Translator: Megan Lee Reviewer: Michael Nystrom
Good afternoon.
Walter Bonatti,
one of the greatest mountain climbers of all time,
said that mountains are nothing but piles of stones
that get their meaning from the men who climb them.
With that, he explained a lot of things.
And all of the greats, like Terray and Lachenal,
have taught us a lot of important things, too.
Terray said that mountain climbers are conquistadors of the useless.
Maurice Herzog, the first man to climb a mountain 8,000 meters high - Annapurna -
ends his book by saying:
“There are other Annapurna in the lives of men.”
All of these climbers have taught us a lot about the world of mountain climbing
and about the values of the adventure world in general.
Above all, they have given us a lot of passion, which is most important,
and the idea that mountains are beautiful places for all kinds of people,
for all those who just want to take a walk through the mountains
to find a really “cool” place to think or reflect.
It took a long time to understand that mountains ...
aren’t a barrier to communication between civilizations.
Mountains are something more:
they are dreams, challenges, and illusions.
We see beauty in these gorgeous mountains.
To get a bit personal,
I think that adventure today isn’t what it used to be.
It’s more personal, and everyone can decide with total freedom
how they will make their way to the top and what footprint they will leave behind.
(Music: “Another Day”)
♪ Another day is over ♪
♪ Another day is gone ♪
♪ I know I’m getting older ♪
♪ I know I’m going to fall ♪
♪ One more chance I’ve wasted ♪
♪ One more try I’ve lost ♪
♪ Dreams and hopes and wishes ♪
♪ Are buried in a hole ♪
♪ Now my faith is growing stronger ♪
♪ Behind forsaken goals ♪
♪ I still know what I’m doing here ♪
♪ What I’m coming for ♪
♪ Another day is over ♪
♪ Another day is gone ♪
♪ I know I’m getting older ♪
♪ But now it’s time to roll ♪
♪ One more chance mistaken ♪
♪ Another one’s about to come ♪
♪ Pastime makes me recognize ♪
♪ What I’m looking for ♪
♪ My own breath was choking me ♪
♪ My own steps making me fall ♪
♪ When dust don’t let me see the road ♪
♪ My confidence is growing ♪
♪ Another day is over ♪
♪ Another day is gone ♪
♪ I know I’m getting older ♪
♪ But now it’s time to roll ♪
(Humming)
♪ Another day is over ♪
♪ Another day is gone ♪
♪ I know I’m getting older ♪
♪ But now it’s time to roll ♪
♪ I know I’m gone ♪
(Music ends)
(Applause)
Chantal Mauduit said that she was searching for happiness,
and the mountains responded to her search.
I never actually wanted to be a sportsman.
I know that some of you must think I have a couple of screws loose,
and you’re probably right.
But let me convince you all that there is some sense in all of this.
What actually attracted me to the world of mountains
was just to be able to go somewhere to think, to reflect,
to find a certain balance,
which was very important to me.
You don’t get far without help from others
or, above all, without the influence of people who inspire you.
I’ve been especially inspired by a lot of the people I’ve met
along the way and on expeditions over all these years.
But the Himalayan porters are special people,
people who are capable of doing so much with so little.
It’s something that has always stood out to me.
A lesson I’ve learned is that once you climb Mont Blanc,
what really matters is how you did it.
The north face of the Grandes Jorasses, the north faces of the Alps
are difficult places,
the most difficult places to summit.
I dreamed of doing this solo for many years.
Since I was a kid, I’ve been lucky enough
to be able to do solo climbing,
and that made me realize that when you do something with a lot of passion,
a lot of strength, a lot of desire, without focusing on the consequences,
you are usually going to have good results.
Accidents do happen in the mountains.
In fact, as you climb more mountains and start reaching your limits,
you start to realize that you are going to face danger,
like a real threat to all of the happiness
that we mountain climbers are seeking.
Chantal Mauduit lost her life on an 8,000-meter-high mountain,
searching for that happiness.
So, that threat will always be there.
For a few years, solo climbing - climbing without ropes -
was most important to me.
It was something that I needed, like eating.
I needed to go through that tunnel searching for an authenticity
far from all of the noise that surrounds us today more than ever,
with all of the information that overwhelms us day after day.
And what did I find?
I found that perfection doesn’t exist and that one small mistake,
one failure doing any of these things could be fatal.
Right here, I’m climbing with a parachute on my back, which isn’t the best solution,
but does help a bit so that you relax a little bit
and are a little bit more relaxed on the wall.
But it’s true that over time
my perception of risk has also changed, which is normal.
Now I understand risk in a calmer way,
and I don’t need to push my limits as much in that sense.
But, for me, it’s been important to keep on having goals,
even if those goals are different.
It’s really hard to stay motivated for so many years.
The truth is that, in this sense, I like to say that
motivation is something we have to work on every day.
It doesn’t come innately
as if you go to exercise one time and then always want to be exercising
with every fiber of your being.
It happens to all of us.
I think that you have to work for it, and that motivation does come along
and keeps increasing until one day,
you see yourself at the top of an 8,000-meter-high mountain,
as I used to read in the books by my favorite former climbers, my heroes.
Over time, I’ve also dreamed of flying, mankind’s great dream
that has always been part of humanity.
How do we fly? In what ways can we fly?
And sometimes, we’ve gone too far,
and it’s true that we’ve lost friends along the way.
And at that time, I experienced one of the most difficult moments,
when the main parachute didn’t open,
and I went to grab the reserve parachute ripcord,
and that ripcord slipped inside my wingsuit.
Obviously, everything turned out okay, or I wouldn’t be here talking about it.
But anyway, the truth is I kissed the ground when I landed,
like when the Pope arrives in a country and passionately kisses the ground.
Or on an 8,000-meter-high mountain in the winter when everything was frozen.
Three people died on that expedition,
and I realized that it hadn’t been just a matter of luck,
that there was something else,
and that made me think that it wasn’t what I wanted.
I didn’t want to be in that situation
and didn’t want to keep living such an extreme life.
There are lots of mountains - like K2, for example -
that, in my specific case,
I just haven’t been able to climb.
No big deal. It doesn’t matter.
Who decides what success is on our mountains?
Who’s going to judge our trajectory?
The last mountain that I climbed was the Eiger, called the Ogre.
It’s not as much of an ogre now
with the equipment and techniques that we have nowadays,
so that it can be done much more easily.
It’s the protagonist of the story
of the most incredible tragedies and adventures of all time
in the world of mountain climbing.
Continuing with that search for balance,
it’s important to keep up with those goals that I’m talking to you about.
I think that goals are always what give us direction.
I know right now exactly what I want to do in the next few months,
and I constantly focus on those goals and dreams
that I have for the near future.
When I think about all of the adventures that I’ve lived, as Terray said,
many adventures change a man’s life.
It’s true that they change you,
but when I think about all of these experiences and life lessons,
I always think about effort.
Effort is something that doesn’t have to do with material things,
and I believe that effort is what brings climbers closer to happiness.
When you’re in austere conditions,
really roughing it with only the most basic and essential things for survival,
I think that’s when we become conscious that we are happy
and having a good time on the mountain.
And you have to imagine yourself on top of some of those mountains -
just like in life - you have to imagine yourself up there.
I think that’s true for everything -
the slopes, the training, and working hard to achieve your goals -
that’s what builds character.
The fight, the effort, the sacrifice is what gives you authority -
just to be clear, not an authority to order people around -
but a personal authority that gives confidence,
that makes you believe in what you are capable of achieving.
And through that effort comes awareness -
an awareness that makes you appreciate those little things
that we often ignore or forget about while thinking about our big goals.
Sometimes the little dreams or the beauty of a gorgeous landscape
is simply more than enough
to make you happy with yourself right where you are.
What’s clear is that the most important part of all adventures is to come back.
Come back to be able to talk about it, to pass it on to your friends,
to your loved ones - today, here.
In the end, there’s nothing at the top of a mountain.
There’s a beautiful landscape, an incredible moment,
but it’s when you climb down,
when you realize that taking the risk was worth it -
not in a reckless sense -
but with training and strategy
and above all else, with a lot of passion.
Without a little bit of risk, reaching the top of the mountain -
and everything that comes after -
isn’t worth it.
Thank you so much.
(Applause)