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Oscar Cadiach on future plans for the Magic Line team
Oct 6, 2004 20: 17 EST
Published Sep 19 2004
ExWeb went for a hike with Oscar Cadiach the other day, to chat about what has been and what's up next. Here's the story:
The Magic Line team is back home, wrestling with mixed feelings: The sense of success; they completed the first repetition of the most difficult route attempted on K2 this year - and the sense of loss; their team-member Manel de la Matta died on the mountain.
Received as heroes in Catalonia, they attend interviews and tributes. Meanwhile, they try to return to their daily life and think of the future.
They all share a desire to keep climbing. They have new plans individually, but also as a team. This is not a surprise, as their team-work was perhaps the major clue to their victory on the mountain.
The team is still united and willing to do things together. It will never be the same , though, without Manel. Not only a great climber, Manel was also the one who would coordinate the efforts. And he was the one who managed to make all the friends, who are very different from each other, to work as a single team. They all miss him deeply. But as mountaineers, they know the simple and cruel rules of life and death in the mountains. The haven't considered to quit climbing even for a second.
Time and again, they recount the sad events of K2 to the journalists. It must be tiring. ExWeb had the chance to chat with Oscar Cadiach, the expedition leader, in a much more relaxed environment: On a quiet morning trek through the green hills and vertical cliffs of Oscar’s home in Tarragona, in Catalonia.
Oscar is already planning the future. He told his mates about a dream peak he has, and the all agreed to join him there. It's an unclimbed mixed rock spire in the Karakorum range, about 6000m tall. His is eyes glow as he think of it: “It is a beautiful line over rose granite, perhaps with some ice and snow on the approach, but mostly rock climbing”.
When it comes to mountaineering, Oscar refuses to specialize. He climbs ice and rock, alpine and sport, and he does ski touring and canyoning: “Why should I give up so many things that I like?”, he says.
As for himself, he is going to be pretty busy for the rest of the year. Only this Thursday, he left for the French Alps to guide some clients up Mont Blanc. “I work a lot as a mountain guide. Apart from the Alps and Spain, I have already committed to lead a skiing expedition to Puta Hiunchuli (Dhaulagiri 7) next year.
So, after K2, has he entirely forgotten 8000+ peaks? “No, I am still thinking of eighthousanders. Perhaps we’ll do something, but not a new route...” He stops, smiles, and then confesses: “Well, I must say that what I would really love to do is a winter climb on an Eighthousander.”
Which one?
“One that has not yet been climbed in the winter; there are still some of them left, you know.”
Oscar Cadiach climbed his first 8000+ peak on October 9, twenty years ago. It was Nanga Parbat through the Rupal Face, known as the biggest wall on Earth. Since then, he has accomplished some amazing climbs, and opened new routes on Broad Peak North and Cho Oyu (both still waiting for a first repetition).
These days, with seemingly nothing left to do in the Himalayas, Cadiach and his kind are there to show the rest that it is instead a question of imagination... and courage.
At 0:00 hours on August 17th 2004, Jordi Corominas reached the summit of K2 after climbing the last section of the Magic Line alone. It was the first repetition of one of the most difficult routes on K2. Jordi made it thanks to his and his team members Oscar Cadiach, Jordi Corominas, Jordi Tosas, Manel de la Matta and Valen Giró's determination, team-work and climbing skills. Sadly, Manel died on descent, probably due to a peritonitis.
The head of the "Tarragona Magic Line Expedition 2004" was Oscar Cadiach, who has done 5 expeditions to Everest, 2 of which reached the summit. Cadiach has climbed Nanga Parbat, and opened the route 'Free Tibet' on Cho Oyu and a new route on Broad Peak central. He has also climbed Shisha Pagma, Makalu and Lhotse.
The first Magic Line ascent was made by a Polish/Slovak team. The men were Wojtek Wroz (Poland), Przemyslaw Piasecki (Poland) and Peter Bozik (Slovakia). The climbers ascended in expedition style up to 7600 m. Wojtek Wroz fell from the fixed ropes during the descent by the Abruzzi spur. Peter Bozik later perished during an attempt to climb the Bonington route on the South West Face of Everest in 1988.
Image of Oscar Cadiach, with the climbing cliffs of Mont Sant in the background, Copyright ExplorersWeb.
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