Samaya x Nicolas Favresse
ATTEMPT AT THE MIRROR WALL
In July 2023, Nicolas Favresse and his rope-mates Sean, Ben and Franco travelled to Greenland to equip the Mirror Wall. Having just returned, Nicolas shares their adventure with us.
"That was everything."
These are the words spoken by Sean on our eleventh day of climbing the Mirror Wall in Greenland.
On the very first day of the approach, I tripped over a sharp rock, fell into the heart of a glacier and ended up with a serious shin injury.
I stood back, trying to heal my wound while Sean, Ben and Franco carried the gear up the 30 kilometer approach. I discovered the extent of the line they'd chosen the moment I found myself on the wall ten days later. My injury hadn't completely healed, but I couldn't let the guys climb the wall without me. I was lucky enough to meet a team of three French sailors, who were happy to help me carry my gear.
It only took me a quick glance to realize that we were about to do the most ambitious line we'd ever attempted. It's a steep, crackless granite shield, with only occasional scales and edges to progress along. Only the last third of the wall seemed to have a continuous crack. Anyway, to find a good challenge, you have to attempt the seemingly impossible. So here, it certainly felt like a great challenge.
It took us two days to climb 300 metres with all our gear, water and food, passing through an easier pillar on the right-hand side of the wall and setting up camp at the start of the difficult section. I tried to stay motivated and optimistic, but it was hard to ignore the weight of the imposing difficulties ahead.
On my very first pitch of the climb, 10 meters above a poorly protected ledge, I needed to set a piton. 1h30 later, exhausted from hammering, I was finally able to hold on to it and decided to let Sean continue the pitch. 8 hours later, four more pitons were placed, bringing us 30 meters closer to the summit. I could only imagine the amount of effort required to place all the pitons necessary to climb this face, while remaining sufficiently safe.
That evening, when we reached our camp after four days of intense effort on the legs, I noticed that my wound was infected. I had to start a course of antibiotics and stick to playing music for the infection to heal.
Sean led everything for the next eight days, with fifteen 8-mm pitons and four extraction pitons. He spent at least eight hours there every day, making progress of around 40 metres a day. The climb was an extremely intense mix of assisted and free climbing.
Finally, about 30 metres from what looked like easier terrain, Sean took a couple of big falls down a disintegrating dihedral, leaving him no opportunity to stop and place protection. He'd made an incredible effort to get us 700 meters off the ground by drilling just 18 holes of protection, but we were faced with a dilemma: drill a ladder of pitons to keep progressing - which we've always considered unacceptable under our own rules of the game - or give up.
You can easily guess what happens next!
It was hard for Sean to give up because he put so much energy into this climb, but we all felt it was the right choice to stick to our convictions. In a way, that's the whole point of climbing, the fact that you can't climb every wall. Some will always be the stuff of dreams, even if they remain unattainable.
We had a little time left before we ran out of food. Franco and Sean were finally able to enjoy free climbing some sections of the wall. In a spectacular effort, after practicing the moves on fixed ropes for days, Franco managed to give a point back on a short section, moving from ledge to ledge. By this time, the infection had finally cleared and my wound was starting to pick up pace. It took us another four days to get back down and carry our gear to the sea, and another four days to reach Iceland.
Although we returned home this time without a single summit in our pockets, I can assure you that the adventure was no less intense!"
