To Be The Mother of an Adventurer - Kyle Dempster

In this compelling podcast from The Dirtbag Diaries, Kyle Dempster (an Edelweiss athlete) and his mother open up and share their feelings and tell some stories of what it's like to be the parent of an adventurer.

Exposed: Kyle Dempster

You’ve heard of his amazing ascents in Pakistan, China, Alaska, Baffin Island, and even Utah. You’ve seen the videos, headlines, and photos. But do you really know the person behind the name? 

We’ve asked Edelweiss athlete, Kyle Dempster to step off the rock and expose who he really is, what makes him tick, and to share some personal things about himself.

Meet the Edelweiss USA Team

Edelweiss, the most reputable climbing rope manufacturer, has organized a team of USA climbers to represent the brand in the states as well as abroad. This solid group is made up of Joe Mills, Pamela Pack, Scott Adamson, Kyle Dempster, Heyden Kennedy, Angela VanWiemeersch, Scott Bennett, Cheyne Lempe.

Edelweiss Athlete - Kyle Dempster

Kyle Dempster is a rough and tough lad that was raised in Salt Lake City, UT. He comes from a family of outdoor and physically minded parents and siblings. Dempster started climbing rocks when he was 12 years old, after his cousin recruited him as his belay-slave at Pete’s Rock in the Wasatch Range.

The South Face of The Ogre - An Award Winning Ascent

"One of the 6 winners of the Piolets d'Or 2013. The Ogre is one of the most celebrated of the world's mountains yet until last year had been summited only twice, and never from the south, despite many attempts. The Americans Kyle Dempster, Hayden Kennedy, and Josh Wharton chose a cunning line up the southeast ridge to southeast face to south face. Gaining the upper south face involved a steep traverse across complete rubble and, higher, they overcame hard sections of mixed ground. From a bivouac at 6,900m, Dempster and Kennedy reached the summit but then had to make a difficult descent with an unwell Wharton.

Video by Vinicio Stefanello (Planetmountain.com) & Francesco Mansutti for the Piolets d'Or 2013. Courmayeur, Chamonix - Mont Blanc." -PlanetMountain.com

Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy are both Edelweiss U.S.A. athletes.
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Piolets d’Or Awarded To All Six Nominated Ascents

Photo by Pascal Tournaire.
Courtesy of Piolets d'Or.

A huge “Congratulations!” goes out to all the alpinists that received a Piolet d’Or for their phenomenal ascents during 2012. Among the six ascents that were awarded, Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy’s ascent up the south face of The Ogre (Baintha Brakk) in Pakistan was one of them. Kyle and Hayden are both Edelweiss athletes and live in Salt Lake City, UT and Carbondale, CO.

As reported in the official press release and on various climbing media websites, this year’s prestigious award didn’t go to just one or three ascents but to six:

• Baintha Brakk, a.k.a. The Ogre (7,285m), Pakistan
• Nanga Parbat (8,125m), Pakistan
• Kyashar (6,770m), Nepal
• Muztagh Tower (7,284m), Pakistan
• Kamet (7,756m), India
• Shiva (6,142m), India

In addition to those ascents, a Special Mention was given to two ascents on Cerro Torre—one of them made by Hayden Kennedy—for their honorary ethics of style and respect.

K7 and The Ogre or bust!

Good luck to Edelweiss USA athletes Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy on their attempts on K7 and the Ogre!

They are headed out the door to Pakistan and knowing them, they are out to climb something new or really tough.

A Cold Mountain and a Broken Crampon - Kyle Dempster

Edelweiss's tough-man, Kyle Dempster recently returned from an adventurous trip up in Alaska where he and Justin Griffin went to climb some of the tougher routes on the North Buttress of Mt. Hunter. His excitement and stoke from the trip is evident in his trip report that he shares with us below:

Just got home from a SWEET trip to the North Buttress of Mt. Hunter in Alaska. Climbing partner, Justin Griffin and I hit the weather window perfectly. We arrived to a rainy Anchorage and checking the forecast on the drive up to Talkeetna, we were stoked to see high pressure for the next 10 days! We flew into Kahiltna base camp fresh and ready to rage! Several other friends and climbing colleagues that were hanging out there said that we had just missed some seriously cold temps and tons of snowfall. "Well don't fret boys, we brought the good stuff!"

Less than 24hrs after arriving to BC Justin and I were at the base of Mt. Hunter and gearing up for the North Buttress' hardest route, The Wall of Shadows. In 1994, first ascensionists Michael Kennedy and Greg Childs spent multiple days on the face and rated their climb VI AI6 5.9 A4. And in 2009 the Giri-giri boys free climbed the entire route at M6R/X. Justin and I packed no more than a stove, one fuel can, and an ultra light two person bivy for an all out push on the WOS. Climb aboard the pain train!

500ft into the route Justin began cursing from below me and shouted out that his front point on his crampon had completely sheared off! That left him with a total of ONE front point and 4,500 ft of difficult climbing above. A quick regroup of the situation and we made the decision to continue onward, me leading the entire route and Justin practically campusing the entire thing! The ice this year on Hunter is in fat condition and we enjoyed some spectacularly steep pitches for the first 3000ft! Then we arrived at the crux three pitches, appropriately named "Somewhere Else Wall." It truly was somewhere else. I cast into the first of the M6R/X pitches totally psyched but quickly slowed to holy shit pace! The climbing was real deal as where the runouts in-between gear! Yikes!

20 hours into the route we arrived at the third ice band, where the route joins the immensely easier Bibler-Klewin, and finally brewed up! I was exhausted from leading the entire route and Justin too from following with one semi-working crampon. We decided to descend back down the Bibler-Klewin, try and borrow a crampon from someone, and save our energy for another route.

Back at Kahiltna base camp Justin was able to make a call out to Talkeetna and have a new pair of crampons flown in the next day. A good example of how not remote the Alaska Range is. Now that we had a working pair of crampons to strap onto Justin’s feet, we made use of our time and bag our ascent of the French route before going home to tell this tale of adventure.