Question about The Alpinist and big mountains in general

I recently rewatched The Alpinist and some Colin Haley youtube videos (insane). There is lots of footage of them climbing, but none showing how they get down? 

I'm assuming they rappel ... but off of what?? Nuts, vthreads, slings, bolts?

Some fly off the top, the rest get down via nuts, cams, pitons, V threads & A threads and No Threads, screws, hexes, tricams, stuff sacks filled with snow, corded knots jammed in cracks, deadman anchors, pickets, and via downclimbing among a few of the options.  The book Down explains it all. 

So Emperor face in Canada: is there a "descent route" ? Because Marc Andre wasn't carrying a bunch of extra anchor stuff. And I'm assuming he just had a rope in his backpack?

also .. fly off?

I've always had this same question, even having done some big mountain stuff myself. Like when you hear about Josh Wharton and Johnny Copp or someone doing a new 3000 ft FA in a remote Canadian peak with no established descent line, for example, my first thought is how the ? did they get down?

Edit to add: that particular example was done in a day with only 2 protection bolts. Like assuming they rapp'd the whole thing, that's at least 14 double rope rappels. Did they really bring enough tat and nuts and stuff to climb all that 5.11 R terrain in a day and get back down? or some combination of scrambling off the side and rapping down a new exploratory descent line? whatever they did it sounds like a skill I haven't quite developed yet 

grug g wrote:

So Emperor face in Canada: is there a "descent route" ? Because Marc Andre wasn't carrying a bunch of extra anchor stuff. And I'm assuming he just had a rope in his backpack?

also .. fly off?

Fly off=parapente.

Emperor Face--he probably downclimbed the Kain Route---all snow and ice---well within his ability level to downclimb, maybe rapping the steeper parts with V-threads.

grug g wrote:

So Emperor face in Canada: is there a "descent route" ? Because Marc Andre wasn't carrying a bunch of extra anchor stuff. And I'm assuming he just had a rope in his backpack?

also .. fly off?

He went down the West Face of Robson if i remember correctly from the movie. Otherwise the standard descent route is the Schwartz ledges if you don't have to go back to a camp and collect things. 

From talking to a guide with some mountaineering experience, they typically brought cord or nylon webbing + rap rings then slung stuff where they could and sacrificed nuts where they couldn't. 

Answers are often found in the literature. Leclerc rappelled, per his stories:

https://alpinist.com/newswire/a-visit-with-the-emperor-mt-robson-infinite-patience/ 

https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214332/Two-Climbs-Alone 

I haven't see The Alpinist but in general, climbing movies often have re-shot footage. If he's not carrying a rope in the movie, it might be from reshoots.

The Cirque of the Unclimbables is quite remote, but visited often enough that big features have published descent beta, even some on MP:

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105905649/the-cirque-of-the-unclimbables 

Colin Haley rappelled off his Cerro Torre winter solo via v-threads with a short rope after his Beal Escaper did not escape:

https://colinhaley.com/cerro-torre-winter-solo/ 

one option is to leave anchors ( good enough to rap on) in place on the way up …

thus giving you the option to bail down the FA of your Rte …

When Josh and Kelly did that massive line ( and dropped gear ) in Pakistan they were 

very conscious of the gear they had and the point at which rapping was no longer an option…

they new there was an established rap once on top…commitment at its best!

James - wrote:

Answers are often found in the literature. Leclerc rappelled, per his stories:

https://alpinist.com/newswire/a-visit-with-the-emperor-mt-robson-infinite-patience/ 

Good link!  Here's a portion of that with some specifics about the Robson descent:

"And with numb hands and feet, I climbed back over the edge of the summit plateau and onto the upper west face...Once I reached ice, I became pleasantly distracted in the familiar rhythm of drilling V-Threads and making 25m rappels. I sometimes had to down climb moderate mixed ground and neve to find suitable anchors, and I left two nuts and a piton so I could rappel short rock bands."

To OP, it really depends on the specific route and mountain.  Many peaks are descended via an easier route, sometimes without much technical terrain at all (e.g. Denali, Foraker).  Some have a standard descent route that is well equipped.  Some you go straight back down the climbing route.  Many places will have an established descent route from the peak, even if one is doing a hard or new route on a different face or aspect.

Also worth mentioning that a lot of the notable ascents done by LeClerc and Haley are notable because of speed, soloing, or season, not because they are new routes.  On many of these, they'd be using a standard descent route that is well-known and used by a decent amount of other parties.

"So Emperor face in Canada: is there a "descent route" ?"

She's a bigg'un.
The plan was to camp at the col, cruise the Fuhrer ridge, romp down the Kain face and stroll back up the glacier to the comfort of the tent, before sauntering back down under the North/Emperor face the day after. Unfortunately, late in the evening of the next day I realized my mistake. After a 20 hrs of great but exhausting climbing, up to the summit and down the Kain face and then slogging up half a mile of waist deep mashed potatoes on the glacier, I stood, dripping wet, at the base of a 200' high serac band separating us from the comfort of the tent. I don't know how I missed it, but there it was, the head of the glacier was completely blocked by this huge and ugly looking serac.

Given that I was having a hard time putting one leg in front of the other, it didn't seem like the best time to attempt a grade 6 ice pitch, and the terrain looming above my head looked pretty ill. A maze of evil, dripping ice blocks, overhanging sheets, and huge ice fins towered above in the late evening gloom. I picked the cleanest looking line and started up. Luckily the soft summer ice made for fairly quick progress. About halfway up a long vertical section I noticed that the placements started to feel a bit hollow, but I pressed on hoping for what looked like a ledge at the top of the steep section. " A Bit Hollow" soon became holy sh#t whats happening! My tools were breaking right through the ice. It soon became apparent that I was climbing a huge shard of ice that had broken off from the main serac. With about 6 feet to go to the top of the ice sheet I had no option but to try and and continue up, hoping that the ever thinning sheet didn't just crumble under my weight. After a terrifying series of delicate moves I found myself hooking my tools over the top and looking straight down the other side into an inky blackness. The sheet of ice that I had been climbing for the last 100ft was no more than a few feet thick at best, narrowing to just a few inches where I now teetered on my front points. A hasty and flamboyant move over the top of fin and a bit of tension from my partner allowed me to lean accross the void and plant a solid tool in what appeared to be a more solid sheet of ice on the other side. After a quick adrenalin soaked surge of activity I pulled onto the perfectly flat glacier about 50 yards from the tent. We were cooking up a nice hot brew in no time.I don't think I've ever had a quicker transition from utter terror to domestic bliss.

In fact, that was just one episode of several that day, getting of that Mountain was frikkin epic.

If there isn't an established easier downclimb, it's almost become standard practice these days to retreat back down the route via V-threads for FAs in the greater ranges. You know the terrain you just covered which helps immensely in planning your rappels. And oftentimes the objective danger is less than an easier downclimb that you probably aren't familiar with. Leaving some gear behind is the norm and something you take as just another line item in your budget (a very small one for any big overseas trip).

Canadian Rockies are a little different since most big mountains have established walkoffs. 

That's a great story Jerry! Tell us another when if you're in the mood!