Dal 4 al 7 luglio 2019 a Chamonix, Francia il Arcteryx Alpine Academy. Un evento aperto a tutti per approfondire le proprie conoscenze di alpinismo ed arrampicata nella splendida cornice del Monte Bianco.

Dovete crederci, è un bel evento. Dal 4 al 7 luglio 2019 l’Arc’teryx Alpine Academy andrà in scena a Chamonix e per l’ottavo anno consecutivo la cittadina ai piedi del Monte Bianco ospiterà un evento assolutamente unico nel suo genere chevale assolutamente la pena andarci. Ne siamo sicuri perché in passato abbiamo partecipato anche noi!

L’academy, che quest’anno viene affiancato da CAMP come partner tecnico, sarà come sempre un lungo fine settimana all’insegna dell’alpinismo e dell’arrampicata, indirizzato a tutti coloro che vogliono approfondire le proprie conoscenze su come muoversi in sicurezza in montagna. Per farlo ci sarà una miriade di clinics, ovvero corsi gestiti da oltre 120 guide alpine professioniste e da più di 30 atleti di fama mondiale come Nina Caprez, Will Gadd, Ines Papert e Luka Lindic, che spazieranno dalle cascate di ghiaccio per principianti a corsi su come attraversare un ghiacciaio fino all’alpinismo classico in quota, passando per temi come le nuove tecniche di orientamento usando il GPS, la medicina di montagna, ecc.

I clinics sono offerti ad un prezzo agevolato grazie ad un accordo tra Arc’teryx e le guide alpine di Chamonix, e l’evento è talmente interessante che l’anno scorso più di 450 appassionati di montagna provenienti da 30 paesi si sono trovati per affinare le proprie competenze tecniche. Oltre ai clinics diurni, ci saranno ovviamente le serate, momenti interessanti per condividere la propria passione per la montagna.

Il tutto sembra quasi troppo perfetto per essere vero ma c’è un piccolo “problema”: siccome la formula piace così tanto, i posti vanno a ruba e si esauriscono in tempo record. L’apertura online delle iscrizioni è il 20 marzo alle ore 15.00, a cui segue una seconda opportunità alla stessa ora il 17 aprile. Proprio oggi è uscito l’elenco dettagliato dei clinics… dovete crederci, vale assolutamente la pena andarci!

Info: chamonix.arcteryxacademy.com, www.arcteryx.com, www.camp.it

In ricordo dell’alpinista Agostino ‘Gustin’ Gazzera, classe 1927, scomparso venerdì 11 gennaio 2019. Il suo è stato un amore senza tempo per le montagne.

Gustin era inconfondibile. Con quella barba bianca. Quello sguardo che veniva da lontano. Quei suoi silenzi e quella antica cortesia mista ad una disarmante semplicità. Era un uomo d’altri tempi, Agostino “Gustin” Gazzera. Un uomo che veniva da storie che non esistono più e da montagne che non sono più così. Piemontese di Bra, classe 1927, non aveva avuto vita facile. Anzi, da figlio di proletari, la vita se l’era dovuta proprio sudare. Sia, come si diceva una volta, per guadagnarsi il pane: il reparto fonderia della Fiat non era certo un’oasi di benessere. Sia in montagna, suo grande amore. Sia con quella sua passione per quell’alpinismo scoperto all’improvviso e molto corteggiato tant’è che non l’ha mai abbandonato. Le sue montagne infatti, come le sue salite, arrivavano in bicicletta, dopo il turno in fabbrica. Parlano di fatiche immense quelle montagne, ma anche di una curiosità – si direbbe spirito di avventura ed esplorazione – quasi ingenua e primordiale. Appunto come quella degli innamorati. Appunto come quella di chi non può fare a meno dell’avventura. Perché le sue montagne sono state una scoperta, spesso solitaria, sempre silenziosa. Così “equipaggiato” con materiali – corde, chiodi e quant’altro – di fortuna, Gustin fa del Monviso la sua seconda casa che percorre in lungo in largo. Poi arrivano il Monte Bianco e anche il Cervino. Montagne che affronta con uno spirito a dir poco garibaldino ma con una limpidezza di intenti e d’animo disarmanti. Dire che Gustin sia stato un’entusiasta della vita e dell’alpinismo è dir poco. Di sicuro non ha mai smesso di essere alpinista. Semplicemente non ha mai smesso di essere quel che era e che aveva cercato di essere per tutta la vita. Forse per questo non aveva alcun timore – da ultra ottantenne – ad affrontare le cascate ghiacciate in piolet traction. Era uno spettacolo Gustin con piccozze e ramponi. Una vista quasi straniante. Deve averla pensata così anche Ezio Marlier quando l’incontrò nel bel mezzo del suo mitico Ice Tour. Se ne innamorò Ezio. E, di quell’inossidabile e fantastico uomo, se ne innamorarono tutti gli alpinisti. Tanto che gli fu dedicato anche un film, ovviamente intitolato L’alpinista. Se lo meritava Gustin che con leggerezza e semplicità a molti ricordava il grande eterno spirito della montagna.

di Vinicio Stefanello

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Il racconto del 24enne climber Marchigiano Giacomo Meliffi che in Frankenjura si è aggiudicata Der Ungeheuer sei Mutter, una difficile e alquanto particolare via d’arrampicata trad resa famosa da Sean Villanueva.

Pensando al Frankenjura, la prima cosa che viene in mente sono i dinamici movimenti su buchi svasi, dove spesso non è possibile infilarci più di una o due dita.

Ma se si scava un po’ più affondo, se si girovaga fra i bellissimi boschi confinati fra distese di campi, si trovano rocce dalla più svariata forma e particolarità, con linee in grado di regalarti esperienze incredibili. Una di queste è senz’altro Der Ungeheuer sei Mutter nella falesia di Vogelhergrotte, che tradotta significa la madre della bestia.

L’8 giugno 2019, io (GIacomo Meliffi, o semplicemente Jack per gli amici), Federica De Angelis la mia ragazza e i nostri due cani Rolf e Luna, salpiamo per un incredibile viaggio che ci porterà fino ai confini della Norvegia, a bordo della white whale (il nostro van).

Dopo aver assaggiato un po’ di granito delle valli austriache assieme a due amici che ci hanno accompagnato in questa prima parte, facciamo rotta verso la Germania, destinazione Frankenjura.

Così dopo qualche giorno di arrampicata, mi precipito sotto la fessura, conosciuta grazie all’articolo proprio su planetmountain.com in cui Sean Villanueva faceva la prima ripetizione. E fu subito amore, un viaggio incredibile.

Al primo tentativo cado alla fine del tetto e causa tempo sono costretto a ritirarmi.Per puro caso in quei giorni si teneva il Frankenjura Kletterfestival, e la stessa sera faccio conoscenza proprio con Sean Villanueva. Riesco a scambiarci qualche parola, cosi mi convinco e torno a provare quella splendida linea un paio di giorni dopo.

La fessura comincia con una piccola sequenza in entrata fino ad incastrarsi completamente dentro, piedi e schiena spingono per rimanere all’ interno. Nella prima parte, per proteggersi è necessario avere un martello di legno usato per tappare i barili di birra qui in Germania, non possedendolo, completo la prima parte senza proteggermi, sperando di cadere sul crash pad nel caso un piede dovesse scivolare. Poi attacco il tetto, con qualche incastro e un po’ di resistenza riesco ad uscire e a portarmi sul diedro finale, dal quale poi parte un ultima sequenza, non tanto facile, per passare l’ultimo strapiombetto, un paio di respiri profondi e sono fuori, via incredibile! Adesso la Norvegia ci aspetta!

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Giacomo Meliffi

Stella Donnelly
Utzon Room at Sydney Opera House, May 28
★★★★½

The Vivid Festival billed Stella Donnelly as a "star in the making" and the second of her three shows proved the claim was as genuine as one of her songs.

The 27-year-old from Perth has grown hugely as a performer in the two years between her first EP and March's debut album, Beware Of The Dogs, as evident in this night's performance of the breakthrough song that graces both, Boys Will Be Boys.

The indictment of excuse-making and victim-blaming around a friend's sexual assault accidentally became a #MeToo anthem when, as Donnelly reminded us, it was released three days before movie mogul Harvey Weinstein "started getting called out online".

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Thirteen months ago Donnelly stood on a stage across town and performed the song poker-faced, as if she felt the lyrics and the anger behind them were enough to propel a movement in its first flush.

On this night, she made the song so convincing, it didn't need fluke timing to help get it noticed.

Played alone on electric guitar, there was a furious bearing down on the notes in a lyric like "you invaded her magnificence". There was more stridency in her strumming. More melismatic thrills in the chorus, which soared and could not be ignored.

There was even a smile at battles won while singing the closing pay-off to her pals'  tormentor: "Time to pay the f—ing rent."

The solo set that opened this show contained a few more songs that repeated Boys' trick. The title track of the new album, for instance, drew us in with its pretty, classically trained singing and beguiling melody, then stunned us with venomous protest.

"All these pious f—s/Taking from the 99," Donnelly sang, a post-election frisson suddenly thick in the air.

And while Donnelly's days as a barmaid would seem firmly in her past, her rage at the sexism she encountered while working in a pub still seemed raw on You Owe Me.

There was light among this shade. "Bit creepy, isn't it?" Donnelly remarked during the closing cover of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, after singing the "watching through windows" line.

Donnelly's showmanship really shone when joined by her four-piece band.

The rapport between these arts college chums was a joy to watch – there was even daggy co-ordinated dance moves for Die, the "banger" Donnelly wrote with her first drum machine.

This room's impeccable acoustics meant the varied textures of the new album's songs sounded great, too, particularly the eastern-flavoured guitars on the stand-out call for a #MeToo in the music industry, Old Man.

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Yet Donnelly's remarkable voice and gift for melody remained the centrepiece. Break-up lament Bistro, for instance, contained only eight different words – and no politics – but told a story as compelling as any on this night.

Stella Donnelly plays the Sydney Opera House's Utzon Room on May 29.

Conservative Coalition MPs emboldened by strong support from religious voters at the election are pushing the Morrison government for more radical and far-reaching religious freedom provisions in forthcoming laws.

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce wants laws to exempt religious beliefs from employment contracts – in effect giving legal protection to views such as those expressed on social media by rugby star Israel Folau that gay people and fornicators will go to hell.

"You can't bring people's faith beliefs into a contract," Mr Joyce said. "Your own views on who god is, where god is or whether there's a god should remain your own personal views and not part of any contractual obligation."

Attorney-General Christian Porter is expected to present a Religious Discrimination Act to the Parliament as soon as July, acting on a pre-election commitment to boost protections for people of faith against discrimination and vilification.

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But some Coalition MPs believe the election results – including significant swings away from Labor in highly religious seats – underline the case for bolder reforms to enshrine freedoms other than freedom from discrimination.

Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells – who worked extensively with faith leaders to galvanise the support of religious voters before and during the campaign – said the election marked a "new dawn" on religious freedom.

She called for a standalone Religious Freedom Act that would give greater legal heft to the demands set out by church leaders, Christian schools and other faith-based institutions.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells also said the government need not await the findings of a review being undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission into exemptions to anti-discrimination laws currently enjoyed by religious schools.

"Whilst the ALRC is not due to report until [April] 2020, given its diverse and broad terms of reference, I believe that the recent election has reinforced the need for more immediate legislative action," she told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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"This is vitally important to not only address our concerns but afford protection against these constant incursions from Labor, the Greens and their acolytes. It's a new dawn on this issue."

Senator Fierravanti-Wells – who voted against marriage equality when it was legalised in 2017 – said the election results "had their antecedents in the same-sex marriage debate", noting large swings to the government in culturally diverse seats around western Sydney.

Banks, Blaxland, Fowler and McMahon, which voted "no" to same-sex marriage, all posted swings to the Coalition above 3 per cent – although so did many electorates that voted "yes".

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Mr Joyce, a former Nationals leader, said Folau's sacking "got a lot of people annoyed" during the election campaign.

"People were a little bit shocked that someone could lose their job because of what they believe," he said. "It made everyone feel a bit awkward and uneasy."

Mr Joyce said he would argue within the Coalition that any religious freedom law should include clauses to prevent employers crafting contracts that could penalise people for their religious beliefs.

"That would be my input – but whether it's what other people's views are, I don't know," he said.

Such a law should not necessarily be nicknamed "Folau's Law" because it would give the sacked rugby player credit for a law that "should be designed for everybody", Mr Joyce said.

Folau has said he is considering his legal options in response to his termination.

Late last year, in response to former attorney-general Philip Ruddock's review, Mr Porter pledged to introduce a Religious Discrimination Act and appoint a religious freedom commissioner to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

On Wednesday he said religious freedom was a "key issue" in the election campaign due to "enormous concern" about Labor's plans on the issue, and indicated legislation would be a priority when Parliament resumes at the start of July.

New Labor leader Anthony Albanese acknowledged his party needed to show greater "respect" to religious views after frontbenchers Chris Bowen and Tony Burke publicly lamented that people of faith had lost trust in Labor and progressive politics.

Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the Coalition owed Rugby Australia "a bit of gratitude … because their ham-fisted approach to Israel Folau clearly elevated the issue and concerned many, many people".

He agreed with Senator Fierravanti-Wells on the need for positively-framed legislation to establish religious freedoms but said it should be broader and encompass free speech.

"Freedom of religion is a subset of freedom of speech, and freedom of speech is the more important and overarching issue," he said.

Papua New Guinea's Parliament has elected James Marape as new prime minister after outgoing leader Peter O'Neill resigned following weeks of political turmoil sparked by natural resources deals.

Marape, who quit as finance minister in April over a gas deal with France's Total he called too generous to the oil major, was the front-runner sources said ahead of the vote.

Political instability is not unusual in the poverty-stricken but resource-rich country, but Marape's defection from the government earlier tapped into growing concern over governance and resource benefits not reaching the poor.

Those concerns ultimately led to O’Neill’s official resignation on Wednesday.

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Marape and his allies have indicated that April's agreement, which allows Total, Oil Search and ExxonMobil to begin work on a $US13 billion ($19 billion) plan to double gas exports, could be reviewed.

"Agreements and resources laws will be relooked at as a matter of priority," Philip Undialu, a lawmaker aligned with Marape, told Reuters by text from the Grand Papua Hotel where his supporters are based.

"It's going to be a fair deal not necessarily radical," he said.

Undialu said he believed Marape could command the backing of 79 members of Parliament, a clear majority. Counting was still under way.

Marape told Papua New Guinea's National newspaper two weeks ago, in reference to the April deal, that "something is wrong somewhere when the government is not unlocking … resources for our people".

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"We have a government that wants to save the interests of corporate giants," he said.

Opposition leader Patrick Pruaitch was another possible replacement and, in a Parliament with few ideological divides, any number of other contenders could have emerged.

More to come

Reuters 

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A 74-year-old man has been charged over the sexual abuse of a teenage boy that allegedly occurred while both worked at Sydney's Central Station in the 1970s.

Police set up a strike force in January 2018 to investigate reports a 16-year-old boy had been sexually abused by a man known to him in the 1970s.

Following extensive investigations, a 74-year-old man was arrested at a home in Chatswood in Sydney's northern suburbs on Wednesday.

He was taken to Chatswood Police Station and charged with seven counts of indecent assault.

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Police will allege the man sexually abused the boy on numerous occasions while they both worked as staff at Central Railway Station between 1973 and 1975.

The man was the boy's supervisor, police said in a statement.

He was refused bail and is expected to appear at Manly Local Court on Thursday.

Investigations into the alleged abuse continue, and detectives have urged anyone with information that may assist them to come forward.

Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec, also urged anyone who had been the victim of abuse to come forward, even if it occurred a long ago.

"We want the community to know that any victim of child sexual abuse – whatever the circumstances and no matter when it occurred – is encouraged to report it to police so perpetrators can be brought to justice," Superintendent Kerlatec said.

"Our priority will always be the health and wellbeing of victims, but it’s only when police know it is occurring that we can help someone put an end to the abuse and bring justice for a victim," he said.

Damien Cook has nominated Rabbitohs teammate Cameron Murray to be NSW's emergency back-up hooker, a role he's been groomed for at NRL level should anything happen to the Australian No.9.

Blues coach Brad Fittler is without an obvious replacement should Cook be forced to spend time off the field after sparing Tyrone Peachey from this year's game-one squad, but his first-choice rake is under no illusions who it should be.

Despite having never started one of his 45 NRL games at hooker, Murray has been sporadically working with Cook on his passing game.

Cook has played all but one minute of the Rabbitohs' sparkling start to the season under Wayne Bennett and quickly morphed into one of NSW's most important players.

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Raiders star Jack Wighton is poised to make his State of Origin debut as the NSW utility from the bench, but Murray is considered a more viable option as Cook's understudy.

"Back at Souths that's generally the plan, if anything is to happen to myself – touch wood – then Cam Murray would be the one to go there for us at club level," Cook said. "I'm sure that's probably Freddy's plan as well. If anything does happen he would slot in there easily.

"We just do a bit of passing. That’s the most important thing. You want to be strong in defence, which Cam is. And then you just want to give good service from hooker. We’ve naturally been doing it for a few weeks now and we just practise a few passes each side after training every day."

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Queensland coach Kevin Walters has covered his bases with the inclusion of Moses Mbye on the Maroons' interchange bench, set to provide relief for Ben Hunt. Hunt has carved a niche out as a hooker at representative level despite wearing the No.7 for the Dragons at NRL level.

But Fittler doesn't have the same luxury and will be desperate for the durable Cook to play the entire 80 minutes of the series opener at Suncorp Stadium.

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Murray will form part of a youthful NSW bench which includes Wighton, 19-year-old behemoth Payne Haas and Angus Crichton, who has only played three Origin games.

On Murray, NSW five-eighth Cody Walker said: "If something happens in the game Cam can step in and do that [hooking role]. He's one of the hardest working players at our club in terms of extras and working on their craft. He's just a gentleman. There's no other word that describes him."

Added Cook: "Very much he deserves [an Origin debut]," Cook said. "Whether it was this year or in the near future Cam was always going to get this jersey I believe. That’s just the player he is. He's a superstar already."

ANZ Stadium could retain hosting rights for Sydney's only State of Origin match next year as the NSW government closes in on finalising the business case for the redevelopment of the state's largest venue.

The Herald understands key powerbrokers have left the door ajar for ANZ Stadium to stage the Blues' 2020 home fixture as either game one or two of the series, given the delay to the original construction timetable.

It was previously anticipated work on the venue would start soon after this year's NRL grand final, meaning this year's Origin clash would be the last at ANZ Stadium in its current guise. But tickets to a Queen and Adam Lambert concert are now selling to a mid-February event.

The SCG had earlier been slated to host Sydney's two biggest matches next year – Origin and the grand final – but, given ANZ Stadium would only need to be functioning for another three months after the Queen show, it is again in line to host the interstate rivalry.

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The ANZ Stadium business case is set to be unveiled within weeks.

The opening two games of next year's series will be split between Sydney – at either ANZ Stadium or the SCG – and the Adelaide Oval, whose hosting criteria stipulates it be a live rubber.

"ANZ Stadium is our home," NSW Rugby League chief executive David Trodden said. "We've built our state-of-the-art centre of excellence at Olympic Park and that's where the Blues base is."

ANZ Stadium's main tenants, the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs, have been intently watching the situation as they try to bed down their home game structure for next season. Both could shift some games to the $360 million Bankwest Stadium at Parramatta if the government opts to expedite the makeover for the former Olympic venue.

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There is also a sense the government will want the project to get underway as soon as possible to ensure its controversial stadiums network is completed before the 2023 state election. Any delay to the ANZ Stadium rebuild will place some tension on that timeframe.

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"Venues NSW, along with Infrastructure NSW and the Office of Sport, are working to complete the final business case for the refurbishment of Stadium Australia [ANZ Stadium]," a Venues NSW spokesperson said.

"Construction timelines will be clearer once a final business case has been considered."

The demolition of Allianz Stadium is well under way and the inner-city venue will be the second of the three major Sydney stadiums to come back online.

Olympic 800 metres champion Caster Semenya has filed an appeal to Switzerland's highest court against a ruling to uphold rules requiring that middle-distance female athletes with a high natural level of testosterone must take medication to reduce it.

"I am a woman and I am a world-class athlete. The IAAF [International Association of Athletics Federations] will not drug me or stop me from being who I am," Semenya, 28, said in a statement after filing the appeal on Wednesday.

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South African Semenya lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on May 1 which ruled the IAAF's regulations were necessary for athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) to ensure fair competition.

The statement added that Semenya will ask the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to set aside CAS's decision in its entirety, which it said did not consider medical protocols and uncertain health consequences of taking testosterone-reducing medication.

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Semenya has said she will not undergo hormone therapy to lower her naturally elevated testosterone levels, a decision that, barring a successful appeal, would make her ineligible for the 800 metres at this year's world track championships in Doha, Qatar, and at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

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Intersex athletes such as Semenya face restrictions in women's events from 400 metres to one mile, distances that require both speed and endurance. Semenya can compete in long distance events without having hormone therapy to limit her testosterone levels.

On May 1, the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld IAAF's testosterone restrictions. The court ruled by a 2-1 vote that the restrictions were discriminatory but also a "necessary, reasonable and proportionate" means of achieving the IAAF's goal of preserving a level playing field in women's track events.

The testosterone restrictions apply to athletes with a so-called disorder of sexual development known as 46, XY. Such athletes competing in women's events have a rare chromosomal makeup — both an X chromosome and a Y chromosome in each cell — that genetics have long defined as a standard male pattern. Women have been typically defined genetically by two X chromosomes. Athletes defined as intersex often have ambiguous genitalia.

Athletes with this disorder of sexual development can produce testosterone in the male range, according to an IAAF-backed study, and gain an unfair advantage in muscle strength and oxygen-carrying capacity in certain events.

Intersex athletes who want to participate in women's track events from 400 metres to the mile will have to take hormone-suppressing drugs and reduce testosterone levels below 5 nanomoles per liter for six months before competing, then maintain those lowered levels.

Most women, including elite female athletes, have natural testosterone levels of 0.12 to 1.79 nanomoles per litre, the IAAF said, while the typical male range after puberty is much higher, at 7.7 to 29.4 nanomoles per litre. No female athlete would have natural testosterone levels of 5 nanomoles per litre or higher without a disorder of sex development or tumors, the IAAF has said.

Reuters, The New York Times