Carlos Suárez: the charm of emptiness
Carlos Suárez (Madrid, 1972) is an example of the extreme, of the daring, of the charm that can come from dropping from a height of many metres. A lover of the void. The Madrid climber has left an audiovisual record of many of his feats, which we will review in this text.
In addition to films, his experience has been reflected in several articles published by specialised media and he has presented books such as Dying for the top, Solo. Techniques and experiences y Alpine quotations.
Obsession (2019)
The review starts with the most recently released material, ObsessionSuárez has made a short film documenting his attempt to climb Cerro Torre in Patagonia, Argentina, in the middle of winter. This area, in the south of the American continent, has been visited many times by Suárez, who has developed over the last 30 years as a mountaineer, solo climber and base jumper.
Obsession, directed by Jorge Saffie, premiered in 2019 and was uploaded to YouTube this year, making it available to all audiences.
Among Suárez's main philosophies is respect for the mountain, and in different interviews the climber warns: "don't fall into too much ego, be humble and know how to realise your limitations. Respecting the mountain, getting off whenever you have an instinct, an intuition that tells you that things are not going well. I think you have to listen to yourself when you are on the mountain".
Dying for the top (2016)
The mountaineer and climber's then 25-year career began when he was 14 years old. This story is told in an 80-minute feature-length film entitled Dying for the top (2016), directed by Pablo Martín.
Suárez's achievements include being the first mountaineer to climb the west face of El Naranjo de Bulnes (Spain), in solo integral style. He has also been three times champion, for the country, of sport climbing in the speed category.
Alex Txikon, Armando del Rey, Beto Rocasolano, Carlos Soria, Darío Barrio, Leo Houlding and Ramón Portilla took part in this feature film, each giving their own vision of the athlete.
Dying for the topwhich is also a book, has won several awards at the Festival Cuentamontes 2017, Álvaro Bultó Award, Semana de Cine de Montaña de Castellón and other international festivals.
As a base jumper, Suárez has found ways, taking risks, to drop with only a parachute for insurance. In 2012, the climber even suffered an accident in action, forcing him to stay off the mountain for a year without facing high risks.
The Asgard Project (2009)
Another audiovisual material available to learn about Suárez is The Asgard Project, a 2009 short film conceived by Alastair Lee and Leo Houlding, which narrates the journey to Mount Asgard on Baffin Island (Canada).
This film brings together various shots of the Madrid-born climber during his training on different mountains in Riglos, Brento and Yosemite, all prior to his arrival in Baffin. The images are of climbs and base jumping. Suárez made this expedition together with Leo Houlding and Sean Leary.
The Asgard Project participated in several festivals in the year of its premiere and was recognised, among others, by the Kendal Festival.
Among the Suárez routes
As mentioned above, the climber was the first to climb the west face of El Naranjo de Bulnes, as well as the obsession he has with the beauty and complexity of the massifs found in Patagonia and the training route he took to tackle Mount Asgard; however, these are not the only places he has visited as a professional climber, among those others are ten trips to the Himalayas, a journey in which he reached the summit of Cho-Oyu.
Between trips, Suárez always returns to the mountains of his native country. It should also be noted that among the disciplines he practises is base jumping.
All the routes he has completed to date have served him to write the publications presented to date, becoming not only an example of what can be done but also an anecdotal and theoretical reference of what is passion and respect for the mountain.
El Diario Vasco published an interview with the mountaineer in 2018. In that conversation Suárez spoke about his role as a trainer and communicator of his experiences to others who are just starting out: "I'm going to use my career in the mountain world as a thread, but I don't want to fall too much into egocentrism, but I want to transmit the message that my experience in the mountains has given me, the way I see risk, the adventure itself".
From confinement
Like the whole world, Suárez was paralysed at the beginning of 2020 by a pandemic that has left millions dead and infected; despite this, after a few months when there was flexibility, the mountaineer managed to travel to some places, as it is difficult to separate oneself from a passion.
Suárez's stance on the pandemic is one of prevention, and he has made this clear on his social networks. A day ago he uploaded a photograph of Madrid in which he reflects a little on the context:
"I don't know if this photo is relevant or if it expresses how chaotic and fucked up the situation is in all the big cities especially. I have started to use the mask even for those closest to me! We have no choice, seeing how invisible the matter is... and that anyone can catch it at any door, a lot of strength...".
This publication comes just as the country enters a new peak in infections and a new round of preventive measures.
Suárez, pandemic or no pandemic, is still in contact with nature, still gaining experience that he will pass on to new generations, the same chain that he was part of when in his early days he looked to past characters for inspiration to take risks.
Cover photo: Carlos Suárez
