Legendary free climber conquers the 'Crack of Destiny' in Squamish, B.C.

After taking a break from climbing to become a monk, Didier Berthod was looking for a special crack to get him back into the sport. 

Some climbers like the thrill of reaching the summit. But the crack in the wall of a sheer cliff face is Berthod's specialty. 

"Some people just love that type of climbing, and yeah, I'm one of them," he recently told On the Coast host Gloria Macarenko. 

"Every place I go, I'm just looking for small gems." 

Berthod recently got a lot of buzz in the climbing community for ascending what he has called the Crack of Destiny — a 20-metre-long fissure in a smooth rock face on the Stawamus Chief, a 600-metre granite cliff that towers over the ocean near Squamish, B.C.

It took him more than a month to prepare for the 10-minute climb, but the difficult ascent marked his return to the sport and his former life after giving up everything for more than a decade to become a monk and a Catholic priest. 

Squamish-based climber Stu Smith said Berthod is a "climbing hero" and the crack is one of the most difficult in the world. 

"Pretty amazing he pulled it off," Smith said in an Instagram message. "To see him come back to the fold in such form is truly inspiring."

'I quit everything for God'

Berthod is a Swiss free climber — the kind of climbing that makes athletes rely solely on their hands and feet, although, unlike free soloing, it does include gear to protect them from falls.  

According to PlanetMountain.com, Berthod was "one of Europe's leading crack climbers" 20 years ago. His climbing was featured in the 2006 cult classic documentary First Ascent. 

When he was in his mid-20s, he cut off all of his relationships, including with his partner and daughter in Squamish, B.C., to join a monastery and become a Catholic priest for 13 years. 

"I quit everything for God," he told Macarenko. 

During this journey, Berthod began to challenge the historical authenticity of Jesus of Nazareth. Eventually, he rejected the idea that Jesus was a real person and no longer considered himself a Catholic or a Christian. 

"I went back into climbing with the idea of reunifying my life," he said.  

'This one is the beauty'

This return to his former self is what brought him to the Crack of Destiny. 

Berthod returned to Squamish, about an hour's drive north of Vancouver, and reunited with his partner and daughter. 

He had been eyeing the Stawamus Chief for a while, checking every surface of the legendary 600-metre granite cliff that towers over the ocean like a beacon for anyone passing through on the Sea-to-Sky Highway. 

And then he found it. 

"That crack, it's really amazing for crack lovers," he said. "This one is the beauty." 

Berthod said the Crack of Destiny is a six-millimetre fissure that splits 20 metres of smooth rockface. To reach it, he had to climb around to the top of the Chief and then drop about 30 metres. 

A surprising return

He says he gave the Crack of Destiny its name during the process, thinking of Muhammed's Night of Destiny that led the Muslim prophet to discover the Qur'an. 

"For me, coming back to Squamish, the whole thing is amazing," he said. 

Berthod's ascent has gotten a lot of attention in the climbing community, with many commenting on his splashy return to the sport after such a long detour. 

Since his return to his former life, Berthod told Macarenko that "a lot of things are very good going." The plot twist was unexpected, even for him.

"My story … even surprised myself in a way."