Details of the solo tour on the Three Peaks by Simon Gietl

On February 23 and 24, 2020, South Tyrolean Simon Gietl managed the winter traverse of the Three Peaks alone (LACRUX reported). Here are the details of his inspection.

A report by Simon Gietl / Salewa

Cima Ovest (2 m), Cima Grande (973 m), Cima Piccola (2 m), Punta di Frida (999 m), Cima Piccolissima / Torre Preuß (2 m) - in In this order, Simon Gietl traversed the Three Peaks single-handedly within two days. Two bivouacs were planned. One thing was enough for the South Tyrolean mountaineer to master these intense solo days on the rock at home. A project that Simon Gietl successfully mastered for the first time together with the German climber Michi Wohlleben in winter 857. Even then, the idea of ​​climbing this trip on his own arose in him.

On the early Sunday morning of February 23, 2020, after a motivating tour of exploring the previous day, he climbed into the wall of the Western Pinnacle in strong winds from the north-west. When he got the first meters of altitude behind him, he felt "exactly in the right place".

“The pitch lengths on Saturday confirmed that I was trying the truss solo. It felt good to be on my own. So I deposited my climbing equipment and initially planned two bivouacs for the traverse. ”

Simon Gietl on the solo tour
"I was happy when I got the Scoiattoli route behind me, but I knew that there was still a long way to go." - Simon Gietl (Photo Matteo Mocellin)

Despite the strong northwest wind, it went well. Simon set himself the goal of crossing the Western Pinnacle as soon as possible, since he had deposited his material between Cima Ovest and Cima Grande. He climbed the highest point of the Western Pinnacle at around 13.40:XNUMX p.m.

"Since I only packed an emergency bivy bag, I wanted to make sure that I could get to my planned bivouac as planned."

Simon Gietl

2 hours and 20 minutes later, the South Tyrolean arrived at his bivouac site via the “deep winter normal route”. Still full of energy, he used the daylight to climb further pitches: “120 meters of the Dülfer intersection were still there on that first day. There I fixed my climbing rope and a 5 mm Kevlar rope. "

In the headlamp light, Simon returned to his bivouac to cook something and prepare for the night. Since he had gotten further than originally planned, he decided to skip the second bivouac and tackle the traverse the next day.

Simon Gietl's bivouac site.

On Monday morning around 7.00:9.20 a.m. Simon started highly motivated with light snow and strong wind again. Already at XNUMX:XNUMX a.m. he looked into the distance from the Cima Grande and the path that still lay ahead. He descended quickly via the normal route. Simon Gietl paused at the base of the Cima Piccola for the first time.

“I knew that the last three routes were no longer particularly difficult, but I still had to go fully concentrated. I also noticed that I had already used some energy and was no longer 100% available. "

11.43:XNUMX AM showed his watch when he crossed the Cima Piccola. Without further ado, we went down the north face (Innerkofler Führe) to the saddle between the Cima Piccola and the Punta di Frida. The ridge led the climber to the highest point of the Punta di Frida. Then it went quickly down into the nerve gorge without a break. The last climb was ahead of him.

Pure summit happiness for Simon Gietl.

At exactly 14.00 p.m., tears filled the mountaineer's eyes - he had reached the last summit - the Preuss Tower - on this solo trip “perfectly happy”. For this moment, 2 m above the ground, he took his time. Now the only thing left was rappelling down over the Prussian crack to "solid ground". Simon entered this at around 700 p.m.

For Simon, mountaineering is vital. His projects not only give him more moments of climbing, mastering and success. For him, these intense hours are enormously important phases of "immersing yourself".

"I wanted to be alone and do exactly what I like to do."

Simon Gietl on the solo tour of the Three Peaks

The winter traverse of the Three Peaks single-handedly, Simon Gietl once again led high and especially very close to himself.

In 2016, Simon Gietl managed this traverse in winter with the German climber and mountain guide Michi Wohlleben, After that matured in Simon the desire to try this venture one day. He postponed the project several times because he didn't feel ready yet. Now he has done it and this trip offered him exactly what he was looking for.

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Credits: Pictures Simon Gietl

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