14 czerwca 2011 08:01

Interview with Arnaud Petit

We present interview with Arnaud Petit (Petzl, Lafuma, La Sportiva, Beal i Totemcams), one of the best climber in the world.


Arnaud Petit (photo Thomas Vialletet)

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Krzysztof Banasik: First of all I will start with a question about your recent achievement which is Walou Bass. A new, fully equipped 150m climb with difficulties up to 8c. Your partners on this climb were a young sport climbing star, Enzo Oddo, and more into the alpine stuff Aymeric Clouet. How did you meet in order to try this project?

Arnaud Petit: I have known Aymeric for a long time and we wanted to do something together. He also loves Taghia. He has the experience of all-style climbing and he has an open mind. He is a perfect climbing partner for this.


Aymeric Clouet, Enzo Oddo and Arnaud Petit in Marocco
(photo Bertrand Delapierre)

I met Enzo in Ceüse two years ago and I discovered in him a young French climber who was curious about all types of climbing (thanks to his family background he is familiar with the real culture of climbing) and since we planned to open a route with Aymeric I asked Enzo if he was interested. He was enthusiastic to discover a new form of practice, and for me it’s something I like a lot, to share my experience and teach some good tricks that make multi-pitches an easier job. I would have liked to be taught how to equip when I was 16 years old!

And I think it’s important to open the eyes of young French climbers who are very specialized in hard sport climbing. In France climbing has become more a sport than an adventure. In Taghia I have seen many people from all over the world attempting new projects, for example three Polish teams, and apart from my friends and me, very few French people.


Working on "Walou Bass" (photo Bertrand Delapierre)

Could You explain a process of opening a new difficult multipitch route? How do you organize yourself? How much time does it take? How to plan it in advance?

As it was Enzo’s first experience and as we didn’t have so much time, we chose a short project which looked hard. It’s easier to choose to attempt a line when you have already climbed on the same wall. You can compare a feature you see to the one close to it and in this way you can get an idea of its difficulty. And in this place in Taghia I equipped "Babybel", 7c+ max with Sylvain Millet 2 years ago.

When climbing we change on the lead when he is tired, in general after 2 hours of action, usually after 5-6 bolts, then everybody can play fresh on the same day.

It’s hard to do more than one pitch in one day when it’s at your limit. In the 7b grade you can do 2-3 pitches, but of course when it’s a big wall it makes it longer. In case of Babel, as there were two teams of two and we spent two weeks working on 18 pitches, which was actually quite fast.

You have placed all the bolts in the ground-up style. Most of your routes where done in this way. But there were some exceptions. Do you think it is important which style you choose to create a route?

Even if I usually establish routes ground-up, when it comes to short multi-pitches I don’t have a fixed idea about what is best (in 20 years I have equipped two routes from the top, and I don’t regret it) and of course about what other people are supposed to do except for one important rule: do not modify or chip the rock. Of course, I would never attempt to equip a big wall from the top.

In case of this route we were just lucky to find the best line on the first attempt. When it’s hard, you often find blank rock and you have to try something else, or even you have A0 sections. It’s something hard to accept – you’ve worked hard and it doesn’t go free.

The ground-up style is a tribute to the tradition of alpinism. It is about accepting the unknown, that you might climb hard and that perhaps the route won’t go free and this can be frustrating but this uncertain result is definitely an integral part of mountaineering. When you equip a route from above you do this for the sporting challenge, you check the route, and you have to be fair and make sure the bolts are not too run-out. You offer the next climbers a nice route but this, due to its very nature, has less character. And if you think about it, we all climb because we search for something which is more than just a physical sporting challenge…

Eventually you didn’t succeed in climbing free all the route in a single push? Are you going to come back soon?

AP: As far as the 8c, maybe 8c+, pitch is concerned, I really think it’s too hard for me. The boulder problem is 8A and it is located at the end of the pitch. Even with some good rests before it, it’s really really hard for my old body… Enzo will attempt it in October, and I think he can do it, but if not, I’m going to check one day a left variation which looked easier.


Working on "Walou Bass" in Morocco (photo Bertrand Delapierre)

Media usually publish information about finished projects. Maybe sometimes they were not free climbed, but eventually they have been completed after the efforts. Have you ever happen to fail in opening a project?

For me opening a route in an elegant style from ground-up is a vital part of the process. And of course the media can be interested in it. Then some other people can try it too. The idea is to share things with climbers that have the same passion. That’s what is nice about our sport, there’s not enough money or pressure to think in a different way.

I have failed on one occasion in Corsica, and once in Taghia, as we were trying to open a route on the overhangs right of Widmo in Tadrarate. The rock was not perfect and the difficulty around 8c made it too hard for our team to ground up in a nice style. To fail in this the game means to accept that you’ve tried something hard. You have to be lucky when you attempt something ground up in the 8a-b range. If 2 holds are missing it may be impossible. And as it’s hard work. When you fail, it might be hard. But it may also be great, if you have discovered some dream pitches in the process!

Let’s mention a bit of your climbing bio. At the beginning, you were mostly focused on sport climbing and competitions. You have achieved quite a lot and you had good perspectives. What made you change your mind and move into more alpine environment?

AP: I have discovered climbing by mountaineering with my father, and my dreams when I was young were to climb big rock faces. At the age of 14, I had already equipped 50 pitches with a hand drill. Then the time of sport climbing and competitions started, I liked it a lot but to be strong you need to spend a lot of time on the plastic, and then as soon as I was not motivated enough for this, my dreams of nature and mountains came back.

What was new was that my higher climbing level allowed me to attempt some new lines. Nevertheless, I must admit that my experience in equipping routes ground up in 1997, e.g. for the Grand Capucin, was very limited and at this time I did a lot of A0 sections. At this time I really wanted to discover other techniques of climbing such as crack climbing for example. It’s very exciting to learn new techniques, I must say. At some moment I was able to onsight 8a in trainers and fail on a 6b crack.


Arnaud Petit on Grand Capucin
(photo Thomas Vialletet)

You have travelled a lot in order to climb. Your main destination is usually Marocco where you have opened a nice collection of routes. Is it your favourite place to climb?

It’s my favourite place to be because with Stéphanie we know very well the people of the valley there – sometimes it’s even hard to go climbing!

From among all the routes done on these trips which one was the most significant and meaningful for you?

AP: As for a route I have equipped: my first route in Corsica, "Jeef", 300m, 7b, with my brother was a great souvenir in 1992. We were young and brave and opened it in 7 hours. Then my route on Grand Capucin is also important. I did it with very little experience and today it is still a nice route. The route "La Guerre Sainte" in Jordan (7b, 400 m), "L’Axe du Mal" in Taghia (7c+, 500 m) or "Delicatessen" in Bavella are some routes that people write to me in order to thank me for them, and that is nice!

Otherwise my biggest adventure was the repetition of "Rainbow Jambaia" on the Salto Angel in 2006, 12 nights in the wall…


Arnaud i Stephanie on Grand Capucin (photo Bertrand Delapierre)

You started climbing roughly at the same time as your younger brother François? Has he affected your climbing in any way? Was it motivating to have someone like him?

My brother is 4 years younger and he was really better than me when we were 16 and 20, at 16 he was the French Champion for example and I was more motivated for outdoor climbing and mountaineering. But then, I started to be interested in competing and it was a great chance for me to be pushed by his level of climbing. On the other hand, he was happy when he could go multi-pitch climbing with me. We were quite a good team!

I remember your list of rules which you applied in order not to get bored with your climbing training. Do you still keep it in mind when training. Do you still have to train?

I train a little on my wall, and this little exercise I do helps me as my physical abilities have never been my strong point!  And as far as getting bored with climbing is concerned, I really don’t get bored as there are so many different things to do –  bouldering, equipping, cracks, big wall adventures…

You are an alpine guide. Is this what you do when you are back from expeditions?

Actually, for 3 years I haven’t been working as a guide. I love taking people into the mountains, I did it in Jordan, Morocco, Algeria and surely I will do it again soon. At the moment, I prefer spending time on myself and my climbing projects before get too old, I am 40 now…

I wish you more crazy and difficult projects and what is most important thank you very much for devoting your time to answer my questions!

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Krzysztof Banasik

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