Nel 2000 intervistai Edlinger per il libro Uomini&Pareti

Per motivi di spazio, la sua intervista e quella di Berhault ebbero piccoli tagli, che però non furono poi così logici. Eccola nella sua versione integrale

Why was Patrick Edlinger the most famous climber in the world?

I think it happened because I dedicated myself totally to climbing, and then above all for the films of Jean-Paul Janssen, which developed and mediated the climb, which showed a boy climbing and who had devoted his life to climbing. And it wasn’t just the climbing, there was a person who lived in nature and freedom, there was a way to live in the joy of natural life. And he was a happy character to experience this, and so I think people liked this

And I also think that in France, in the 80s, there was this need for freedom, so films also responded to this need. It was a combination of circumstances, personally everything fell from above. I was taking a driving course to continue living, I liked climbing but it wasn’t me who composed these films; which were very successful, and thanks to them I was able to live a superb life, the freedom to climb every day all over the world.

And how did becoming so famous affect your behavior?

Personally nothing, I think I’m serious and honest, I think about what I do and not what I am. It was convenient to have the economic freedom to climb every day, there was also the disadvantage of popularity… going to Fontainbleau and having about thirty people following me from block to block (laughs). It is hard to find certain moments of tranquility in certain places. However what matters is climbing and you get used to it, whether they look at you or not. People’s gaze is not really that important.

When did you start embracing free climbing?

Before climbing was a training for the mountains, between 74 and 80 I saw what was in the
mountains and I did a lot of it … and I asked myself some questions, I took stock of the situation and compared it with climbing. And I understood that there was a lot to invent and create and I totally consacrated myself because I liked it more.

Charisma: you have some, today many are very strong but they don’t have any, and they give
few messages. Why?

(laughs) I can’t tell you, what can I say? The others say so. My generation had many charismatic climbers, perhaps because the climb was more “exposed”, engagee ‘, so there was more awareness and decision. The exhibition forges personalities. I am not the one who has more, as others of that time were forged by what we did. I think that even today there are charismatic climbers, and maybe they are the ones who do something special. You should ask others …

You have opened routes that have become milestones and historical free-climbing: did you
realize that you are, with a few, ahead of everyone?

In those years those were the things that were done, 7c / 8a. I dedicated myself totally to climbing, and it was also a way of getting to know each other better. It was also my temperament, every day a new challenge, trying to make things evolve, progress technically. And it has also helped me to progress in life and to move forward with things.

The philosophy was to try to do something better every day than the day before, and I applied it in the climb. And those were the grades you did, and there were other people doing just as hard things in the world. I tried to predict by trying to imagine what I could do in the next ten years, also putting bolts on routes I couldn’t do at that moment. But I didn’t like to work the routes too much, and I left them there … like those who do 9a today. Go beyond what you’ve done. Except that someone else does it for the glory, then I really don’t, it was just a personal search. I have never been one who did things to become the strongest, this is true for when you are 15 or 16, at that age it is normal to want to be a protagonist of the scene … but after that it is more important to be there, without point of reference point, and imagine moving forward, inventing new points of reference. For me this is the progress of climbing, not being a 15 year old who wants to be the strongest.

The important thing is to be you, with your training, your imagination, your way of seeing things… and that way.

And the competition, was it there even before the first Bardonecchia event?

Competition… it depends on what you mean. It’s been around since you were little, but there’s good and bad competition. There is the one that forces everyone to go forward, and there is the one that encourages you to go and try a very hard route somewhere … and there it is not on a personal level, you have no references and the the competitive aspect is going to see new horizons. It was a competition on the street, not on men. I’ve always felt that way.

It’s been a long time since I stopped. At that time there was the 19 poster, remember? I personally wasn’t for the competitions but I didn’t care that they were. They could have existed, also because it was the logical sequel of things. It is not representative of the totality of the climb but of a part yes.

And it is rewarding when you are young, you are 15/20 years old, even 25, and you are looking for an identity … I gave credit to the climb, the least I could do was participate. But I had one event a year, the biggest. Then one year I decided to do the whole World Cup, and something strange happened: I was stronger than before, but my head was obviously gone, because I went worse. It was no longer my place, and it had become too much. My real place is within myself, that’s for sure

But it’s okay that they exist, they make climbing known.

Was climbing ever a prison for you?

Absolutely not, because it’s my way of life. It’s my life. I am a person who needs great freedom, and therefore it could not be a prison. Everything, even the films, I did in great freedom.

How would you define your style compared to that of a Menestrel or others?
Well, I have my own way of climbing… and I’m not looking for elegance, the important thing is to be effective, style matters nothing! Economize, even in gestures … and this, yes, gives a style. The impression of lightness you give on the rock is due to the fact that you make less effort, you take advantage of the inertia of the previous movement to do the next one and this gives my style, and it has never been a search for elegance. In fact, there are people like Manolo born to climb and others born to be musicians! A question of feeling …Antoine, me, Stefan and Manolo have probably always seemed more elegant because we have always been efficient, and also because we have a style that derives from our strong point, joint mobility. But what counts is what you manage to climb and I wasn’t able to climb Om and Action Directe, so as you can see our qualities didn’t count there, as well as if a pitch requires a very closed breaststroke position or a split I fear that someone is doomed (laughs, ndr), or maybe they say that something is broken (laughs even harder, ndr).

Really, both strengths and weaknesses matter. It is like this in all sports

Two protagonists of the book, Berhault and Dal Pra, told me that you impressed them. And
you, who has ever impressed you?

Many and none. Who climbs while having fun but at the same time pushes to the maximum. There are many, happy people on the rock and totally dedicated to climbing. The latter is not always evident. There are people who have little time and use it to climb as much as others who have a lot, and this means passion.

However, I was almost baffled by Alex Huber when he went on the Salathe. Sure, I knew about his pitches at crags, but that he went there to the land of American specialists to free a legendary route…incredible. I was struck when in the early 80s they called me to tell me about Manolo at the Verdon, he had onsighted all my hardest pitches and had come from Paris several times to try them.

I remember that on the phone with Patrick (Berhault, ndr) we laughed a lot about this, because for us it was wonderful that there was someone so ahead of us while in Paris they certainly didn’t take it well. Then Manolo bolted and immediately climbed those two pitches, I can’t remember the name now, I went to try them and he had given 7b and my friends had seen him do it with ease but it took me a really long time and I understood that he belonged to another category.

Climbing Free solo, the only integral. Tell me a little …

I can tell you about Orange Mecanique. I started climbing after high school, in the Toulon region, in 1976. went with friends, but during the week there was no one. At first I traversed below, then I said to myself: why not make a route? Then they became two or three, and finally a necessity. And it has become a need because it allows me to reach a state of extreme concentration. It is a bit of a very strong form of Yoga, a very strong concentration because it is your life that is at stake. Subtle sensations difficult to express. It’s an amazing way to get to know you, because if you’re wrong there is death. And you can’t slip. In the end, the most exposed and difficult route arrived, Orange Mecanique. I did others, but less exposed.
She is in Cimai, I used to do it to warm up, I can do it ten times a day without falling, and I said to myself: why not do it alone? Because soloing is another thing, everything changes. Also because it is so subtle in terms of sensations that you can lose focus, and this is the purpose: to see if one can concentrate enough to do it. And you learn a lot of things.
It is also the purest way to climb, no artifice, the highest purity on the rock.

However, you and Manolo have been criticized because you have spread a message of the No
Limit type of climbing …

I don’t understand the question well… criticisms, honest ones, allow us to evolve, and I accept
them. I have not seen the films of Manolo, a person that I appreciate very much as a man and as a climber, in mine I also wanted to show the aspect of the soloists, which is a face of climbing. It is a dangerous thing, it takes time and training, and I did not want to make people dream with free solos, but only to show this aspect too. I’ve had a lot of positive echoes, many people told me that they started climbing after seeing my films, and it’s quite rewarding. As for me they were the projections of Bonatti, Desmaison. Each generation passes something to the next.

Yeah … but your previous one was mountaineering. Haven’t you found it again?

I haven’t fully returned to it yet. In 76/77 I realized that to reach the climbing level I could not
continue with the mountain. I realized that one year, having trained for a whole Spring, I had
become strong, but then I did the summer season in the mountains and on my return it had taken me three months to get back as before. And then I decided that the climb suited me.
I went back to mountaineering a bit, accompanying Patrick in his first part of the traverse, but I
don’t know if the Dolomites can be considered as a real mountain, there is a lot of rock and it falls within my specificity. I liked it a lot, more in there I will definitely be mountain and
mountaineering, it is magnificent, I like the elements and I think I will have the physical
capabilities. Now I have to take advantage of what I can do on rock.

You are also known for Ceuse type bolting, not exactly in fashion today …

Ceuse is a beautiful place, and it is also known for its falls, the bolts are a bit far away, but you
know, in 83/84 the routes also opened from below, then a certain type of limestone arrived and
rigging from below was impossible… so they agreed to bolt from below. But it was difficult for me to accept it, even though I understood that it was necessary to progress. For me, putting bolts meant climbing, I used as little as possible because I was used to finding one every ten / fifteen meters and so planting one every five meters seemed to me a well protected route. Maybe people said it was a little exposed but if you don’t fall to the ground it’s a huge confidence compared to where I came from. And in fact I think Ceuse is well equipped, she has allowed us to progress, she has begun to say: let’s go to the maximum.

Today it is often abused, some super-equipped crags … I don’t think it is beautiful or necessary.

When is a route beautiful?

When it attracts me! It is subjective, like a woman… some like it, others don’t! The important thing is that it is completely natural, and that the place is natural; otherwise all styles are beautiful and interesting… limestone, granite, fissure, overhang, slab, everything can be magnificent… a crack can be perfect, for example.

And what’s your opinion on bolted long routes, like Ratikon?

I think it is very good for sport climbing, plus there is a beautiful environment. I can chain hard
lengths one after the other, and it’s certainly not the same thing to do them on the ground or 200 meters above the ground. It takes a lot of concentration and preparation. However, they are not comparable to certain routes on the Marmolada where you also have other exposure.

What is the difference between today’s climbers and those of your generation?

(laughs). It is evident: those of today are young, very young.
Seriously, I don’t know, there are so many people climbing. There are those for whom it is a way of life, as it was for us. There are those who consider it a sport, those who know it on the panels… for me it is an expression of freedom, if they are well, they can practice it anyway.
The real difference is in the equipment, apart from England where even now there are people doing very hard but exposed things.

But I think we’re just getting started, really. If you think that we reached 8c out of nowhere in 10 years, without gyms, you can imagine what kids will be doing in 20 years. We are a young sport.
And we have prepared ourselves by learning about ourselves, without coaches as in other sports. I am very flexible and strong in the big muscles and have good stamina, but Manolo was much more flexible than me, Gullich was stronger than me and Legrand’s stamina was maybe 10 times more the mine.

And I’ve never had Ben Moon’s finger strength. Imagine a coach who takes care of so many kids in every single aspect

And what’s the difference between an 8a from 83 and a 9a today?

We realized that we could go more, and we began to train specifically. It is above all the training that allowed us to bring the holds closer and keep the smaller ones.
Training is the reason for today’s 9a.

For me, these years have meant making things harder and harder, working more lengths.

But is there still room for discovery?

It depends … in terms of cliffs yes, I am lucky enough to be able to travel the world and there is an incredible amount of different rock! For the progression, the space of discovery is infinite, it is evident. I would like to live a long time to see the next generations, and for this I do not conceive the chipped holds, they take away space for discovery. What today is impossible tomorrow will surely be impossible, it is ridiculous to dig the holds.
The evolution is infinite, if you think that a very hard block of 4 meters can become a stack of
similar blocks one on top of the other… it will give the difficulty of tomorrow, for sure.

Projects?
Sure, it’s evident, it’s my temperament. My character is to always go forward. Looking for
increasing difficulty, finding lines and crags that motivate me. This is simply my life, but not just
for climbing, because in general I always set goals.

But where do you still find the motivation, and how do you find it?
It is simply a need. I’ve been climbing for 20 years, and I need to climb every day. If I don’t go I
miss it. And even after 4 years of the magazine the desire has increased tenfold (laughs). I share the effort and its moments with friends, what I like is the rest after a day of fatigue.

Why climbing and not another sport?

As a young man I practiced many sports, but when I started climbing I realized it was for me
because it gave me a lot of joy. And I had aptitudes. Besides, it was a good excuse to travel and meet other people from another culture. It gave me more satisfaction, it seemed to me it gave more
 o my person and allowed me to learn more about myself.

Have you ever had periods of crisis, of rejection, of rejection?
Never! (laughs) really no, as far as I’m concerned. When I launched Rock’n Wall magazine I started climbing less, of course. I was asked, and there was really a need. There was nothing right about climbing in France, and it wasn’t representative of what climbing meant to me, the world view of climbing, the people and the places. It lasted 4 years, but I wanted to go back to climbing more…and my vision of the rocks is certainly not in the office. This magazine needed, it overwhelmed me.

But now I climb every day.

Why so many climbers in France?

Simple, the media of the 80s, the geographical position, a federation that spurred the races and the development of climbing in general.

But we hear that the hard routes in France are simple compared, for example, to Germany, Eastern Italy …
I think it’s for a different style. In France the routes are mainly of resistance, of continuity, while in Germany I have found many short routes, with Boulder crux. It is a completely different style, but those who do well on the blocks can find difficulties in the French continuity.
Myself, if I had to do a short route of 5/6 movements, I would train differently.

How do you live with sponsors?

Today it is difficult for young climbers, there are many! I was lucky, they always looked for me and I never had to do anything to get them. I write for them, I test the materials, they use my image…and I have always had maximum freedom, also because I don’t have a character that can be tightened. I advise young people to draw up clear rules from the beginning

You were the first to write a book on training supported by a scientific expert; even today books
written by climbers are circulating, with only personal experience behind them. What differences do you find in training today?

The difference is mainly in the possibilities. Today there are the climbing panels, the Gyms … we only had the hangboard. The training is much more specific and more playful. Once you know all the ingredients, all you need is motivation… which is what you need on the rock. And there have been advances in scientific knowledge, too.

I also like climbing to climb, but I need the stimulus. If you don’t want to improve, it can become routine.

But where do you still find the motivation, and how do you find it?

It is simply a need. I’ve been climbing for 20 years, and I need to climb every day. If I don’t go I
miss it. And even after 4 years of the magazine the desire has increased tenfold (laughs). I share the effort and its moments with friends, what I like is the rest after a day of fatigue.