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Didier Berthod

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Didier Berthod (born 1981)[1] is a Swiss rock climber and priest. He specializes in traditional climbing, and crack climbing in particular.[2]

Didier Berthod
Berthod gives a homily in 2020
Personal information
Born1981 (age 42–43)[1]
Bramois, Valais, Switzerland
Occupation(s)Rock climber, priest
Climbing career
Type of climber
Highest grade
Known for
First ascents
  • Greenspit (8b+, 2003)
  • Crack of Destiny (5.14b/c, 2023)
Updated on 16 September 2023

Climbing career

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In 2003, Berthod came to international prominence when he pinkpointed the unfinished sport climbing route Greenspit 8b+ (5.14a) in the Orco Valley in Italy, as a traditional climbing route.[3] Converting a sport route to a traditional route is known as "greenpointing" (although the route's name came from its green colored sport bolts).[3] In 2005, Berthold returned to do the route without any pre-placed protection,[3] and Greenspit was recognized as one of the hardest traditional crack climbs in the world.[2][4][5]

Berthod then made trips to America where he put up new traditional climbing routes such as Learning to Fly and From Switzerland with Love, both at grade 5.13+ in Indian Creek in Utah.[6]

The 2006 cult climbing film First Ascent,[7] followed Berthod's unsuccessful efforts to make the first free ascent of Cobra Crack, a 5.14b (8c)-graded traditional climbing route in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada;[8] which was at the time considered the world's hardest traditional crack climb (it was later free climbed by Sonnie Trotter).[2][5] The film also documented Berthod’s other climbs in Europe (including Greenpoint), and his frugal lifestyle such as working in a hostel between attempts.[5]

 
Berthod teaches how to make a tape glove for crack climbing in 2021

After quitting climbing for over a decade, Berthod returned to international climbing attention in June 2023, when he went back to Squamish where he completed the first pinkpoint of a long-standing open project called The Crack of Destiny that he graded as being harder than 5.14a (8b+).[9][10][11] In May 2024, Berthod returned to Cobra Crack to make the 20th ascent of the route saying "It is more so the end of a book, than a chapter".[12]

Religious life

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After completing First Ascent, Berthod, then aged 25 and carrying a serious knee injury, decided to completely abandon rock climbing and joined Nicolas Buttet [fr]'s Franciscan-community, the Eucharistein [fr] fraternity, in Saint-Maurice, Switzerland (close to where Berthod was born),[6] as a monk.[5][13][14] In 2016, Berthod was ordained as a priest, and shortly afterward began climbing again.[2][5]

In a 2018 documentary on Berthod called Fissure, he explained his reasons for leaving climbing: "I felt like a junkie, someone who craved a daily dose of climbing. If I didn't get it, I got angry. I hated that feeling because it kept me from being truly free. I needed to be free, and that’s what my faith gave me – that and spiritual healing".[5] On his return to climbing, he told German TV: "In recent years I quit this [monastic] way of being Christian and I embraced a way more humanistic way of being Christian".[6] By 2020, Berthod had completed a new 8c (5.14b) bolted route on Petit Clocher du Portalet.[6]

Filmography

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  • Documentary featuring Berthod on Cobra Crack in Squamish, British Columbia: Peter Mortimer (2006). First Ascent (Motion picture). Sender Films.
  • Documentary on Berthod: Christophe Margot (2018). Fissure (Motion picture). Cine Margot. Retrieved 4 January 2023.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Christie, Olivier (2016). "Didier Berthod: From the rock to the altar". LACrux. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Watch Didier Berthod is Back / Interview with Swiss crack climbing legend". PlanetMountain. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Greenspit, the dream of a generation climbed in Valle Orco by Matteo della Bordella, Francesco Deiana". PlanetMountain. May 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Didier Berthod cleans Greenspit, Valle dell Orco". PlanetMountain. 3 October 2005. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gogorza, Oscar (15 November 2022). "Didier Berthod, from rock-climbing star to monk and back again". El Pais. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Smart, Dave (18 November 2020). "Swiss trad climbing ace Didier Berthod returns to climbing". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  7. ^ Moix, Fred (17 May 2021). "Listen to Crack-Climbing Legend Didier Berthod Give One of His First Interviews in 13 Years". Climbing. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  8. ^ Berg, Emmet (4 October 2005). "DIDIER BERTHOD: True grit and grip". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Didier Berthod Redpoints New 5.14 Trad in Squamish". Gripped Magazine. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  10. ^ Bailey, Nat (10 July 2023). "Didier Berthod Returns to Climbing Limelight With FA of 5.14 Crack". Climbing. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  11. ^ Zeidler, Maryse (18 July 2023). "Legendary free climber conquers the 'Crack of Destiny' in Squamish, B.C." CBC News. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  12. ^ Bailey, Nat (16 May 2024). "After 10 Years in a Monastery, Climber Send One of the World's Toughest Trad Routes". Climbing. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Une heure avec… Didier Berthod - Fribourg – Unités pastorales du Grand-Fribourg". Fribourg – Unités pastorales du Grand-Fribourg (in French). 14 July 2018.
  14. ^ "Ten years ago, Didier Berthod left free climbing for religion. Today, he returns to the underlying reasons for his choice".
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