Jirishanca is the new film about Josh Warton and Vince Anderson’s superb ascent of the summit of the same name in Peru. Spectacular images that fuel rave reviews on YouTube, but a narrative that omits one of the two roped parties at the summit that same day, at the same time. [Article updated on Nov. 27th]
It’s one of the most fantastic peaks in the Huayhuash mountain range. Jirishanca, in Peru’s Andes, is a coveted jewel, a summit that has seen the best mountaineers come and go (or break their teeth). American climber Josh Wharton has been making exceptional ascents for years. As we discover in this film recounting his 2022 ascent of Jirishanca with Vince Anderson (who climbed the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat in alpine style), his experience of fatherhood mixed with the visible effects of climate change made him ask himself some questions before setting off. With rope-mate Vince Anderson, they set off on the Italian route opened in 2003, unfinished, after having themselves attempted the ascent in 2019, without reaching the summit.
On July 23, 2022, two separate roped parties – Americans Josh Wharton and Vince Anderson on one side, Canadians Quentin Roberts and Alik Berg on the other – succeeded in climbing two routes on the 6,094-metre summit of Jirishanca, at virtually the same time but by two different routes. Hence the incongruity of having two roped parties at exactly the same time on a summit that sees very few of them.
Jirishanca south east face. The 2003 French route climbs the main pillar directly, while the Italian route completed by Warton and Anderson goes further to the right and the east. The Canadian route, Reino Hongo, goes on the left pillar then the left ridge to the summit. ©Smith / Patagonia
As we wrote (article here in French) in 2022, once again, commentators (of the film just released as well as those of 2022) are a little quick to forget the feat of two Frenchmen, Aymeric Clouet and Didier Jourdain, who in 2003 achieved a major first on the East Face, which will be repeated in 2017 (without the summit a priori). Sometimes it’s good to remember that before social networks, climbers were achieving major firsts…
Not only does the film omit the history of this face, but, more embarrassingly, it also omits the Canadians’ ascent on the same day. Spectacular though it may be, the final aerial shot of the rope party at the summit seems to have been well chosen, since only Warton and Anderson are at the summit, while we can make out a trace to the left (theirs comes from the right) and no one else, while the photo below shows the Canadian rope party reaching the summit at the same time.
The two roped parties at the summit. Canadian climber Alik Berg is on the left, emerging from a new route started on the South-East face and completed by the South ridge. The two Americans, in red, are on the right, coming off the East Ridge. ©Smith / Patagonia
Video capture. There’s only one team left, but the other team’s tracks are visible. © Smith / Patagonia
Update November 27:
Quentin Roberts’ fellow climber, Alik Berg, wrote a post on instagram.
“The producers had to make some tough decisions when editing the otherwise spectacular summit footage, and I can respect that. However, altering the images to this extent does not strike me as sincere to the viewer, since the film is presented as a documentary.” Alik Berg concludes, “The whole time Josh and Vince were [at the summit], I was too. So yes, the drone footage showing Josh and Vince at the summit was edited to remove the third person,” namely himself.
In the commentary, director Josh Lowell explains his choice to erase Alik Berg from the summit: “for the story of Josh and Vince’s climb, it was very distracting to suddenly see another person on the summit. (…) It would have required a lot of explanation at the very end of the film, (…) so we made the decision to avoid showing Alik. (…) It was purely to keep the story streamlined and preserve the emotional climax of the final minute of the film rather than confuse the ending with new characters and explanations. ”