VISION VS. REALITY. After our last attempt, I made a bet with that guy who spotted our headlamps on the wall last time in February , that should he see our lights on the wall again, I’d owe him a beer… I lost.
BEFORE:
10:00 AM. “Traverses are fun! I love traverses! No need to be scared!”
12:30 AM. “This is going great, we’ll even be back in time for a beer with Pechi!”
1:00 PM. “Of course I want to try and climb all the routes redpoint!”
REALITY…
4:30 AM. Approach in full flow.
4:30 PM. Pulling every piece of gear in the wet traverse I could get hold of.
6:00 PM. Still pulling. So mentally drained afterwards we needed yet another 7 hours for the last four pitches. Yes. 7. Worst average of my life.
7:30 PM. Crying. “What are we doing here??? I want to go home!!!”
8:00 PM. Our headlamps shining down into the valley yet again. At least someone is watching us.
9:30 PM. Hallucinations. I swear I saw a bolt. But when I climbed towards it, suddenly it was gone.
12:30 AM. Half falling asleep in a chimney at the last (additional) belay.
1:00 AM. Full on A1 ascent of the last pitch. No idea how I usually climb that stuff.
2:00 AM. Topping out. Windy as hell. Can’t keep my eyes open.
2:30 AM. Ploughing through knee deep snow again.
3:00 AM. A cold bivouac between a rock and a snow drift, which in fact worked better than expected.
6:30 AM. An unforgettable sunrise.
7:00 AM. Another three hours’ descent of the snow covered via ferrata, fully armed with crampons and ice axes.
I said to Niklaus it would take me three days for my memory to turn it all into “This was awesome! Let’s do it again!”… It didn’t take two hours. What an amazing experience. So grateful to be able to LIVE this project ❤
