊床, 躺在上面时会陷下去被裹在里面, 像是只 包在蛹里面的毛毛虫. 我在岩壁上睡觉的第一晚是很悲惨的, 那个位置是在一个 内角里面, 我弯着身体裹在吊床内挂了一整个晚上, 而且身体必须不停变换方向 , 十分的不舒服. On the fourth day, Mari led us up to the Headwall. The pitch she followed to get us there was dubbed the Shield Roof, and it was indeed a giant of a root. Hanging upside down under the root to place each piece of gear, she dangled in her aiders, whacking in pitons and placing nuts whenever possible Hour passed while Mari led to the end of the Shield Roof. Finally , shouting down through the afternoon wind that blew our hanging loops of rope in a swirling dance, she let me know that she was off belay. I jumared up while removing a few precarious-looking copperhead placements she had hammered in. Whe I pulled around from underside of the ceiling and joined Mari at the start of the Headwall, I found that we were poised in an outrageous position. Under ou feet, there was nothing but air. Above us rose 1,000 feet of smooth, overhanging orange granite. To either side of us, the walls curved around out of sight We seemed to be suspended on the edge of the world, and the two of us and our pig hung from three steel botls the length, yet not quite the thickness, of half-smoked. Feeling vulnerable, I instinctively checked the knot at my waist, the only thing securing me to the anchor. I could see now why this climb ha been named the Shield: The feature we were on resembled the curving battle shield of a warrior. 在第四天的时候, Mari引领我们爬到了 the Headwall 的下面, 这段绳 距一开始是鼎鼎大名的 the Shield Roof, 那的确是一个很巨大的天花板. 挂在 上面彷佛整个世界都颠倒了过来般, 头上面是地, 脚下面是天空. Mari正悬挂在 固定点上, 尽她最大的可能来把岩钉敲进裂隙 几个小时过去了, 她终於爬到了the Shield天花板外面, 她的叫声透过午後 把我们的带环吹得翩翩起舞的微风传了下来, 她让我知道可以解除确保了. 我推 着jumar上攀, 一边移除几个她所敲进的, 看起来很恐怖的coppperhead (注: 人 工固定点的一种, 一端是具延展性的金属, 随着大力的敲入, 可以适应不规则的 小裂隙形状). 当我推过这段大天花板, 在the Headwall 开始处与Mari会合, 我 发现我们处在一个无法想像的地方 – 在我们的脚下, 除了空气之外什麽都没有 , 在我们的头上耸立着一千多尺高, 光滑的, 橙黄色的花岗岩大悬岩. 不管是我 们上下任何一边的岩壁, 都以漂亮的弯曲弧度延伸出我们的视线之外. 我们好像 是悬挂在世界的边缘!! 我和Mari, 和我们那只日渐消瘦的猪, 就挂在三颗被敲 入不到半根烟长度的 bolts上. 身处在这种极度脆弱的环境之下, 我直觉地检查 了吊带上的每一个绳结, 这是让我连在固定点上的唯一确保. 现在我终於知道为 什麽这条路线叫做 "the Shiled" , 从我们所处的位置看起来, 整个岩壁就像是 战士所拿的圆弧状盾牌. Shield Roof We had reached the point of no return. It would be impossible to rappel down from here. It was now summit or bust. But we grew accustomed to the exposure of our perch, and once we set up our portaledge and hammock for another bivouac, the calm of twilight descended, and Mari and I were finally abl to rest. A distant strip of clouds in the west, over the plains of the San Joaguin Valley, glowed with brilliant colors. Hanging side by side in our bivoua cocoons, we munched bagels and crunched M&Ms. We had no fear of the height, only an enhanced sense of intimacy between us. Up here in this giddy place, felt as if we were the last people left on earth and secrets were of the rare times when we could speak woman-to-woman without a bunch of guys hangin around, the topic of our conversation revolved around our relationships with men. I gazed down to the snake-like curve of the Merced River and the gree crescent of El Cap Meadow. 我们已经到达不能回头的地方, 要从这里垂降下去是十分不可能的事, 现在 开始只有登顶或是出事这两个结果. 但我们已经逐渐地习惯於这种高度的暴露感 , 当我们架好过夜用的吊床时, 宁静的薄暮笼罩下来, 也是一天之中可以放松的 时候, 遥远的西边一抹云霞横过San Joaquin 山谷平原的上方, 闪耀着辉煌的色 彩. 坐在紧靠着一起的吊床上, 我们啃着培果, 咀嚼着M&m巧克力, 我们没有任 何的高度恐惧感, 只有彼此之间与日渐增的熟悉和亲密感. 在这种令人晕眩的地 方, 我觉得我们像是地球上仅存的最後两个人, 秘密已经没有什麽用处, 或许这 也是我们很少机会能作女人之间单独面对面地谈话, 而没有一群男生围绕在身旁 . 但我们谈话的主题却也都围绕在我们与男生之间的关系. 我凝视着脚下如蛇状 般蜿蜒的 Merced河, 以及旁边呈新月形的 El Capitan草原. The next morning, as we began up the five pitches of the Headwall , we entered the realm of cutting-edge aid-climbing. When Charlie Porter first climbed this intimidating part of El Cap with his partner , Gary Bocarde, in 1972, they came away with a route that pushed aid climbing into a new dimension, becaus never before had a climb been created that was comprised of such tenuous features. They gave the Shield the most difficult big-wall rating of A5, thoug subsequent ascents have hammered out the eroded crack so that today it accepts larger pitons, and the rating is easier, more like A3+. Porter, however faced a seam in the wall that was the thickness of a strand of hair and that was just millimeter deep. No piton fitted this crack other than the tinies type, called RURP. This hatchet-shaped piton is the size and thickness of a nickel, and its blade pokes into a crack no more than a quarter inch. The inventor of the RURP, Yvon Chouniard (the blacksmith climber who went on to found the immensely successful clothing company Patagonia) dubbed his new desig the Realized Ultimate Reality Piton—RURP for short. He figured that no piton could be smaller and still hold a climber's weight Porter climbed the Headwall on the Shield using scores of RURPs – 35 of them in a row on one pitch. Porter was apparently quite cavalier about launching off into the unknown on these micro-pitons, but when Bocarde jumared up the rope and pulled most of the RURPS out with his finger, the pair wer sobered, realized that a leader fall would have probably ripped out every piece on the pitch. According to Bocarde, he yelled up at Porter in a fit of blac humor, “Charlie, I am cutting the rope if you fall.” After the climb was over, it created quite a stir as being the hardest route on El Cap, though Ji Bridwell soon superseded it with even more risky, technical routes like Pacific Ocean Wall and Sea of Dreams. But in its heyday , the Shield was the ultimat wall. “Porter has gotten inside the RURP and is looking out,”quipped the famous climber Royal Robbins, bestowing this reclusive guru of big-wall cultur the Realized Ultimate Reality Compliment. 隔天早晨, 我们开始攀登the Headwall 的五个绳距, 我们已经进入最 上乘的人工攀登境界. Charlie Porter和他的绳伴 Gary Bocarde 在1972年首次 攀登 El Cap的这一部分令人生畏的岩壁时, 他们把人工攀登的应用推向一个前 所未有的范畴, 因为之前从来没有人爬过一面岩壁像这样那麽少的破绽以及细微 的裂隙所构成. 他们给 th Shield 订下最难的大墙攀登级数: A5, 尽管许多後 继的攀登逐渐地把岩壁的裂隙越敲越大, 所以今日它已经可以接受较大的岩钉, 难度也被降为约A3+. 然而, 当年Porter在攀登时, 他所面对的是一条不过几束 发线宽, 仅有几毫米深的裂缝, 没有任何岩钉能适合这种裂隙, 除了最细微得一 型-- 称为RURP. 这是一种斧状的岩钉, 大小和厚度约和一枚镍币差不多, 它的 斧片戳入裂缝不到四分之一寸深. RURP的发明者, Yvon Chouniard--黑史密斯区的攀岩者, 现在是知名休闲衣服品 牌 Patagonia的老板--当初在推出这种最新设计的时候, 把它命名为 the Realized Ultimate Reality Piton (实现终极真实的岩钉), 简称RURP. 他觉的没有任何岩钉可以比它更小又能撑住攀登者的重量. Porter在攀登the Headwall时用了许多的RURPs -- 在一个pitch内密集 地用了35个. 显然的他那时对於这种新设计是相当满意的, 但是当它的绳伴 Bocarde爬second推jumar上来, 并且用他的手指就能轻易地把所有的RURP移除, 这两个人终於清醒了, 明白了先锋的坠落很可能就会将它们全都扯出. 根据Bocarde的描述, 他以黑色幽默的口吻对Porter说 "Charlie, 你坠落的话 我会马上切断绳子.”当他们完攀the Shield後, 对於这条路线是El Cap最难 的路线的说法, 一时之间甚为流行, 虽然 Jim Bridwel 後来又完成其他更危 险或更技巧性的路线来取代 the shield, 如Pacific Wall 和 Sea of Dreams, 但在它的全盛期时, the Shield一直是终极不可侵犯的岩壁. "Porte 已经到达 RURP的境界, 并且向外看" 着名的攀岩者 Royal Robbins 对 这位大岩壁攀登文化的隐逸者给了这样的评价. Our progress slowed to a snail’s pace as we cope with difficulties of Headwall. Poking out of the crack ahead of me were occasional RURPs that had been hammered in so tightly by other ascents that they could not be removed. Old and tattered bits of skinny webbing tied to these fixed pieces flapped in th breeze. These little slings creaked like ripping fabric when I hung from them. They felt ready to break, so I hurried on to the next placement. The onl thing in my favor was that my weigh – around 100 pounds – exerted less force on the pins than other climbers. Porter, or any other guy who had climbed th route since him, likely weighed nearly twice as much as me. On the fifth day, we exited the Headwall, hauling onto a large, sloping rock platform called Chickenhead Ledge, so named for the black knobs of intrusive diorite that poke through the bed of white granite. With only one day left before we topped out, we slept well here, knowing we'd be on fla earth by the next afternoon. Some of our pitches had taken us five hours to lead. I wondered if I would bother doing another big nailing route ever again It was so slow and tedious at times. We'd later learn that in the time it took us to lead three pitches on the Headwall, Mari's boyfriend Mike, with Joh Bachar, Had climbed all 33 pitches of the Nose! 在面对困难的the Headwall时, 我们的进度慢到像蜗牛一样, 在我面前细微的裂 隙上偶尔会出现几根RURP, 那是被之前攀登的人非常用力的打进里面, 以至於拆 不出来. 有一小段老旧而破损的带环绑在上面, 在微风下拍动摇曳着, 这些小带 环在我重量挂上去的时候发出喀吱喀吱的布料撕裂的声音, 好像真的要裂开似的 , 所以我赶紧移到下一个支点上面. 我想对我而言最大优点是我的体重—大约 100磅左右— 所以施加较少的重量在於固定支点上, Porter 或是其他攀登这条 路线的男生, 很可能对固定点的施力是我的两倍以上. 第五个攀登天, 我们终於通过了the Headwall, 来到一个大斜板的平台, 称作 Chickenhead ledge, 这称呼是因为突然有一块大形的闪长岩插入花岗岩的岩壁 中. 离登顶只剩下一天的时间, 所以我们在这里睡的特别好, 明天下午我们的双 脚就可以站上平坦的土地上了. 回想前几天的攀登, 有的绳距甚至花了我们五个 小时的时间leading, 我甚至怀疑以後会不会想再嚐试另一条蜗牛似的大岩壁路 线. 後来才知道, 在我们爬 the Headwall 其中三个绳距的时间, Mari的男朋友 Mike和 John Bachar 已经爬完了 th Nose 的全部三十三个绳距. The next day – our sixth since leaving the Valley floor – we pulled over the edge of El Cap. Twenty- nine pitches lay behind us. The relief of the climb being over and the elation of finally standing on top was enhanced by the presence of John and Mike, who had hiked to meet us on top, just as Mari an I had done when reached the top of the Shield. In fact, that was when John had suggested that Mari and I climb this route together. After hearing about wha a sensational climb it was , Mari and I had looked at each other and said, “Yeah, why not? Let's go for it.” Though it was a lot of work, living in such spectacular vertical world had been well worth the effort. Weighed down by our haulbag and by coils of ropes and racks of piton, we wobbled our legs, but w were grateful to be able to walk again and return to the comforts of a hot shower and some fresh food. 再隔天, 也就是从我们离开地面後的第六天, 我们登上了酋长岩的顶端 , 总共29个绳距在我们的脚下. 攀登时的紧张心情已全部放松, 随之而来的是满 心的愉悦与兴奋, 而 Mike 和 John 从下面徒步健行上来迎接我们, 更增添不少 欢腾的气氛. 那也是之前当他们爬上the Shield 时, 我和 Mari所做的事. 事实 上, 是Mike和John 建议 Mary和我去攀登这条路线的, 在听了这是条那麽地有强 烈感觉的路线, Mari和我互望了一眼并说道: “Yeah, why not? Let’s go for it.” 尽管是付出了那麽多代价, 但能够生活在这样壮观且垂直的世界里, 所有 的辛苦与努力都是值得的. 放下我们的大墙背包, 捆好的绳子, 以及一大串沉重 的岩钉, 我们伸了伸脚, 觉得有点不太自然 但我们还是非常感激能够再度用脚 行走, 并且回到有热水澡和新鲜食物的舒适世界. Ours had been the first female ascent of the Shield. It was something to be proud of, yet rather than feeling that we had done something “apart” from men, we felt we had done something “equal” to men. Before starting the Shield, I had read with some chagrin in Galen Rowell's book The vertical world o Yosemite, “Women are conspicuously absent from the climb in this book. I have no apology to make here because it is not my place to change history . Ther simply were no major first ascents in Yosemite done by women during the formative years of the sport.” Back then, our sport was directed by a fraternity of men, and there was little encouragement or, frankly, inclination for women to participate. Yet women climbers were out there. True, there were precious few of us, but it reassured me to know that we had a presence. Though some people may have take note of our ascent of the Shield, women had climbed big walls before us. The first all-female ascent of El Capitan had been Beverly Johnson’s and Sybill Hechtel's ascent of the Triple Direct in 1973. Then, in 1977, Brab Eastman and Molly Higgins made the first all-female ascent of the Nose. Self-taught an determined, Brab and Molly made a respectably fast three-and-a-half-day ascent of their climb – the same speed as Mari, Dean and me. 我们是第一支女生队伍爬上 the Shield 的, 这算是蛮值的骄傲的事情, 我们 并非觉得我们做了什麽跟男生不一样的事情, 而是觉得我们能做到跟男生一样的 事情. 在开始攀登the Shield 之前, 我在 Galen Rowell 的书 “ The Vertical World of Yosemite” 读到一段让我觉得有点无奈的话. “ 女生显然的在这本书 所介绍的攀登中缺席, 但我不需要为此感到抱歉, 因为我并不能改变历史. 那只 代表在攀岩发展的初期, 没有一条路线的首攀是由女生完成的." 在那个时代, 攀岩的运动几乎全由一票男生所主导, 而没有一点鼓励或, 坦白说 , 倾向能让女性去参与. 但女性攀岩者始终是存在的. 也许真的, 像我们这样的 人是很珍贵稀有的, 但这更让我想要去确定: 我们是从不缺席的. 或许以後有人 会对我们 The Shield 的攀登记上一笔, 但在我们之前就有女生爬上大岩壁了, 第一支爬上酋长岩的纯女性队伍, 是由Beverly Johnson 和 Sybille Hechtel 在1973年所爬的 Triple Direct. 然後, 在1977年, Brad Eastman 和 Molly Higgin 是第一支女生队伍爬上 the Nose, 在严格的自我要求以及决心之下, 她 们以令人敬佩的速度, 三天半, 去完成, 那也是後来我, Dean, 和Mari所花的时 间. But if I had a role model or heroine during my formative years of climbing, it was Beverly Johnson. She had been up El Cap many times before me, on the first ascents with her boyfriend of the time, Charlie Porter; with other women; and alone. While books about climbing touted El Cap climbs like Nort America Wall, put up by Robbins, Chouinard and others, as being landmark in climbing history, I personally found it significant to know that Bev had made 10-day solo ascent of Dihedral Wall on El Capitan in 1978. Her effort is barely mentioned in the climbing books, but after our climb of the shield, I appreciated Bev’s tenacity all the more. All the gut-busting work that Mari and I had share – leading, hauling, everything – had been done by Bev, as a team of one, on the Dihedral Wall. I was awed, but not just b the know-how and hard work she’d put into her ascent. It was the courage and confidence that it took to put herself on the line, to do something on th cutting edge – to climb one of the world’s greatest big walls in the hardest possible ways: solo. She had succeeded, and she’d given women climbers lik me enormous confidence to be ourselves and not feel limited by being a minority in a male-dominated sport. 如果说在我早期攀岩时有一个崇拜的对象或女英雄, 那一定是 Beverly Johnson. 在我之前, 她已经很多次爬上酋长岩了, 第一次是与她当时的男朋友, Charlie Porter; 其他还有与别的女生; 或者甚至是, 自己一个人. 在几本介绍攀登酋 长岩并标榜着优胜美地的攀登历史的书如 ”North American Wall”, 由 Robbins, 和Chouinard等人出版时, 我私下发现一件有象徵性且意义重大的事情 : 在1978年, Beverly 曾经花了十天的时间独攀上 El Capitan的Dihedral Wall . 她的事蹟却几乎没有被其他攀岩的书籍所提及, 但当我们完成 The Shield 的攀 登时, 我只有更能领会她的坚毅与固执. 我和Mari所分担的所有叩心沥血的事-- 先锋、拖吊背包等等, 她曾全部一个人承担过, 以一个人的队伍, 在Dihedral Wall这条路线上. 我感到非常的惊讶, 但不仅只钦佩於她的能力以及所付出的努力, 更重要 的是要有很大的勇气和自信, 才能让她下定决心, 做这麽前卫的事情: 以最困难 的方式攀登世界上最伟大的岩壁—独攀. 她成功了, 她也给了像我这样的女性攀 岩者非常大的自信, 而不再觉得自己只是在这种以男生为主的运动中的附属物.... (摘自: Lynn Hill - Climbing Free : My Life in the Vertical World. ) ========================================================================= 低调推荐一下吴小奇快被遗忘的网页: http://www.climber.idv.tw/~ballki/ 封面就是今天讲到的 Lost Arrow... -- 「我们都很努力地让我们的动作看起来很优美、更流畅、控制力更强， 在我们心中有一个理想的风格，成为我们追求的目标； 光是登顶是不够的，要达到这种完美的境界才重要」。 --Francois Legrand ,1995, for mag.R&C --

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