Gregory Goes There

Got this update from Verdon Tomajko, who took part in an expedition in August and early September to Madagascar, where - with his friends Dusan Beranek and Richi Nyeki - they established a new route on the Tsaranoro Massif. ‘Old Master’ is 13 pitches and checks in around 5.12d.

Here’s what Verdon had to say, and he sent over these images of the climb and the trip, which was as much a cultural adventure as a climbing one.

I flew from JFK airport in New York on Aug. 23 and arrived in Paris the following morning. From there I met up with my climbing companions from Slovakia, and on to Madagascar.

After a 12 hour flight, we arrived in Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar (population 1.2 million). A small van was waiting at the airport to take us to the camp. We loaded our four large “pigs” (hauling bags), seven adults each with backpacks, and the driver and his helper (as required by law when renting a vehicle) into the van for another 12 hours of driving.

Heading south, we arrived at Fianarantsoa. Here is where the office of Camp Catta (the camp that we stayed at) is located; here we changed vehicles, picked up another two guys for the ride, and drove four more hours on dusty, dirt roads to Camp Catta. It was now very late night on Monday, Aug. 25 (or possibly very early Yuesday morning?).

The Tsaranoro Massif is an 800-meter sheer rock face just outside the Parc National d’ Andringitra in the southeastern end of Madagascar, about a three-mile hike from the camp. The first day, Aug. 26, was a day of exploring and planning, as well as resting from the days of traveling. The next day, we started building the climb. 

We would climb up several meters at a time, and hang on a hook on the rock face, and drill into the rock to place permanent bolts for future climbers’ protection. The entire route was bolted as such: started Aug. 27-28, rested for two days, again on the face Aug. 30-31, rested two days, and from Sept. 3-4  the upper half of the route was completed by staying on a portaledge suspended half way up the rock face for two days.

The completed route was 13 pitches, each pitch 55-60 meters (180-200 feet) to a total height of 750 meters (2,460 feet), grade 7c (5.12d). No climb is complete without a name. Our climb is called ‘Old Master.’ On Sept. 9,  the first ascent was completed by Dusan Beranek and Richard Nyeki, in a style that is known as “RP team.” This means that every person in the team completes the entire route with no falls. It took about 12 hours for them to complete the entire climb. 

We also built three short climbs: “ADR,” grade 6c (5.11b); “Hot Moon,” grade 6c (5.11b); “For Tabika,” 7a (5.11d).

What made the trip interesting, obviously, were the people of Madagascar, their culture and lifestyle, as well as the natural oddities that inhabit the island, particularly the lemurs. There are seven main families of lemurs, as well as several families of sifakas, indri, and aye-aye, which are all related. In the area that we stayed, ring-tailed lemurs surround the camp, either sunbathing on the warm rocks, or munching on leaves high up in the tree branches above. 

The people of Madagascar live a very different lifestyle compared to the comforts that we take for granted here. It is a very poor nation. In the capital city and the larger towns there is evidence of development and growth, with one or two big buildings, etc. However, in the smaller towns and villages that we visited the people are very poor, with very little work or possessions, and rather unsanitary conditions. Most work in the rice and tapioca fields. Despite the conditions, they are very friendly and very open to foreigners. “Sali vazaha!” was there typical greeting, meaning “hello white one!” The children, especially, were always asking for money, toys, or sweets; all they have for candy is raw sugar cane. They also liked to have their pictures taken, and were thrilled to look at the pictures right away on the digital camera. The people and their living situations cannot be truly appreciated by the pictures alone. 

We spared the last few days of our trip to visit the west coast of the island. We drove another 27 hours this time to the town of Morondava and saw the Mozambique Bay, took a sailboat ride with local fishermen, and stood beside the gigantic “roots of the sky” Baobab trees. From here, we gave up on the car and flew back to Antananarivo, and on home.