Quebec mountaineer François-Guy Thivierge began the challenge of his life in August 2019: to climb 55 mountains in 55 months to celebrate his 55th birthday. On a regular basis, Le Journal presents a mountain he has climbed as part of this project.
François-Guy Thivierge’s bag of great challenges is bottomless. The mountaineer had already offered himself the summit of Mexico, but since there is always more to explore, it was necessary to embark on the longest climbing route in the country, via Mount El Toro. Nothing too good for his crazy project of 55 mountains in 55 months.
It was via the Time Wave Zero route, a grueling rock wall requiring 23 lengths of rope, that the adventurer from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges recently satisfied another of his dreams.
“It’s a bit of the antithesis of the Quebec ice climber that I am, since I can’t stand the heat very badly, which is my biggest enemy. This route is pure climbing and I will keep memories of it etched in my memory for life”, he rejoiced, returning to his most recent epic in the mountains.
It was in central Mexico that Thivierge tackled this challenge head-on, in the climbing area of El Potrero Chico Park, about an hour from the popular city of Monterrey.
A quartet
Photo provided by François-Guy Thivierge
In order, Alfred Boivin, Julie Paquette, Jeff Rivest and François-Guy Thivier participated in the adventure made possible thanks to the partnership of Sterling Rope and Salewa equipment.
For once, Thivierge was able to taste the happiness of going on an adventure in a quartet. During his various journeys as part of this challenge, he was accompanied by Alfred Boivin, Julie Paquette and Jeff Rivest. When the opportunity to bring all these beautiful people together presented itself, no one hesitated, even if it was necessary first… to get to know each other!
“I often left with each of the three, but they didn’t know each other. It made the experience even more enjoyable to be with a great team,” noted Thivierge.
Before attacking the main course of the nine-day trip, the four thieves cut their teeth on other shorter routes, a question of getting acclimatized to the monster that awaited them.
In the middle of the night
Due to the heat which can quickly become overwhelming, Thivierge and his acolytes decided to set off in the middle of the night, in two groups of two.
Photo provided by François-Guy Thivierge
It’s night, but it’s no time to sleep. The four climbers began their journey around 3 a.m.
From 3 a.m., it was the approach march and shortly before 4 a.m., the ascent began, the two roped parties about thirty minutes apart in order to avoid the dangers linked to the scree.
“It’s a very special surface. The wall is really rough and the extremities, both the fingers and the feet, have to work hard to hold on well. In the end, it’s a whole layer of skin that started from my fingertips. »
“We have to do it anyway, hitting 12 lengths of rope in the middle of the night, before sunrise, with our headlamps,” recalled Thivierge.
two at the top
Moreover, the day before, the group had made sure to make a little reconnaissance visit to the first lengths of ropes, just to make sure they had good control of the place once it got dark. Needless to say, the sunrise was met with both relief and wonder.
“There is no other word, it was magic, magic, magic, to see the colors on the mountain! It is for moments like this that we make all these efforts, ”said the adventurer.
Photo provided by François-Guy Thivierge
Accompanied by Jeff Rivest, Thivierge experienced great relief on reaching the summit.
Accompanied by Jeff Rivest, François-Guy Thivierge reached the summit after seven hours of hard work. Their two other companions were forced to turn back due to fatigue.
dangerous descent
“We would have liked to get all four to the top, but the rational side must prevail when the risk becomes too great. It was quite an adventure, especially when the sun started beating down in the morning. We had to move our hands over the rock because it felt like holding a hot cup of coffee,” said the indefatigable 58-year-old.
Photo provided by François-Guy Thivierge
Abseiling represents the most dangerous moment of the journey and fatigue sets in.
What’s worse is that in this type of climbing, it’s abseiling that often poses the greatest danger.
“There have been several abseiling deaths on this mountain. We remained extremely vigilant,” he said.
After 13 hours of effort, everyone touched down, their heads still in the clouds. And another mountain checked off the list of 55!
Mount El Toro
- Altitude : 1593m
- Country : Mexico
- Region : El Potrero Chico
- First ascent: 2008
- Ascent: 700m
- Duration : 1 p.m.
► To follow his adventures: francoisguythivierge.com | Facebook | instagram @francoisguythivierge