For most of us, climbing remains a hobby for the development of specific physical abilities and a perfect opportunity to escape the everyday routine for a brief moment. When we look at the development of the sport since its embryonic phase, there is an abundance of scientific studies on the sport, training and its effects on the body. On the humanities’ side, particularly in the field of history, the literature on competition climbing appears rather thin in comparison.[1]
Between the Alpine stories and those of rock climbing, the great forgotten remains unquestionably the field of competition climbing. Though still very young, the sport has been growing on a very different axis from other disciplines for the past twenty years. With the publication of Beyond The Face,[2] Heiko Wilhelm – coach of the Austrian climbing team – offers one of the most detailed contributions regarding competition climbing, be it historical, cultural or psychological.
The 312 pages of the book portrays 39 athletes who shaped the climbing world in the last 30 years through their World Cup participation. This represents, in number, over 200 victories and 20 world championships through very thorough and humane interviews. Although the book does not belong in the history category by itself since it offers no substantial analysis or methodical and exhaustive reconstruction of events, it provides a source of much needed information to further our comprehension of the sport and tend towards the writing of a study of this type. Ultimately, what Heiko Wilhelm strives to offer us is a dynamic immersion in the competitive experience through time since the late 1980s.
In recent historiographical trends of cultural history, the concept of memory often guides questions of interpretation and methodology. Although it is defined in different ways by different scholars, a denominator remains constant: memory is the process in which people construct a sense of the past. In this sense, Wilhelm gives meaning and value to his book, beyond entertainment purpose, by erecting it using the concept of memory at its core:
“Once the memories of the personalities involved in a sport at a particular time begin to fade, we do still have statistics and related documentation on which to base our understanding. Whilst recorded statistics, however, might provide a great deal of information about the regime of a sport, without the personal accounts of the individual people involved, our appreciation of their thoughts and feeling can only be superficial.“[3]
In this way, his contribution takes the form of a vehicle of memory promoting the cultivation of a shared cultural knowledge of the sport. This important contribution to the construction of a collective memory of the competitive scene thus does a great service to both the avid sports enthusiasts as well as historians and future generations who will benefit from these detailed testimonies.
These individual stories are accompanied by beautiful images and athlete profiles. During a competition, a few unique moments leave an indelible imprint in the minds of the audience. For those who do not have the chance to attend a World Cup, Beyond the Face offers an interesting and exciting alternative. All meticulously chosen, these photos tell in pictures what words fail to convey: ephemeral, intense and spontaneous moments that give life to the interviews.
From pioneers Jerry Moffatt and Lynn Hill, to new superstars such as Adam Ondra and Jain Kim, through less known figures like Jakob Schubert and Juliane Wurm, Heiko Wilhelm offers us the opportunity, for the first time, to conceive and understand the evolution of competition climbing in a raw and humane context. The description of each athletes also provides the reader with an overview of the necessary elements to become world champion. We now understand better why the competition climbing scene now grows independently from rock climbing. Simply explained by Norwegian powerhouse Magnus Midtbø , it seems to be “[…] much harder to win a World Cup than to do something on rock hard.” From an athlete who has never won on the World Cup circuit while reaching an impressive level 5.15b outside, these words seem well founded.
If the idea to immerse yourself in the history and culture of competitive climbing pleases you, you can buy the book Beyond the Face in the Bloc Shop library. At the very least, we invite you to come and skim through it. In my opinions, the book itself is a collector’s item, as much for its careful presentation than its flattering design. It almost seems alive!
[1] A few examples from the existing literature: Heinz Zak, Rock Stars : the world’s best free climbers (Munich: Rother, 1997), Maurice Isserman et Stewart Weaver, Fallen giants : a history of Himalayan Mountaineering from the age of empire to the age of extremes (New Haven : Yale University Press, 2008).David Chambre, Le 9e degré : 150 ans d’histoire d’escalade libre (Éditions Mont-Bland: Paris, 2015)
[2] Heiko Wilhelm, Beyond the Face (Heiko Wilhelm: Innsbruck, 2015).
[3] Wilhelm, 9. Emphasis added.