A Father/Son Ascent Turns Epic

Klaas Willems was born in 1986 in Leuven, Belgium with a genetic lung and digestive disease called Cystic Fibrosis. CF causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs in the body. One of the first things the doctors told Klaas when he was a little boy was that he wasn’t going to live long. Since then he has been told more than once that he has no more than six years to live. In the meantime, Klaas discovered rock climbing: A sport that not only helped him strengthen his lungs but also gave him purpose and drive. In the summer of 2012 he climbed “La traversée de la Meije 3983m” in The Massif des Ecrins in France. It was his father’s third attempt to climb his dream mountain. This time Klaas joined him for a father/son ascent, like the first ascent done by Gaspard de la Meije with his son Pierre in 1877. Klaas and his father reached the summit, however, on the descent things did not go according to plan. But Klaas was determined that this was not the way he was going to go. The way he told this story made me laugh a lot. But it also brought tears to my eyes, for many different reasons. When I asked how he reacted to his dad crying once they had made it back to the hut, he answered: “I guess because of my health issues, I have not always been very open to show my emotions.” Today 35 years old, Klaas is crushing the sport climbs, climbing the big walls, and bolting in Sardinia where he has helped develop the climbing sector in Ulassai. He climbed the Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite in 11h15min and in 2017 he did his first 8c named “Still Alive” a line he bolted himself. If you happen to stop in Sardinia to climb, his route recommendations are: Riebedebie 7c/8c Doors of perception 7a Insanity 8b+ Tales of Sus’pense 8a+ Snake eye 7b Il giorno delle firme 7c Chumbawamba 7b+