It took ten years of design, three attempts and hundreds of volunteers, but Brad Zdanivksy has climbed his dream route.
On Sunday (July 31), after very little sleep and an alpine start time of 5:30 a.m., Zdanvisky, a quadriplegic with limited use of hands and arms, once again faced the Herculean task of summitting the Chief.
"It was the longest day of my life," said Zdanivsky.
But worth it. At approximately 8 p.m. Sunday, Zdanivsky and his climbing team, Chris Geisler, Hobey Walker and Graham Taylor, topped out at the 650-metre (1,950 foot) summit of the Stawamus Chief.
"It's an expedition," he said from his Vancouver home Tuesday afternoon. "Even though it's only a 14-hour climb, it's the equivalent of going and doing Everest."
Zdanivsky was an avid rock climber until a car accident in 1997 left him a quadriplegic. But it didn't take long for the young man to begin climbing again with the help of a contraption of pulleys and wheels initially designed by Zdanivksy and his dad. After considerable redesign, Zdanivsky achieved the unthinkable in 2003: an ascent of the 1000-foot Grand Wall. He had wanted to continue beyond the "point of no return" Bellygood Ledge, but the day's heat and an as yet imperfect rig system forced the team to turn back. During the B.C. long weekend, however, a lighter rig and a stronger Zdanivsky got to the ledge well before lunch and the team knew it would be a good day.
"The first half was a cakewalk," said Zdanivsky. "It was an area we've been up twice before and to get up to our old high point was dead, dead simple."
Above the ledge, Zdanivsky said he experienced a 90-metre pitch of the best climbing of the day.
"Most people who climb on the Chief never really go there because it's a totally blank wall, but it's just the reward," he said. "That pitch was so beautiful. It's the most exposure I've ever faced even as an able-bodied climber, I've never been up a route that steep. It blew my mind, really cool."
But the cakewalk would soon be over. Getting through a band of trees spanning above the Bellygood pitch gave Zdanivsky and his team a considerable challenge, but there was no way they were turning back.
"The whole team was so psyched to get to the top, you had 30 people up there trying to make it happen, everyone just chipped in and made it work."
With little time or energy to celebrate, a helicopter transported the team back down to the base. The Parks Board approved the special request for a helicopter as a non-precedent setting, one-time event. To which Zdanivsky laughed, saying no one would want to attempt the top half of the Chief "unless you were out of your mind" because they couldn't lower through the trees.
Zdanivsky is now fielding calls from media outlets worldwide, and he said he's pleased - not for the attention but for the fact that he can share his experience with other quadriplegics.
"We want people to benefit from what we've learned."
The team has discussed the next project - he mighty El Cap in Yosemite - but they're not rushing.
"Everybody's pretty burned out," said Zdanivsky. "So we're just going to raise some money and do more straight forward climbs."[email protected]
