«Go, look, choose and climb»

KATSUTAKA YOKOYAMA TELLS ABOUT HIS MOUNT LOGAN (AND NOT ONLY)

He is dumbfounding the entire (mountaineering) world with his ventures. Though, according to him, who in the last days carried out an absolute masterpiece on Mount Logan, everything is nearly a game, real fun. Sure – we thought – to such a champion, it could even be true. Then, here comes the gibe: «I’ve never been a great climber and I’m still immature». Stop. What? Did we get it right? Sure. Katsutaka Yokoyama – 31 years old, Japanese from Kanagawa, called “Jumbo” because of his about 80 kilos of weight and 175 centimeters of height, comfortable with the remotest mountains as well as with French grade 8 sports routes – wrote something similar also in “The American Alpine Journal”. Then, there is still to understand what he will manage to do with his inseparable fellows – e.g. Fumitaka Ichimura and Yusuke Sato – when he will “actually” get expert and capable. «I don’t have to be a great climber – he keeps on explaining – but I’ll have to, as to face new, big and difficult targets. That is my case. And Mount Logan will be one of the big mileposts in my climbing life».

Therefore, it is important to understand how and why Yokoyama got to Mount Logan. Answer: «A friend showed me a picture of the mountain that looked simply stunning». And since Katsutaka had planned a journey in Canada, Logan seemed him the right place where to end his trip. In short: in love at first sight, our hero got to the lady of his dreams – the south-eastern face of the second mountain in North America, long time courted by many others (e.g. Jack Tackle and Jay Smith) – and made her his at first try. Could he possibly get big-headed because of that? Not a little chance: «We were lucky. During our climbing, the sky has always been perfectly blue. That’s it». Katsutaka is telegraphic, he thinks his answers are not enough to us, but that is not true. Because he quickly gets to the point, he makes us understand his approach to this kind of climbing and to mountaineering in general, which means to him… there, now words are really hard to find. «It is extremely difficult to answer this question – he tries to explain –: maybe mountaineering is just fun. Or maybe it is a way to live». In any case, it is a wonderful discipline that gives moments as the ones which Yokoyama wanted to describe to us.
The face of Mount Logan had been climbed. The summit was still far away, though. Katsutaka and Yasushi (Okada) feared a change of the weather and they didn’t know what to do. To go on or not? The fourth day the sky was still clear: «So we chose to go. We dragged ourselves on easy terrain and it took us much longer than what we expected, so at the col below the summit – which was 600 meters higher – we felt exhausted». And they were still concerned about the weather: sure, at that moment it was sunny, but they could not exclude a sudden worsening. «So we discussed about what to do and then we chose to retreat. But right as soon as we were beginning to descend, I said “Ahhh…”. Then suddenly Okada: “Let’s go to the summit”. So, after a couple of hours, we were up there. I cannot describe the joy I felt in that moment. Because, after having climbed that huge face, the goal should be the summit». So the two “samurais” chose to risk? Not at all. On Mount Logan they didn’t take any risk. «From the glacier – Yokoyama explains -, the wall shows many seracs, so looking dangerous. But our route, in a good weather, is totally safe. The ascent was really enjoying: all efforts on the mountains are simply fun!».
After all, to our hero there are no substantial differences between his Alaskan “debut” in 2005 and his last venture: «Go there, look at the wall, choose the route and begin to climb. Easy, isn’t it?». Anyway, it must be said that the heavier isolation of Mount Logan, compared to Denali, makes many things change. On Logan, Yokoyama was definitely under pressure: for the isolation and the lack of information about the line and the evolution of the weather. Nevertheless, on McKinley, Katsutaka and fellows accomplished what would be unthinkable to many: a crazy enchainment, one of the greatest pages ever written in the history of the Alaskan mountaineering. At least, that is what the “audience” believes. Look out, though: according to Yokoyama, who lived this experience as main character, today that ascent doesn’t represent the top anymore. «We followed – he said to us – routes already covered: all we have to do during that climb was just keep going. We had all the information: about the routes, the weather conditions…». According to him, knowing that somebody else already climbed the line you are facing makes everything much easier: this is the huge difference between a “first ascent” and a repetition. Having said that, we cannot help asking Katsutaka what he has in mind for the future, but we do not obtain a thing: «It’s top secret!».

End of the interview? Actually, we have one more question, which begins from the last lines of a piece of writing by Katsutaka: that beautiful Pachinko on Denali published on the last edition (2009) of “The American Alpine Journal”. Quoting: «Five months later (in autumn 2008, TN) in Nepal, I walked down the glacier below the north face of Kangtega, looking back up at the face where we had been defeated. There were many reasons for our defeat, but to tell the truth, I had feared the wall. Tatsuro and Yuto (Tatsuro Yamada and Yuto Inoue, died on McKinley during the spring 2008, details here and here, TN) had intended to be with me. I couldn’t stop feeling uneasy on Kangtega, and I worried about Itchy (Fumitaka Ichimura, TN) and Yusuke on Kalanka’s north face. They had departed for India a month earlier, and I didn’t know how they were. My feelings prove that I’m in a process of maturing. I have climbed rather rashly, and I cannot avoid thinking about the death of my friends or myself. I still have many such problems to solve. It’s surely the same for my friends in the Giri-Giri Boys».
Then, what did Katsutaka “Jumbo” Yokoyama think once he was before the great face of Mount Logan, considering that he is one of the leading personalities of this carefree group of Japanese young mountaineers (already at the height of the world mountaineering)? Did he still feel fear? Let’s listen to him: «I couldn’t say… something in my mind has changed. It has been a while since Denali’s days. I believe I put in order my feelings for a friend’s death».

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Cover Photo. Mount Logan (5959 m). In the foreground, the south-eastern face, closed on the left by the “Warbler Ridge”, which directly leads to the eastern summit (5900 m) that looks as the main one (visible on the left instead). The route by Yokoyama and Okada, objectively safe, follows the rock spur ending just next to the “rounded“ step beyond which the eastern ridge gets almost level. Photo by Gerald Holdsworth (www.commons.wikimedia.org)

Photo 1. Katsutaka “Jumbo” Yokoyama. Photo by Genki Narumi (www.blackdiamondequipment.com)

Photo 2. May 5th, 2010: Okada busy with a delicate little snowy ridge in the middle part of the face. Photo by Katsutaka Yokoyama

Photo 3. Still May 5^th, 2010: Okada leads the climbing along a steep M5 dihedral just above the crux-pitch of the route. Photo by Katsutaka Yokoyama

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Italian version (full text)

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iBorderline.net // Traduzione di Anna Zuccaro