The professional climber and alpinist Filip Babicz sets a new speed record in the Mont Blanc massif: He climbs the Grand Capucin rope-free in just 49 minutes. The standard time for this tour is eight hours.
Started on September 23 at 12.00:XNUMX p.m Filip Babicz his record attempt. In front of him the vertical wall of the Grand Capucin. The Pole chose the for his speed solo Swiss route and climbed over O Sole Mio out. This combination results in a wall height of 570 meters. At 12.49 p.m. he was already standing on the exposed summit at 3838 meters above sea level and stopped the time.
Season with multiple lows
"This success is very important for me," says Filip Babicz. The season didn't go as planned for him. First, due to illness, he had to be transferred from the Peru expedition to the east face of the mountain Siula Grande step back. Back home, personal problems forced him, including his project on Piz Badile to give up.
"Under these circumstances, I started preparing for the Grand Capucin on August 20," says Filip Babicz. The idea for this speed ascent was already in my head in May, when he climbed the Swiss route on the Grand Capucin with Simone Rigollet for the first time.
"Almost in the photo finish of the summer, on the last usable day of the season, I was able to bring home this climb, which is very important for me."
Filip Babicz
Babicz climbed the planned line six times as training. "Three times on the rope and three more times alone." Believing to the end that it would work required an unshakable faith. "Almost in the photo finish of the summer, on the last usable day of the season, I was able to bring home this climb, which is very important for me."
Known for fast ascents
Filip Babicz has dedicated himself to climbing for almost 20 years and has competed in several World Cups as a member of the Polish and later the Italian national squad. Over the years he has left his mark on risky highballs in Bishop, on difficult multi-pitch tours in the Polish Tatras and in the Himalayas.
Filip Babicz: Speed record at Pizzo Badile
Filip Babicz has made a name for himself on the international climbing scene with his easy and fast alpine ascents and tough dry tooling tours. For example, he has the Peuterey ridge climbed solo in 17 hours that Three peaks of Lavaredo exceeded from Misurina in 6 hours and 30 minutes or that Matterhorn climbed in 5 hours and a minute. He recently set a new record on the Piz Badile by rushing over the north ridge in 42 minutes and 52 seconds.
Solo ascents on the Grand Capucin
- First Solo Ascent: Franco Perlotto on June 9, 1977
- Winter Solo Ascent: Jean Christophe Lafaille in January 1990
- Up & Down Free Solo Ascent: Alexander Huber on August 5, 2008
- Onsight Solo Ascent: Alex Honnold on July 9, 2016
- Speed Solo Ascent: Filip Babicz on September 23, 2022
That might interest you
- Speed records in alpinism: why, why, why?
- New speed record: Andy Steindl runs from the lowest to the highest point in Switzerland
- Film about the speed inspection at the nose by Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell
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Credits: Cover picture Cantabris Milano