Athol Whimp

Athol Whimp (1961-2012) was a New Zealand mountaineer, rock climber and soldier. Widely regarded as his country's best modern mountaineer, he is its only recipient of the prestigious Piolet d'Or award for mountaineering.^[1]

Following a successful military career in the New Zealand Special Air Service and a stint as an advisor with a desert mobility unit in Oman ,^[1] Whimp began climbing extensively in New Zealand and Australia. He and the Australian climber Andrew Lindblade made a number of difficult ascents culminating in their 1998 ascent of the North Face of Thalay Sagar^[1] completed in light-weight alpine style. In addition to his hard alpine ascents, Whimp was a phenomenal rock climber, having climbed up to grade 5.13c in the Yosemite decimal system.

On 23 February 2012, Whimp died after slipping into an 800-meter fall^[1] while traversing non-technical terrain in the Darrans.^[1]

Ascents

1994 – Compressor Route, Cerro Torre, Patagonia (with Andrew Lindblade)
1994 – Pedrini-Locher Route, Fitzroy, Patagonia (with Andrew Lindblade)
1994 – Solo Ascent of Cerro Torre, Patagonia
1998 – First Ascent of the North Face of Thalay Sagar (6904m), Gharwal Himalaya, India (with Andrew Lindblade), Winner of the Piolet d'Or
1999 – Solo Ascent of the South Face of Mount Cook (Aoraki) (3754m), New Zealand
2000 – Attempt of the North Face of Jannu (7710m), Nepal (with Andrew Lindblade)
2000 – Second Ascent of the Wall of Shadows (Japanese Route), Jannu, Nepal (7710m) (with Andrew Lindblade)
2003 – Attempt of the Kurtyka-Schauer Route on Gasherbrum IV (7925m), Pakistan. The pair retreated in bad weather at 6800m (with Andrew Lindblade)

References

1 2 3 4 5 "Athol Whimp (1961 – 2012)", The Climber, #79, p. 18

External links

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