The two alpinists Fay Manners and Mathilde Badoual have established a new route on the northwest face of the Nordend (4.608 m). "New Era" (6c, ED+, 550 m climbing) replaces the once snow-covered ascent with continuous technical rock climbing.
An idea from recovery
In the summer of 2025, Fay Manners spent two, by her own account, "frustrating months" recovering from an ankle injury. She immersed herself in the mountains around Zermatt. One peak in particular captivated her: the striking northwest face and elegant ridge of the Nordend (4.608 m), one of the five highest peaks in Switzerland and the Alps. Even then, Manners was determined to establish a new route on this face the following summer.
Inspiration and a name long before the start
While studying the wall through binoculars, Manners' gaze fell upon a spectacular orange crack in the lower part; higher up, a left-trending crack system on the red, triangular tower captivated her.
The region's history also provided inspiration: Just a few kilometers away, in 1871, the Englishwoman Lucy Walker became the first woman to climb the Matterhorn – at a time when Victorian society expected women to observe adventures rather than experience them themselves. In the spirit of such pioneering women, Manners wanted to add another chapter. She had already chosen the name: New eraIt represents the changing mountain and a new way to climb it: a route born out of glacial retreat.
Two days in the wall
Freshly acclimatized from Peru, Manners took advantage of a narrow weather window before her next expedition. She accepted cold temperatures and strong winds. Stable conditions were preferable to the heat she had previously experienced in the Alps. She invited the French mountaineer Mathilde Badoual to join her.
On June 14th, the two travelled by train to Gornergrat, carried their equipment across the glacier, and bivouacked below the face. The next morning, they waited until about 8 a.m. to allow the rock to warm up slightly.
The initial traverse lived up to Manners' expectations: steep, compact rock, perfect hand jams, parallel cracks for their feet, and excellent protection. Higher up, they followed natural crack systems through chimneys and across delicate slabs, constantly surprised by the quality of the rock and the protection. In the evening, they reached a spacious ledge below the Red Tower, where they bivouacked in strong winds and cold.
At sunrise, they tackled the feature that had inspired the route from the very beginning: the Red Tower. They linked continuous crack systems, protected exclusively with mobile protection. Left-leaning cracks eventually led to a small roof, where unexpectedly good, small bolts protected the most beautiful climbing on the route.
The path to the summit
Above the Red Tower, the two reached the elegant summit ridge of the Nordend. In the museum photos from 1933, it was still completely snow-covered; by 1976, sections were already rock; today, even more has changed. Manners and Badoual alternated between traversing beneath towers and balancing on the exposed ridge before reaching the snowfields leading to the summit. Here, they followed the existing route, as they wanted to leave the mountain's most elegant finale untouched.
Then the weather turned. A short but violent storm brought a whiteout, snowfall, and zero visibility. The final ascent and descent via the normal route, with its cloud-shrouded cornices, demanded patience and careful teamwork. Fresh snow concealed the crevasses into which the team repeatedly and unexpectedly fell. Hour after hour, they worked their way down until they finally reached the hut, relieved, in the darkness.
A modern classic?
"New Era" offers around 500 meters of climbing on remarkably solid gneiss. The route requires a good selection of small protection points, but is consistently well-protected and combines high-quality trad climbing with classic alpinism. Manners recommended crampons and ice axes for the upper summit. From the technical rock, the route transitions seamlessly into the spectacular summit ridge, giving the line a true alpine character.
The original routes no longer exist in their old form. "New Era" is not a variation, but a modern replacement – the wall as it is today.
Fay Manners
Manners emphasizes how much joy she derived from exploring the older lines and their style. Although Neue Ära shares the final summit ascent with its predecessor routes, Manners and Badoual consider it an independent route, not a variation—the original lines no longer exist in their former form due to the mountain's transformation. In this sense, Neue Ära is a modern replacement that reflects the reality of the wall as it exists today.
Route data »New Era«
Mountain: Nordend (4.608 m), Valais
First ascent: Fay Manners & Mathilde Badoual, June 15/16
Grade: 6c, ED+
Length: 550 m rock climbing (17 rope lengths), 1.308 m to the summit
Rock: Gneiss
Protection: Trad, selection of small mobile protection; crampons and ice axe for the upper mountain.
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