Photo Exhibition - Martin Heuger: Mountain Long Drink
Martin Heuger: At this year’s festival a mountain climber, a traveler, an amateur philosopher, and last but not least photographer will present his photographs took during his climbing journeys and expeditions. It is worth to see this presentation.
Profile:
There is no need to introduce a mountain climber and climbing soloist Martin “Maťo“ Heuger to our festival’s visitors. He had been attending the festival as a regular spectator, and last year as a protagonist of the movie Tangerine Trip. This year he will introduce himself as a photographer and comes to present his photograph collection with the title Mountain Long Drink
Martin was born in Bratislava in last millennium. Occasionally he spends some time in our capital city; however, more often you can meet him climbing on rocks or somewhere in mountains. He is a member of Alpinism Commission and mountain climbing club Filozof Bratislava (Philosopher Bratislava) as an amateur philosopher and enthusiast.
He smelled the aroma of climbing rocks and mountains in 1985 and up to now mountain activities still mean a lot to him. Since that time martin has done a great amount of ascents in the Tatras, Alps, and Himalayas as well.
Certainly noticeable are the first winter solo climbs through the direct routes up to Maly Mlynar and Mlynarik in the High Tatras, and free climb of the route Electroshock classified with difficulty 9 on the Picco Luigi Amedeo in Bergell, which he accomplished with Oto Bajan.
In spring 2000 together with Paľo Packo, they climbed Simpson’s range to Ranrapalcu (6122m) in Peru.
Together with Jaro Dutka, they dared to climb the north face of Eiger (3970m) where they managed to climb, under dramatic circumstances, in that time the hardest route in Geneva’s pillar - Piolova Direttissima classified as 7+A3. In 2002 again with Jaro, they tried to make the first climb through northeast pillar to Teng Kang Poche using alpine style of climbing. Because of bed weather conditions, low temperatures and loosing two kilos of oskvarky (greaves), after ten days spent in this snowy Himalayan freezer they decided to quit their climb.
Martin participated on several significant mountaineering expeditions. He was a member of the Everest expedition (8848m) where he reached the altitude of 8000 meters, the Shipton Spire expedition in 2004, and many more.
Among Martin Heuger’s favorite climbing destinations belongs following areas Machnatô (Low Tatras), The Valley, Katmandu, OSP and, of course, domestic rocks. Martin does not avoid winter climbs too; he has made several climbs of ice walls and ice falls in the Alps.
In recent years his partners on the ropes have been Dino Kuráň and Ivan Štefanský. In 1999 the SHS James (Slovak Mountaineering Association) awarded these guys with honorable acknowledgement for their climbing activities in the American Yosemite, for climbing up through the routes Cosmos a Lost in America (both classified as VI A4) on one of the most amazing wall of the world El Capitan. Nonetheless, others of his mountaineering activities were not left unrecognized by professional climbing public. In 2006 he received bronze carbine for OS climb to Mt. Blanc’s Brillard Pillar aimed through the direct route classified as 8+, which he made together with Dino Kuráň.
Martin Heuger’s performance on rocks as well as in mountains affiliates him among prominent Slovak mountain climbers for almost 25 years. Martin will come to introduce some of his mountaineering point of view in November to the seriate fourth year of festival Horyzonty.
