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Après 2 tentatives et en risquant leurs vies, les 2 athlètes Axel Naglich et Peter Ressmann ont réussi à grimper et ensuite faire la descente en ski d'une des plus hautes montagnes sur terre : le Mount Saint Elias (le Man Eater) de 5489 m. de haut.
Ils n'ont pas pu faire la descente en ski vers la mer en une fois, mais tout de même, c'était la première descente depuis 5 ans !
La partie basse a été escaladée et ridé en juin 2007, mais faute de neige, cette descente n'était pas possible cette fois-ci.
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| English version |
Red Bull Vertical Rush
Mount St. Elias in Alaska, one of the peaks of the St. Elias Mountains - the highest coastal range in the world - is renowned for being the highest peak in the world that is so close to tidewater at 5,489 metres, and is also regarded as one of the most dangerous mountains in the world. In the first ascent in five years, Axel Naglich embarked upon the first downhill ski run on St. Elias, also the longest in history.
Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Axel Naglich would have to complete the world-famous Streif, the legendary slope in his home town of Kitzbühel, six times in order to reach the equivalent distance for his record run on Mount St. Elias. But it's like comparing Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards with Hermann Maier: unlike the Streif, there's no comfortable cable car to the peak of Mount St. Elias, just a life-threatening climb that has given the mountain its nickname, "Man-eater".
Every mistake is fatal
The Austrian has his companions Peter Ressmann and John Johnston, as well as his extensive experience, to thank for the fact that he returned from the 5,489 metre peak "uneaten": he has won the "24 Hours of Aspen" three times and has taken part in both the Red Bull Snowthrill in Chamonix and the X Games twice. But his expedition up Mount St. Elias was an experience to beat all previous experiences: "I think that's the hard thing about that mountain, it doesn't forgive any mistakes. Wherever you make a mistake, or fall, or slide, if there's an avalanche or a mistake climbing, if you start sliding, you're dead.
First attempt in May
The extreme sports athlete, who's day job is architect, was cautious in his approach to tackling Alaska's never-ending ice: on his first record attempt in May, Naglich and his companions climbed to 5,000 metres above sea level, but were forced to turn back owing to dangerous conditions, making their way from base camp to sea level within three hours - an extreme descent over a drop of 3,000 metres in altitude. It wasn't until their second attempt in August that they finally made it to the summit.
Three days to the summit
Naglich laid the foundations on August 9: he left base camp at midnight, climbing 4,000 metres to the advanced camp. On August 10, he fought his way from the advanced camp to the high camp, reaching the peak at midday on August 11 after a further five hours of climbing, where he was greeted by minus 40 degree temperatures. "It was windy and freezing cold," is his very unromantic description of the ten minutes he spent at the highest point.
Downhill on unfamiliar territory
The fact that he chose a different route for the two-hour descent to the advanced camp than the one he took for the ascent meant that the risk wasn't exactly calculable: "But we had no choice. During the ascent we realised that we could follow each other's steps, even if we were 20 or 30 metres apart. That meant there was a cavity beneath us. If we had taken the same route on skis to come down, we would undoubtedly have triggered an avalanche." Naglich reflects calmly on the expedition: "I'm proud of the record. But it's not the greatest achievement of my life. My greatest achievement is still being alive at all after all my adventures."
Photos : www.redbull-photofiles.com
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