Heidi Duartes Wahl Dies in Fall

Heidi Duartes Wahl, 28, died on November 15th, 2014 after falling on the classic Yellow Wall (5.11c PG13) in the Shawangunks of New York.

She was first introduced to us at our Spring Outing in the Adirondacks last May and left us impressed not only with her climbing ability but positive, outgoing spirit.

Duartes Wahl was considered one of the strongest female climbers of Chile. She began sport climbing when she was 19 at Cerro Mackay near Coyhaique, and eventually became proficient in trad, ice and alpine, according to an interview with chileclimbers.cl. She had climbed in Peru and Argentina, and noted her time at the Yosemite-like big-walls of Cochamó in Patagonia as one of her career highlights.

Duartes Wahl had completed a Master’s of Health Science in Chile, studying HIV prevention. She had been pursuing a PhD in Denver when she died.

The Epic of Everest at the Rubin Museum Wednesday November 19 at 7PM

Please join the New York Section and Everest Veteran Robert Anderson for the New York premiere of a magnificent restoration of one of the most historically significant films of all time: The Epic of Everest documents the doomed attempt of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine to scale the world’s highest mountain in 1924.

“Spooky, entrancing.” - TimeOut London

“The sequences in Tibet before the climb, of daily life among the Sherpas and their families, are of rare and magical ethnographic value.” - The Daily Telegraph

Capt. John Noel’s The Epic of Everest (1924) has been newly restored by the British Film Institute, with a mesmerizing and evocative new score by Simon Fisher Turner, and with the original tinting restored for the striking mountain sequences.

 “This movie is all about the awe-inspiring visuals, mist rolling off the mountain top, glaciers twinkling in the evening light – and the crowning glory is the blue-tinted Fairyland of Ice sequence.” - Silent London

The third attempt to climb Everest famously culminated in the deaths of two of the finest climbers of their generation, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, and sparked an on-going debate over whether or not they did indeed reach the summit. Filming in brutally harsh conditions with a hand-cranked camera, Captain John Noel captured images of breathtaking beauty and considerable historic significance. The film is probably the earliest filmed records of life in Tibet and features sequences at Phari Dzong (Pagri), Shekar Dzong (Xegar) and Rongbuk monastery. But what resonates so deeply is Noel’s ability to frame the vulnerability, isolation and courage of people persevering in one of the world’s harshest landscapes.

Directions can be found here: http://www.rubinmuseum.org/visit