Professional climber and mountaineer Filip Babicz has conquered the four ridges of the Matterhorn solo in under eight hours. The Pole climbed the Valais landmark via the Furggengrat and the Zmuttgrat and used the Hörnligrat and the Liongrat for the descent.
Filip Babicz is known for its difficult dry tooling ascents, its bold trad ascents and for his numerous speed climbs such as Grand Capucin or on Piz Badile. Recently, the mountaineer Matterhorn In 7 hours and 43 minutes he climbed all four ridges of the beautifully shaped mountain – two on the ascent, two on the descent.
The aesthetics and pyramid-like shape of the Matterhorn were also what inspired Babicz to his project: "The route I covered was intended to underline the perfection of the Matterhorn." If you look at the mountaineer's GPS track, the combination of Furggengrat, Hörnligrat, Zmuttgrat and Liongrat creates an infinity symbol.
Fast solo ascent
Filip Babicz started his speed ascent at the Rifugio Duca Degli Abruzzi, the traditional starting or finishing point for the ascent of the Matterhorn via the Lion Ridge. However, he chose not the Lion Ridge for his first ascent, but the Furggen Ridge, which he managed in a record time of 1 hour and 38 minutes.
The descent over the popular Hörnligrat took him just 40 minutes. His second ascent from a height of around 3410 meters over the Zmuttgrat took 2 hours and 18 minutes. Babicz managed the second descent of the day over the Liongrat in 37 minutes. After 7 hours and 43 minutes he was back at the starting point on the Oriondé.
The Pole did not use any depots or third-party support during his speed climb. "The one-time exchange of equipment/supplies took place at the foot of the mountain between the end of the first and the beginning of the second climb."
Filip Babicz dedicates his ascent to the Polish alpinist Kacper Tekieli, who made the third solo ascent and the sixth linkup of the four ridges within one day five years ago.
Matterhorn enchainement in under 24 hours
As early as 1966, Zermatt mountain guides René Arnold and Sepp Graven conquered the four ridges (two on the ascent and two on the descent) in an impressive 19,5 hours. The first people to climb up and down all four ridges of the Matterhorn within a time frame of 24 hours were Hans Kammerlander and Diego Wellig in August 1992. They conquered around 9000 meters in altitude and encountered several rather astonished rope teams on the descent on the Hörnligrat.
In 2018, Andreas Steindl from Zermatt and the Italian alpinist Franz Cazzanelli followed suit. The duo managed the enchainment of all four ridges in ascent and descent in 16 hours and 4 minutes.
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Credits: Cover picture @lehni69