My last climbing project was a 2,400-foot, 5.14b climb named . Located in Tsaranoro, Madagascar, the climb was bolted by Toti Vales and Francisco Vales in 1999, and free climbed by Adam Ondra in 2010. It had gone unrepeated since.听
Last month, Edu Marin and I traveled to Madagascar for three weeks to complete the climb. While there, we spent ten nights living on the wall. Now, in听order to free climb a big wall like this, we needed to start from the bottom and send鈥攃limb without falling, using only the rock, with zero aid gear鈥攆rom the bottom to the top in one consecutive push. That ultimately听successful听ascent took us three days.听
听
Before the听final push, we placed our portaledge (think: a flat hammock) just below the 5.14b pitch, roughly 1,400 feet off the ground. Here鈥檚 how we lived on it for the next 10 days.听
Eating and Drinking 听
Our main goal when it came to meal prep听was efficiency: everything needed to be planned out to the last ounce of water and energy bar.听
Every day, we rationed two liters of water for听each of us. So when we packed our bags for the final three-day ascent, we were carrying along twelve liters of water total.听We had to maximize calories,听so we brought along lots of dense bars and snacks. I had homemade nut and oat bars, as well as rice cakes from a recipe I got out of Alan Skratch鈥檚 cookbook. I鈥檇 take a roll of white rice, then fill it with peanut butter, bacon and maple syrup. We also packed bread, honey, jam, beef, turkey jerky, canned fish, prepared pasta in zip-lock bags, and whisky. I need caffeine in the mornings, so while we didn鈥檛 have a JetBoil up there (an open flame on a听portaledge听can be dangerous), I鈥檇 bring a can of Red Bull (Disclaimer: They're also one of my sponsors), and espresso in a thermos.听
To get all this stuff up to our aerial camp, we placed it in a haul bag, which is specifically designed to be durable enough that it won鈥檛 shred to pieces as you pull it up a cliff. In order to haul is up, we used a mini traxion and a jumar. We attached the haul bag to a static line and pulled the load up on a rope that we used just for this purpose.听
Sleeping听
Imagine living for ten days on a double bed and you'll have some idea of what听portaledge听life is like. The two-person model听we used听is 84 inches long by 51 wide. To set it up, we hung in the anchor point on the wall, then constructed a web of metal poles and fabric that came together like a flat tent.听
Because the weather was warm and dry, we opted to ditch the upper portion of the portaledge, which would have served as wind and rain protection, to save weight鈥攁nd so we could see the stars.听
While on the wall, I was always in my 听harness, though, when I slept, I slipped off the leg loops and just left the waist band.
Going to the Bathroom听
Have you ever been shy to go to the bathroom when you鈥檙e on a date at someone else鈥檚 house? Well, when听you're living on a听portaledge, there's no room for such modesty.听
For guys, peeing with a harness on is really easy:听just stand up and point off the side of the platform. Ladies have it harder. We need to squat off the side and maneuver our pants down while wearing a harness. It鈥檚 not as difficult as you may think, it just takes some balance while perching off the side of the metal beams, with a large vertical drop below.听
Going number two is even less sexy. In this scenario, you have plastic bags that you go into, which you then tightly close and put into a 鈥減oop tube鈥濃攁 smell-proof, leak-proof container. I think of it as a mobile Porta-Potty.听