Laura Tiefenthaler and Thomas Bukowski climbed the north face of the Drei Zinnen in 15 hours and 24 minutes. For their adventure they chose the Cassin on the Westliche, the Comici on the Grosse and the Innerkofler on the Kleine Zinne.
When Thomas Bukowski put his hand on Dolomitenfels for the first time, he climbed with it Laura Tiefenthaler via a line from 2019 to the Kleine Zinne. For the second day of climbing, the former DAV expedition squad participant and mountain guide proposed a somewhat more ambitious program, to put it mildly: through the north face of the Drei Zinnen in one day.
Explosive descent
At 6 o'clock in the morning the two climbed into the Westliche Zinne. As the first route, they chose the Cassin, one of the great classics of the Dolomites. Apart from one or two snags on the crux pitch, they made good progress and were at the summit before eleven.
Thomas Bukowski does not remember the descent via the gully on the north side as too bad. "Except for boulders that were caught in barbed wire and seemed like spiked stone bombs just waiting to explode."
Simultaneously climbed, time saved
At 12.30 p.m. the duo boarded the Comici at the Great Peak. They climbed most of the 500-meter route simultaneously. So they made good progress and reached the summit after four and a half hours of climbing.
The second descent proved more arduous as the gully is not only steeper but also has more loose rock. "It took us more than two hours to reach the foot of the Kleine Zinne," says Thomas Bukowski.
Three north faces in under 16 hours
Shortly before dusk they tackled the last goal of the day - the small pinnacle. "We climbed the first part up to the saddle solo and then tied ourselves to rope for the last five pitches of the Innerkofler lead." Shortly before 10 a.m. the two stood on the summit.
Laura Tiefenthaler and Thomas Bukowski needed 15 hours and 24 minutes for the three north faces. During this time they climbed around 1600 meters of Dolomite rock.
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Credits: Cover picture Thomas Bukowski