1. Arrangements

For some people to go on an expedition, they need to have every detail prepared in advance, and even then it may not be enough; they still look for reasons not to go. Other people need almost nothing. It is enough for them to see just one good picture to become totally focused on the goal and make it happen. I belong to the second group.

You may judge for yourself: Look at the picture sent to me in October, 1999, by a friend from Italy, the well-known climber Erik Svab. If you happen to be a fanatical big-wally like I am – single-mindedly seeking out huge walls all over the world – you will understand what drove me to this wall, to this place. The name of this gorgeous 900-meter granite wall is Tsaranoro Massif, it’s in Madagascar. Although I have never been to Africa, it was quickly apparent that I could not stay away from it, my heart pulled me there long before I any idea how to make it happen.

It happened in the Fall (Spring in the southern hemisphere) a year later, 2000. We were on our way to a big island at the bottom of the world to carve out a new route on Tsaranoro.

This kind of mountaineering is not a solitary pursuit. A team had to be found, thousands of arrangements made. Erik passed along his Madagascar contacts, as well as offering valuable advice for getting to and staying on this beautiful island. Erik had already, in 1998, together with his Italian friends, made a demanding first ascent of a route called “Never the Same,” graded 8a+, 5.13c, an exceptional big wall achievement.

For a liason officer, Erik recommended a local person, Calvin Miandrarivo, from the capitol Antanananrivo. He spoke fluent English and was perfect at the task of arranging “necessities.” Believe me, there were plenty of necessities to be arranged. All the way up until our departure date, I had a busy correspondence with Calvin, and along the way learned a lot of interesting facts about what had been an unknown part of the world to me.

To gather a team prepared to spend 70,000 Slovak crowns (approximately 1,500 USD) is not a small problem in a country as poor as Slovakia, but eventually a team of excellent climbers was put together. A lot of hard work was involved, but also a lot more luck.

Here is the list of big wall dreamers who accompanied me on this trip (all from Slovakia):

Recruiting a team was only the beginning, of course, since the list of things needing to be arranged for an expedition like this is enormous. Finding affordable plane tickets from central Europe to an island at the bottom of the African continent was a big hurdle, but we did manage to get it done with Air France. Just as problematic and expensive was to accumulate the required equipment for our planned first ascent: bolts, drill, power generator, the usual climbing gear, fixed ropes, hooks, belaying devices, and on and on and on . . .

We divided these problems among us and dangerously close to our departure we had everything prepared. Almost everything. Maybe the most important thing remained un-done – finding a sponsor.

Luckily there are in Slovakia a few good firms who are willing to support the climbing community, and our key sponsor became Trek Sport, a manufacturer of climbing bags and outdoor gear, and we got a lot of help from the manager (owner?), Dezider Pusztay. Also the TV station Markiza provided Rasto with two cameras. We collected basic data for the climbing area from the British magazine High. Calvin, our liason, arranged things on the Madagascar end -- a 4WD vehicle, a cook and driver, cooking utensils, etc. Our departure was planned for 11 Sept. 2000. We arranged to all meet one day before departure at my Bratislava house, hoping that one day would be enough to pack up and see if we’d left anything out.